IMSAblog

IMSA Website announcement

I am extremely proud and happy to announce the launch of a new website dedicated to the IMSA Camel GT series. The IMSA History website is now up and running.

This project is aimed at giving the IMSA Camel GT series a true recognition amongst the auto racing community. Until now, it was obvious that something had to get done to bring the fans the opportunity to enjoy their favorite sportscar series.
The IMSA History website should be very comprehensive in the end, but it should also remain a work in progress, and updated on a regular basis. It is also an ambitious and very personal project. " Made for the fans, by a fan." It also offers a new approach to the way information is dealt with and will be more focused on the facts than on the technical side.

This IMSA History website will bring you everything you've ever wanted to know about IMSA. It will be data oriented, and will feature :

• articles
• galleries
• race results and stories
• drivers stories and portraits
  
• database
• technical articles
• car profiles
• racetracks
• categories
• series evolution
  

and much more. It should also be unique in a sense that it should deal with every aspect of the series. I'll try to drive you into the world of IMSA, with great information to share.

Interaction with the visitors is encouraged. People who attended such races have some memories or memorabilia, and I am constantly looking for material such as entry lists, race programs or magazines. Feel free to contact me here

A tribute to John and Peggy Bishop, the founders of the International Motor Sports Association.

Be sure to visit the IMSA History website at http://www.imsahistory.com

Sincerely.

Alexis Gousseau

Do you want to know about GT racing in the 70s

Have you ever heard about the IMSA Camel GT Challenge?
If not, I will tell you. This championship has been created by John Bishop, a man who had worked as an executive for the SCCA, the club for which he wrote a lot of technical rules. At the end of the 60s, the SCCA had to go ahead and decide whether to stay as it was then or make the big step into professional racing. The dissensions between the executive staff were great and times were getting hard. As things did not seem to improve, it seemed to John Bishop that it was the good moment for him to search for a greener pasture. He decided to leave the SCCA and go his own way. He had met Bill France who was looking for someone able to launch a new road racing series. Bill France knew that he was the right man. After thinking of it for a while, he accepted the deal.
He took the time to work entirely on his baby and worked hard to set every rule for his future championship. He was a talented man and was able to deal with every aspect of racing. He managed to do so in a matter of months, devised every rule and he even designed the logo for IMSA. He had set up a small staff and that was it! So the IMSA (International Motor Sport Association) was born in 1969. This series would be a professional road racing series and each competitor would earn price money.
This series was built for FIA GT(group 3 and 4) and Touring(group 1 and 2) cars. This original mix of cars immediately pleased the fans. The series started quietly in 1971 with a large field of amateur and semi-pro racers, and Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood, two American racing legends, won this first race in Danville, Virginia, on their Porsche 914/6.
John Bishop had brought his personal touch and, as soon as 1972, sponsoring from Reynolds Tobacco Inc, raised the series to a professional level. More than 120 entries had been registered by IMSA!
He knew exactly how to manage the different people involved in racing, from drivers to team managers, to sponsors and track directors. From the beginning of his career, he had leart all of the technical skills needed to run a successful series. He knew how to deal with the men that were to work with him. And he did it so well.
GT racing was born in the US and John Bishop had created the series that was going to be the most successful ever in North America. He is a man everyone must remember as a precursor for a new kind of racing. Nothing would be ever the same when he left IMSA in 1990.

Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood

From the beginning of the Camel GT era, if there were two men that should be remembered as living legends, these two guys would be Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood. They are the first winners of the first IMSA Camel GT race held in Virginia International Raceway. They won on their nearly stock Porsche 914/6 beating Dave Heinz on his powerful Chevrolet Corvette for the overall. From that moment, their success has become quite regular and they were the first Camel GT Champions ever. With a great dedication to racing, they have become the example to follow and have set standards for Professional road racing. Their success has been tightly linked to one particular make : Porsche. They have driven nearly the whole range of cars from the German make: starting from the 914/6, then 911S, Carrera RSR 2,7L to 3,0L, 934, 935, 962 with an uncredible number of victories and success. Unfortunately, Peter Gregg left us in 1980 and it was a great loss for motor racing. But Hurley Haywood is still running and he is considered as one of the true road racing legends still in activity. He is a great driver.

Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood won overall at Daytona in 1973, beating the prototypes! It was their first great international victory

Copyright unknown

12 Hours of Sebring 1973

This race had been one of the most important sportscar racing venue in the US when it was litterally dropped of the World Sportscar Championship. The main reason for this fact was that the track was no longer eligible for a round of the WSC because of the track state. It needed extensive repairs to be again eligible for the WSC and it was never to be. So IMSA took the challenge and decided to include this race in their schedule. Alec Ulman himself wished the new organisation good luck when the 1973 event was launched  for the first time by IMSA. Of course, the field was far away from those seen before at Sebring but it was nonetheless an extremely high quality field of GT machinery. 72 cars took the start of the first IMSA sanctioned Sebring race. It looked like the Corvettes would have to win the race and they really could have done it! They led the race until lap 86, Tony de Lorenzo-Steve Durst fighting off with Dave Heinz-Jerry Thompson. But they both experienced problems which led them to a retirement later in the race. The lead was soon to be taken by the ever consistent Peter Gregg-Hurley Haywood who were fighting hard with the other Porsche Carrera driven by Michael Keyser-Milt Minter. They managed to win the race with a one lap margin victory over their closest follower. Third in the race were Ron Grable-John Greenwood-Michael Brockman who finally broke the German streak with their Corvette. 41 cars were still running at the chequered. The GTU class was taken by the Porsche 911S driven by Steve Behr-Don Lindley-Brian Goellnicht who placed 7th overall.
The 12 Hours of Sebring were quietly on the way back to a new recognition by the fans and later by the media.

John Greenwood

John Greenwood has been involved in racing since he was barely 20. He began his career in SCCA and rapidly won races. His cars have always been thoroughly prepared and were especially fast. When he made the move for IMSA, he was backed by BF Goodrich, the tyre manufacturer for which he wore radial street tyres. But this strategy did not prove successful as he did not win any race. A 4th in Mid Ohio in 1972 was the best he could do. He began the 1973 season with a 3rd at Sebring and 7th at Daytona. In 1974, exit BF Goodrich as he started building more radical Corvettes with altered bodyworks. His car proved fast if not reliable, and Milt Minter won the Talladega round but the Porsche Carreras won the Championship. However,  he successfully ended the season in dominating the Daytona Finale : he won the race with a 33s margin over Al Holbert and set a new GT record. For this event, he had a brand new car that was even more radical and he has been clocked at speeds over 210mph, well over the GT standards. His car was fitted with a V8 8,0L engine which could produce more than 700hp which was no match fot the opposition! For the 1975 season, he fielded this car fitted with a 7,0L engine supposed to be more reliable. Daytona and Sebring resulted in dnfs but the car experienced reliability problems. His talents were multiple and he did the promotion for the next event, the hood of his car sporting a promotional ad for the "12 Hours of Sebring"and later for the "6 Hours of Riverside". His car, dubbed as the "Batmobile" for the fans, was always a crowd's favorite. But he earned poor results with a sole victory, again at the Daytona Finale with the new 1976 car.

Meanwhile, he won the Trans Am Championship with a less radical car, the Braun roadster, beating a bunch of semi-pro drivers.
Some of them were John Greenwood's customers as he had begun to be successful and he built cars for Roger Kraus, Phil Currin and others. In 1976, Mike Brockman ran an identical car (#69)with some good results (three 4th at Atlanta, Mid Ohio and Laguna Seca). In 1977, a new car was built and raced at a few races but the car again proved even more unreliable. At that time, John began to develop tubeframe cars for John Paul and Greg Pickett , the latter winning the Trans Am Championship. John was not to be seen on the track before 1982, and it was with a GTO Corvette entered by T and R Racing, with some success, but it was not for the overall. For 1983, a change of rules did not help John going any further with this tentative, so he cancelled his projects and concentrated more on his business. Today, he is still known as the Corvette man and his name is recognized everywhere in the world for hi-performance cars. He is one of the IMSA legends.

A very sad sunday

It was on the 24th April 1983 that Rolf Stommelen was killed driving a Porsche 935L entered by John Fitzpatrick. It was the 4th race of the season and a fine field of sportscar machinery was to take the start of the 6 Hours of Riverside. Rolf Stommelen was sharing his drive with Derek Bell and had started from the front row alongside Al Holbert's March 83G Chevrolet. They were just ahead of teammates John Fitzpatrick-David Hobbs who drove the Porsche 935K4 for the team's second car. As the race seemed to go on an easy way, Rolf Stommelen had just taken the wheel of the Porsche from Derek Bell when, in an unexpected way, the car lost its rear wing in the fast straightaway where it had been the fastest car in the race and took off only to hit the wall in turn 9. The car hit the wall and caught fire : the corner workers had trouble extinguishing it and Rolf Stommelen died in this awful accident. John Fitzpatrick won the race with David Hobbs but the two of them were too upset to get on the podium. Nobody among the spectators got any information about this dramatic accident. Sportscar Racing had just lost one of the most talented drivers in the World.

1971 : the very first season

1971 is the first racing season for the IMSA Camel GT Challenge. The choice made by John Bishop immediately proved to be the good one as races were very hard fought. The races scenario remained the same throughout the season as it was a Corvette-Porsche 911 or 914 battle.

This very first year has been interesting enough to attract a great sponsor in the name of Reynolds Tobacco Inc, which was quite stunned by the way the organisation was mastered. This major step ahead followed Reynolds Tobacco's interest in brand new road racing series. John Bishop had to convince, and he did it very well. The IMSA series was sportscar road racing future in the US. Every member of the staff was dedicated to the new IMSA organisation and true professional members. So Reynolds Tobacco decided to sponsorize the Talladega event, and it was a complete success for the Bishop organization. They had won a true racing sponsor. It was their first victory. 

3 victories for Peter Gregg-Hurley Haywood on their Porsche 914/6 et 3 victories for Dave Heinz partnered by either Or Costanzo or Don Yenko on a Chevrolet Corvette. It is interesting to notice that the Corvette won on the fast speedways and the Porsche on the road racing circuit.

The first ever race would take place in Danville, Virginia and it was a hard victory for Peter Gregg-Hurley Haywood who finished one lap ahead of Dave Heinz, who had led the first stages of the race but had to pit twice for fuel. The Corvette's advantage on the track was to be nullified by this fact. When the Porsche pitted for fuel, Heinz took the lead but for 11 laps, because he had to pit for the second time. At that moment, he lost the race because his stop lasted about 2m 30s.
He started 48s behind the Porsche and began to gain on the German car, but exhaustion was to play its part and he spinned, losing a 15s more and damaging his car. He had to stop again, so the race was over and he finished second.
Third was the Porsche 914/6 driven by Ralph Meaney, followed by two Porsche 911 for Pete Harrison and Jack Rabold.

On 15th May, the big iron Corvette took a revenge and easily won the race on the Superspeedway of Talladega, Dave Heinz took 1st place in front of the Gregg-Haywood Porsche 914/6 by one lap. Third was one IMSA star to become, Michael Keyser on a Porsche 911.

Same players shoot again at Charlotte Motor Speedway as Dave Heinz-Or Costanzo won the race, defeating Peter Gregg-Hurley Haywood by one lap for the 3 Hour event, third was Bruce Jennings on a Porsche 911, just another well renowned racing driver.

At Bridgehampton, the Gregg-Haywood Porsche 914/6 will defeat a Corvette driven by Rod Harris co-driving with a certain John Paul, one of the future road racing star for the next years.

Summit Point will see a Porsche victory again for Gregg-Haywood ending first in front of the Porsche 911S driven by Bruce Jennings and Michael Keyser-Bob Beasley similar car. It was the first 1-2-3 for the German make. Not the last one!

The Daytona finale will see, as expected, the domination of the big V8s, and Dave Heinz-Don Yenko will end up 1st in front of the Chevrolet Camaro driven by Tom Nehl-Jim Fitzgerald and Bill Cuddy's Porsche 911S. Gregg-Haywood will not do better than 4th, but they had won the Championship.

The 1971 season was a success for the IMSA organisation, but the biggest one was undoubtedly the fact that they had gained the complete sponsorship from Reynold's Tobacco Inc, and the next season was to be called the IMSA Camel GT Challenge. It was an enormous step ahead and the first recognition from a major sponsor. That would boost the series for the future, and at the end of 1971, the entry for 1972 had reached a stunning total of 120.
A lot of great drivers already were a part of the consistant field, and you could see Charlie Kemp, Phil Currin, Jim Fitzgerald, George Alderman and many others. They were to be the men that made IMSA, as they competed in a very large amount of events, during many racing seasons. They were joined by many others, American and European drivers, those men would soon write the legend of IMSA.

1972 : the real start

1972 was the first IMSA Camel GT season. Reynolds Tobacco Inc was now the official sponsor for the series and it attracted a lot of new drivers and cars. The average entry per race was now over 40, well over the standards. Races had different formats, ranging from 200 Miles to 6 Hours, in order to even the odds for the lower displacement categories. Porsche finally won the Championship, as expected. Hurley Haywood, who had switched to a 911, won the drivers Championship with two wins and several top 6 finishes. Second was Bob Beasley, third Michael Keyser and Peter Gregg only fourth.
The season opener was held at Texas World Speedway and it was a surprise victory for a Ford Mustang driven by Juan Izquierdo and Daniel Muniz. Peter Gregg-Hurley Haywood took the second place, just ahead of another Mustang driven by Danny Moore-Gary Bishop. The TU category was won by Phil Dermer-Russ Norburn on a BMW 2002.
The 2nd race, at Daytona for the Starlight 3 Hour GT Race, was won by the Chevrolet Corvette entered by Rinzler Motor Racing for Charlie Kemp-Wilbur Pickett, 2 laps ahead of Michael Keyser-Bob Beasley on their Porsche 911, Danny Moore-Jerry Crew were 3rd in their Ford Mustang. Byron Morris took the TU honours on his BMW 2002.
The third round of the season was held at Virginia International Raceway and a huge field of 51 cars took the start. It was a complete Porsche parade as the first 5 spots were taken by the German cars. The first non-Porsche car was the Phil Currin private Chevrolet Corvette, a pilot that was to become one of the most consistant. The victory was taken by Peter Gregg-Hurley Haywood, who finished ahead of Bob Beasley-Michael Keyser similar car. Third was a Porsche 914/6 for Daniel Muniz-Fred van Beuren. Earlier in the race, the winners had to fight an early challenge by the Corvettes driven by Charlie Kemp-Wilbur Pickett and Denny Long. The two cars had to retire later in the race. The TU victory went to Carson Baird-Joe Amato on a Ford Pinto.
Lime Rock took place several weeks later in the schedule and Porsche again won the overall. It was Jim Locke-Bob Bailey who took their first IMSA victory, just ahead of Klaus Bytzek who ran solo and Phil Currin, again third in his red Corvette. The TU honors were taken by an Alfa Romeo driven by John Diamanti and Walt Siemendinger.
Donnybrooke was the 5th round of the series and it was the first ever victory in IMSA for Denny Long. He edged the Bob Beasley-Levon Pentecost Porsche 911 by 2 laps. Third again was Phil Currin, quite regular in his Corvette. Joe Amato-Carson Baird won again the TU class.
The next race was the longest of the season and held at the Mid Ohio sports car course, for a 6 Hour race. Plenty of close racing was going to be held there. It was again the Porsche 911 driven by Michael Keyser-Bob Beasley who took the victory. They finished one lap ahead of Hurley Haywood-Sam Posey similar car. But the biggest surprise of the race was to be brought by the Ford Escort entered by Libra International and driven by John Buffum-Bert Everett who finished 3rd overall, the two drivers managed to finish ahead of the two Greenwood Corvettes driven by John Greenwood-Marshall Robbins and Denny Long-Jim Greendyke. 48 cars had taken the green flag for the race, partially run under the rain.
At Talladega, Porsche took a slap in the face as the best entry could do no better than 6th(Haywood again).
Wilbur Pickett won the race, Tony de Lorenzo took 5nd and Dan Daughtry was 3rd, all of them driving Corvettes. Gene Felton was 4th in his big block Camaro, just ahead of Tom Nehl in yet another Camaro. This horsepower track did not let any chance to the low displacement engines and Haywood felt happy with his 6th. First in TU was the Opel Manta driven by Dennis Shaw and Steve Coleman.
Watkins Glen 500km was to be held on 10th september with a 54 car field. Gregg-Haywood were the winners of the race, second were Maurice Carter-Paul Nichter(of Camaro fame), they finished on the same lap as the winners. Third were Bruce Jennings-George Stone on a Porsche 911. Phil Dermer took the TU victory on his BMW 2002.
37 cars took the start of the Bryar Motorsport Park 3 Hour race, and it was won by Maurice Carter-Paul Nichter Camaro. They easily won the race by 6 laps over the Porsche 911 of George Stone, third was a Chevrolet Corvette driven by Bud Deshler-Rod Harris. Bob Beasley had finished the race on a rail and Hurley Haywood-Peter Gregg Porsche was an early retirement as well.
With one event left, the two top contenders for the title were quite close and Haywood had a slight advantage. The two drivers could win the Championship and the last race should be determining for the title. For that event, the two contenders were entered on two cars. Providing that Daytona is a horsepower track, a class win was only needed to win but it was not enough. It turned out that Beasley won his class, just ahead...Haywood who won eventually the Championship by 1.5 point!
Gene Felton won the race on his Camaro and Tony de Lorenzo was 2nd. Maurice Carter finished 3rd and Dave Heinz took 4th on the Corvette he shared with Bob Johnson, just ahead of the two winning Porsche. First again in TU was Russ Norburn in his BMW 2002. 61 cars entered the Finale, and the season ended up in a quite optimistic way.
The future looked bright with new cars to be entered for the next season.

Putting on races that will attract and hold the paying spectator is still our prime objective

John Bishop said. He had achieved his objective.

BMW : adding prestige

At the end of the 1974 season, Porsche had won another Championship with the ever consistant Peter Gregg.
The Bavarian Make was only represented by the semi-official Hurtig Team Libra, ran by John Buffum, and some 2002s entered by small teams. Their drivers were no less than George Follmer, Brett Lunger, John Buffum, Andy Peterey but the cars could not fight for victory as they were slightly outdated. They finally wound up some good results but they could not do better : they would simply not continue in 1975.
BMW had something to do with their image in the US ; they stood, for the average American, as British Motor Works, and they wanted to do something about that. They had just won two European Touring Car Championships in a row and they were looking for new challenges. They were looking for a new identity and they did it their way.  So they decided to join the IMSA Camel GT series. Their approach proved the good one as they wanted to mix with the privateers and help promote the series.
The Bayerische Motoren Werke had been renamed Bavarian Motor Works and they wanted the fans to know it as they sported it on the windshields.
They had an all-star line-up of drivers : Brian Redman, Hans Stuck, Dieter Quester,  Sam Posey, Allan Moffat and even Ronnie Peterson! The cars were the 3.0CSLs that had been revamped and improved, L6 3,5L engines given for 410-420hp, that was enough to give the competition reasons to fear them.
They sported the colors of the 1973 season and had tested the cars at Talladega several weeks before the beginning of the 1975 season.
At the Daytona event, they experienced problems and were not able to make it to the finish line but, at Sebring, the CSL driven by Stuck-Posey-Redman and Moffat took a well deserved victory. At the end of the season, they had won 4 races and, if they did not win the title, it was probably because they did not take part of every race in the season. If it had been the case, they would have won, but that is history. But they had achieved their main goal.
At the end of the season, it was a success to Jochen Neerpasch and the hope for an even more successful season was to be expected. Unortunately for IMSA, they decided to concentrate on the World Championship for Makes and they ran a limited schedule with one car. Another team ran alongside the works car, it was Peter Gregg Racing who made an extra deal with the Bavarian make, with little success. BMW would then develop the nifty 320 by the means of the McLaren team. It was just another story.

1973 : Carrera domination

The 1973 season was a new step to IMSA's recognition as an international road racing series. A car appeared at that time : the Porsche Carrera RSR. It would soon be one of the most dominating one in IMSA's history. The car had appeared at the 24 Hours of Daytona for the first round of the World Sportscar Championship and the car, entered by Brumos Racing, had won overall, driven by Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood, beating the prototypes!
IMSA had grown as a full featured organisation and was now a solid structure.
Sebring was the race of the season and saw a Porsche Carrera victory : it was the first ever in IMSA and Peter Gregg-Hurley Haywood won on a Dave Helmick entered car. This one made history! (see complete article here)
The next race was to be held at Daytona. Once again, it was a Gregg-Haywood victory, this time in Gregg's car. The first hour was a lead swap between the two Corvettes driven by Dave Heinz and Wilbur Pickett-Bill Bean and Gene Felton's Camaro. The Porsches of Peter Gregg and Michael Keyser were just behind but the big American cars had to refuel twice, the German cars only once. After the Corvettes had refueled, the Carrera driven by Milt Minter took the lead but had to retire later after the car broke a transmission. Heinz took back the lead after Gregg refueled but he had to pit for the second time. He finally managed to retain his second place as Michael Keyser had to stop for an unscheduled refueling splash.
The third race was a 500 Miler held at Pocono Raceway, a tri-oval meant for high-speed machinery. At the end, it was a well-deserved victory for Canadian Maurice Carter Chevrolet Camaro. He was co-driven by Tony de Lorenzo who beat the Porsche Carrera driven Michael Keyser-Steve Behr. Third was the Chevrolet Camaro driven by Gene Felton-Robert Hennig. First in GTU was a Porsche 911S driven by Bob Bergstrom-Jim Cook who managed to place 6th overall.
The second Daytona race was to be won by Gene Felton, who was never challenged in his Chevrolet Camaro.

Gene Felton driving his big block Chevrolet Camaro at Daytona
Photo courtesy Gene Felton

He managed to dominate the race, only letting two of the 66 laps to his competitors. His two pitstops were well scheduled and he finally won by a 10 second margin over Peter Gregg-Hurley Haywood who could not challenge the big V8. They would not make it three in a row! Third was Maurice Carter in another Camaro, just ahead of Michael Keyser and the Corvette driven by Wilbur Pickett-Bill Bean.
The next race was the Mid Ohio 6 Hours.

The Mid Ohio start

Copyright Mark Windecker

A quite competitive race as Michael Keyser-Bob Beasley led earlier in the race ahead of Ike Knupp- Allan Barker on a Corvette, Gene Felton-Hurley Haywood(who was entered but could not drive) and the Ford Capri driven by Horst Kwech-Harry Theodoracopoulos. After losing the Camaro with a blown engine, the Corvette experiencing refueling problems, it was a Capri-Carrera battle. The Capri seemed to have the edge over the Porsche, but, as it seemed to earn a well deserved victory, it experienced axle problems and it was Michael Keyser-Bob Beasley who finally took the chequered. Second was the well driven car of Ike Knupp-Allan Barker who overtook the Capri in the final stages of the race.
Next race was held at Lime Rock and 41 cars took the  start of the race.
A lot of close action was to be seen at the short Connecticut track and Keyser won the first heat ahead Gregg and Sam Posey in a Greenwood Corvette, then Warren Agor who had started from the pole. Peter Gregg won the second heat ahead of Warren Agor and Sam Posey.
In GTU, a new face was to be seen as Ludwig Heimrath won his class on a Porsche 911S. He finished ahead of Bob Bergstrom, who was beaten for the second time of the year in GTU, after Sebring.
Next race took place at the Road Atlanta race track and John Greenwood started from the pole. Greenwood took the lead but not for long as Peter Gregg wound up his way through the lead. Gene Harrington took the lead in front of Horst Kwech but Peter Gregg was not far away. Harrington was soon plagued by a series of pit stops and Kwech had to pit to have his suspension checked.
Peter Gregg had his victory on his track. Second was Horst Kwech who managed to keep his rank, third was Michael Keyser who was still leading the Championship points lead.
Next race at Indianapolis Raceway Park saw a new Peter Gregg victory : he ran solo for the 3 Hour event. At the start of the race, it was Warren Agor who took the lead but he had to pit after 4 laps, as a fuel connection got loose. He had to retire and John Greenwood took the lead, building a 21s lead until lap 30. Then he hit something on the track  and had to retire from the race. Peter Gregg then took the lead and was never to be caught by Michael Keyser-Tony Adamowicz and Harry Theodoracopoulos Ford Capri. 56 cars had taken the green flag!
Before the start of the Daytona Finale, Michael Keyser led again by a mere 1.5 and he had to place ahead Peter Gregg to win the Championship. At the start of the race, it was Warren Agor who was on the pole, but in the race, the scenario remained the same as he had to pit twice, one more time than the Porsche, and he finished second behind Peter Gregg, who clinched the Championship on that very race. Michael Keyser, whose car ran seemingly more slowly, had lost the Championship to "Peter Perfect", again on the last race.
New cars had to be seen in 1973 as Alfa Romeo Montreal or De Tomaso Panteras and one Mangusta was to make an occasional appearance on the IMSA circuit. They were a welcome addition to the traditional IMSA entry but they did not prove real contenders for the overall.

Lola T600 : modeling IMSA's future

At the end of the 1980 season, it seemed that the Porsche 935 Turbo would continue to dominate the Championship. John Bishop felt that if this situation was to remain unchanged, IMSA's attendance would probably go down reasonable rates and he could not afford to let it that way. An alternative to this situation was to allow a new category in the field : the GTPs were born. That would provide a challenge to the dominating Porsches.
The first car to meet the GTP regulations was the Lola T600, a car that Brian Redman had initiated from the beginning. The same Brian Redman convinced Eric Broadley, the father of Lola, to build the car. Starting from a T70 chassis clothed with a new bodywork, the car was adapted to the GTP rules, and fitted with the Chevrolet V8 6,0L engine developing 570hp. The car sported the latest aerodynamical effects and displayed a ground effect chassis supposed to stick the car to the track. Carl Haas, Lola US importer, was not quite convinced with the project, and he needed people to purchase the cars, so Brian, acting as a manager-salesman,  contacted Roy Woods and Ralph Cooke and together they formed Cooke-Woods Racing, who purchased the car. The small team had John Bright as crew chief, an expert mechanics who had helped develop the car and knew it inside out. The small team was located in Mountain View, California, in Bob Garretson's shop and the car was checked out after each race.
The Lola T600 Chevrolet (HU01) entered the 4th race of 1981 season, driven by Brian Redman. It was immediately a winning combination : the sleek design of the car as well as Brian Redman's world class driving being a real advantage over the Porsches. As it turned out, the car proved extremely reliable throughout the season, and eventually won the Championship!
At  the end of the season, Brian had won 5 races and finished 5 times at the second place. Brian Redman was the 1981 Champion and Porsche had been defeated for the first time since 1977. As it turned out later, the Cooke-Woods Racing organisation was dismantled and, in 1982, Roy Woods left the team, who became Cooke Racing, but without Brian Redman, and no more success. Two other cars had run in 1981 in the hands of Chris Cord and John Paul, with good results but no victory. Things changed in 1982 with one victory for John Paul Jr at Laguna Seca and four victories for Interscope Racing with Danny Ongais, Ted Field and Bill Whittington but they did not win the Championship as John Paul proved his driving expertise driving both the Lola and a couple of Porsche 935 Turbos to become the 1982 Champion. In 1983, Ted Field was entered as the potential IMSA winner and the car was to be fitted with a Chevrolet V6 3,4L Turbo engine, given for 700hp. Consistent development problems plagued the car and the story came abruptly to an end when Ted Field, the team owner, slammed the door and quit the racing scene at Miami, leaving Danny Ongais alone with the car! Different cars were entered in 1983 but with little success, Cooke Racing, Conte Racing and Kalagian Racing tried to do as well as Brian Redman in 1981 but new GTP cars had appeared then and Lolas just seemed to be outdated only two years after their race debut. Cars were to be seen until 1986 but made only for the fields. However, this car had opened a new era in IMSA racing and, from this time, GTPs went to dominate the series for long years. IMSA had stepped into a new and bright future, a successful one.

Results for 1981 season

Car #7 driven by Brian Redman(HU01)

                 

Laguna Seca	1
Lime Rock	1
Mid Ohio	1
Sears Point	2
Portland	1
Mosport	2	co-driving with Eppie Wietzes
Road America	2	co-driving with Sam Posey
Road Atlanta	1
Pocono	2	co-driving with Ralph Cooke
Daytona Finale	2

Car #19 driven by Chris Cord(HU05)

              

Mosport	29	co-driving with Jim Adams
Road America	3	co-driving with Jim Adams
Pocono	4	co-driving with Jim Adams

Car #8 driven by John Paul Jr(HU04)

 

Sears Point	3
Road Atlanta	14