The Worldwide Motor Sports activities Affiliation (IMSA) introduced the 2027 schedule for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Because of this, IMSA grew to become the primary main auto racing sanctioning physique to announce its calendar for the next season for a 3rd consecutive yr.
“Saying our schedule this early within the yr, which has now develop into our custom, is a testomony to the soundness of our occasions and our promoter relationships, and we’re grateful to all of our promoter companions,” mentioned IMSA CEO Ed Bennett.
“It additionally offers a chance for everyone concerned – from stakeholders and individuals to IMSA race followers – to adequately make their plans to attend properly upfront. Practically all of our occasions have seen year-over-year attendance will increase the previous few years, so it’s conceivable that our technique of saying our schedules in March is paying dividends.”
Continuity stays key as subsequent yr’s schedule sees the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship return to all 11 venues that make up the whole lot of the calendar.
The 2027 season will begin one weekend later than it has historically, with the sixty fifth Operating of the Rolex 24 At Daytona set for January 28-31 on Daytona Worldwide Speedway’s 3.56-mile circuit. Following Daytona would be the signature milestone on the calendar with the seventy fifth version of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17-20.
Each races once more will likely be a part of the five-race IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup season and can embrace all 4 courses – Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Grand Touring Daytona Professional (GTD Professional) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD).
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The collection will then head off to California for its annual “West Coast Swing,” starting with the 100-minute Acura Grand Prix of Lengthy Seashore on April 16-17, and adopted with a two-hour, 40-minute spherical at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on April 30-Might 2. Lengthy Seashore will function the GTP and GTD courses, whereas GTD Professional joins the get together for the second leg.
The streets of downtown Detroit once more will function the sights and sounds of GTP and GTD PRO equipment on June 4-5 when the collection returns for one more 100-minute battle as a part of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. The battle amongst all 4 courses commences at Watkins Glen on June 24-27 with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, which marks the midway level in Michelin Endurance Cup.
Three courses – LMP2, GTD Professional and GTD – will go north of the border to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a part of a two-hour, 40-minute contest on July September 11.
All 4 courses reunite in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin for one more six-hour battle on the enduring Street America circuit on July 29-August 1, which marks the penultimate race of the endurance rounds. VIRginia Worldwide Raceway hosts its conventional two-hour, 40-minute battle for the GTD Professional and GTD courses with the Michelin GT Problem on August 20-22.
After an almost one-month break, all 4 courses will reunite at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the two-hour, 40-minute TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks for the second-to-last WeatherTech Championship race of the season on September 17-19.
All of that may set the stage for a 10-hour finale with the thirtieth Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta on October 6-9 to shut out each the 2027 WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Endurance Cup seasons.
“Every season presents a chance to construct on IMSA’s unimaginable momentum, and the 2027 schedule represents the perfect of our longstanding partnerships and world-class venues,” mentioned IMSA President John Doonan.
“We’re grateful for the continued collaboration with our tv associate, NBC Sports activities, whose assist permits us to showcase IMSA’s thrilling, multi-class racing to race followers all over the place. We additionally recognize the cooperation from our fellow sanctioning our bodies as all of us work collectively in good religion to attenuate date conflicts and create the strongest attainable calendar for groups, companions, and followers.
“The 2027 season is particularly significant as we have a good time a number of historic milestones: the seventy fifth working of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the seventieth anniversary of WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the sixty fifth Rolex 24 At Daytona and the thirtieth working of Motul Petit Le Mans. These iconic occasions signify the center and soul of sports activities automobile racing, and we look ahead to honoring their legacies with our opponents and passionate fanbase subsequent season.”
Pre-race fan stroll at Street Atlanta
Photograph by: Jake Galstad / Lumen by way of Getty Pictures
The 2027 season as soon as extra start with three days of testing on the Roar Earlier than the Rolex 24 on January 22-24. The Roar is obligatory for all groups competing within the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
There may be additionally a plan in place for expanded IMSA-sanctioned testing on the 5 tracks internet hosting endurance occasions subsequent yr. The sanctioned assessments could be for lively WeatherTech Championship opponents solely. Extra data and particular dates will likely be introduced later.
IMSA additionally confirmed its 2027 schedule for Michelin Pilot Problem, with a 10-race calendar that features a return to Lime Rock Park.
The 2-class Pilot Problem – that includes the Grand Sport (GS) and Touring Automotive (TCR) courses – would be the weekend headliner for 2 of its 10 occasion weekends subsequent season because the collection returns to Lime Rock Park along with being the principle attraction with its annual four-hour race at Mid-Ohio Sports activities Automotive Course.
The FCP Euro Northeast Grand Prix will function the penultimate spherical of the 2027 Michelin Pilot Problem, bringing the collection to the 1.5-mile bullring in Lakeville, Connecticut on the weekend of September 23-25. The 2-hour race would be the first IMSA-sanctioned race at Lime Rock for the reason that 2023 season.
“The loyal followers at Lime Rock Park have been hungry for a return of IMSA competitors and we’re thrilled to carry it to them within the fall of 2027,” mentioned Doonan.
“This race will give the IMSA Michelin Pilot Problem one other well-deserved alternative within the highlight and can undoubtedly be a spotlight of what we anticipate will likely be one other extremely aggressive season in 2027.”
Eight of the ten Michelin Pilot Problem races will run as a companion to the WeatherTech Championship season. The season will open with the normal four-hour battle at Daytona on the weekend of January 28-31, adopted by the spherical at Sebring Worldwide Raceway for the primary of eight two-hour races within the season on March 17-20.
The collection will forego a trek to the West Coast in 2027, returning to competitors with the second and last four-hour race of the season because the headliner at Mid-Ohio on June 11-13.
Watkins Glen Worldwide is subsequent on June 24-27, adopted by Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July September 11 to shut out the primary half of the season. Street America opens the second half on July 29-August 1, adopted by VIRginia Worldwide Raceway on August 20-22 and Indianapolis Motor Speedway on September 17-19.
It will likely be a fast, one-week turnaround for the collection to get to Lime Rock, adopted by a two-week break previous to the season finale at Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta on October 6-9.
The 2027 Michelin Pilot Problem season once more opens with three days of non-mandatory testing on the Roar Earlier than the Rolex 24 on January 22-24.
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