2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship

The 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship was the 51st racing season sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association which traces its lineage back to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship. This was also the eighth United SportsCar Championship season and sixth under the IMSA SportsCar Championship name. The series began on January 30 with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and ended on November 13 with the Petit Le Mans after 12 races.

Classes

For the 2021 season, a new class is set to join the class hierarchy: Le Mans Prototype 3, in an attempt to bolster the number of entries across each race. It is a new addition to the structure of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, having previously been the main class in one of the championships' feeder series, the IMSA Prototype Challenge.

Rule changes

Sporting regulations

On September 9, 2020, IMSA announced a revamp of their points system. For the 2021 season onward, the existing points system would be used for the results of qualifying, with the same points system being multiplied by 10 for the main race. In addition, the existing amateur-based classes would have a revised qualifying structure, with the session being split into two halves, with both halves requiring a different driver and set of tires to be used for qualifying. This format would be applied to the incoming LMP3 class as well.

Schedule

The provisional schedule was released on September 9, 2020, and features 12 rounds. The schedule was pending, however, because of COVID-19 regulations that may still be in effect.
On December 3, 2020, IMSA announced the addition of the "Motul Pole Award 100", a qualifying race run in conjunction with the "Roar Before the Rolex 24" preseason test. The 100-minute event awards qualifying points and sets the starting order for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Two drivers must compete in each car, however points are awarded to all drivers on the entry list for each car. This effectively made participation in the Roar Before the 24 test mandatory for all teams planning to race in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
On December 17, 2020, IMSA announced an adjustment to the schedule due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, shifting the "West Coast Swing" rounds at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and the Long Beach street circuit from April to September.
On March 4, 2021, IMSA announced a further change to the schedule, again because of the pandemic, because the 24 Heures du Mans was rescheduled to August 21–22. The round at VIR, which clashed with the rescheduled Le Mans date, was moved from August 22 to October 9, while the season-ending Petit Le Mans shifted from October 9 to November 13.
In a related change on March 25, 2021, the Detroit round, initially scheduled for June 5 with the classes not at Le Mans attending, was moved back after the date shift for Le Mans, with the round shifted to June 12 and becoming a single meeting with INDYCAR. The LMP2 class was dropped from the event, with a replacement venue to be announced at a later date. The GTLM class was added, but will not score points towards the championship.
In a fourth pandemic-related change on April 7, 2021, IMSA announced the cancellation of the event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park because of Canadian quarantine restrictions, replacing it with a standard-distance at Watkins Glen International on Friday, July 2, dubbed the "WeatherTech 240 at The Glen." The race will use the format intended for Mosport, with all classes competing; however the GTD class will score points only towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

	Race	Length	Classes	Circuit	Location	Date
	Motul Pole Award 100	1 hour, 40 minutes	All	Daytona International Speedway	Daytona Beach, Florida	January 24
1	Rolex 24 at Daytona	24 hours	All	Daytona International Speedway	Daytona Beach, Florida	January 30–31
2	Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring	12 hours	All	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, Florida	March 20
3	Acura Sports Car Challenge	2 hours, 40 minutes	DPi, LMP3, GTD	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio	May 16
4	Detroit Grand Prix	1 hour, 40 minutes	DPi, GTLM, GTD	The Raceway on Belle Isle	Detroit, Michigan	June 12
5	Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen	6 hours	All	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York	June 27
6	WeatherTech 240 at the Glen	2 hours, 40 minutes	All	Watkins Glen International	Watkins Glen, New York	July 2
7	Northeast Grand Prix	2 hours, 40 minutes	GTLM, GTD	Lime Rock Park	Lakeville, Connecticut	July 17
8	IMSA Sports Car Weekend	2 hours, 40 minutes	All	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 8
9	Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship	2 hours, 40 minutes	DPi, LMP2, GTLM, GTD	WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	September 12
10	Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach	1 hour, 40 minutes	DPi, GTLM, GTD	Long Beach Street Circuit	Long Beach, California	September 25
11	Michelin GT Challenge at VIR	2 hours, 40 minutes	GTLM, GTD	Virginia International Raceway	Alton, Virginia	October 9
12	Motul Petit Le Mans	10 hours	All	Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia	November 13

'''Notes:'''

Entries

Daytona Prototype international (DPi)

Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)

In accordance with the 2017 LMP2 regulations, all cars in the LMP2 class use the Gibson GK428 V8 engine.

Team

Chassis

Drivers

Rounds

Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3)

In accordance with the 2020 LMP3 regulations, all cars in the LMP3 class use the Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 engine.

Team

Chassis

Drivers

Rounds

GT Le Mans (GTLM)

GT Daytona (GTD)

Team

Chassis

Engine

Drivers

Rounds

Race results

Bold indicates overall winner.

Rnd

Circuit

DPi Winning Team

LMP2 Winning Team

LMP3 Winning Team

GTLM Winning Team

GTD Winning Team

Report

Rnd

Circuit

DPi Winning Drivers

LMP2 Winning Drivers

LMP3 Winning Drivers

GTLM Winning Drivers

GTD Winning Drivers

Report

Daytona

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Championship standings

Points systems

Championship points are awarded in each class at the finish of each event. Points are awarded based on finishing positions in qualifying and the race as shown in the chart below.

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30+
Qualifying	35	32	30	28	26	25	24	23	22	21	20	19	18	17	16	15	14	13	12	11	10	9	8	7	6	5	4	3	2	1
Race	350	320	300	280	260	250	240	230	220	210	200	190	180	170	160	150	140	130	120	110	100	90	80	70	60	50	40	30	20	10

; Drivers points
Points are awarded in each class at the finish of each event.
; Team points
Team points are calculated in exactly the same way as driver points, using the point distribution chart. Each car entered is considered its own "team" regardless if it is a single entry or part of a two-car team.
; Manufacturer points
There are also a number of manufacturer championships which utilize the same season-long point distribution chart. The manufacturer championships recognized by IMSA are as follows:
Each manufacturer receives finishing points for its highest finishing car in each class. The positions of subsequent finishing cars from the same manufacturer are not taken into consideration, and all other manufacturers move up in the order.
; Michelin Endurance Cup
The points system for the Michelin Endurance Cup is different from the normal points system. Points are awarded on a 5–4–3–2 basis for drivers, teams and manufacturers. The first finishing position at each interval earns five points, four points for second position, three points for third, with two points awarded for fourth and each subsequent finishing position.

Position	1	2	3	Other Classified
Race	5	4	3	2

At Rolex 24 at Daytona, points are awarded at 6 hours, 12 hours, 18 hours and at the finish. At the Sebring 12 hours, points are awarded at 4 hours, 8 hours and at the finish. At the Watkins Glen 6 hours, points are awarded at 3 hours and at the finish. At the Petit Le Mans, points are awarded at 4 hours, 8 hours and at the finish.
Like the season-long team championship, Michelin Endurance Cup team points are awarded for each car and drivers get points in any car that they drive, in which they are entered for points. The manufacturer points go to the highest placed car from that manufacturer, just like the season-long manufacturer championship.
For example: in any particular segment manufacturer A finishes 1st and 2nd and manufacturer B finishes 3rd. Manufacturer A only receives first-place points for that segment. Manufacturer B receives the second-place points.