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 The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive dir ...

(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 The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...

. It began on January 27 with the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

, and ended on October 13 with the

Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...

Series News

* 2018 was the final season

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The name originates from Fox Broadcasting Company in the United States, which in turn derives its name from Fox Fi ...

televised the series,

NBC Sports Group NBC Sports Group is a division of NBCUniversal Media Group that is responsible for NBC Sports' media properties, encompassing the NBC television network's sports division as well as day-to-day operation of the company's sports-oriented cable netw ...

becomes the series' broadcaster, starting in 2019. * 2018 was also the final season

Continental Tire Continental AG, commonly known as Continental and colloquially as Conti, is a German multinational Automotive industry, automotive parts manufacturing company. Headquartered in Hanover, Lower Saxony, it is the world's third-List of the largest ...

provided tires for competitors.

Classes

* Prototype (P) (

DPi DPI may refer to: Organizations * Department of Public Information, related to U.N. *Daffodil Polytechnic Institute, an educational institution of Bangladesh * Dhaka Polytechnic Institute, an educational institution of Bangladesh * Disabled Peop ...

and

LMP2 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...

) * GT Le Mans (GTLM) * GT Daytona (GTD) At the end of 2017 season, the Prototype Challenge (PC) class was reduced to a support series.

Schedule

Race schedule

The 2018 schedule was released on August 4, 2017 and featured twelve rounds.

Calendar changes

*The

Circuit of the Americas Circuit of the Americas (COTA) is a Grade 1 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA-specification motor racing track and facilities located in Austin, Texas, United States. The facility is home to the Formula One United States Grand Pr ...

was removed from the calendar, and replaced by a round at

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar, IMSA WeatherTech Sportsc ...

. *The GTD was removed from Long Beach due to space limitations. *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.

Entries

Prototype

The Prototype class is made up of

cars both in LMP2 trim, with the ACO specification Gibson V8 engine, and in

Daytona Prototype international A Daytona Prototype International (DPi) was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the International Motor Sports Association's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as their top class of car, acting as a direct replaceme ...

(DPi) trim, where manufacturers are allowed to use their own engines and bodykits, designed to reflect the automaker's design language. Acura (

Oreca ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French auto racing, racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives, AGS. Or ...

), Mazda (

Riley Technologies Riley Technologies LLC is an American auto racing constructor and team specializing in the design and manufacture of complete race cars, as well as prototype development for racing and manufacturing applications. The team currently fields the N ...

), Cadillac (

Dallara Dallara Group S.r.l. is the largest multi-national Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Giampaolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' M ...

), and Nissan (

Onroak Automotive Ligier Automotive, formerly Onroak Automotive, is a French company which designs, manufacturers, and sells auto racing, racing cars, specifically sports prototypes for various international series. Onroak was founded in 2012 by Jacques Nicolet w ...

) run chassis from the respective constructors featuring manufacturer-specific bodywork and engines.

GT Le Mans

GT Daytona

Notes

Race results

Bold indicates overall winner.

Championship standings

Points systems

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. ;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. 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.

Drivers' championships

Prototype

GT Le Mans

GT Daytona

;Notes: *¹ – Relegated to last in class for exceeding maximum driver time.

Team's Championships

Prototype

GT Le Mans

GT Daytona

;Notes: *¹ – Relegated to last in class for exceeding maximum driver time.

Manufacturers' championships

Prototype

GT Le Mans

GT Daytona

References

{{United SportsCar Championship WeatherTech SportsCar Championship seasons

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...