The 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) was the 47th season of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GT Championship that traces its lineage to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship. It was the fourth season of the United SportsCar Championship and second under the name as the IMSA SportsCar Championship. It began on 28 January with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and ended on 7 October with the Petit Le Mans.

Classes The class structure remained largely unchanged from 2016, with the major change coming in Daytona Prototype international (DPi) which replaced Daytona Prototype (DP) machinery.

Prototype (P) (DPi and LMP2) Prototype Challenge (PC) GT Le Mans (GTLM) GT Daytona (GTD)

Schedule

Race schedule

The 2017 schedule was released on 5 August 2016 and featured twelve rounds.

Race Length Classes Circuit Location Date 1 Rolex 24 at Daytona 24 hours All Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida January 28–29 2 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring 12 hours All Sebring International Raceway Sebring, Florida March 18 3 BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach 1 hour 40 minutes P, GTLM, GTD Long Beach Street Circuit Long Beach, California April 8 4 Advance Auto Parts Sportscar Showdown 2 hours 40 minutes All Circuit of the Americas Austin, Texas May 6 5 Chevrolet Sports Car Classic 1 hour 40 minutes P, PC, GTD The Raceway on Belle Isle Detroit, Michigan June 3 6 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen 6 hours All Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen, New York July 2 7 Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix 2 hours 40 minutes All Canadian Tire Motorsport Park Bowmanville, Ontario July 9 8 Northeast Grand Prix 2 hours 40 minutes GTLM, GTD Lime Rock Park Lakeville, Connecticut July 22 9 Continental Tire Road Race Showcase 2 hours 40 minutes All Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 6 10 Michelin GT Challenge at VIR 2 hours 40 minutes GTLM, GTD Virginia International Raceway Alton, Virginia August 27 11 America's Tire 250 2 hours 40 minutes P, GTLM, GTD Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California September 24 12 Motul Petit Le Mans 10 hours All Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia October 7

Calendar changes

The dates of the Laguna Seca and Circuit of the Americas rounds were exchanged. PC was removed from the lineup at the Long Beach, Lime Rock and Laguna Seca rounds in what was intended to be the final season for the class. GTD was added to the lineup at Long Beach.

Television Coverage

The first 3 hours of the 24 Hours of Daytona and Long Beach were broadcast on Fox. The other rounds were all broadcast on Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, and Fox Sports GO.

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 alter certain body panels designed to reflect the automaker's design language, and run their own engines. Mazda (Riley Technologies), Cadillac (Dallara), and Nissan (Onroak Automotive) run chassis from the respective constructors featuring manufacturer-specific bodywork. Team Chassis Engine Drivers Rounds Tequila Patrón ESM Nissan Onroak DPi Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6 2 Ryan Dalziel All Scott Sharp All Pipo Derani 1–2, 6 Brendon Hartley 1, 12 22 Johannes van Overbeek All Ed Brown 1–5 Bruno Senna 1–2, 6, 12 Brendon Hartley 1–2 Pipo Derani 7, 9, 11–12 Mustang Sampling Racing Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac LT4 6.2 L V8 5 João Barbosa All Christian Fittipaldi All Filipe Albuquerque 1–2, 6, 12 31 Dane Cameron All Eric Curran All Mike Conway 1–2, 12 Seb Morris 1 Filipe Albuquerque 6 Team Penske Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 6 Hélio Castroneves 12 Juan Pablo Montoya 12 Simon Pagenaud 12 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac LT4 6.2 L V8 10 Jordan Taylor All Ricky Taylor All Max Angelelli 1 Jeff Gordon 1 Alex Lynn 2 Ryan Hunter-Reay 12 Rebellion Racing Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 13 Nick Heidfeld 1–2, 12 Sébastien Buemi 1–2 Neel Jani 1–2 Stéphane Sarrazin 1 Mathias Beche 12 Gustavo Menezes 12 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Ligier JS P217 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 52 Tom Kimber-Smith 1–3 José Gutiérrez 1–2, 4, 6, 9, 11–12 Mike Guasch 1–2 R. C. Enerson 1 Will Owen 3 Marco Bonanomi 4 Kenton Koch 5 Ryan Lewis 5 Olivier Pla 6, 9, 11–12 Nicholas Boulle 7 David Ostella 7 Julien Canal 12 Mazda Motorsports Mazda RT24-P Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 55 Jonathan Bomarito 1–7 Tristan Nunez 1–7 Spencer Pigot 1–2, 6 70 Tom Long 1–7 Joel Miller 1–7 James Hinchcliffe 1 Marino Franchitti 2, 6 DragonSpeed Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 81 Loïc Duval 1 Ben Hanley 1 Henrik Hedman 1 Nicolas Lapierre 1 JDC-Miller MotorSports Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 85 Mikhail Goikhberg All Stephen Simpson All Chris Miller 1–2, 6, 12 Mathias Beche 1 VisitFlorida Racing Riley Mk. 30 Ligier JS P217 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 90 Marc Goossens 1–2, 4–12 Renger van der Zande 1–2, 4–12 René Rast 1–2 Jonathan Bomarito 12

Prototype Challenge All entries use an Oreca FLM09 chassis powered by a LS3 6.2 L V8 engine. Team Drivers Rounds Starworks Motorsport 8 Chris Cumming 1 John Falb 1 Ben Keating 1 Remo Ruscitti 1 Robert Wickens 1 Garett Grist 2 Max Hanratty 2 Sean Rayhall 2 88 Conor Daly 1 James Dayson 1 Scott Mayer 1 Alex Popow 1 Sean Rayhall 1 BAR1 Motorsports 20 Don Yount All Buddy Rice 1–2, 4, 6, 9, 12 Mark Kvamme 1–2 Chapman Ducote 1 Gustavo Yacamán 1 Daniel Burkett 2, 6, 12 Ryan Lewis 5, 7 26 David Cheng 1 Trent Hindman 1 Adam Merzon 1 Johnny Mowlem 1 Tom Papadopoulos 1 Gustavo Yacamán 2, 6, 9 Marc Drumwright 2 Chapman Ducote 2 Colin Thompson 2 Nicholas Boulle 4 Stefan Wilson 4 Tomy Drissi 5, 12 Bruno Junqueira 5 Brian Alder 6 Derek Jones 6 Garett Grist 7, 12 James Vance 7 Mark Kvamme 9 John Falb 12 Performance Tech Motorsports 38 James French All Patricio O'Ward All Kyle Masson 1–2, 6, 12 Nicholas Boulle 1

GT Le Mans Team Chassis Engine Drivers Rounds Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R Chevrolet LT5.5R 5.5 L V8 3 Antonio García All Jan Magnussen All Mike Rockenfeller 1–2, 12 4 Oliver Gavin All Tommy Milner All Marcel Fässler 1–2, 12 BMW Team RLL BMW M6 GTLM BMW S63 4.4 L Turbo V8 19 Bill Auberlen 1 Augusto Farfus 1 Alexander Sims 1 Bruno Spengler 1 24 John Edwards All Martin Tomczyk All Nick Catsburg 1–2, 12 Kuno Wittmer 1 25 Bill Auberlen 2–4, 6–12 Alexander Sims 2–4, 6–12 Kuno Wittmer 2, 12 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE Ferrari F154CB 4.0 L Turbo V8 62 Giancarlo Fisichella 1–4, 10–12 Toni Vilander 1–4, 10–12 James Calado 1–2 Alessandro Pier Guidi 12 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford GT Ford EcoBoost D35 3.5 L Turbo V6 66 Joey Hand All Dirk Müller All Sébastien Bourdais 1–2, 12 67 Ryan Briscoe All Richard Westbrook All Scott Dixon 1–2, 12 68 Billy Johnson 1–2 Stefan Mücke 1–2 Olivier Pla 1–2 69 Tony Kanaan 1 Andy Priaulx 1 Harry Tincknell 1 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR Porsche M97/80 4.0 L Flat-6 911 Patrick Pilet All Dirk Werner All Frédéric Makowiecki 1–2 Nick Tandy 12 912 Laurens Vanthoor All Kévin Estre 1–3 Richard Lietz 1–2 Wolf Henzler 4 Gianmaria Bruni 6–12 Earl Bamber 12

GT Daytona Team Chassis Engine Drivers Rounds GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini DFJ 5.2 L V10 11 Mirko Bortolotti 1–2 Christian Engelhart 1–2 Rolf Ineichen 1–2 Ezequiel Pérez Companc 1 Richard Antinucci 2 61 Michele Beretta 1 Christian Engelhart 1 Rolf Ineichen 1 Roberto Pampanini 1 Miloš Pavlović 1 3GT Racing Lexus RC F GT3 Lexus 2UR-GSE 5.4 L V8 14 Sage Karam All Scott Pruett 1–8 Ian James 1–2, 12 Gustavo Menezes 1 Austin Cindric 6 Robert Alon 9–12 15 Jack Hawksworth All Robert Alon 1–8 Austin Cindric 1–2, 6, 12 Dominik Farnbacher 1 Scott Pruett 9–12 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini DFJ 5.2 L V10 16 Corey Lewis All Jeroen Mul All Brett Sandberg 1–2, 6, 12 Kaz Grala 1 DAC Motorsports Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini DFJ 5.2 L V10 18 Emmanuel Anassis 1–2 Brandon Gdovic 1–2 Anthony Massari 1–2 Zachary Claman DeMelo 1 Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini DFJ 5.2 L V10 21 Marc Basseng 1 Franz Konrad 1 Marco Mapelli 1 Luca Stolz 1 Lance Willsey 1 Alex Job Racing Audi R8 LMS Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 23 Townsend Bell 1–2, 6, 8, 12 Bill Sweedler 1–2, 6, 8, 12 Frankie Montecalvo 1–2, 6, 12 Pierre Kaffer 1 Dream Racing Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini DFJ 5.2 L V10 27 Paolo Ruberti 1–2, 6 Cédric Sbirrazzuoli 1–2, 6 Lawrence DeGeorge 1–2 Raffaele Giammaria 1 Luca Persiani 1 Alegra Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 28 Daniel Morad All Michael Christensen 1–3, 6, 12 Michael de Quesada 1–2, 6–7, 9, 12 Carlos de Quesada 1 Jesse Lazare 1 Spencer Pumpelly 2 Mathieu Jaminet 4–5 Patrick Long 8, 10–11 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi R8 LMS Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 29 Connor De Phillippi 1–2, 12 Christopher Mies 1–2, 12 Jules Gounon 1–2 Jeffrey Schmidt 1 Sheldon van der Linde 12 Riley Motorsports - Team AMG Riley Motorsports - WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 33 Jeroen Bleekemolen All Ben Keating 1–9, 11–12 Mario Farnbacher 1–2, 6, 12 Adam Christodoulou 1 Trent Hindman 10 50 Gunnar Jeannette 1–8 Cooper MacNeil 1–8 Shane van Gisbergen 1–2, 6 Thomas Jäger 1 Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 Gunnar Jeannette 9–12 Cooper MacNeil 9–12 Patrick Long 12 EBIMOTORS Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini DFJ 5.2 L V10 46 Fabio Babini 1–2 Emanuele Busnelli 1–2 Emmanuel Collard 1–2 François Perrodo 1 Michele Beretta 2 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Lamborghini DFJ 5.2 L V10 48 Bryan Sellers All Madison Snow All Dion von Moltke 1–2 Andrea Caldarelli 1 Bryce Miller 1 Trent Hindman 12 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GT3 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 51 Peter Mann 1 Rino Mastronardi 1 Maurizio Mediani 1 Alessandro Pier Guidi 1 Davide Rigon 1 CORE Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 54 Jon Bennett All Colin Braun All Niclas Jönsson 1–2, 6, 12 Patrick Long 1 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS Audi DAR 5.2 L V10 57 Lawson Aschenbach All Andrew Davis All Matt Bell 1–2, 12 Robin Liddell 1 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 59 Matteo Cairoli 1 Sven Müller 1 Harald Proczyk 1 Reinhold Renger 1 Steve Smith 1 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 63 Alessandro Balzan All Christina Nielsen All Matteo Cressoni 1–2, 6, 12 Sam Bird 1 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 73 Patrick Lindsey All Jörg Bergmeister 1–5, 7–12 Matt McMurry 1–2, 6, 12 Norbert Siedler 1 Jan Heylen 2 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 75 Tristan Vautier All Boris Said 1–3, 6 Kenny Habul 1–2, 4–7, 9–12 Maro Engel 1 Paul Morris 1 Dion von Moltke 8, 12 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2 L V8 80 Dan Knox 4, 9–11 Mike Skeen 4, 9–11 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3 Acura JNC1 3.5 L Turbo V6 86 Oswaldo Negri Jr. All Jeff Segal All Tom Dyer 1–2, 12 Ryan Hunter-Reay 1 93 Andy Lally All Katherine Legge All Mark Wilkins 1–2, 12 Graham Rahal 1 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 BMW S63 4.4 L Turbo V8 96 Jens Klingmann All Justin Marks 1–2, 6, 12 Jesse Krohn 1–2, 8–12 Maxime Martin 1 Bret Curtis 3–5, 7 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 Aston Martin AM11 6.0 L V12 98 Paul Dalla Lana 1 Pedro Lamy 1 Mathias Lauda 1 Marco Sørensen 1 TRG Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 Aston Martin AM11 6.0 L V12 007 Brandon Davis 8 James Davison 8 Porsche 911 GT3 R Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 991 Wolf Henzler 1, 3 Jan Heylen 1, 3 Santiago Creel 1 Mike Hedlund 1 Tim Pappas 1 Parker Chase 4 Harry Gottsacker 4

Notes

Race results Bold indicates overall winner.