The 1981 Camel GT Championship season was the 11th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was a series for GTX class Group 5 cars and GTO and GTU class Grand tourer cars. It began January 31, 1981, and ended November 29, 1981, after sixteen rounds.
The GTU class did not participate with the GTX and GTO classes in shorter events, instead holding their own separate event which included touring car competitors from the IMSA Champion Spark Plug Challenge, but did not race for points in the IMSA GT Championship. Races marked with All had all classes on track at the same time.
| Rnd | Race | Length | Class | Circuit | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 Hour Pepsi Challenge | 24 Hours | All | Daytona International Speedway | January 31 February 1 | |
| 2 | Coca-Cola 12 Hours of Sebring | 12 Hours | All | Sebring International Raceway | March 21 | |
| 3 | Road Atlanta Grand Prix | 45 Minutes | GTU | Road Atlanta | April 12 | |
| 100 Miles | GTX/GTO | |||||
| 4 | Los Angeles Times/Toyota Grand Prix | 6 Hours | All | Riverside International Raceway | April 26 | |
| 5 | Datsun Monterey Triple Crown | 45 Minutes | GTU | Laguna Seca Raceway | May 3 | |
| 100 Miles | GTX/GTO | |||||
| 6 | Coca-Cola 400 | 45 Minutes | GTU | Lime Rock Park | May 24 | |
| 200 Miles | GTX/GTO | |||||
| 7 | Red Roof Inns GT 200 | 200 Miles | All | Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course | May 31 | |
| 8 | Pepsi Grand Prix | 200 km | All | Brainerd International Raceway | June 14 | |
| 9 | Paul Revere 250 | 250 Miles | All | Daytona International Speedway | July 5 | |
| 10 | Datsun California Grand Prix | 100 Miles | GTX/GTO | Sears Point Raceway | July 26 | |
| 75 Miles | GTU | |||||
| 11 | G.I. Joe's/Camel Grand Prix | 45 Minutes | GTU | Portland International Raceway | August 2 | |
| 100 Miles | GTX/GTO | |||||
| 12 | Molson 1000 | 6 Hours | All | Mosport Park | August 16 | |
| 13 | Pabst 500 | 500 Miles | All | Road America | August 23 | |
| 14 | Grand Prix of Road Atlanta | 45 Minutes | GTU | Road Atlanta | September 13 | |
| 150 Miles | GTX/GTO | |||||
| 15 | Kenwood Stereo 500 | 500 Miles | All | Pocono Raceway | September 27 | |
| 16 | Camel GT 250 | 250 Miles | All | Daytona International Speedway | November 29 |
| Rnd | Circuit | GTX Winning Team | GTO Winning Team | GTU Winning Team | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GTX Winning Drivers | GTO Winning Drivers | GTU Winning Drivers | |||
| 1 | Daytona |  #9 Garretson/Style Auto | #14 Bavarian Motors Intl. | #62 Kegel Enterprises | Results |
Bob Garretson Bobby Rahal Brian Redman | Alf Gebhardt Hans-Joachim StuckWalter Brun | Bill Koll Jeff Kline Rob McFarlin | |||
| 2 | Sebring | #86 Bayside Disposal Racing | #58 Charles Kendall | #98 Kent Racing | Results |
| Hurley Haywood Al Holbert Bruce Leven | Chuck Kendall Pete Smith Dennis Aase | Lee Mueller Walt Bohren | |||
| 3 | Road Atlanta | #1 John Fitzpatrick Racing | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #7 Kent Racing | Results |
| John Fitzpatrick | Dave Cowart | Walt Bohren | |||
| 4 | Riverside | #1 John Fitzpatrick Racing | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #23 Raytown Datsun | Results |
| John Fitzpatrick Jim Busby | Dave Cowart Kenper Miller | Frank Carney Dick Davenport | |||
| 5 | Laguna Seca | #7 Kent-Cooke/Wood Racing | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #92 Kent Racing | Results |
| Brian Redman | Dave Cowart | Lee Mueller | |||
| 6 | Lime Rock | #7 Kent-Cooke/Wood Racing | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #98 Kent Racing | Results |
| Brian Redman | Dave Cowart Kenper Miller | Walt Bohren | |||
| 7 | Mid-Ohio | #7 Kent-Cooke/Wood Racing | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #85 Logan Blackburn | Results |
| Brian Redman | Dave Cowart Kenper Miller | Logan Blackburn | |||
| 8 | Brainerd | #6 Team Zakspeed Roush | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #92 Kent Racing | Results |
| Klaus Ludwig | Dave Cowart | Lee Mueller | |||
| 9 | Daytona |  #46 DeNarvaez Enterprises | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #23 Raytown Datsun | Results |
| Mauricio DeNarvaez Hurley Haywood | Dave Cowart Kenper Miller | Dick Davenport | |||
| 10 | Sears Point | #6 Team Zakspeed Roush | #11 Kendall Racing | #22 Personalized Autohaus | Results |
| Klaus Ludwig | Dennis Aase | Wayne Baker | |||
| 11 | Portland | #7 Kent-Cooke/Wood Racing | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #92 Kent Racing | Results |
| Brian Redman | Dave Cowart | Lee Mueller | |||
| 12 | Mosport | #3 Andial Meister Racing | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #92 Kent Racing | Results |
| Rolf Stommelen Harald Grohs | Dave Cowart Kenper Miller | Lee Mueller Walt Bohren | |||
| 13 | Road America | #3 Andial Meister Racing | #11 Kendall Racing | #92 Kent Racing | Results |
| Rolf Stommelen Harald Grohs | Chuck Kendall Pete Smith Dennis Aase | Lee Mueller Walt Bohren | |||
| 14 | Road Atlanta | #7 Kent-Cooke/Woods Racing | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #98 Kent Racing | Results |
| Brian Redman | Kenper Miller | Walt Bohren | |||
| 15 | Pocono | #18 JLP Racing | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #98 Kent Racing | Results |
| John Paul, Sr. John Paul Jr. | Dave Cowart Kenper Miller | Walt Bohren Rick Knoop | |||
| 16 | Daytona | #18 JLP Racing | #25 Red Lobster Racing | #98 Kent Racing | Results |
| John Paul Jr. | Dave Cowart Kenper Miller | Walt Bohren |