1.
FIA World Endurance Championship
–
For the FIA World Endurance Championship contested from 1981 to 1985, see World Sportscar Championship. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing championship organized by the Automobile Club de lOuest. The World Endurance Championship name was used by the FIA from 1981 to 1985. World champion titles are awarded to the top scoring manufacturers and drivers over the season, while other cups and trophies will be awarded for drivers and private teams. The calendar includes four races in Europe, two in the Americas, two in Asia and one in the Middle East, with a future expansion. Six titles are awarded each season based on total point tally, the GTE Pro class champion are awarded a World Cup, while the leaders in LMP2 and GTE Am are awarded a Trophy. The final Trophy is awarded to the best privateer team amongst all four classes, the points system is similar to that used in the FIAs other world championships, awarding points to the top ten finishers on a sliding point margin scale from first to tenth. Cars finishing the race but classified eleventh or further are awarded a half point, double points are awarded for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. WeatherTech SportsCar Championship European Le Mans Series FIA GT1 World Championship FIA World Endurance Championship Automobile Club de lOuest Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile
2.
2013 FIA World Endurance Championship
–
The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars meeting four ACO categories. World Championships were awarded to drivers and to LMP1 category manufacturers, the eight race championship began in April at the Silverstone Circuit and ended in November at the Bahrain International Circuit. The season was marred by the death of Allan Simonsen in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an initial calendar was published by the FIA World Motor Sports Council on 28 September 2012. Seven of the eight races on the schedule are carried over from 2012, the 6 Hours of Silverstone now begins the season in April before Spa in May and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. In order to save costs and utilize shipping by sea instead of air, são Paulo remains as the first post-European event, while the new 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas replaces the 12 Hours of Sebring as the American round of the series. Fuji and Shanghai are moved forward on the calendar, leaving Bahrain to now close the season in November, an additional World Cup was awarded for the 2013 season, with drivers in both LMGTE categories having a unified championship. Further, the LMP2 and LMGTE Am categories had FIA Endurance Trophies awarded for their drivers, the qualifying format of the race weekend wasalso changed, with teams requiring two drivers each to set two timed laps. The qualifying results were determined based on an average of the four total laps, the new qualifying format has been met with much criticism from drivers. The pre-race warm-up session has also eliminated from the series. The LMP2 category saw several changes in order to lower costs. Diesel engines were allowed in the LMP2 category for the first time, limits on tyres was also be set in the LMGTE Am category. Two LMP2 teams, Starworks Motorsport and HVM Status GP later withdrew their full-season entries citing a lack of funding, the highest finishing competitor entered in the World Endurance Championship is listed below. Invitational entries may have finished ahead of WEC competitors in individual races, entries are required to complete the timed race as well as to complete 70% of the overall winning cars race distance in order to earn championship points. A single bonus point is awarded to the team and all drivers of the pole position car for each category in qualifying, for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race result points allocation was doubled. Due to the 6 Hours of Fuji not completing 75% of the race time, four titles are awarded to drivers in the 2013 season. A World Championship is reserved for LMP1 and LMP2 drivers, a World Cup is available for drivers in the LMGTE categories. Further, two FIA Endurance Trophies are also awarded to drivers in the LMP2 and LMGTE Am categories, Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval won the Championship at the 6 Hours of Shanghai. Gianmaria Bruni won the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers at the 6 Hours of Bahrain, bertrand Baguette, Martin Plowman and Ricardo González earned the Trophy for LMP2 Drivers at the 6 Hours of Bahrain
3.
Le Mans Prototype
–
Le Mans Prototypes were created by the Automobile Club de lOuest. The technical requirements for an LMP include bodywork covering all mechanical elements of the car, while not as fast as open-wheel Formula One cars, LMPs are the fastest closed-wheel racing cars used in circuit racing. Le Mans Prototypes are considered a class above production-based grand tourer cars, modern LMP designs include hybrid cars that use electric motors to assist acceleration. Le Mans Prototypes have used various names depending on the series in which they compete, the FIAs equivalent cars were referred to as Sports Racers or Sports Racing Prototypes. The American IMSA GT Championship termed their cars World Sports Cars, since 2004, most series have switched to referring to these cars as Le Mans Prototypes. The American Le Mans Series, the successor to the IMSA GT Championship, an LMP is commonly referred to as a Le Mans car in the media. The first use of what would become Le Mans Prototypes was at the 199224 Hours of Le Mans. In an attempt to increase the number of entrants beyond the field of Group C competitors that the World Sportscar Championship had to offer, older Porsche 962s were allowed entry in Category 3. To further increase the size of the field, small open-cockpit race cars using production road car engines which were raced in national championships, were allowed in Category 4. Only three cars were entered, with all failing to run more than a few hours. With Group C being phased out, the ACO chose to allow production-based race cars to enter for the first time in many years, the cars continued to use the same formula as they had in 1992. Later, ACO announced their intentions to replace the Group C cars with Le Mans Prototypes in 1994. Both classes were required to have open cockpits and this formula continued up to 1996, with many manufacturers embracing the LMP and WSC classes, including Ferrari, Porsche, and Mazda. In 1997, the first European series based around Le Mans Prototypes was launched, to differ from IMSAS WSC class, the USRRC named their open-cockpit prototypes Can-Am in an attempt to resurrect the sportscar championship of the 1970s. However the USRRC collapsed before the end of 1999, with the series becoming the Rolex Sports Car Series who chose to use the FIAs SR1,1998 saw a great expansion for the ACOs LMP classes. Following the cancellation of the IMSA GT Championship at the end of 1998 and this series used the same class structure as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, meaning it was the first championship to use the LMP name. At the same time, the ACO greatly altered their LMP classes, the smaller LMP2 class were briefly eliminated, while a new class of closed-cockpit prototypes were allowed in, known as LMGTP. These cars were evolutions of production-based road cars that the ACO considered too advanced and too fast to fall under the GT class regulations, in 2000, changes were made to the LMP regulations, as the ACO once again split the open-cockpit LMP class
4.
Grand tourer
–
A grand tourer is a performance and luxury automobile capable of high speed and long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement, the grand touring concept is eurocentric, the definition implies material differences in performance at speed, comfort, and amenities between elite automobiles and those of ordinary motorists. In post-war United States, the Interstate Highway System and wide availability of powerful Straight-six, European GTs did find success penetrating the American personal luxury car market, notably the Mercedes-Benz SL-Class. Grand touring car design evolved from vintage and pre-World War II fast touring cars, italy developed the first gran turismo cars. The small, light-weight and aerodynamic coupé, named the Berlinetta, independent carrozzeria provided light and flexible fabric coachwork for powerful short-wheelbase fast-touring chassis by manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo. Later, Carrozzeria Touring of Milan would pioneer sophisticated Superleggera aluminium bodywork, the additional comfort of an enclosed cabin was beneficial for the Mille Miglia road-race held in Italys often wintry north. An improved and supercharged version, the 6C1750 GTC Gran Turismo Compressore, from the basic Fiat 508 Balilla touring chassis came the SIATA and Fiat aerodynamic gran turismo-style Berlinetta Mille Miglias of 1933 and 1935. The first recognised motor race for gran turismo cars was the 1949 Coppa Inter-Europa held at Monza, however, the Fiat based 1100 cc four-cylinder Cisitaila was no match on the race track for Ferraris new hand-built 2000 cc V12, and Ferrari dominated, taking the first three places. An 1100 cc class was created, but not in time to save Cisitalias business fortunes—the companys bankrupt owner Piero Dusio had already decamped to Argentina. The Maserati A61500 won the 1500 cc class at the 1949 Coppa-Europa and it was driven by Franco Bordoni, former fighter ace of the Regia Aeronautica who had debuted as a pilota da corsa at the 1949 Mille Miglia. The body of the A61500 was an elegant two-door fast-back coupe body, the first car constructed in Ferraris name, the V12125 S, also a racing sports car, debuted in 1947 at the Piacenza racing circuit. The Ferrari 166 Inter S coupé model won the 1949 Coppa Inter-Europa, regulations stipulated body form and dimensions but did not at this time specify a minimum production quantity. The car was driven by Bruno Sterzi, and is recognized as the first Ferrari gran turismo, Ferraris response for the new Gran Tursimo championship was the road/race Ferrari 212. All versions came with the standard Ferrari five-speed non-synchromesh gearbox and hydraulic drum brakes, all 1951 Ferraris shared a double tube frame chassis design evolved from the 166. Double-wishbone front suspension with leaf spring, and live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs. Even more impressive than the new Ferrari in 1951 was the debut of Lancias Aurelia B20 GT. Lancia had begun production in 1950 of their technically advanced Aurelia sedan, at the 1951 Turin Motor Show, the Pinin Farina-bodied Gran Tursimo B20 Coupé version was unveiled to an enthusiastic motoring public. In the B20 are elements of the Cistalia of 1947, coupés which Pinin undertook on a 6C Alfa Romeo and Maserati in 1948, in addition the B20 had a shorter wheelbase and a higher rear axle ratio, making it a 100 mph car
5.
Toyota
–
Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In March 2014, the corporation consisted of 338,875 employees worldwide and. As of 2016, Toyota is the worlds second-largest automotive manufacturer behind German Volkswagen Group, Toyota was the worlds first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year which it has done since 2012, when it also reported the production of its 200-millionth vehicle. As of July 2014, Toyota was the largest listed company in Japan by market capitalization, Toyota is the worlds market leader in sales of hybrid electric vehicles, and one of the largest companies to encourage the mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles across the globe. Cumulative global sales of Toyota and Lexus hybrid passenger car models achieved the 10 million milestone in January 2017 and its Prius family is the worlds top selling hybrid nameplate with over 6 million units sold worldwide as of January 2017. The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937, as a spinoff from his fathers company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Three years earlier, in 1934, while still a department of Toyota Industries, it created its first product, the Type A engine, and, in 1936, its first passenger car, the Toyota AA. Toyota Motor Corporation produces vehicles under five brands, including the Toyota brand, Hino, Lexus, Ranz, TMC is part of the Toyota Group, one of the largest conglomerates in the world. Toyota is headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, the main headquarters of Toyota is located in a 4-story building in Toyota. As of 2006, the office has the Toyopet Toyota logo. Vinod Jacob from The Hindu described the headquarters building as modest. In 2013, company head Akio Toyoda reported that it had difficulties retaining foreign employees at the due to the lack of amenities in the city. Its Tokyo office is located in Bunkyo, Tokyo and its Nagoya office is located in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya. In addition to manufacturing automobiles, Toyota provides financial services through its Toyota Financial Services division, since 1950, the two entities had existed as separate companies as a prerequisite for reconstruction in postwar Japan. Shoichiro Toyoda presided over Toyota Motor Sales in preparation for the consummation of the merger occurred in 1982. Shoichiro then succeeded his uncle Eiji as the President of the organization that then became known as Toyota Motor Corporation. Announced the appointment of board members, this was a first for the corporation. Additionally, Vice Chairman Takeshi Uchiyamada replaced Fujio Cho as chairman, Toyota is publicly traded on the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Sapporo exchanges under company code TYO,7203
6.
Audi
–
Audi is a German automobile manufacturer that designs, engineers, produces, markets and distributes luxury vehicles. Audi is a member of the Volkswagen Group and has its roots at Ingolstadt, Bavaria, audi-branded vehicles are produced in nine production facilities worldwide. The modern era of Audi essentially began in the 1960s when Auto Union was acquired by Volkswagen from Daimler-Benz. After relaunching the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series, Volkswagen merged Auto Union with NSU Motorenwerke in 1969, the company name is based on the Latin translation of the surname of the founder, August Horch. Horch, meaning listen in German, becomes audi in Latin, the four rings of the Audi logo each represent one of four car companies that banded together to create Audis predecessor company, Auto Union. Audis slogan is Vorsprung durch Technik, meaning Advancement through Technology, however, since 2007 Audi USA has used the slogan Truth in Engineering. Audi, along with BMW and Mercedes are among the luxury automobile brands in the world. Originally in 1885, automobile company Wanderer was established, later becoming a branch of Audi AG, another company, NSU, which also later merged into Audi, was founded during this time, and later supplied the chassis for Gottlieb Daimlers four-wheeler. On 14 November 1899, August Horch established the company A. Horch & Cie. in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne, three years later in 1902 he moved with his company to Reichenbach im Vogtland. On May, 10th,1904 he founded the August Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG, after troubles with Horch chief financial officer, August Horch left Motorwagenwerke and founded in Zwickau on 16 July 1909, his second company, the August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH. His former partners sued him for trademark infringement, the German Reichsgericht in Leipzig, eventually determined that the Horch brand belonged to his former company. Since August Horch was prohibited from using Horch as a name in his new car business, he called a meeting with close business friends, Paul and Franz Fikentscher from Zwickau. At the apartment of Franz Fikentscher, they discussed how to come up with a new name for the company, during this meeting, Franzs son was quietly studying Latin in a corner of the room. Horch. in German means Hark. or hear, which is Audi in the imperative form of audire – to listen – in Latin. The idea was accepted by everyone attending the meeting. On 25 April 1910 the Audi Automobilwerke GmbH Zwickau was entered in the register of Zwickau registration court. The first Audi automobile, the Audi Type A 10/22 hp Sport-Phaeton, was produced in the same year, followed by the successor Type B 10/28PS in the same year. Audi started with a 2,612 cc inline-four engine model Type A, followed by a 3,564 cc model and these cars were successful even in sporting events
7.
Allan McNish
–
Allan McNish is a British former racing driver, commentator, and journalist from Scotland. He is a winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most recently in 2013, as well as a three-time winner of the American Le Mans Series. He won the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2013 and he is also a co-commentator and pundit for BBC Formula One coverage on TV, radio and online. McNish was born in Dumfries, Scotland and played football while at school and he was a fan of Nottingham Forest and also supported his local club Queen of the South. It was not until McNish began in karting that he found something at which he excelled, McNish began his career in karting like fellow Dumfries and Galloway driver David Coulthard. McNish credited the start given to both of them and Dario Franchitti as being largely down to David Leslie senior and junior, McNish and Coulthard both were recognised with a McLaren/Autosport BRDC Young Driver of the Year award having moved up to car racing. In 1988 he won the Formula Vauxhall Lotus championship and in 1989 finished runner up to David Brabham in a close fought British Formula 3 Championship, during the late 1980s McNish shared a house with teammate Mika Häkkinen. Tipped as a future Formula One driver, he tested with both McLaren and Benetton, whilst also competing in F3000, then the second tier of European motorsport. Whilst racing his first season in F3000, McNish suffered a crash at a race in Donington Park where a bystander was fatally injured and he went on to finish fourth overall in the championship that season. Concentrating on Formula One opportunities meant he appeared in F3000 only once during 1994, when a Formula One drive failed to materialise, he returned to F3000 in 1995 with Paul Stewart Racing. While he was arguably the fastest driver of the year, a series of saw him well beaten by Super Nova drivers Vincenzo Sospiri. McNishs career appeared to stall in early 1996 after a deal to race in Formula Nippon fell through and he also tested for Benetton during the year. Despite devoting his career to the pursuit of a Formula One chance and his sportscar career began in 1996 with Porsche, at a time when their 911 GT1 model revolutionised sportscar racing. With the factory team he took this car to victory in the 199824 Hours of Le Mans, partnered by Laurent Aïello and Stephane Ortelli. He has also raced with success for Audi in the American Le Mans Series, winning the title with Dindo Capello in 2006 and 2007. At the 2011 Le Mans McNish destroyed the car in a crash early in the race. And again at the 2012 Le Mans, McNish made a driving error and he also codrove the No.8 Starworks Motorsport Riley-Ford to a second-place finish at the 201224 Hours of Daytona. In the 2000 American Le Mans Series season McNish set a record for the full circuit configuration at Sears Point International Raceway
8.
Tom Kristensen (racing driver)
–
Tom Kristensen is a former Danish professional racing driver. He holds the record for the most wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with nine, all of his wins since then have come driving an Audi prototype, except in 2003, when he drove a Bentley prototype. In both 1999 and 2007 Kristensens team crashed out of leads in the closing hours of the race. He is considered by many to be the greatest driver ever to have raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, elsewhere Kristensen also holds the record for most wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring with a total of six. In August 2014, Kristensen was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog by the Queen of Denmark and his career began in 1984, winning several karting titles. He raced in Japan in the early 1990s, concurrently in Formula 3 and he was German Formula 3 Champion in 1991, Japanese Formula 3 champion in 1993, and runner-up in the Japanese Touring Car Championship in 1992 and 1994. He was 3rd in the STW Cup in Germany in 1999, 7th in the British Touring Car Championship in 2000, on 22 April 2007, Kristensen was involved in an accident while racing on the Hockenheimring race course in Hockenheim, Germany. The crash resulted in a break from training for Kristensen. However, Kristensen recuperated quickly, and was cleared by the Le Mans doctors to start the race and it was reported that a new type of collar may have prevented him suffering a broken neck in the crash. In 2003, he won the race with Bentley, in 2004, he equalled Ickxs record of six Le Mans victories in Team Gohs Audi R8. 2005 saw Kristensen win a time with an American R8 entry. The 2006 race saw Kristensen finishing in place in the new diesel-powered Audi R10. Kristensen did not finish the 2007 race following Rinaldo Capellos crash while the car was leading the race by four laps, Kristensen returned in 2008 to claim an eighth victory and extend the record for most wins. In 2013, he took his victory at the event, extending his record. Also he has received nickname Mr Le Mans because of the record of winning Le Mans 9 times total, on 19 November 2014, Kristensen announced at a press conference in Copenhagen that he was retiring from motorsport at the end of the current World Endurance Championship season. 1 – A non-championship one-off race was held in 2004 at the streets of Shanghai, † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90 per cent of the winners race distance
9.
Alexander Wurz
–
Alexander Wurz is an Austrian retired professional racing driver, driver training expert and businessman. He competed in Formula One from 1997 until 2007, and is also a winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours. He is currently under contract to race for the Toyota factory racing team in the WEC, Wurz and his father Franz Wurz established Test & Training International, a leading driver training and road safety expert group. Born in Waidhofen an der Thaya, Wurz first tasted competition in the BMX World Championship and this gave him an underlying physical fitness suitable for motor racing. In 2000, Wurz returned somewhat to his roots, starting an MTB team with countryman Markus Rainer. The team, Rainer-Wurz. com, is sponsored by sponsors McLaren, Siemens. They are multiple World Cup winners, in the early 2000s, niche bicycle brand Katarga presented a limited edition high-end mountain bike called the Alexander Wurz EVO SL, whose frame prominently featured Wurzs autograph. Like most Formula One drivers, Wurzs motorsport career began with karting, in 1991, Wurz drove in Formula Ford. In 1993, he switched to the German Formula Three Championship, during his time in Formula 3, Wurz crashed out of the lead at a race at AVUS in 1995 after a collision with the safety car. From 1996, Wurz drove an Opel Calibra for the Joest Racing touring car team in the DTM. Also in 1996, Wurz, together with Davy Jones and Manuel Reuter, won the Le Mans 24 Hours and he still holds the record to this day. Wurzs Formula One debut was on June 15,1997 at Montreal for Benetton filling in for fellow Austrian Gerhard Berger, who couldnt race due to illness. Wurz impressed with a position in his third race before returning to being a test driver upon Bergers return to the cockpit at the German Grand Prix. However, Wurz was rewarded with a race seat for the 1998 season with Benetton. A strong start to 1998 suggested a bright future, and even attracted the interest of Ferrari, One notable race was the 1998 Monaco Grand Prix, where he was running 2nd ahead of Michael Schumacher for a brief period. He retired and Schumacher finished 10th in the end after the German pitted for repairs, in 2001 he took on the role of third driver for McLaren. This gave him a record, as no other driver has had such a long gap between podiums as Wurz, who went eight years without one. His drive at Imola was all the more notable because he was not comfortable in the car
10.
Nicolas Lapierre
–
Nicolas Lapierre is a French professional racing driver. He stayed there for 2000 and 2001,2001 also seeing two races in Formula Renault 2000 Eurocup and he again raced in French Formula Renault in 2002, also driving a full season of 2000 Eurocup and some races of French Formula Three. 2003 saw Lapierre move to Formula Three Euroseries with the Signature team and he stayed in the Euroseries for 2004, also driving two races of British Formula 3. With his reputation increasing and his talent proven, Lapierre was rewarded for his Euroseries performances with a drive in GP2 Series for current champions Arden Motorsport. During 2005 Lapierre drove for A1 Team France in the A1 Grand Prix series helping the team win the championship, nicolas won both the sprint and main race events in Germany and Australia, the main race in Dubai and the sprint in Indonesia. During 2006 he continued with the Arden team in GP2, however his season was interrupted by a spectacular first corner crash in Monaco in which he was a victim of someone elses accident, nicolas received two compressed vertebrae in the crash and missed the British round of the series. Despite this, his points score was higher than the previous seasons tally, Lapierre was announced as a LADA driver for the remainder of the 2015 World Touring Car Championship in August 2015, replacing Jaap van Lagen at the Russian team. Nicolas Lapierre official website Career statistic driverdb. com A1GP Driver Statistics results. a1gp. com
11.
Ferrari
–
Ferrari N. V. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1939 as Auto Avio Costruzioni, the company built its first car in 1940, however the companys inception as an auto manufacturer is usually recognized in 1947, when the first Ferrari-badged car was completed. Ferrari is the worlds most powerful according to Brand Finance. In May 2012 the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO became the most expensive car in history, Fiat S. p. A. acquired 50 percent of Ferrari in 1969 and expanded its stake to 90 percent in 1988. In October 2014 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced its intentions to separate Ferrari S. p. A. from FCA, through the remaining steps of the separation, FCAs interest in Ferraris business was distributed to shareholders of FCA, with 10 percent continuing to be owned by Piero Ferrari. The spin-off was completed on 3 January 2016, Ferrari road cars are generally seen as a symbol of speed, luxury and wealth. Enzo Ferrari was not initially interested in the idea of producing road cars when he formed Scuderia Ferrari in 1929, Scuderia Ferrari literally means Ferrari Stable and is usually used to mean Team Ferrari. Ferrari bought, prepared and fielded Alfa Romeo racing cars for gentlemen drivers, in September 1939 Enzo Ferrari left Alfa Romeo under the provision that he would not use the Ferrari name in association with races or racing cars for at least four years. A few days later he founded Auto Avio Costruzioni, headquartered in the facilities of the old Scuderia Ferrari, the new company ostensibly produced machine tools and aircraft accessories. In 1940 Ferrari did in fact produce a race car – the Tipo 815 and it was the first Ferrari car and debuted at the 1940 Mille Miglia, but due to World War II it saw little competition. In 1943 the Ferrari factory moved to Maranello, where it has remained ever since, the factory was bombed by the Allies and subsequently rebuilt including a works for road car production. The first Ferrari-badged car was the 1947125 S, powered by a 1.5 L V12 engine, Enzo Ferrari reluctantly built, the Scuderia Ferrari name was resurrected to denote the factory racing cars and distinguish them from those fielded by customer teams. In 1960 the company was restructured as a corporation under the name SEFAC S. p. A. Early in 1969, Fiat took a 50 percent stake in Ferrari, new model investment further up in the Ferrari range also received a boost. In 1988, Enzo Ferrari oversaw the launch of the Ferrari F40, the last new Ferrari to be launched before his death later that year, in 1989 the company was renamed as Ferrari S. p. A. From 2002 to 2004, Ferrari produced the Enzo, their fastest model at the time and it was to be called the F60, continuing on from the F40 and F50, but Ferrari was so pleased with it, they called it the Enzo instead. It was initially offered to loyal and reoccurring customers, each of the 399 made had a tag of $650,000 apiece. On 15 September 2012,964 Ferrari cars (worth over $162 million attended the Ferrari Driving Days event at Silverstone Circuit, on 29 October 2014, the FCA group, resulting from the merger between manufacturers Fiat and Chrysler, announced the split of its luxury brand, Ferrari
12.
Porsche
–
F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche AG, is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans. Porsche AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, and is owned by Volkswagen AG, Porsches current lineup includes the 718 Boxster/Cayman,911, Panamera, Macan and Cayenne. Ferdinand Porsche founded the company called Dr. Ing. h. c, F. Porsche GmbH in 1931, with main offices at Kronenstraße 24 in the centre of Stuttgart. Initially, the company offered motor vehicle development work and consulting, One of the first assignments the new company received was from the German government to design a car for the people, that is a Volkswagen. This resulted in the Volkswagen Beetle, one of the most successful car designs of all time, the Porsche 64 was developed in 1939 using many components from the Beetle. During World War II, Volkswagen production turned to the version of the Volkswagen Beetle, the Kübelwagen,52,000 produced. Porsche produced several designs for heavy tanks during the war, losing out to Henschel & Son in both contracts that ultimately led to the Tiger I and the Tiger II. However, not all work was wasted, as the chassis Porsche designed for the Tiger I was used as the base for the Elefant tank destroyer. Porsche also developed the Maus super-heavy tank in the stages of the war. At the end of World War II in 1945, the Volkswagen factory at KdF-Stadt fell to the British, Ferdinand lost his position as Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen, and Ivan Hirst, a British Army Major, was put in charge of the factory. On 15 December of that year, Ferdinand was arrested for war crimes, during his 20-month imprisonment, Ferdinand Porsches son, Ferry Porsche, decided to build his own car, because he could not find an existing one that he wanted to buy. He also had to steer the company through some of its most difficult days until his fathers release in August 1947, the first models of what was to become the 356 were built in a small sawmill in Gmünd, Austria. The prototype car was shown to German auto dealers, and when pre-orders reached a set threshold, production was begun by Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH founded by Ferry, many regard the 356 as the first Porsche simply because it was the first model sold by the fledgling company. After the production of 356 was taken over by the fathers Dr. Ing. h. c. In 1952, Porsche constructed a plant across the street from Reutter Karosserie, the main road in front of Werk 1. The 356 was road certified in 1948, Porsches company logo was based on the coat of arms of the Free Peoples State of Württemberg of former Weimar Germany, which had Stuttgart as its capital. The arms of Stuttgart was placed in the middle as an inescutcheon, on 30 January 1951, not long before the creation of Baden-Württemberg, Ferdinand Porsche died from complications following a stroke. The 356, however, had several stages, A, B, and C, while in production
13.
Chevrolet Corvette
–
The Chevrolet Corvette, known colloquially as the Vette, or Chevy Corvette, is a sports car manufactured by Chevrolet. The car has produced through seven generations. The first model, a convertible, was introduced at the GM Motorama in 1953 as a show car. Myron Scott is credited for naming the car after the type of small, originally built in Flint, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri, the Corvette is currently manufactured in Bowling Green, Kentucky and is the official sports car of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The first generation of Corvette was introduced late in the 1953 model year, originally designed as a show car for the 1953 Motorama display at the New York Auto Show, it generated enough interest to induce GM to make a production version to sell to the public. First production was on June 30,1953 and this generation was often referred to as the solid-axle models. 300 hand-built polo white Corvette convertibles were produced for the 1953 model year, the 1954 model year vehicles could be ordered in Pennant Blue, Sportsman Red, Black, or Polo White. 3,640 were built, and sold slowly, the 1955 model offered a 265 cu in V8 engine as an option. With a large inventory of unsold 1954 models, GM limited production to 700 for 1955, with the new V8, the 0-60 mph time improved by 1.5 seconds. A new body was introduced for the 1956 model featuring a new face and side coves, an optional fuel injection system was made available in the middle of the 1957 model year. Other options included power windows, hydraulically operated power convertible top, heavy duty brakes and suspension, delco Radio transistorized signal-seeking hybrid car radio, which used both vacuum tubes and transistors in its radios circuitry. Exclusive to the 1958 model were hood louvers and twin trunk spears, the 1959–60 model years had few changes except a decreased amount of body chrome and more powerful engine offerings. In 1961, the rear of the car was redesigned with the addition of a duck tail with four round lights. The light treatment would continue for all following model year Corvettes until 2014, in 1962, the Chevrolet 283 cu in Small-Block was enlarged to 327 cu in. In standard form it produced 250 bhp, for an extra 12% over list price, the fuel-injected version produced 360 bhp, making it the fastest of the C1 generation. 1962 was also the last year for the wrap around windshield, solid rear axle, the trunk lid and exposed headlamps did not reappear for many decades. The second generation Corvette, which introduced Sting Ray to the model, continued with fiberglass body panels, the C2 was later referred to as mid-years. Earlier, Mitchell had sponsored a car known as the Mitchell Sting Ray in 1959 because Chevrolet no longer participated in factory racing
14.
Rebellion Racing
–
Rebellion Racing is a Swiss racing team that competes in endurance racing. The team competed in the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season and won the LMP1 teams title in the 2011 Le Mans Series season, the team started as an association between Speedy Racing and Sebah Racing, which began in 2008. Rebellion Racings team principal is Alexandre Pesci and the manager is Bart Hayden. In 2011, Rebellion Racing and Toyota Motorsport GmbH confirmed their plans for a Le Mans Prototype LMP1 engine supply partnership, two Rebellion Racing Lola LMP1 cars powered by Toyota engines in LMP1. At the end of October 2010, Rebellion Racing and Toyota Motorsport engineers conducted an evaluation test programme at Portimao, Portugal and Monteblanco, the team have renewed the contracts of its regular 2010 drivers. Neel Jani / Nicolas Prost and Andrea Belicchi /Jean-Christophe Boullion will again spearhead the Rebellion Racing attack, at the 201124 Hours of Le Mans, the no.12 car of Nicolas Prost/Neel Jani/Jeroen Bleekemolen qualified 8th and finished 6th overall. It was the first gasoline finisher, the no.13 car of Andrea Belicchi/Jean-Christophe Boullion and Guy Smith retired after 190 laps. Rebellion won the LMP1 teams title with 51 points,1 point more than Pescarolo Team, in the season finale in Zhuhai, the top gasoline-powered LMP1 car was the Rebellion teams Toyota-engined Lola coupe driven by Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost. On 1 February 2012, it was announced that German driver Nick Heidfeld would drive a Rebellion Lola-Toyota in select rounds of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Heidfeld will share the wheel of the Anglo-Swiss squads No.12 LMP1 entry with Neel Jani and Nicolas Prost at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, Six Hours of Spa and 24 Hours of Le Mans. He completes Rebellions lineup, with Jeroen Bleekemolen having been announced on 31 January as the driver in the No.13 Lola-Toyota with Andrea Belicchi. Rebellion Racing entered the 2012 Petit Le Mans to attempt to score a victory at the race since Audi chose to not enter the race. After early battling with Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, the latter crashed when attempting to pass a GT car, allowing Rebellion to lead the rest of the race, Rebellion Racing participated in both the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season and 2013 American Le Mans Series season. But in July, mid-way through the season, the decided to end its ALMS programme. After that, it contested the Petit Le Mans series finale at Road Atlanta in October. Rebellion Racing took their second overall victory at Petit Le Mans. On 8 June 2013, Rebellion confirmed they have entered a partnership with Oreca to design and build their own LMP1 car, the car debuted at the 2014 Spa 6 Hours in the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship and continues to use Toyota engines. On 3 February 2015, Rebellion Racing announced a new partnership for the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season
15.
Starworks Motorsport
–
Starworks Motorsport is an American automobile racing team based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, currently competing in the new for 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The team was established in 2010 by Peter Baron and runs a Riley Daytona Prototype, Peter Baron is a successful entrepreneur, and former Le Mans 24 Hours class podium finisher, with 20 years of motorsports experience as a driver, manager and winning team owner. He has run successful motor racing teams since 2005 in the Indy Car Series, GRAND AM and he re-launched his team in January 2010 as Starworks Motorsport and competed in the entire Rolex Sports Car Series with one, and sometimes two, Riley-BMW Daytona Prototypes. The team started from pole position, led the most laps and had the fastest race lap, the team also debuted in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge with four Ford Mustang Boss 302R GTs. On February 2,2012, Starworks announced that it would compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship, at the 201212 Hours of Sebring, Dalziel, Potolicchio and Stéphane Sarrazin managed to finish 1st in LMP2 ahead of Level 5 Motorsports and 3rd overall. This was their 2nd overall podium of the year after Daytona, at the 201224 Hours of Le Mans Starworks finished 1st in LMP2 and 7th overall. By doing so the team entered the books by becoming the first LMP2 Champions in the WEC. The team also won the 2012 GRAND-AM North American Endurance Championship, Peter Baron has since been honoured by the Greater Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce at a luncheon held at the Hillsboro Beach Club. He joined nine other area residents recognized for their accomplishments and achievements which have reflected positively on the community — a “Shining Light of the Community. ”Peter also became the recipient of the 2012 Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence. From a short-list of three highly successful team owners who competed in the 2012 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, a panel of motorsports professionals selected Baron as the award recipient. Stewart Wicht, President of Rolex Watch U. S. A. presented Baron with a specially-engraved Rolex Stainless Steel, in 2013 Alex Popow won the ‘Jim Trueman’ Award by a landslide and the team was crowned ‘Sports Car Team of the Year’ by the SPEED Channel. Starworks Motorsport came fourth in the 2013 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series and also competed in two ALMS races in the LMPC category
16.
AF Corse
–
AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. The team has also entered cars under Advanced Engineering, AT Racing, Pecom Racing, Spirit of Race and 8Star Motorsports, in 1995, Amato Ferrari retired from driving and chose to concentrate on team management, initially entering the Italian Superturismo Championship. Following the series demise in 1999, Ferrari launched a new team known as AF Corse, the team turned to sports car racing, and within a year was contracted by Maserati. AF Corse was tasked with the development, maintenance, and transport of the Trofeo Cup, the company would continue in this position until 2005. During 2004, Maserati approached AF Corse about running their latest development in sports car racing, the team aided Maserati in testing and developing the car before running the two new racers in their home event at Imola. Drivers Fabrizio de Simone, Andrea Bertolini, Mika Salo, and Johnny Herbert were all be assigned to the team, eventually earning AF Corse two victories before the season ended. Once the development of the MC12 was satisfied, the returned to running the Trofeo Cup. AF Corse returned to the FIA GT Championship in 2006 and this time however they would be running the latest Ferrari offering, the Ferrari F430, as well as competing in the series lower category, the GT2 class. Salo was retained in the driving line-up, while newcomers Rui Águas, Jaime Melo, victory was earned in the teams debut at Silverstone, and another two were earned over the season, including at the Spa 24 Hours. AF Corse won the championship, beating fellow Ferrari competitor Scuderia Ecosse. The company retained their connection to Maserati however, entering a trio of cars in the new FIA GT3 European Championship, as defending champions, AF Corse remained in the FIA GT Championship in 2007, although much on the team changed. While the Ferrari F430s remained, all new drivers were introduced to the team, dirk Müller, Toni Vilander, Gianmaria Bruni, and Stephane Ortelli took over driving duties for the season, while Motorola announced their full sponsorship of the squad. The two cars dominated the 2007 season, winning nine of the ten events on the schedule, for 2008, AF Corse expanded to a three car team in the GT2 class. Vilander and Bruni are retained in the car, while Biagi returns to the squad to be joined by Christian Montanari in the second entry. The third car will be run under the Advanced Engineering name, with Argentinian Matías Russo, in 2010, the FIA GT Championship was dissolved and two new championships were born from it. The GT1 class of the series became the FIA GT1 World Championship while the GT2 class formed the FIA GT2 European Championship. The GT2 series was suspended due to lack of entries, as a result, the AF Corse team joined the Le Mans Series. For the 2010 season, the team fielded three Ferrari F430 GT2s for the series GT2 class, drivers Matías Russo and Luís Pérez Companc campaigned the #94 Ferrari with Toni Vilander and former Grand Prix drivers Jean Alesi and Giancarlo Fisichella in the #95
17.
Audi R18
–
The Audi R18 is a Le Mans Prototype racing car constructed by the German car manufacturer Audi AG. It is the successor to the Audi R15 TDI, like its predecessor, the R18 uses a TDI turbocharged diesel engine but with a reduced capacity of 3.7 litres and in a V6 configuration. For the first time since the 1999 R8C, Audis Le Mans prototype uses a closed cockpit design, the R18 is also the first racing car from Audi to feature hybrid power. There have been five further evolutions of R18 since the original spec introduced in 2011, as the new rules for Le Mans in 2011 the car features a stabilisation fin on the engine cover and has a new six-speed gearbox. The new gearbox is electrically controlled instead of pneumatically controlled, saving weight by eliminating the pneumatic system, despite the capacity reduction, the 3. 7L V6 is claimed to develop more than 397 kilowatts of power. This is less than the outgoing R15, but the V6 engines fuel consumption will more likely be lower than that of the outgoing V10 engine on the R15. The new engine has a single Garrett TR30R VGT turbocharger, as opposed to the twin TR30R configuration of both the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP and the previous Audi R15 TDI, the R18s V6 engine exhausts inwards between the cylinder banks, where the turbocharger is placed. This is called a hot side inside configuration and is opposed to the configuration with each cylinder bank of a V engine exhausting outwards to their respective turbochargers. Unlike other coupé competitors in its class, the chassis on the R18 is not composed of two halves but rather is of single-piece construction for improved rigidity. The R18 has a cooling duct above the cockpit roof as well as redesigned rear wheel arches to channel more air to the rear wing. Like the Acura ARX-02a, Audi has chosen to install taller and wider tyres at the front for increased contact patch, further changes include a lower rear wing, aluminium splitters and a small duct on the front of the car for improved driver comfort within the cockpit. The 2011 ACO regulations have limited the R18s fuel tank to 65 litres, for 2012, Audi introduced an evolution of the original car called the R18 ultra and R18 e-tron quattro which won Le Mans. Both the Ultra and e-tron quattro R18 were run at the 201224 Hours of Le Mans, the quattro system, as per the regulations, is available only at speeds above 120 km/h. The e-tron has six automatic modes that are selectable on the steering wheel. The modes manage engine mapping, short bursts accelerating from corners, quattro four wheel drive, wet weather, the system captures the thermal energy from the exhaust and can add power to either the turbocharger or the flywheel accumulator system. The aerodynamics have been revised in accordance with the new rules, the width is reduced by 10 cm. However, the diffuser on the 2013 model has been banned and removed. The safety monocoque has been strengthened with additional fabric, wheel tethers and extra crash structures are also added to the car
18.
Zhuhai International Circuit
–
Zhuhai International Circuit is located at Jin Ding town in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, China. The circuit is designed by Australian company Kinhill Engineers Pty Ltd, the project manager for the project was Michael McDonough. The first international race held at the circuit was the BPR Global GT Series, the circuit soon became the hotbed of local motorsports with teams from Hong Kong and Macau setting up their bases inside the circuit garages. The original circuit contained 16 corners, but corners 7,8 and 9 were eliminated after a track change request from FIM and made into one corner. The circuit is 4.3 kilometres long and has 14 turns,9 of them are right turns and 5 are left turns and the circuit runs clockwise only. The shorter straight is 500 metres long, the longest straight is the start/finish straight which is 900 metres long and 14 metres wide at its widest. The most successful driver on the circuit is the best one who can manage their brake wear, Zhuhai International Circuit is an FIA Grade II certified circuit. The fastest qualifying lap ever at the circuit was set by a Lola-Zytek A1 Grand Prix car on the round on December 16,2007 during the 2007-08 A1 Grand Prix season. It was driven by Michael Ammermüller and managed a lap of 1,23.203, however, this is not considered the lap record since lap records are taken from racing laps and not qualifying. The fastest unofficial lap ever at the circuit was set by a 2007 Panoz DP01 Champ Car on November 30,2006 and it was driven by Roberto Moreno, it managed a lap of 1,23.612 during a demonstration run. The fastest GT1 lap time is set by Porsche 911 GT1 with Porsche AG team in 1996 BPR Global GT Series Round 11 Zhuhai 4hrs, the fastest lap ever on a Motorcycle was set at Pan Delta 1000cc Superbike race was taken by splitlath team. Zhuhai International Circuit Co Ltd is also a prominent motorsport event organizer and promoter in China, Zhuhai International Circuit is the promoter of the China Superbike Championship, established in 2007 and sanctioned by the China Motorcycle Sports Association, CMSA. ZIC also organizes the Circuit Hero and Circuit Hero GT race series, the Hong Kong Touring Car Championship and the Macau Touring Car Championship both run the majority of their races at ZIC since they began. The Asian Festival of Speed was held at the circuit from October 20,2006 to October 22,2006, AFOS has been held at the circuit many times since its inception in 1994. The Asian Formula Three Championship is also hosted by the circuit annually, in addition, the FIM Asia Road Racing Championship race at ZIC in December annually. ZIC was included in the provisional 1999 F1 calendar, but the circuit subsequently lost its place in the calendar after failing to meet the international standards set by the FIA. F1 subsequently races in Shanghai International Circuit, in May 2004, the Endurance World Championship Zhuhai 6 Hours race was held at the circuit. This was the first time a motorcycle race was held at the circuit
19.
Shanghai International Circuit
–
The Shanghai International Circuit is a motorsport race track, situated in the Jiading, Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China. The circuit is best known as the venue for the annual Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix, the 2008 MotoGP race was the last one on this circuit, as the FIM didnt select the racetrack for the provisional calendar of 2009. This is due to overcrowding problems in the circuit, partly due to location of the circuit, areas around turns 1,8 and 14 have been sinking, and therefore the circuit had to be inspected before the 2011 event took place. The Chinese Grand Prix attracted 260,000 spectators in its year in 2004 with a slight 10,000 increase in 2005. On Feb 18,2011, Reuters reported words from the Chinese Grand Prix organizers said Shanghai has extended the deal to host the Chinese Grand Prix to 2018 despite falling attendance. Reuters reported words from Yiping Chen, deputy director of the Shanghai Sports Bureau, Reuters reported prices for prime seats range would decrease from 3, 580-3,980 yuan in 2010 to 1, 980-3,280 yuan in 2011. On the same day, AFP reported that the Shanghai City government will keep open a line to the race track to boost spectator numbers from April 15–17,2011. In common with other new Formula One circuits, it was designed by Hermann Tilke, and also features his trademark track feature. Current-generation F1 cars can easily surpass 300 km/h on the straight between corners 13 and 14. The track layout was inspired from the Chinese character shang the first character in the name of the city Shanghai, the whole circuit plus seating areas and other areas for spectators, covers a total area of 5.3 km². Turns 1 and 2 make up a very long right-hand curve which leads immediately into turns 3 and 4, One and two are far more difficult - a lift on entry followed by various taps of the throttle and brakes are needed so the car maintains balance throughout. It also becomes blind towards the middle of the corner, three and four are nowhere near as difficult but a good exit is needed to gain speed down the following straight and through turn 5. The complex of turns 1-4 makes up the first of two snails on the circuit, the other being turns 11-13, turn 6 is a second gear, right-handed hairpin with plentiful run-off. Turns 7 and 8 make up a high speed chicane - the left-right complex sees a constant G-force of 3, turns 9 and 10 immediately follow - two slow left-handers which require a good exit to gain speed down the next straight. Turns 11 and 12 effectively make up a slow left-right chicane where the use of kerbs are important, turn 13 is a very long right-hander which becomes less and less tight, and a very good exit is important as the longest straight currently in Formula One follows. The total length of the circuit is 5.451 km, the lap record was set by Ferraris Michael Schumacher in 2004. He completed one lap of the circuit in 1,32.238
20.
Bahrain International Circuit
–
The Bahrain International Circuit is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series and the annual Bahrain Grand Prix. The 2004 Grand Prix was the first held in the Middle East, beginning in 2006, Australian V8 Supercars raced at the BIC, with the event known as the Desert 400. However, the V8 Supercars did not return for the 2011 V8 Supercar season,24 Hour endurance races are also hosted at BIC. The circuit has a FIA Grade 1 license, the construction of the Bahrain circuit was a national objective for Bahrain, initiated by the Crown Prince, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The Crown Prince is the Honorary President of the Bahrain Motor Federation, TRL was asked to build the circuit, headed by Patrick Brogan. In the end, the circuit was not quite fully complete, after the 2004 race and ahead of the 2005 race the track was realigned at turn four, decreasing the circuits overall length by 5 metres. At the 2009 Grand Prix, BIC announced a collaboration with @bahrain to develop next to the circuit. @bahrain is part of the Mumtalakat group of companies, in 2011 the circuit was scheduled to be the first GP of the season. However, due to civil unrest in the country the race had to be cancelled in March 2011. On early June the FIA announced that the race would be scheduled for 30 October, the slot for the inaugural Indian GP. However, two later following concerns from teams and other officials, the race organizers officially cancelled the race. The 2012 Formula One calendar had the race scheduled for 22 April, the circuit was designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, the same architect who designed the Sepang circuit in Malaysia. The main contractor for the project was Cybarco-WCT, the circuit cost approximately 56.2 million Bahraini Dinars to construct. It has six tracks, including a test oval and a drag strip. The circuit posed a unique problem, positioned in the middle of a desert, there were worries that sand would blow onto the circuit and disrupt the race. However, organizers were able to keep the sand off the track by spraying an adhesive on the sand around the track, the surface of the track is made of graywacke aggregate, shipped to Bahrain from Bayston Hill quarry in Shropshire, England. The surface material is highly acclaimed by circuit bosses and Formula 1 drivers for the level of grip it offers. The same aggregate material is used at the Yas Marina Circuit for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the DRS zone is on the pit straight at the Bahrain Grand Prix, so turn 1 is the prime overtaking opportunity
21.
Fuji Speedway
–
Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s, in the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing. Originally managed by Mitsubishi Estate Co. Fuji Speedway was acquired by Toyota Motor Corporation in 2000, the circuit hosted the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in 2007, after an absence of 30 years, replacing the Suzuka Circuit, owned by Honda. After Fuji Speedway hosted the 2008 race, the Japanese Grand Prix returned to Suzuka for the 2009-onward races, Fuji Speedway is known for having one of the longest straights in motorsport tracks, at 1.475 km in length. The circuit has FIA Grade 1 license, Fuji Speedway Corporation was established in 1963, as Japan NASCAR Corporation. At first, the circuit was planned to hold NASCAR-style races in Japan, therefore, the track was originally designed to be a 4 km high-banked superspeedway, but there was not enough money to complete the project and thus only one of the bankings was ever designed. Mitsubishi Estate Co. invested in the circuit and took the management right on October 1965, converted to a road course, the circuit opened in December 1965 and proved to be somewhat dangerous with the banked turn regularly resulting in major accidents. Vic Elford recalls, In 1969 I spent two months in Japan doing a test contract for Toyota and their Toyota 7, which along with a big Nissan, was destined for CanAm. My last testing and then the subsequent Sports Car GP were at Fuji, the reason that banking was so horrific, was that at the end of the straight we went over a blind crest at around 190/200 mph and dropped into the banking. At other tracks you climb up the banking, One of the results was that although there were many brave Japanese drivers there were not too many with great skill and the death toll from that one corner was horrendous. In 1966, the track hosted a USAC Indy Car non-championship race, the track had a 24-hour race in 1967. The speedway brought the first Formula One race to Japan at the end of the 1976 season, the race had a dramatic World Championship battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, and in awful rainy conditions, Hunt earned enough points to win the title. Mario Andretti won the race, with Lauda withdrawing due to the dangerous conditions, there was less celebration after the second race in 1977 as Gilles Villeneuve was involved in a crash that killed two spectators on the side of the track, leading to Formula One leaving the speedway. When Japan earned another race on the F1 schedule ten years later, F1 didnt return to Fuji until 2007. Fuji remained a sports car racing venue and FIA World Sportscar Championship visited the track between 1982–1988 and it was often used for national races. Speeds continued to be high, and two chicanes were added to the track, one just past the first hairpin corner, the second at the entry to the very long. But even with changes the main feature of the track remained its approximately 1.5 km long straight. The long pit straight has also utilised for drag racing
22.
Petit Le Mans
–
The Petit Le Mans is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de lOuest. The race was founded by Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz and first run on October 10,1998 as part of the IMSA season, the 1999 edition was one of the original events of the American Le Mans Series. The 2010 and 2011 editions were part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Starting in 2014 the race part of the United Sports Car Championship season. Since 2014, the duration is 10 hours, without distance limitations, in addition to the overall race, teams of two or three drivers per car compete for class victories in different categories, divided into Le Mans prototypes and grand tourers. Class winners of this event originally received an invitation to the following years 24 Hours of Le Mans. Rinaldo Capello holds the record of most race wins, having won in 2000,2002,2006,2007 and 2008, the 2009 &2015 races were shortened due to heavy rains making the track impassable. The 2015 race featured the first time a GT car won overall against the faster prototypes, rain created a flooded track the entire race causing multiple cautions and a red flag, allowing GTLM cars to leap-frog the prototypes that were struggling for grip in the conditions. Nick Tandy, winner of the 201524 Hours of Le Mans, grand Prix of Atlanta Petit Le Mans American Le Mans Series Website
23.
American Le Mans Series
–
The American Le Mans Series was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the American Le Mans headquarters was in Braselton, Georgia, adjacent to Road Atlanta. In 2014, the merged with the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series to form the United SportsCar Championship. The series was created by Braselton, Georgia-based businessman Don Panoz, Panoz created a partnership with the Automobile Club de LOuest, the organizers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, to begin a 10-hour race in the spirit of Le Mans, dubbed the Petit Le Mans. The inaugural Petit Le Mans took place in 1998 as a part of the Professional SportsCar Racing series, for 1999, the series changed its name to the American Le Mans Series, and adopted the ACOs rulebook. The partnership with the ACO allowed ALMS teams to earn automatic entries in the Le Mans 24 Hours. This was a practice that began with the inaugural Petit Le Mans, a practice that continues today, the ALMS race at Adelaide in 2000 also received automatic entries. Invitations were extended to the series beginning in 2003, for the 2004 race. The ACO has always given high consideration to teams competing in ALMS races, the series began with eight races in 1999, beginning with the 12 Hours of Sebring, and ending at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The schedule expanded to 12 races in 2000, including two races in Europe, and one in Australia, in subsequent years, the European races disappeared, with the creation of the short-lived European Le Mans Series, and later the Le Mans Series. The series also began to move away from the rovals, road courses in the infield of large superspeedways, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, and Texas Motor Speedway. Lately, the series has visited more temporary street courses, many in conjunction with the Indy Racing League, at such as St. Petersburg, Florida and Long Beach. The series has raced at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Mosport, Road Atlanta, from 2011 until the series folded, ALMS competed on a street circuit through the Inner Harbor coinciding with the Grand Prix of Baltimore, Maryland over the US Labor Day weekend. In 2010 the American Le Mans Series signed its first title sponsorship agreement, the American Le Mans Series used essentially the same rules as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, there were 3 primary classes, the former GT1 category was abandoned after 2009 season. In 2012, the Le Mans was dropped from the names of the prototype categories, each car is driven by multiple drivers, and all cars compete together simultaneously. P1 generally contains factory teams while P2 contains privateer teams, in ACO-sanctioned racing all of the drivers are professional in GTE-PRO, while in GTE-Am,1 or 2 amateurs are allowed to race with a professional driver in support. However, since ALMS uses only one GTE category and combines the PRO/AM classes, the two Challenge classes were formula-based, and were designed for privateers or rookies to have an easier time entering the series
24.
12 Hours of Sebring
–
The event is the second round of the United SportsCar Championship and in the past has been a round of the now defunct World Sportscar Championship, IMSA GT Championship and American Le Mans Series. In 2012, the race was the event of the FIA World Endurance Championship. The track opened in 1950 on an airfield and is a racing course styled after those used in European Grand Prix motor racing. The first race was a race on New Years Eve 1950. The race is famous for its once around the action, starting during the day. In its early years, the Sebring circuit combined former airport runways with narrow service roads. The 1966 event was a point in Sebring history, as the facilities. Five people were killed during the race, which was more people killed than in the races prior 15-year history combined, bob McLean crashed while approaching the hairpin, his car rolled several times, struck a utility pole and then exploded, landing in a ditch and killing McLean. The circuit was made safer and there were no fatalities until 1980 and it is known as preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as the tracks extremely bumpy surface, combined with south-central Floridas perennial hot weather, is a test of a cars reliability. In recent years, six victories have been achieved by the Audi R8. Tom Kristensen has won the more times than anyone else, with six victories – in 1999–2000, 2005–2006,2009. The 1966 race had Dan Gurney leading at the last lap, Gurney pushed his car over the finish line, beaten only by Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby. However, his actions were ultimately determined to be against the rules, Corvette had dominated the class the past three years with its previous generation C5R. The all-new Audi R10 TDI won the 2006 edition of the race, the victory set the stage for an even more momentous win by the R10 in its next race, the Le Mans 24 Hours later in the year. The much-hyped Porsche RS Spyder campaigned by Penske Racing dropped to take 2nd place in its LMP2 class, behind the Intersport Lola car. The GT1 Corvette C6R team got their revenge against the Aston Martin, in addition to an overall win, Audi also set a track record in 2007 with Marco Werner behind the wheel in qualifying. ^A The car was in fact, a Porsche 935 K3 that has been modified with a single cylinder head. ^B These races were stopped for a period of due to heavy rain and/or accidents
25.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
26.
Sebring International Raceway
–
Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility located near Sebring, Florida. Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating tracks in the United States. Sebring is one of the race tracks in North American sports car racing. Sebring raceway occupies the site of Hendricks Army Airfield, a United States Army Air Forces training base for Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress pilots in operation from 1941 to 1946, Sebrings first race was held on New Years Eve of 1950, attracting thirty race cars from across North America. The Sam Collier 6 Hour Memorial race was won by Fritz Koster, the first 12 Hours of Sebring was held on March 15,1952, shortly growing into a major international race. In 1959, the hosted the U. S. first Formula One race. However poor attendance and high costs relocated the next U. S, Grand Prix to Riverside International Raceway in Southern California. For much of Sebrings history, the followed a 5.2 miles layout. This was closer to the hairpin and allowed a run through a very fast corner to the top of the track. In 1983 the circuit was changed to allow use of the track. In 1987 more changes allowed use of another runway, in 1997, the hairpin was removed due to a lack of run-off, and replaced with what became known as the safety pin. Gendebien Bend was also re-profiled to slow the entry to the Ullman straight. The track is often recognized for its famous, high-speed Turn 17, the corner can fit up to 3 cars wide. Skip Barber Racing School holds numerous programs at the facility, including a Scholarship opportunity for young racers, Sebring International Raceway consist of three tracks, the Full Circuit, the Short Circuit, and the Club Circuit. The course of the track itself is 3.74 miles long and it is a seventeen-turn road course with long straights, several high-speed corners, and very technical slower corners. Many of the turns and points along the track are named for the early teams, there is very little elevation change around the track and little camber on the surface, providing a challenging track for drivers, especially when it rains. Sebring is renowned for its rough surface, the course still runs on old sections of World War II-era landing fields that were constructed of concrete sections with large seams. The transitions between sections are quite rough and often, sparks fly from the undercarriages of the cars as they traverse them, much of the track has intentionally been left with its original concrete runway surface
27.
Sebring, Florida
–
Sebring is a city in Highlands County, Florida, United States, nicknamed The City on the Circle, in reference to Circle Drive, the center of the Sebring Downtown Historic District. In 2010, the United States Census Bureau reported a population of 10,491 and it is the county seat of Highlands County, and is the principal city of the Sebring Metropolitan Statistical Area. Sebring is the home of the Sebring International Raceway, created on a former airbase and it hosted the 1959 Formula One United States Grand Prix, but is currently best known as the host of the 12 Hours of Sebring, an annual WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race. Nearby Highlands Hammock State Park is a popular attraction, additionally, the house where novelist Rex Beach committed suicide is located on one of Sebrings main lakes, Lake Jackson. It was named after George E. Sebring, a manufacturer from Ohio who developed the city. The village of Sebring, Ohio, is named for George E. Sebring. It was chartered by the state of Florida in 1913, and was selected as the county seat of Highlands County when the county was created in 1921, Sebring is located at 27°29′44″N 81°26′40″W. According to the Census Bureau, the city has an area of 11.01 square miles,5.13 square miles of which is land and 5.88 square miles of which is water. Water comprises 53. 4% of the total area. The citys geography is dominated by 9, 212-acre Lake Jackson, Highlands county has more than 84 lakes, most of which are located in unincorporated areas of the county. Sebring lies on the end of the Lake Wales Ridge. Sebrings climate is a subtropical climate, with hot, humid summers and cool. Unlike most places with a climate classification, Sebrings rainfall is clearly seasonal. As of the census of 2000, there were 9,667 people,3,969 households, the population density was 1,883.7 per square mile. There were 5,024 housing units at a density of 979.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 75. 81% White,15. 69% African American,0. 57% Native American,0. 74% Asian,0. 10% Pacific Islander,5. 06% from other races, and 2. 02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11. 00% of the population,36. 0% of all households were made up of individuals and 21. 0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the family size was 2.91
28.
Florida
–
Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
29.
6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
–
The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is an endurance race for sports cars held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. The Spa 24 Hours had been introduced in 1924, and other races followed, as on the Nürburgring, both a 24-hour race for touring cars and GTs is held, and an endurance race for sports cars and GTs. The sports car began in 1953, and in 1963 joined the World Sportscar Championship and was extended to 500 km. Starting in 1966, it was run for 1000 km, following the 1000 km Nürburgring and 1000 km Monza, due to safety problems on the traditional long and very fast 14 km track over public roads, the race was discontinued after 1975. The 1000 km race was resumed in 1982 after the track was made safer by shortening it to 7 km, in 1989 and 1990, the race distance was lowered to 480 km as a rule change required the use of Formula One-derived engines that lasted longer. Due to the decline of the WSC, the 1000km was discontinued after 1990 even before the WSC closed, the race was revived in 1999, as a part of the SportsRacing World Cup, running to a 2-hour,30 minute time limit. In 2003, the 1000 km race was resumed as a joint event of the FIA SCC with the British GT Championship, in 2004, it was part of the Le Mans Series, and in 2011 was also part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. From 2012 onwards the race has been part of the FIA World Endurance Championship, jacky Ickx currently holds record of most wins, having won the race 5 times, in 1967,1968,1974,1982, and 1983. He is also one of two drivers to win the 1000 km on both the original and current circuits, the other being Derek Bell. ^1 The 1975 event was scheduled for 1000 km, but was shortened to 750 km the day of the race due to an approaching storm. Bellof died in the hospital afterwards, and officials ended the race at the five-hour mark, ^3 The 2002 event was stopped early due to heavy rain. ^4 The 2010 event was red flagged during the due to electrical outages. The race covered approximately 975 km when it on a six time limit. Le Mans Series -1000 km of Spa 1,000 KM of Spa Francorchamps Racing Sports Cars, Spa archive
30.
Belgium
–
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
31.
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
–
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit is the venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, and of the Spa 24 Hours and 1000 km Spa endurance races. It is also home to the all Volkswagen club event,25 Hours of Spa and it is one of the most challenging race tracks in the world, mainly due to its fast, hilly and twisty nature. Spa is a circuit of many racing drivers and fans. Despite its name, the circuit is not in Spa but lies in the vicinity of the town of Francorchamps within the boundaries of the municipality of Stavelot, with a part in the boundaries of Malmedy. Designed in 1920 by Jules de Thier and Henri Langlois Van Ophem, the track was intended to have hosted its inaugural race in August 1921, however this event had to be cancelled as there was only one entrant. The first car race was held at the circuit in 1922, the circuit was first used for Grand Prix racing in 1925. The old Spa circuit was essentially a speed course with drivers managing higher average speeds than on other race tracks, until 2000, it was possible to travel over the race track when it was still a public road. Near Malmedy, the Masta straight began, which was interrupted by the fast Masta Kink between farm houses before arriving at the town of Stavelot. Before 1970, there were no safety modifications of any kind done to the circuit, former Formula One racing driver and team owner Jackie Oliver was quoted as saying if you went off the road, you didnt know what you were going to hit. The old Spa circuit was unique in that speeds were high with hardly any let-up at all for 3–4 minutes. This made it a difficult mental challenge, because most of the corners were taken at 180+ mph and were not quite flat- every corner was as important as the one before it. If a driver lifted just that bit more, then whole seconds. Even the slightest error of any kind was punished very harshly in more ways than one, but this reality also worked inversely- huge advantages could be gained if a driver came out of a corner slightly faster. When Armco crash barriers were added to the track in 1970, deaths became less frequent there but the track was still notorious for other factors. The Ardennes Forest had very unpredictable weather and there were parts where it was raining and the track was wet, and other parts where the sun was shining, in 1969, the Belgian Grand Prix was boycotted by F1 because of the extreme danger of Spa. There had been 10 racing fatalities in total at the track in the 1960s, the drivers demanded changes made to Spa which were not possible on short notice, so the Belgian Grand Prix was dropped that year. Armco was added to the track and sections of it were improved, for the 1971 race, the track owners and authorities had not brought the track up to date with mandatory safety measures, and the race was cancelled. Formula One would not return to Spa until 1983 on the modern track, the Masta Kink was one of the most fearsome sections on any race track in the world, requiring skill and bravery in equal measure to get it right
32.
Spa, Belgium
–
Spa is a Belgian town, located in the Province of Liège, and is the town which gave its name to every spa in the world. The town of Spa is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountains 35 kilometres southeast of Liège and 45 kilometres southwest of Aachen. In 2006, Spa had a population of 10,543, Spa is one of Belgiums main tourist cities. The town of Spa is famous for its natural mineral springs. Nearby Spa, in the village of Francorchamps, the renowned Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is situated, the first beauty pageant in the world was the Concours de Beauté, held in Spa on 19 September 1888. Spa is also the location of the worlds first Casino, Spa hosted the finish of Stage 2 of the 2010 Tour de France on July 5. As the famed site of healing springs, Spa has been frequented as a watering-place since as early as the 14th century. The Spa town grew at that time, in the oldest iron, the ban Spa, was created around 1335 and included two urban concentrations, vilhe of Creppe and vilhe Spas, two kilometers away. The steel industry prior to the exploitation of mineral water developed lines of communication, which made possible the development of the spa town. Pliny the Elder, noted In Tongrie, country of Gaul, there is a source, whose water, while sparkling bubbles. This water purge the body, cures fevers and dispels calculous affections, in 1559 appeared in the famous work of Gilbert Lymborh Fountains acids of the Ardennes forest and primarily those located in Spa. It was translated into Latin, Italian and Spanish, in 1547 already, Agustino, physician to the King of England, Henry VIII, was staying at Spa and helped give knowledge to the world of the value of the Spa water. In July 1565 the gentry of the met in Spa under the pretext of taking the waters. It is in the hotel Aux Armes of England it was agree to oppose the edicts of Philip II which were austere and intolerant, in 1654, the stay of Charles II of England in Spa will brought even greater fame. From 1699, a system is set up between Spa and the outside world. Since the 18th century casinos have also located in the town. During the Great War of 1914-1918, Spa was an important German convalescent hospital town from 1914 to 1917, the general headquarters of Kaiser Wilhelm II was, in 1918, the last place where he resided before his removal due to the German surrender. In 1920, In July 1920 it hosted the Spa Conference, German delegates were invited to this to discuss war reparations
33.
24 Hours of Le Mans
–
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the worlds oldest active sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, France. It is one of the most prestigious races in the world and is often called the Grand Prix of Endurance. The event represents one leg of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, other events being the Indianapolis 500, since 2012, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship. In 2017, it will be the round of the season. The race has over the years inspired imitating races all over the globe, popularizing the 24-hour format at places like Daytona, Nürburgring, Spa-Francorchamps, and Bathurst. The American Le Mans Series and Europes Le Mans Series of multi-event sports car championships were spun off from 24 Hours of Le Mans regulations. At a time when Grand Prix motor racing was the dominant form of motorsport throughout Europe, Le Mans was designed to present a different test. Instead of focusing on the ability of a car company to build the fastest machines and this encouraged innovation in producing reliable and fuel-efficient vehicles, because endurance racing requires cars that last and spend as little time in the pits as possible. At the same time, the layout of the track necessitated cars with better aerodynamics, while this was shared with Grand Prix racing, few tracks in Europe had straights of a length comparable to the Mulsanne. Additionally, because the road is public and thus not as meticulously maintained as permanent racing circuits, racing puts more strain on the parts, increasing the importance of reliability. The oil crisis in the early 1970s led organizers to adopt a fuel economy formula known as Group C that limited the amount of each car was allowed. Although it was abandoned, fuel economy remains important as new fuel sources reduced time spent during pit stops. Such technological innovations have had an effect and can be incorporated into consumer cars. This has also led to faster and more exotic supercars as manufacturers seek to develop road cars in order to develop them into even faster GT cars. Additionally, in recent years hybrid systems have been championed in the LMP category as rules have changed to their benefit. The race is held in June, leading at times to very hot conditions for drivers, particularly in closed vehicles with poor ventilation, the race begins in mid-afternoon and finishes the following day at the same hour the race started the previous day. Over the 24 hours, modern competitors often cover distances well over 5,000 km, the record is 2010s 5,410 km, six times the length of the Indianapolis 500, or approximately 18 times longer than a Formula One Grand Prix. Drivers and racing teams strive for speed and avoiding damage, as well as managing the cars consumables, primarily fuel, tires
34.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
35.
Circuit de la Sarthe
–
The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe located in Le Mans, Maine, France, is a semi-permanent race course most famous as the venue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. The track also includes roads that remain open to the public most of the year. The circuit, in its present configuration, is 13.629 kilometres long, making it one of the longest circuits in the world, capacity of the race stadium, where the short Bugatti Circuit is situated, is 100,000. Le Mans is a race where up to 85% of the time is spent on full throttle, meaning immense stress on engine. Even with the modifications put in place over the years, the Sarthe circuit is known for being very fast. This classic configuration was 8.369 miles long and remained almost unaltered even after the 1955 tragedy and its frighteningly narrow pit straight was narrowed off to make room for the pits and was part of the road itself, without the road becoming wider just for the pits. The pit straight was about 12 feet wide and the race track, the pit area was modified at a cost of 300 million francs, the signalling area was even moved to the exit of the slow Mulsanne corner, and the track was resurfaced. With cars getting ever faster in the 1960s, criticism rose, especially when drivers were killed. Since 1965, a smaller but permanent Bugatti Circuit was added which shares the pit lane facilities, for the 1968 race, the Ford chicane was added before the pits to slow down the cars. The circuit was fitted with Armco for the 1969 race, one of the Porsche Curves was affectionately named Maison Blanche and a short straight with a slight kink and two chicanes before the pits named the Ford chicanes were all added. In 1979, due to the construction of a new public road and this redesign led to a faster double-apex corner as well as requiring the removal of the second Dunlop Bridge. In 1986, because of construction of a new roundabout at the Mulsanne corner and this created a right hand kink prior to Mulsanne corner. In 1987, a chicane was added to the very fast Dunlop curve where cars would go under the Dunlop bridge at 180 mph, the Le Mans circuit was changed between the Dunlop Bridge and Esses, with the straight now becoming a set of fast sweeping turns. This layout allowed for a transition from the Le Mans circuit to the Bugatti circuit. This layout change would require the tracks infamous carnival to be relocated because the area it had once occupied became runoff. As part of the development, a new extended pit lane exit was created for the Bugatti Circuit and this second pit exit re-enters the track just beyond the Dunlop Chicane and before the Dunlop Bridge. Following the fatal crash of Danish driver Allan Simonsen at the 2013 race at the exit of Tertre Rouge into D338, the radius will be moved in approximately 200m for safety reasons with new tyre barriers at the exit. Le Mans was most famous for its 6 km long straight, called Ligne Droite des Hunaudières, a part of the route départementale D338
36.
Le Mans
–
Le Mans is a city in France, on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department, Le Mans is a part of the Pays de la Loire region. Its inhabitants are called Manceaux and Mancelles, since 1923, the city has hosted the internationally famous 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance sports car race. First mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy, the Roman city Vindinium was the capital of the Aulerci, Le Mans is also known as Civitas Cenomanorum, or Cenomanus. Their city, seized by the Romans in 47 BC, was within the ancient Roman province of Gallia Lugdunensis, a 3rd-century amphitheatre is still visible. The thermae were demolished during the crisis of the century when workers were mobilized to build the citys defensive walls. The ancient wall around Le Mans is one of the most complete circuits of Gallo-Roman city walls to survive, as the use of the French language replaced late Vulgar Latin in the area, Cenomanus, with dissimilation, became known as Celmans. Cel- was taken to be a form of the French word for this and that, and was replaced by le, gregory of Tours mentions a Frankish sub-king Rigomer, who was killed by King Clovis I in his campaign to unite the Frankish territories. As the principal city of Maine, Le Mans was the stage for struggles in the century between the counts of Anjou and the dukes of Normandy. When the Normans had control of Maine, William the Conqueror successfully invaded England, in 1069 the citizens of Maine revolted and expelled the Normans, resulting in Hugh V being proclaimed count of Maine. Geoffrey V of Anjou married Matilda of England in the cathedral and their son Henry II Plantagenet, king of England, was born here. The airfield was declared operational on 3 September and designated as A-35 and it was used by several American fighter and transport units until late November of that year in additional offensives across France, the airfield was closed. Le Mans has an old town and the Cathédrale St-Julien, dedicated to St Julian of Le Mans. Remnants of a Roman wall are visible in the old town and these walls are highlighted every summer evening in a light show that tells the history of the town. Arboretum de la Grand Prée Part of the former Cistercian abbey de lEpau, founded by Queen Berengaria, jardin des Plantes du Mans Musée de la reine Bérengère, a museum of Le Mans history located in a gothic manor house. Musée de Tessé, the arts museum of the city, displaying painting. Le Mans has an oceanic climate influenced by the mild Atlantic air travelling inland, summers are warm and occasionally hot, whereas winters are mild and cloudy. Precipitation is relatively uniform and moderate year round, at the 1999 French census, there were 293,159 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Le Mans, with 146,105 of these living in the city proper
37.
6 Hours of Silverstone
–
The 6 Hours of Silverstone is an endurance sports car race held at Silverstone Circuit near the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. First run in 1976 as part of the World Sportscar Championship, since 2013, the RAC Tourist Trophy has been awarded to the winners of the event. In 1975, a round of the World Championship of Makes was not held in Britain for one of the first times since 1966, the 1000 km Brands Hatch which had been run almost consecutively during that period went under hiatus while track upgrades were carried out. Following upgrades of its own in 1975, plans were made for sportscars to return to Britain by using Silverstone instead of Brands Hatch, the event was a six-hour endurance, part of the Group 5 World Championship. The first running consisted of a field as some season competitors chose not to compete. British drivers John Fitzpatrick and Tom Walkinshaw managed to upset the teams by scoring the inaugural victory in a BMW. The following year, competition grew as the factory Porsche team, under the guise of Martini Racing, the Porsche factory team was not able to continue their streak into 1979 when their lead car crashed, leaving the privateer Gelo Racing Porsche to a dominant win. 1980 saw the first victory by a sports-prototype, alain de Cadenet managed to win the home event as a driver, team owner, as well as a constructor when he and Desiré Wilson won by 18 seconds in a car of his own design. A Group 5 car took its final victory in 1981 with the all-German Velga Racing Team before the class was phased out. 1982 was the first year of the Group C category in the World Championship, the first Group C victory came in 1983 as Porsche returned to their factory dominance of the event, going on to win the 1984 and 1985 events as well. Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass still hold record of most wins, in 1986 British success returned as the Jaguar factory team was able to upset Porsche for the first time since the company had returned to racing. Jaguar then began to dominate in a similar to Porsche. American Eddie Cheever co-drove in each of the three victories, no race was held in 1989 as Donington temporarily replaced Silverstone on the schedule, but sportscars returned in 1990 for a shorter 480 km event. Jaguar returned to their winning ways straight away before going on to earn a fifth victory in a 430 km event in 1991. Only after Jaguar officially retired from the World Championship was another manufacturer able to again earn victory at Silverstone. A lack of entrants however lead to the cancellation of the World Championship, the race did make a one-year comeback in 2000 as part of the American Le Mans Series. The race served as a precursor to the European Le Mans Series that followed in 2001, in 2004, the new Le Mans Endurance Series was created to resurrect several 1000 km endurance races in a modern era. Among these was Silverstone, running at its original distance, once again, British success started off the return of the event as Allan McNish and the British Audi team won the event
38.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
39.
Silverstone Circuit
–
Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side, the Northamptonshire towns of Towcester and Brackley and Buckinghamshire town of Buckingham are close by, and the nearest large towns are Northampton and Milton Keynes. Silverstone is the current home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948, the 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created World Championship of Drivers. The race rotated between Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch from 1955 to 1986, but relocated permanently to Silverstone in 1987, the circuit also hosts the British round of the MotoGP series. However, the Donington Park leaseholders suffered economic problems resulting in the BRDC signing a 17-year deal with Ecclestone to hold the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Silverstone is built on the site of a World War II Royal Air Force bomber station, RAF Silverstone, the airfields three runways, in classic WWII triangle format, lie within the outline of the present track. Silverstone was first used for motorsport by an ad hoc group of friends who set up a race in September 1947. One of their members, Maurice Geoghegan, lived in nearby Silverstone village and was aware that the airfield was deserted and he and eleven other drivers raced over a two-mile circuit, during the course of which Geoghegan himself ran over a sheep that had wandered onto the airfield. The sheep was killed and the car written off, and in the aftermath of this event the race became known as the Mutton Grand Prix. The next year the Royal Automobile Club took a lease on the airfield and their first two races were held on the runways themselves, with long straights separated by tight hairpin corners, the track demarcated by hay bales. However, for the 1949 International Trophy meeting, it was decided to switch to the perimeter track and this arrangement was used for the 1950 and 1951 Grands Prix. In 1952 the start line was moved from the Farm Straight to the straight linking Woodcote and Copse corners, for the 1975 meeting a chicane was introduced to try to tame speeds through the mighty Woodcote Corner, and Bridge Corner was subtly rerouted in 1987. The track underwent a major redesign between the 1990 and 1991 races, transforming the ultra-fast track into a technical track. The reshaped tracks first F1 race was perhaps the most memorable of recent years, following the deaths of Senna and fellow Grand Prix driver Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994, many Grand Prix circuits were modified in order to reduce speed and increase driver safety. As a consequence of this the entry from Hangar Straight into Stowe Corner was modified in 1995 so as to make its entry less dangerous, in addition, the flat-out Abbey kink was modified to a chicane in just 19 days before the 1994 GP. Parts of the circuit, such as the grid, are 17 metres wide. After a new pit building, the Silverstone Wing, was completed in time for the 2011 race, almost flat out, the right-hander of Abbey leads immediately into the left-hander of Farm before cars brake heavily into the second gear, right-handed turn three, Village Corner. Turn 6, the left hander of Brooklands, is taken by drivers in second gear and leads immediately into Luffield, another second gear curve, a right-hand hairpin
Sebring International Raceway
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Circuit de la Sarthe
Silverstone Circuit
Autódromo José Carlos Pace
Bahrain International Circuit
Fuji Speedway
Shanghai International Circuit
AF Corse[67]
Toni Vilander[68]
Olivier Beretta[10]
Dominik Farnbacher[71]
Richard Lietz[72]
Adrián Fernández[10]
Rebellion Racing
PeCom Racing
Gulf Racing Middle East
