The sports car racing season will start in earnest this weekend with the Daytona 24 Hours. To get you in the mood, we have taken a closer look at three cars that have scored outright victories in the past. The most successful of the trio is the Riley & Scott Mk III, which scored no fewer than 47 outright victories during the second half of the 1990s. Powered by a wide variety of engines, the Mk III was one of the first racing cars designed using CFD. Of the 17 examples constructed by Riley & Scott, the featured example was the third. It was raced for a remarkable eight seasons by a variety of teams, using Oldsmobile, Chevrolet and Ford engines along the way. We captured chassis 003 at the recent Le Mans Classic.
The outright winner 25 years ago was the Nissan 300ZX IMSA. Fielded in the IMSA GTO class, the Clayton Cunningham Racing designed and built machine had its best season in 1994, when it not only won at Daytona but also secured a victory in the Sebring 12 Hours. The Sebring winning car has recently been returned to full running order and has been campaigned by its original driver Steve Millen.
A surprise outright winner was this Porsche 911 GT3 RS, which claimed victory in 2003. This was quite an upset as it beat the faster but far more fragile Daytona Prototypes, which were raced for the very first time. The Daytona winner still boasts its distinct Racer's Group livery used back in 2003.

Enjoy the links:

1994 Nissan 300ZX IMSA - Chassis 007 - Ultimatecarpage.com

2003 Porsche 911 GT3 RS - Chassis WP0ZZZ99Z3S692061 - Ultimatecarpage.com

1995 - 1998 Riley & Scott Mk III - Images, Specifications and Information

1938 Peugeot 302 DS Darl'Mat Cabriolet - Chassis 705538 - Ultimatecarpage.com