IMSA Performance (racing under the name IMSA Performance Matmut) is a French

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primaril ...

team founded by

Raymond Narac Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund (disambiguation), Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic langu ...

. The team is based in

Saint-Jean-du-Cardonnay Saint-Jean-du-Cardonnay () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in northern France. Geography A village of forestry and farming situated in the Roumois, just northwest of the centre of Rouen Rouen (, ...

Upper Normandy Upper Normandy (french: Haute-Normandie, ; nrf, Ĥâote-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Upper and Lower Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. History It was created in 1956 from two de ...

. IMSA stands for Innovation Mécanique Service Automobile. They currently operate a

Porsche 911 GT3 The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

-RSR sports car in the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

and

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec ca ...

. They are currently a Porsche Factory Team

History

Beginnings

The team was founded in 2001 by

. The team did not start racing until 2004 when Narac entered the team into the Porsche Carrera Cup France and FFSA GT Championship. The team entered three cars in the FFSA GT Championship, all of the Porsche 996 GT3 Cup chassis' in the Cup1 class. Narac drove the first of the cars, No. 76 along with

Yannick David Yann David (born 15 April 1988 in Lyon, France) is a French professional rugby union centre and winger currently playing for Castres Olympique in the Top 14. He played two seasons for Bourgoin-Jallieu before joining the toulousians. He is 1.85m t ...

under the name IMSA - Challenge 86. The team had a successful début at

Nogaro Nogaro (; Gascon: ''Nogaròu'') is a commune in the Gers department, Southwestern France. It is the site of a distillery of Armagnac brandy. Geography The commune is bordered by six other communes: Caupenne-d'Armagnac to the northwest, Sa ...

winning in the Cup1 class. They finished third in the championship. In the Porsche Carrera Cup France, the team's only highlight was a win at

Magny-Cours Magny-Cours () is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. It is the home of the ''Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours'', a famous motor racing circuit (whose name is often abbreviated to 'Magny-Cours'). It formerly hosted the Formula On ...

2005 - 2006

After an impressive début in the FFSA GT Championship, IMSA Performance decided to enter one car into the GT2 class while the other two cars remain in Cup1. The team purchased a GT2-spec Porsche 996 GT3-RSR with Narac being joined by Sébastien Dumez for the season. The duo won twelve of the sixteen races and won the first of four drivers and teams championships. The team were also successful in the French Porsche Carrera Cup finishing fifth overall in the standings and winning in the B class with Raymond Narac. 2005 also saw the teams début at the infamous

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

. The FFSA duo of Narac and Dumez were joined by Porsche factory driver

Romain Dumas Romain Dumas (born 14 December 1977) is a French racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest r ...

for the 2005 edition using the same Porsche used in FFSA. The car finished in a respectable fourth place in the GT2 class and fifteenth overall. The team expanded once again in 2006 by entering into the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the f ...

. Narac entered a 996 along with veteran

Christophe Bouchut Christophe Bouchut (born 24 September 1966 in Voiron, Isère) is a French professional racing driver. He currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving for Dexwet-df1 Racing and Alex Caffi Motorsport in a part-time effort. He won ...

in the 2006 season finishing fifth in the standings. Narac and IMSA continued to dominate in the GT2 class in FFSA GT alongside

Michel Lecourt Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

taking a second consecutive championship. The team were looking forward to a GT2 victory at the 2006 24 Hours of Le Mans taking pole in the class, more than a second faster than second place starter

Scuderia Ecosse Scuderia means ''stable'' (noun) in the Italian language. It has entered English usage mainly through professional auto racing, in which many Italian teams incorporate the term in their names. "Scuderia" may refer to: * Scuderia Ferrari, a curren ...

. Unfortunately, an engine failure after 211 laps put an end to the teams hope of Le Mans victory. The trio of drivers were Narac, Dumas and Luca Riccitelli.

2007

2007 is arguably the team's most successful year. Despite Narac racing for

Oreca ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team AGS. Oreca has had success in many areas of motorsport ...

in the GT1 class in FFSA GT, the team still dominated the GT2 class thanks to the duo of Michel Lecourt and

Richard Balandras Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

using the new 997 GT3-RSR. Narac raced with the team in the

2007 Le Mans Series season The 2007 Le Mans Series was the fourth season of ACO's Le Mans Series. It was a series for Le Mans prototype and Grand Touring style cars broken into four classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2. It began on 15 April and ended on 10 November after six ...

and at

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

. The team didn't do particularly well in LMS, finishing seventh in both drivers' and teams' championships. Narac raced alongside Richard Lietz for the season. Narac and Lietz were joined by

Patrick Long __NOTOC__ Patrick Long (born July 28, 1981) is a professional racing driver, one of 18 Porsche factory racing drivers, and the only American to hold that distinction. Racing career Sports car racing Following a successful career in karts and th ...

for Le Mans and qualified second behind the

Ferrari F430 The Ferrari F430 (Type F131) is a sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 2004 until 2009 as a successor to the Ferrari 360. The car is an update to the 360 with exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled ...

of Scuderia Ecosse. The battle between Ferrari and Porsche was intense within the GT2 class but it was inevitably won by the IMSA Performance team. Finishing fifteenth overall despite a heavy downpour towards the end of the race, the car finished six laps ahead of the nearest GT2 competitor, the Ferrari of Risi Competizione/ Krohn Racing. The trio also raced at that year's

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their a ...

, a month after Le Mans. The team finished second in the GT2 class, four laps behind fellow Porsche competitors

BMS Scuderia Italia BMS Scuderia Italia SpA (sometimes referred to as simply Scuderia Italia) is an Italian auto racing team founded by Italian steel magnate and motorsports enthusiast Giuseppe Lucchini in 1983. Initially named Brixia Motor Sport (BMS) the team br ...

. Along with FFSA and Le Mans success, the team won the Teams' Championship in the Porsche Carrera Cup France.

2008

The team were looking for yet more success after a brilliant 2007 season. They took a fourth consecutive GT2 teams and drivers championship in FFSA GT with Narac winning the drivers title. The team once again performed poorly in

despite entering two cars. The highest placed car, No. 76, finished fifth in the drivers and teams championship.

was a different story as the IMSA Porsche 911 took GT2 pole for the second time in four entries, qualifying just under a second ahead of rival Porsche competitors Team Felbermayr-Proton. Narac, Lietz and Patrick Long were the three drivers at Le Mans in 2008. The race came to an early end on the 26th lap after Long had a collision with the rival No. 80 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche driven by

Seth Neiman Seth Neiman (born June 27, 1954) is an American computer industry businessperson and venture capitalist in California, and a professional racing driver. He is the team principal of Flying Lizard Motorsports, which participates in the United S ...

. The Le Mans trio also ran in the

but only managed seventh in class. The team did relatively well in the French Carrera Cup finishing third with

Renaud Derlot Renaud Pierre Manuel Séchan (), known as Renaud (), born 11 May 1952, is a French singer, songwriter and actor. His characteristically 'broken' voice makes for a very distinctive vocal style. Several of his songs are popular classics in F ...

2009

2009 saw the team race in the

series with three 997 GT3-RSR's in the "Super GT" class. The No. 16 car driven by Narac and

Patrick Pilet Patrick Pilet (born October 8, 1981) is a French professional racing driver. He has competed in major sports car endurance races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours of Spa, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. Born in ...

was by far the most successful car of the three winning six races and helping the team to second place in the teams championship behind Autorlando Sport. Narac and Pilet finished third in the drivers championship. Narac and Pilet also competed together in the

2009 Le Mans Series season The 2009 Le Mans Series was the sixth season of Automobile Club de l'Ouest's Le Mans Series. It was contested over five events between 5 April and 13 September 2009. Aston Martin Racing trio Jan Charouz, Tomáš Enge and Stefan Mücke finished e ...

but only managed sixth in drivers and teams championships. The team continued on with their

and

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

24 Hours' programmes. The team entered two cars for the Le Mans race, car No. 76 driven by Narac, Pilet and Patrick Long while the No. 70 car was shared with Team Felbermayr-Proton featuring

Horst Felbermayr, Sr. Horst may refer to: Science * Horst (geology), a raised fault block bounded by normal faults or graben People * Horst (given name) * Horst (surname) * ter Horst, Dutch surname * van der Horst, Dutch surname Places Settlements Germany * Horst, ...

and Junior joined by IMSA driver Michel Lecourt. The No. 70 car did not last long retiring with an engine failure completing just 102 laps. Car 76 retired with just three hours left with a gearbox problem. The team entered the Spa 24 Hours with just one car with the same line up as car No. 76 at Le Mans. Strangely, the team was forced to retire the car with three hours to go, like at Le Mans although this time it was due to an engine failure.

2010

2010 got off to a great start with the team winning the

Dubai 24 Hour The Dubai 24 Hour Race is both a sports car and touring car automobile endurance race held annually at the Dubai Autodrome. It was inaugurated in 2006. Entrants and participants As with all races in the 24H Series, promoted by Dutch promoter C ...

in January 2010. The trio of Narac, Pilet and German Marco Holzer won the race overall finishing three laps ahead of the second place car and five laps ahead of its nearest "A6" class rival. The team raced just one car in the 2010 International GT Open season rather than three with the partnership of Narac and Pilet picking up four wins in the Super GT class and finishing fourth in the drivers and teams standings.

was once again average, finishing fifth in the standings although they did win the

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and ...

GreenX Challenge for having the most fuel-efficient GT class car. They were not given an automatic invitation to Le Mans for 2011 however as they were not the overall winner. The familiar 24 Hours trio of Narac, Pilet and Long were once again reunited behind car No. 76 for the

2010 24 Hours of Le Mans The 78th 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''78e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a non-championship 24-hour automobile endurance race for Le Mans Prototype (LMP) and Grand Touring (GT) cars held from 12 to 13 June 2010 at the Circuit de la Sarthe, near L ...

. Qualifying fifth in the GT2 class, the car remained in fifth after 24 hours of racing. The trio were joined by Richard Lietz behind car No. 16 for the

24 Hours of Spa The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their ...

which also saw the team enter another car, No. 17 driven by

Jean-Philippe Belloc Jean-Philippe Belloc is a racecar driver from France. He was born in Montauban, on 24 April 1970. Belloc started racing in single-seaters and won the French Formula Renault Championship in 1992, at his second attempt, after four wins. Moving up ...

Christophe Bourret Christophe may refer to: People * Christophe (given name), list of people with this name * Christophe (singer) (1945–2020), French singer * Cristophe (hairstylist) (born 1958), Belgian hairstylist * Georges Colomb (1856–1945), French comic ...

and Pascal Gibon. Following the break-up of the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

, GT1-spec cars were not allowed race at the event so GT2 became the top class. The IMSA Performance car finished second overall, despite the dominance of the "GTN" class

BMW M3 GT2 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial model ...

's of

BMW Motorsport BMW M Motorsport (formerly BMW Motorsport) is the division of BMW responsible for motorsport-related activities, including works-run competition programmes in touring car racing, sports car racing, motorcycle racing and Formula E. The current o ...

, and in class behind the winning Porsche of

. Car No. 17 finished sixth in class and helped the team win the teams championship in the short-lived

FIA GT2 European Cup The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

2011

2011 was a somewhat quiet year for IMSA Performance. They took a break from International GT Open and did not return to the

. 2011 also saw the demise of the GT1 class from Le Mans and two new GT classes were formed around GT2-spec cars; LMGTE-Pro for professional drivers rated platinum and/or silver, and LMGTE-Am for gentleman (silver and/or bronze) rated drivers with only one "professional" (gold or platinum) driver allowed. GTE-Am competitors were only allowed use cars of 2010 spec and lower while GTE-Pro entrants could use 2011-spec cars. IMSA Performance Matmut ran two cars for the season, one in each class. In

LMS LMS may refer to: Science and technology * Labeled magnitude scale, a scaling technique * Learning management system, education software * Least mean squares filter, producing least mean square error * Leiomyosarcoma, a rare form of cancer * Lenz ...

, the No. 76 GTE-Pro class car was driven by Patrick Pilet and

Wolf Henzler Wolfgang Henzler (born 5 April 1975) is a former German Porsche factory racing driver. He began racing in 1991 with a win in the German Junior Kart championship. Born in Nürtingen, Baden-Württemberg, he won one time the 24 Hours of Le Mans i ...

while the No. 67 GTE-Am car was driven by Raymond Narac and Nicolas Armindo. While the Pro car only managed fifth in the championship, Narac and Armindo dominated the GTE-Am category winning four of the five events winning the drivers and teams championships by seventeen points. The team entered just one car at

which was the GTE-Pro No. 76 car. Narac, Pilet and Armindo were the drivers. A poor qualifying saw the car start third last in the LMGTE-Pro class, only qualifying ahead of the two slow and unreliable

Lotus Evora The Lotus Evora is a sports car produced by British car manufacturer Lotus. The car, which was developed under the project name ''Project Eagle'', was launched on 22 July 2008 at the British International Motor Show. The Evora S was launched i ...

's. The race went much better finishing fifth in class between rival Porsche teams Team Felbermayr-Proton and Flying Lizard Motorsports.

2012

The team returned to

with Narac and Pilet currently second place in the drivers championships as of round two. They are competing in the newly renamed

with one car in LMGTE-Am. Narac and Armindo are joined by Anthony Pons for the season and are currently second in the championship. The trio also raced together at

which saw the car lead in the LMGTE-Am class until veteran and former

Peugeot Sport Peugeot Sport is the department of French carmaker Peugeot responsible for motorsport activities. History Beginnings in rallying Peugeot Sport was formed in 1981 under the name of Peugeot Talbot Sport, after Jean Todt, a World Rally Champions ...

driver Pedro Lamy in the No. 50

Larbre Compétition Larbre Compétition is a French auto racing team founded in 1988 by Jack Leconte. Based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant, Larbre has had considerable success in the Porsche Carrera Cup, French GT Championship, and international ...

Corvette C6.R The Chevrolet Corvette C6.R is a grand tourer racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing. It is a replacement for the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, Corvette C5-R racing car, app ...

overtook the No. 67 IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche driven by the inexperienced Anthony Pons with under an hour left. Moments later the Porsche picked up a puncture but still managed to finish second in the LMGTE-Am class, a lap behind the winning Larbre Corvette.

2013

In 2013, IMSA took the GTE-Am class win at the

2013 24 Hours of Le Mans The 81st 24 Hours of Le Mans (French: ''81e 24 Heures du Mans'') was a 24-hour automobile endurance racing event for Le Mans Prototype and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance cars held from 19 to 23 June 2013 at the Circuit de la Sarthe close ...

. This time Raymond Narac was joined by Cristophe Bourret and Porsche factory driver Jean-Karl Vernay.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:IMSA Performance French auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 2001 2001 establishments in France 24 Hours of Le Mans teams European Le Mans Series teams International GT Open teams FIA World Endurance Championship teams Blancpain Endurance Series teams FIA GT Championship teams