page_title: International Motor Sports Association
section_title: GT era
hierarchical_section_title: International Motor Sports Association / History / GT era
caption_attribution_description: English: GTP sports cars, Lexington, Ohio
context_page_description: The International Motor Sports Association is a North American various auto 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 director of SCCA, and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France, Sr. of NASCAR. Beginning in 2014, IMSA is the sanctioning body of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the premier series resulting from the merger of Grand-Am Road Racing and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. IMSA is owned by NASCAR, as a division of the company.
context_section_description: By the end of the 1970 season, Bishop realized that single-seaters were not capable of attracting large crowds.  So he helped to establish the foundations of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) "J appendix" for World Championship for Makes sports cars. For the end of the 1970 season, he advertised a new championship for Group 2 and Group 4 cars with equity between competitors.
  The 1971 Grand Touring (GT) season introduced international endurance racing to North America. In 1972, Camel Cigarettes became the new sponsor of the GT series and the sedan series became known as the B.F. Goodrich Radial Challenge. In 1973, the 12 Hours of Sebring joined the IMSA GT Championship's schedule. Later that year, the organization gained recognition from the ACCUS and the FIA. IMSA was scheduled to sanction the 1974 24 Hours of Daytona, but the race was cancelled because of the oil crisis.
  Bishop did not believe that factory teams would stick with the new series, so he tried to ensure that the rules were not biased in their favor.  He was in favor of looking after privateer teams and helping them to become competitive.  As European cars began to dominate, a new series was formed in 1975 called All American Grand Touring (AAGT) to give equal latitude to foreign cars.  Turbocharged cars were permitted in 1977.
  In the same year, Bishop invited a pair of Jean Rondeau-built Inaltera's to compete as "special prototypes".  They became the foundation of the newly formed Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) category in 1981, with separate rules similar to Group C (Bishop was unhappy with the fuel consumption formula of the latter).
  In 1984, Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA), the organizers of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), attempted to unite the two organizations by scrapping the existing formula and adopting IMSA rules. This did not please Porsche, which was spending vast sums of money on engine development at the time.  Porsche responded by boycotting the 24 Hours of Le Mans of that year. FISA responded by abandoning the rule change for the time being.
  In 1987, FISA president Jean-Marie Balestre almost made a successful attempt to settle the dispute by announcing that turbochargers and fuel restrictions would be phased out by 1989 (excepting naturally aspirated engines below 3.5 liters).  This attempt failed, as did another in 1991, in which with chassis ballast penalties for turbocharged cars rendered them uncompetitive, except at Le Mans.
  IMSA continued to have success with its own Camel GT series.
caption: (front to rear) Tommy Kendall and Wayne Taylor (both driving an Intrepid RM-1) leads eventual winner Davy Jones (Jaguar XJR-16) and Chip Robinson, followed by Geoff Brabham (both in Nissan NPT-91), Raul Boesel (XJR-16) and James Weaver (Porsche 962) in the Nissan Grand Prix of Ohio, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, 1991[8][9]
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