took a downturn, resulting in Mazda and Nissan leaving, which left Toyota with the only remaining works team. The gradually diminishing variety of cars would disappoint race fans and eventually kill off the series, critics said. GTP cars ran their last race at Phoenix International Raceway on October 2, 1993. GTP is often credited with many automotive innovations, including traction control, active suspension, and antilock brakes. One team innovated hospitalities now used by many major race teams. But most notably, it is best remembered for the camaraderie among its drivers, especially rivals. Hans Stuck commented in the Forward for the book Prototypes: The History of IMSA GTP, sarcastically compared GTP's camaraderie with F1's lack of such. IMSA GT's final season came in 1998, with Exxon having taken over as title sponsor in 1994. It is currently the sanctioning body of the American Le Mans Series, which is based off the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Out of Balto's two seatmates for the main race covered in this story, only one is still alive today. In the week leading up to the 2001 12 Hours of Sebring, Bob Wollek was struck by a car while riding his bicycle and died of injuries he suffered in the crash.   Who played who: The names on the left indicate Balto characters that appeared in the story. The names on the right designate who they played in the story. Balto = Balto Wolf Jenna = Jenna Morrison Boris = Boris Gossinov Steele = Bradley Steele Nikki = Nikki Adams Kaltag = John Kaltag Star = Ryan Star Dixie = Dixie Thompson Sylvie = Sylvie Tremblay   The following human names are original names created by the author: Kyle, Kelly, Rodney and Alvin Fox Stan Ridgemount Nikki Sechs All other names are those of real people.   All Balto characters are (c) Universal Studios and Amblimation. FIA and ACO names are (c) Federation Internationale de l'Automobile and Automobile Club de l'Ouest (Automobile Club of the West), respectively. IMSA and ALMS names (c) International Motor Sports Association. Porsche, 956, 962, 962, and WSC-95 (c) Porsche AG. All other car manufacturer, race circuit, and sponsor names (c) their respective owners. I don't remember all of them and list would be too long, anyway.

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