Mid-Ohio will replace the Circuit of the Americas on the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship calendar.
The 2.25-mile road course last hosted IMSA’s top sportscar category under Grand-Am regulations in 2013, but next year marks the first visit since the American Le Mans Series merger three years ago.
Best known for hosting the IndyCar Series annually, Mid-Ohio has also been a popular sportscar venue since 1963.
The announcement comes one week before IMSA is set to release its provisional 2018 calendar at Road America next weekend.
“Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course has a long and storied history of hosting world-class sportscar races in front of a loyal and knowledgeable fanbase,” said IMSA president Scott Atherton.
“We will build on that legacy next May with a field of Prototype and GT race cars that represent the pinnacle of the sport.”
“Many of our stakeholders have long been supportive and quite vocal regarding a return to Mid-Ohio and we are pleased that we can finally say ‘We’re back’.”
Mid-Ohio takes the calendar slot previously held by the COTA grand prix circuit near Austin, Texas.
After sharing a November date with the World Endurance Championship, COTA was moved forward to May as a standalone IMSA event in 2017.
It is not known whether COTA plans to return to the schedule in 2019, but IMSA confirmed that the two organisations "continue to have a positive, healthy relationship" and that both are "open to working together again in the future."
