Grand Prix of Miami (sports car racing)

Geoff Brabham in the Nissan NPT-91 about to take the checkered flag at the conclusion of the 1992 Miami Grand Prix on the Bicentennial Park circuit.

The Trans-Am Series, Rolex Sports Car Series, and American Le Mans Series have all held races in the Miami area.

IMSA

Promoter Ralph Sanchez brought auto racing to the Miami area in 1983. A course at Bayfront Park featured the IMSA GT Championship and the inaugural Grand Prix of Miami. A 1.85-mile (2.98 km) circuit was laid out on the park roads and Biscayne Boulevard. The 1983 was almost a failure both competitively and financially. A severe rainstorm turned the circuit into a quagmire. However, a year later, the event returned, and grew into a huge success.

IMSA races were held at the first Bayfront Circuit from 1983 until 1985. For 1986, the event moved to a new layout at nearby Bicentennial Park. The Bicentennial Park circuit was a semi-permanent layout which featured purpose-built roads in the park area, along with a temporary segment taking it out on Biscayne Boulevard near the entrance to the Port of Miami. The event continued though 1993, at which time IMSA itself was experiencing a period of decline and reorganization.

Season	Date	Race name	Overall Winner(s)	Car	Team
Bayfront Park
1983	February 27	Budweiser Grand Prix of Miami	Al Holbert	March 83G-Chevrolet	Holbert Racing
1984	February 26	Budweiser Grand Prix of Miami	Doc Bundy Brian Redman	Jaguar XJR-5	Group 44
1985	February 24	Löwenbräu Grand Prix of Miami	Al Holbert Derek Bell	Porsche 962	Holbert Racing
Bicentennial Park
1986	March 2	Löwenbräu Grand Prix of Miami	Bob Wollek Paolo Barilla	Porsche 962	Bayside Leven Racing
1987	March 1	Grand Prix of Miami	Elliott Forbes-Robinson Geoff Brabham	Nissan GTP ZX-T	Nissan Electramotive Engineering
1988	February 28	Grand Prix of Miami	Price Cobb James Weaver	Porsche 962	Dyson Racing
1989	March 5	Nissan Grand Prix of Miami	Geoff Brabham Chip Robinson	Nissan GTP ZX-T	Nissan Electromotive Engineering
1990	February 25	Nissan Grand Prix of Miami	Geoff Brabham Chip Robinson Bob Earl	Nissan GTP ZX-T	Nissan Electromotive Engineering
1991	April 7	Nissan Camel Grand Prix of Miami	Raul Boesel	Jaguar XJR-10	TWR
1992	February 22	Toyota Grand Prix of Miami	Geoff Brabham	Nissan NPT-91A	Nissan Performance Technologies
1993	February 21	Toyota Grand Prix of Miami	Juan Manuel Fangio II	Eagle Mk III-Toyota	All American Racers

• 1983: Race red-flagged after 27 laps due to heavy rain.^[1]

Trans Am

For 1994, the event at Bicentennial Park switched to the SCCA Trans-Am Series. This event lasted only one year. In 1995, the CART series utilized the course for one race, then the course was partially razed for the construction of American Airlines Arena.

Year	Date	Winning Driver	Car	Team
1994	March 5	Tommy Kendall	Ford Mustang	Roush Racing

American Le Mans Series

The ALMS and Champ Car held a joint race on a new circuit at Bayfront Park. The event took place in 2002 and 2003.

For 2002, a 1.387-mile (2.232 km) circuit utilized park roads and extended onto Biscayne Boulevard and 3rd and 4th Streets. In 2003, the layout was changed to drop the 3rd/4th Street loop and add a section on Biscayne Boulevard along the north end of the park.

Year	Date	Race name	Winner(s)	Entrant	Car
2002	October 5	Cadillac American Le Mans Challenge	Frank Biela Emanuele Pirro	Audi Sport North America	Audi R8
2003	September 27	Grand Prix Americas	Johnny Herbert JJ Lehto	ADT Champion Racing	Audi R8

Grand Am

The Rolex Sports Car Series held a race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Florida. The event was first held in 1998 as a part of the United States Road Racing Championship, and was revived in 2000 by Grand-Am. The race took place on the combined road course layout.

For 2002-2009, the race was held in conjunction with the Indycar race. In 2009, it moved to October and served as the Grand Am season finale. In 2010, the Indycar race was dropped, and the Grand Am race returned to the spring as a stand-alone event. It was not scheduled for 2013.

Year	Date	Race name	Overall Winner(s)	Team	Car
1998	May 17	Road Racing Extravaganza	Butch Leitzinger James Weaver	Dyson Racing	Riley & Scott Mk III-Ford
2000	April 30	Nextel 250	Mauro Baldi Didier Theys	Doran Lista Racing	Ferrari 333SP-Judd
2001	March 3	Nextel 250	Butch Leitzinger James Weaver	Dyson Racing	Riley & Scott Mk III-Ford
2002	March 2	Nextel 250	Mauro Baldi Didier Theys	Doran Lista Racing	Ferrari 333SP-Judd
2003	March 1	Nextel Grand Prix of Miami	J.C. France Hurley Haywood	Brumos Racing	Fabcar FDSC/03-Porsche
2004	February 28	Grand Prix of Miami	Milka Duno Andy Wallace	Howard Boss Motorsports	Crawford DP03-Pontiac
	September 19	Miami 250	Milka Duno Andy Wallace	Howard Boss Motorsports	Crawford DP03-Pontiac
2005	March 5	Grand Prix of Miami	Wayne Taylor Max Angelelli	SunTrust Racing	Riley Mk XI-Pontiac
2006	March 25	Linder-Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami	Mike Rockenfeller Patrick Long	Alex Job Racing	Crawford DP03-Porsche
2007	March 24	Linder-Komatsu Grand Prix of Miami	Bill Auberlen Matthew Alhadeff	Team Sigalsport	Riley Mk XI-BMW
2008	March 29	Gainsco Grand Prix of Miami	Scott Pruett Memo Rojas	Chip Ganassi Racing	Riley Mk XI-Lexus
2009	October 10	Gainsco Grand Prix of Miami	João Barbosa Hurley Haywood	Brumos Racing	Riley Mk XI-Porsche
2010	March 6	Grand Prix of Miami	Scott Pruett Memo Rojas	Chip Ganassi Racing	Riley Mk XX-BMW
2011	March 5	Grand Prix of Miami	Scott Pruett Memo Rojas	Chip Ganassi Racing	Riley Mk XX-BMW
2012	April 29	Grand Prix of Miami	Max Angelelli Ricky Taylor	SunTrust Racing	Corvette DP (Dallara DP01)

• The 1998 race was a part of the United States Road Racing Championship. No race was held in 1999.

See also

• Grand Prix of Miami (open wheel racing)

References

External links

• World Sports Racing Prototypes: IMSA archive
• Racing Sports Cars: Miami archive
• Ultimate Racing History: Miami archive
• Ultimate Racing History: Bayfront Park archive
• Racing Sports Cars: Homestead archive
• Ultimate Racing History: Homestead archive