1991 Mazda RX-7 GTO and 1985 Lola Corvette GTP win inaugural HSR IMSA Classic at Daytona
From the unmistakable shrill howl of the four-rotor 1991 Mazda RX-7-001 GTO to the thundering Chevrolet V-8 growl of a 1985 Lola Corvette GTP, the winners of the inaugural Historic Sportscar Racing IMSA Classic Saturday morning at the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona truly offered race fans and competitors alike a period-correct cross section of IMSA's vast motorsports heritage and competition history.
Tom Long drove the Mazda Heritage Collection 1991 Mazda RX-7 GTO to the overall and GT class victories while Scooter Gabel wheeled the Alegra Motorsports prepared Chevy-powered Lola Corvette GTP to second overall and first in the Prototype category to become the first winners of what is a new tradition at each year's IMSA season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Fitting right in, third overall Saturday went to Jim Norman in his mighty twin-turbocharged 1980 Interscope Porsche 935 K3, which brought the familiar Porsche flat-six turbo whistling roar to the race as an icon of IMSA's GTX era.
Announced just this past December, the HSR IMSA Classic is an invitational race that will annually showcase the sanctioning body's more than 50-year history at the Rolex 24. The inaugural IMSA Classic this past weekend featured cars from the first three decades of IMSA sports car racing from 1973 through 1993. A rotation of other significant IMSA eras will be showcased each year in future editions of the IMSA Classic.
Holding some Daytona history as noteworthy as the legendary machines they drove in the IMSA Classic, all three drivers on the overall podium have earned Rolex 24 podium finishes in their careers, including class wins for Gabel (2007 – GT) and Norman (2013 – GX) and a third-place GT podium showing for Long in 2011 in a Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8. Among Long's co-drivers that year was Dempsey Racing owner and driver Patrick Dempsey.
'It's always special to get to victory lane at Daytona, especially to do it with Mazda,' Long said. 'When I was on the podium here in the Rolex 24 it was with Mazda, and here we are again. It's just exhilarating to be back here again at Daytona. The Rolex 24 is such a special race to me. It is one all racers look forward to internationally all year, to come to Daytona here in January and kick-off the season. And now to do it on this beautiful sunny day in the morning in a Mazda RX-7 and make a little history winning the inaugural IMSA Classic, I couldn't think of a better way to start the Rolex 24 weekend.'
In addition to their respective Rolex 24 class victories, Norman and Gabel also co-drove the 935 K3 prepared by Alegra to a Run Group win just this past November in the 10th running of the HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour presented by Mission Foods.
'It's always amazing to make it to the podium at Daytona,' Gabel said. 'This a cool event, it's neat to be at the first one, and I am fortunate to have won the Rolex 24 and the Classic 24 a couple of times. So it's nice to be in victory lane again for another new race at Daytona. As time wears on, it will be really cool to say you did the first IMSA Classic because this event is going to get huge.'
A full three-day race event on Rolex 24 weekend, the IMSA Classic started with opening practice Thursday afternoon, qualifying Friday morning and a qualifying race that evening. The main event Saturday morning was a 30-minute IMSA Classic feature race that set the stage for the 63rd Rolex 24 as the last on-track activity prior to the twice-around-the-clock WeatherTech Championship season opener.
Next up on the 2025 HSR schedule is the opening event of this year's championship schedule with the first March running of the HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour Presented by Mission Foods, March 7-9, at Sebring International Raceway. The Classic 12 Hour is the debut event in the inaugural full season of the HSR Classic Endurance Championship Presented by Mission Foods, the first major endurance race championship in the U.S. for vintage and historic sports cars.
The Sebring weekend also includes the HSR Sebring Historics that begin 2025's full schedule of points paying sprint, endurance and feature race series championships.
Story originally appeared on Racer
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