IMSA in the ‘80s. If you know, you know. If you were there you especially know, which means you definitely know the deal when it comes to the incomparable Englishman Brian  Redman, a 2026 inductee into the IMSA Hall of Fame. 

He’s a two-time champion of both the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, with 12 IMSA class victories and the 1981 IMSA GTX championship.  

More on that GTX effort, one that begs to be overlooked as it came on the cusp of the legendary GTP era. GTX was based on production cars, with major modifications to both aero and turbo power. In effect, the class teed up the fabulous Camel GTP era and all the attention that followed including showcasing many of the world’s best sports car drivers. 

Redman had one of the great IMSA seasons in ’81, starting off by co-driving to a Rolex 24 At Daytona victory in a Porsche 935 K3. Redman also won three races consecutively -- Laguna Seca, Lime Rock and Mid-Ohio -- before triumphs at Portland and Road Atlanta capped a six-victory campaign. Starting at Laguna, Redman was in a Chevrolet-powered Lola T600 prototype. It was basically a GTP before the class designation came, but still technically in the GTX class. 

“This has been one of the most satisfying wins of my entire driving career … watching this car being created and developed …and now winning,” Redman said in May 1981 after the Laguna Seca race.  

Redman also won the Rolex 24 in 1970 before IMSA sanctioning, and in ’76 -- the second year after IMSA first sanctioned the endurance classic in ’75. He co-drove to Sebring victories in 1975 and ’78. Redman had a total of 12 class victories in IMSA; clearly, he came up big in the biggest events.  

“I actually did [do that],” said Redman, speaking from his home in Vero Beach, Florida, during a break from his ongoing promotion of historic and vintage sports car racing that has followed his competitive days. “For example, with BMW, I didn’t really drive that many events for them (12 total), but I won at Sebring in 1975 and at Daytona in 1976.” 

For the sake of embellishment, next consider the success Redman had outside of IMSA, starting with his two class victories -- and fifth-place overall runs -- in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1978, ’80) and three consecutive (1974-76) SCCA Formula 5000 championships. Some more: four victories at Spa-Francorchamps, two at the Nürburgring and two at Brands Hatch. Big events. Redman also raced at the pinnacle, Formula One (1968, 1970-74), with one podium finish in 12 starts.  

It’s obvious Redman made the most of his time in IMSA. He competed in the GTP glory days -- the 2014 rebirth of IMSA and ongoing reimagination notwithstanding -- of the sanctioning body, when both cars and drivers were stars via the combination of other-worldly technology, international flair and outrageous driving talent. 

Redman, a still-hearty 89 when the 2026 IMSA HOF class was announced in March, was lucky to be hearty, much less 89. A race driver’s fulcrum is most perilous and Redman’s tipped both ways many times, perhaps too often the wrong way. He nearly lost an arm in 1968 after an accident at Spa-Francorchamps. In ’71 he suffered severe burns in a horrific crash at the extreme Sicilian endurance event, Targa Florio. That came a year after he won it. At St. Jovite in Quebec in ’77, a test run ended with a broken neck. He could’ve died. A Montreal newspaper headline reported he did die. 

He wasn’t dead. Incredibly, he was just getting started, in terms of his IMSA legacy. 

“When John Bishop introduced the [GTX] class in 1980, I was recovering from my broken neck and other injuries at St. Jovite,” Redman told Autoweek in 2022. “I was working for Carl Haas, who was the Lola importer in the U.S. I said to Carl, Lola can build a car to these new IMSA rules that can win this championship.’ That’s how it all started.” 

“Do you realize how much Brian has been through?” said the racing scoring/public relations legend Judy Stropus, who worked with the 1981 GTX championship team. “You hear the stories about his crashes … but he was always a survivor and just kept going. He was outstanding [behind the wheel] but very humble at the same time. He won so many races. 

“He came [to IMSA] from overseas, like a lot of racers did [in the 1970s and ‘80s] and they were all good. It was a very interesting and eclectic group of race car drivers and IMSA was the beneficiary because it provided an international, worldwide scope.” 

From J.C. Argetsinger, former president of the International Motor Racing Research Center: “Brian was as much a part of the British Invasion as any long-haired musician. He came to our shores, he saw, he looked around and he conquered American road racing, earning legions of fans.”  

For the bottom line on this one, we go to author and longtime IMSA official Mark Raffauf, who brings another 2026 HOF inductee, Hans-Joachim Stuck, in tow. 

“Brian Redman is a legend. He and Hans Stuck are two of most preeminent sports car drivers in history -- end of discussion.” 

And with that, end of story.