The 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) was the 48th motor racing championship sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) (which traces its lineage to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship). It was the fifth season of the United SportsCar Championship and third to be held under the name as the IMSA SportsCar Championship. It began on January 27 with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and ended on October 13 with the Petit Le Mans.
Series News
2018 was the final season Fox Sports televised the series, NBC Sports Group becomes the series' broadcaster, starting in 2019.
2018 was also the final season Continental Tire provided tires for competitors.
The GTD was removed from Long Beach due to space limitations.[1]
A non-championship round was held at Sebring in November 2018 with IMSA's 2019 rules for the GTD class, along with LMP3, GS, and TCR classes in the secondary series. This saw Michelin's debut as the 2019 series specification tire supplier.[2]
Entries
Prototype
The Prototype class is made up of LMP2 cars both in LMP2 trim, with the ACO specification Gibson V8 engine, and in Daytona Prototype international (DPi) trim, where manufacturers are allowed to use their own engines and bodykits, designed to reflect the automaker's design language. Acura (Oreca), Mazda (Riley Technologies), Cadillac (Dallara), and Nissan (Onroak Automotive) run chassis from the respective constructors featuring manufacturer-specific bodywork and engines.
^ abCar No. 5 entered as Mustang Sampling Racing and car No. 31 entered as Whelen Engineering Racing.
^ abCar No. 33 entered as Mercedes-AMG Team Riley Motorsports under an American license and car No. 75 entered as SunEnergy1 Racing under an Australian license.
^Car No. 51 entered as Spirit of Race at Rounds 1–2.
Championship points are awarded in each class at the finish of each event. Points are awarded based on finishing positions as shown in the chart below.
Position
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Race
35
32
30
28
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
Drivers points
Points are awarded in each class at the finish of each event.
Team points
Team points are calculated in exactly the same way as driver points, using the point distribution chart. Each car entered is considered its own "team" regardless if it is a single entry or part of a two-car team.
Manufacturer points
There are also a number of manufacturer championships which utilize the same season-long point distribution chart. The manufacturer championships recognized by IMSA are as follows:
Prototype (P): Engine manufacturer
GT Le Mans (GTLM): Car manufacturer
GT Daytona (GTD): Car manufacturer
Each manufacturer receives finishing points for its highest finishing car in each class. The positions of subsequent finishing cars from the same manufacturer are not taken into consideration, and all other manufacturers move up in the order.
Example: Manufacturer A finishes 1st and 2nd at an event, and Manufacturer B finishes 3rd. Manufacturer A receives 35 first-place points while Manufacturer B would earn 32 second-place points.
North American Endurance Cup
The points system for the North American Endurance Cup is different from the normal points system. Points are awarded on a 5-4-3-2 basis for drivers, teams and manufacturers. The first finishing position at each interval earns five points, four points for second position, three points for third, with two points awarded for fourth and each subsequent finishing position.
Position
1
2
3
Other Classified
Race
5
4
3
2
At Daytona (24 hour race), points are awarded at six hours, 12 hours, 18 hours and at the finish. At the Sebring (12 hour race), points are awarded at four hours, eight hours and at the finish. At Watkins Glen (6 hour race), points are awarded at three hours and at the finish. At Road Atlanta (10 hour race), points are awarded at four hours, eight hours and at the finish.
Like the season-long team championship, North American Endurance Cup team points are awarded for each car and drivers get points in any car that they drive, in which they are entered for points. The manufacturer points go to the highest placed car from that manufacturer (the others from that manufacturer not being counted), just like the season-long manufacturer championship.
For example: in any particular segment manufacturer A finishes 1st and 2nd and manufacturer B finishes 3rd. Manufacturer A only receives first-place points for that segment. Manufacturer B receives the second-place points.
Corvette Racing[47]
Antonio García[47]
Jan Magnussen[47]
Mike Rockenfeller[48]
Marcel Fässler
Oliver Gavin[47]
Jesse Krohn[50]
Nick Catsburg[50]
Augusto Farfus[50]
Chaz Mostert
Philipp Eng[50]
Alessandro Pier Guidi[51]
Sébastien Bourdais[52]
Scott Dixon[52]
Laurens Vanthoor[53]
Ezequiel Pérez Companc[54]
Kyle Marcelli[55]
Sheldon van der Linde[60]
Pedro Lamy[50]
J. C. Perez[73]
Santiago Creel[75]
Matt Griffin[76]