1986 Watkins Glen

The 1986 IMSA series consisted of eighteen race weekends. There were four categories of cars – GTP, GTP Light, GTO and GTU. With the exception of six events the Prototype cars competed together while there was a separate event for the GT category. The exception to this was the Daytona finale which did not include GTU. During this season, Watkins Glen hosted two events - the first was in July. It was titled the ‘Camel Continental’ which included all four classes and was 500-miles in length.

There was added incentive for teams to win this event as series sponsor R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and its Camel brand were offering a record purse of $75,000 to the winner. If the overall winner came from the Lights, GTO or GTU ranks they would earn $80,000. This prize money did not include any manufacturer’s contingency awards.

Derek Bell and Al Holbert drove the Lowenbrau Porsche 962 to victory. Their progress was hampered when Bell had to fight brake problems and oppressive heat during the last 100-miles. The team won the opening round at Daytona but Holbert was not on form again until mid-season – he would go on to win the 1986 GTP class title.

Finishing second just 9.377-seconds behind the winners were Oscar Larrauri and Gianpiero Moretti. The duo was also in a Porsche 962 which was prepared by Brun Motorsport. Brun Motorsport was founded in 1983 by Walter Brun and the team was best known for winning the 1986 World Sportscar Championship. The second place at Watkins Glen was the team's best result during the 1986 IMSA season.

GM entered the IMSA series with cars built by Lola - T86/10 models. The Chevrolet Corvette GTP entered by Hendrick Motorsports qualified on the pole. The car was driven by South African Sarel van der Merwe and Doc Bundy. The team led early but dropped down the standings finishing fifteenth overall and tenth in the GTP class. During the season, the team had mixed results but won the Road Atlanta and Palm Beach rounds.

Representing General Motors in the GTO division was Jack Baldwin in the Peerless Chevrolet Camaro. For the 500-mile race at Watkins Glen, he shared driving duties with NASCAR racer Geoff Bodine. They qualified second, behind Willy T. Ribbs, and won their class finishing eleventh overall.

Phil Conte entered the No. 46 Buick Hawk which was March 85G powered by a turbocharged Buick V6 motor. With engine preparation by McLaren, the team became the Buick factory effort in the IMSA series. The lead driver was Whitney Ganz and in longer events he would share the car with Jim Crawford. At Watkins Glen the pair started eighth and finished third in GTP.

Willy T. Ribbs was entered in the Brooks Fryberger Chevrolet Camaro and was scheduled to share the car with Wally Dallenbach. Ribbs was the fastest qualifier in GTO, however, upon exiting the pit-lane during the morning warm-up he left a trail of oil. Perhaps this incident contributed to the car retiring after only 15-laps.

Huffaker Racing, a successful automotive engineering company from northern California entered two GTU Pontiac Fieros during the 1986 season. The primary drivers were Terry Visger and Bob Earl. However, they shared driving duties for the longer races. The No. 50 car was shared by Newsum and Woodner at Watkins Glen where they failed to finish. The Visger/Earl car finished seventh in GTU.

The Jim Busby - B.F. Goodrich team entered two Porsche 962s. At Watkins Glen the No. 67 car was shared by Jim Busby and John Morton and the duo of Jochen Mass and Darren Brassfield drove the No. 68 car. The Mass/Brassfield car finished 5-laps behind the winner but seventh overall and in GTP.

BMW entered two March 86Gs which were powered by 2-litre turbocharged engines. The duo of Davy Jones and John Andretti drove the No. 18 car and finished fifth at the June event. The pair would return in September for the Watkins Glen 500 Kilometres and score a victory. The second car was driven by veterans John Watson and David Hobbs. At the end of the season, BMW withdrew from the series.

The GTO Toyota Celicas effort was a collaboration between Indy Car designer Roman Slobodinsky and Dan Gurney’s All American Racers. In 1983, Gurney entered the Toyotas in the GTU class and moved up to GTO in 1986. The Celicas were converted from front to rear wheel drive and powered by 2.0-liter turbocharged engines. At Watkins Glen, the Aase/Cord Celica finished ninth in GTO.

Group 44’s Jaguar XJR-7 was designed by Lee Dykstra and powered by a 6.0-liter V12 engine producing over 600-horsepower. Group 44 was renowned for their immaculate car preparation and the XJR-7 was no exception. Bob Tullius and Chip Robinson finished ninth at Watkins Glen but won the season finale at Daytona.

The Porsche 962 was designed to meet IMSA race regulations. The 956 model failed to comply because the pedal box was ahead of the front axle which compromised driver safety. The 962 was the first Porsche to employ a monocoque chassis with ground effects. It was powered by a 2.6-liter DOHC 6-cylinder engine which produced approximately 620-horsepower.

The BMW GTP cars were fitted with an M12/14 Formula 1 engine. It was an inline 4-cylinder DOHC with 4-valves per cylinder motor. These 2-liter turbocharged engines were reputed to have made over 800-horsepower.

Morrison-Cook entered two Corvettes in the GTO division. Unlike their competitors, these cars were not constructed using the latest tube-frame technology. They maintained the original chassis, bodywork and suspension as they served as test beds for Chevrolet Engineering. The No. 88 shared by Ron Grable, John Heinricy and Bobby Carradine finished a very credible fourth in the GTO class.

The No. 86 Bayside Porsche 962 was driven by Bob Wollek. The sister car was driven by, team owner, Bruce Leven, Paulo Barilla and Bill Adam. In 1986, Wollek not only competed in the IMSA series but was also a factory Porsche driver competing in international endurance events. He started fifth at Watkins Glen but was the first GTP car to retire after completing only nineteen laps.

Scott Pruett and former Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal winner Bruce Jenner shared the 7-Eleven Roush Racing Ford Mustang. Pruett was a successful go-kart racer who had made the transition to cars in 1984 - debuting in a GTU Mazda. But by midway through the following season, he was hired by Jack Roush. Pruett and Jenner finished second in GTO at Watkins Glen.

POS.	CLASS	DRIVERS	CAR	ENTRANT	LAPS	RETIREMENTS
1	GTP	Holbert / Bell	Porsche 962	Holbert Racing	148	-
2	GTP	Larrauri / Moretti	Porsche 962	Brun Motorsports	147	-
3	GTP	Ganz / Crawford	March 85G	Conte Racing	146	-
4	GTP	Akin / Cobb / Weaver	Porsche 962	Bob Akin Motor Racing	145	-
5	GTP	Jones / Andretti	BMW GTP	BMW North America	144	-
6	GTP	Watson / Hobbs	BMW GTP	BMW North America	143	-
7	GTP	Mass / Brassfield	Porsche 962	BF Goodrich	143	-
8	GTP	Adams / Hotchkis	Porsche 962	Hotchkis Racing	141	-
9	GTP	Tullius / Robinson	Jaguar XJR-7	Group 44	138	-
10	Lights	Morgan / Blackburn	Tiga GT286	Morgan Performance	135	-
11	GTO	Baldwin / Bodine	Chevrolet Camaro	Peerless Racing	135	-
12	GTO	Jenner / Pruett	Ford Mustang	Roush Racing	134	-
13	Lights	Bellm / Spice	Spice SE86CL	Spice Engineering	134	-
14	GTO	Vincentz / Bauer	Porsche 930	Electrodyne Performance	133	-
15	GTP	van der Merwe / Bundy	Chevrolet Corvette GTP	Hendrick Motorsports	133	-
16	Lights	Downing / Maffucci	Argo JM19	Certified Brakes	131	-
17	Lights	Katz / Alsup / Phillips	Tiga GT286	AMF Racing	131	-
18	GTP	Leven / Adam / Barilla	Porsche 962	Bridgestone-Bayside	129	-
19	GTU	Mandeville / Smith	Mazda RX-7	Mandeville Auto Tech	128	-
20	GTO	Grable / Heinricy / Carradine	Chevrolet Corvette	Morrison-Cook Motorsports	126	-
21	GTU	Kendall / Reed	Mazda RX-7	Clayton Cunningham Racing	126	-
22	Lights	Marsh / Pawley / Marsh	Tiga GT286	Mid-O Racing	125	-
23	Lights	Meyer / Rothbarth	Royale RP40	Mike Meyer Racing	125	-
24	GTO	Hester / Hassey	Ford Mustang	Raintree Corporation	124	-
25	Lights	Finotto / Melgrati / Facetti	Alba AR6	Gaston Andrey Racing	123	-
26	GTO	Fonseca / Valverde	Porsche 934	Latino Racing	122	-
27	GTU	Greer / Mees	Mazda RX-7	Dick Greer Racing	119	-
28	GTU	Silberberger / Krueger	Mazda RX-7	Tryolean Racing	119	-
29	GTO	Aase / Cord	Toyota Celica Turbo	All American Racers	115	-
30	GTU	Kryder / Ritz / Whelan	Nissan 280ZX	Kryder Racing	111	-
31	GTU	Bacon / Argetsinger	Mazda RX-7	Al Bacon Racing	111	-
32	GTU	Earl / Visger	Pontiac Fiero	Huffaker Engineering	109	-
33	GTO	Walker / Northam	Chevrolet Corvette	Greg Walker Racing	107	-
34	GTU	Johnson / Shaw	Mazda RX-7	Team Highball	102	-
35	GTU	Hendricks / Jones	Porsche 914-6	Dynamic Air Conditioning	97	-
36	Lights	Loring / Honegger	Denali	Z & W Enterprises	97	Accident
37	GTO	Kimbrough / Gennone	Chevrolet Camaro	OMR Engines	92	Accident
38	GTP	Busby / Morton	Porsche 962	BF Goodrich	88	Engine
39	GTO	Taylor / Zwiren / Ramsey	Pontiac Firebird	Bob's Speed Products	75	-
40	Lights	Coppelli / Andrey	Alba AR2	Gaston Andrey Racing	74	Accident
41	GTU	Woodner / Newsum	Pontiac Fiero	Huffaker Engineering	66	Accident
42	Lights	Fowells / Miller	Argo JM19	MSB Racing	43	Accident
43	GTP	Redman / Haywood	Jaguar XJR-7	Group 44	40	Engine
44	GTO	Riggins / Carter	Pontiac Firebird	Dingman Brothers Racing	39	Engine
45	Lights	Bell / Kline	Royale RP40	AT&T	35	Engine
46	GTO	Petery / Hotchkis, Jr.	Chevrolet Camaro	Van Every Racing	29	Engine
47	GTP	Drake Olson	Porsche 962	Dyson Racing	25	Engine
48	Lights	Steve Durst	Tiga GT285	Ball Bros Racing	22	Oil leak
49	GTO	Benny Parsons	Oldsmobile Calais	Tex Racing	21	Engine
50	GTP	Bob Wollek	Porsche 962	Bridgestone-Bayside	19	Steering
51	GTO	Willy T. Ribbs	Chevrolet Camaro	Brooks Racing	15	Drive shaft
52	GTO	Ash Tisdelle	Chevrolet Camaro	Van Every Racing	13	Engine

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