1982 GTP facts

This new season was to provide a new regain in interest.

John Paul Jr was the season new star : he won nine races out of eighteen. He was well served by a stable of fast machinery. It consisted of a Porsche 935JLP3. a tubeframe JLP4 and a brand new Lola T600 Chevrolet. His father won the IMSA Camel GT Endurance Championship.

John Fitzpatrick was less triumphant in 1982, and he had trouble sorting out his new Porsche 935K4. However, he could garner four wins.

Ted Field and Danny Ongais had a pair of Lola T600 Chevrolets, and they took three wins.

Zakspeed USA had brought a pair of Ford Mustang TCs for Klaus Ludwig, Kevin Cogan and Rick Mears. Klaus Ludwig took one win at Sears Point.

Bob Tullius entered a Jaguar XJR5 powered by a V12 engine 5,3L. The car was way too young to be a valuable competitor. But it added a welcome diversity.

Dave Cowart and Kenper Miller had installed the 3,5 L BMW engine in a March 82G chassis. The car proved reliable but lacked power to be a real threat. Marty Hinze and Randy Lanier had a March 82G Chevrolet and they took a couple of top three places.

The Grid S1 Plaza was an interesting entry, too, but it was also underpowered. Emilio de Villota and Fred Stiff were the drivers.

Bill Koll and Skeeter McKitterick ran a very unusual Rondeau M382 Chevrolet, but with little success.

Many Porsche 935s were to be entered, but Bob Akin's radical car was the most weird of them, with a Lola nose fitted to a Porsche chassis.

1982 GTO facts

The GTO class was to bring the Electramotive team a class title. It was a surprise win, as the car was suited to the short distance races. Don Devendorf and Tony Adamowicz had six wins in their Datsun 280ZX Tc.

The team had to fight off a challenge from the T and R Racing team, which fielded a Porsche Carrera RSR, a Chevrolet Corvette and a Ford Mustang. The Corvette was a Greenwood chassis and the boss was as fast as ever. The two of them had one win.

Chet Vincentz and Wayne Baker had a Porsche 934, which was a former 935, converted back to GTO specs. They took two wins out of seven races entered. Dennis Aase took an early win at Road Atlanta in Chuck Kendall's BMW M1.

The new Pontiac Firebird was to bring a great deal of promise, and optimistic Gordy Oftedahl entered a pair of them throughout the season. Bob Raub and Chris Gleason enjoyed one win at Road America.

Billy Hagan and Gene Felton had a new Chevrolet Camaro powered by a V8 5,4L prepped by Dennis Frings. They won two races. The other winners were Diego Febles, Tato Ferrer and Chiqui Soldevilla who earned a reliability victory at Sebring. Mazdaspeed had brought a factory effort at Daytona and won with a trio of Japanese drivers.

1982 GTU facts

The GTU class would see a season long battle between the Mazda teams. While Jim Downing took the title, the latter took only three wins out of the nineteen races entered. He edged Roger Mandeville and Joe Varde for the points chase.

The Mazda domination was not as obvious during the season, as a strong challenge from Datsun was brought by Logan Blackburn. He shared his drives with George Alderman and won five of the twelve races he entered. He would probably have won, had he entered more races.

Kent Racing had a pair of new generation Toyota Celicas, which were beautifully turned out, but they were slightly underpowered. Lee Mueller, Kathy Rude, Rick Knoop and Ron Grable posted a string of consistent finishes, though. Kent Racing would lose the Toyota deal to Dan Gurney's AAR team for the next season.