24h Le Mans
Bye bye TUDOR United SportsCar Championship! Welcome WeatherTech SportsCar Championship! In addition to the 2016 calendar, the IMSA - governing body of the American endurance championship - announced the name change of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship following the involvement of new sponsor, WeatherTech.
So it will no longer be called the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, formed from the merger between the American Le Mans Series and the Grand Am Series. But, the watchmaker TUDOR will indeed remain a partner of the championship for the next 10 years, as will its sister company, Rolex. Rolex supplies the market with luxury watches while TUDOR serves it with high quality watches.
Enter WeatherTech, an automotive supplier known in the U.S. and internationally for its laser-measured car floor mats boasting "Made in the USA." An original equipment supplier to the four main German automobile manufacturers, WeatherTech signed a multi-year contract with the IMSA which will begin in 2016.
The founder and CEO of WeatherTech, David McNeil, a motorsports fan in general and particularly of endurance, reached the second step on the podium in the GT class at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1999 in a Porsche 911 for the Alex Job Racing team, while his son, Cooper, competed in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship...in a Porsche 911 for the Alex Job Racing team in the GTD class.
In 2016, GTD class competitors, like their counterparts in PC and GTLM, will compete in 11 races, and the P (Prototype) class drivers will be at the start of 10 races. In all, no less than 12 races are on the calendar next year at the same circuits the championship has visited this year.
2016 Calendar
January 30-31 | Rolex 24 at Daytona, Florida (all classes)
March 19 | 12 Hours of Sebring, Florida (all classes)
April 16 | Long Beach, California (P, PC, GTLM)
May 1 | Laguna Seca, California (all classes)
June 4 | Detroit Belle Isle, Michigan (P, PC, GTD)
July 3 | 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, New York (all classes)
July 10 | Mosport, Canada (all classes)
July 23 | Lime Rock, Connecticut (PC, GTLM, GTD)
August 7 | Road America, Wisconsin (all classes)
August 21 | Virginia International Raceway, Virginia (GTLM, GTD)
September 17 | Lone Star Le Mans, Austin, Texas (all classes)
October 1 | Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, Georgia (all classes)
Before taking on the 2016 season, competitors still need to finish the 2015 season, including Road America tomorrow starting at 3:05 p.m. (9:05 p.m. in the U.K.).
Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
