Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
The IMSA Grand Prix of Miami launched in 1983, when promoter Ralph Sanchez brought sports car racing to downtown Miami with a street course through Bayfront and Bicentennial Parks — IMSA’s first true street race. 🏁🌴 That 1983 race was ended early due to torrential rain and the entire area being flooded after 27 laps. Despite the race ending before it was 50% complete, Sanchez paid the full purse — including $50,000 for first to Al Holbert in his Chevrolet March GTP car.
Through the ’80s and early ’90s, it became an early-season highlight of the IMSA GT Championship, with winners like Al Holbert, Geoff Brabham, and Juan Manuel Fangio II mastering one of the most ambitious street circuits of its time. In 1984, Derek Bell made a dramatic pass for the win at the end of the Biscayne Blvd main straight in the Löwenbräu Porsche 962 over Darren Brassfield in the Budweiser Chevrolet March GTP — a true battle of the beers.
The event ultimately ended after 1993 as rising costs, downtown construction, and shifting event priorities made the large-scale street layout harder to sustain. Still, the IMSA Grand Prix of Miami helped the rise of North American street racing and cemented Miami as a landmark city in IMSA history — long before today’s Miami Grand Prix.
Watch the full race "live" on your YouTube channel this Sunday at 10am!
#IMSAClassic
The IMSA Grand Prix of Miami launched in 1983, when promoter Ralph Sanchez brought sports car racing to downtown Miami with a street course through Bayfront and Bicentennial Parks — IMSA’s first true street race. 🏁🌴 That 1983 race was ended early due to torrential rain and the entire area being flooded after 27 laps. Despite the race ending before it was 50% complete, Sanchez paid the full purse — including $50,000 for first to Al Holbert in his Chevrolet March GTP car.
Through the ’80s and early ’90s, it became an early-season highlight of the IMSA GT Championship, with winners like Al Holbert, Geoff Brabham, and Juan Manuel Fangio II mastering one of the most ambitious street circuits of its time. In 1984, Derek Bell made a dramatic pass for the win at the end of the Biscayne Blvd main straight in the Löwenbräu Porsche 962 over Darren Brassfield in the Budweiser Chevrolet March GTP — a true battle of the beers.
The event ultimately ended after 1993 as rising costs, downtown construction, and shifting event priorities made the large-scale street layout harder to sustain. Still, the IMSA Grand Prix of Miami helped the rise of North American street racing and cemented Miami as a landmark city in IMSA history — long before today’s Miami Grand Prix.
Watch the full race "live" on your YouTube channel this Sunday at 10am!
#IMSAClassic
