1.
FIA World Endurance Championship
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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.
Stirling Moss
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Sir Stirling Moss, OBE is a British former Formula One racing driver. In a seven-year span between 1955 and 1961 Moss finished as championship runner-up four times and third the other three, Moss was born in London, son of Alfred Moss, a dentist of Bray, Berkshire, and Aileen. He was brought up at Long White Cloud house on the bank of the River Thames. His father was a racing driver who had placed 16th at the 1924 Indianapolis 500. Stirling was a horse rider as was his younger sister, Pat Moss. Moss raced from 1948 to 1962, winning 212 of the 529 races he entered, like many drivers of the era, he competed in several formulae, often on the same day. He preferred to race British cars, stating, Better to lose honourably in a British car than win in a foreign one, at Vanwall, he was instrumental in breaking the German/Italian stranglehold on F1 racing. He remained the English driver with the most Formula One victories until 1991 when Nigel Mansell overtook him after competing in more races. Moss was one of the Cooper Car Companys first customers, using winnings from competing in horse-riding events to pay the deposit on a Cooper 500 racing car in 1948. He then persuaded his father, who opposed his racing and wanted him to be a dentist, to let him buy it. His first major race victory came on the eve of his 21st birthday at the wheel of a borrowed Jaguar XK120 in the 1950 RAC Tourist Trophy on the Dundrod circuit in Northern Ireland. He went on to win the six more times, in 1951,1955,1958 and 1959. Also a competent rally driver, he is one of three people to have won a Coupe dOr for three consecutive penalty-free runs on the Alpine Rally. He finished second in the 1952 Monte Carlo Rally driving a Sunbeam-Talbot 90 with Desmond Scannell, in 1954, he became the first non-American to win the 12 Hours of Sebring, sharing the Cunningham teams 1. 5-liter O. S. C. A. In 1953 Mercedes-Benz racing boss Alfred Neubauer had spoken to Mosss manager, Ken Gregory, having seen him do well in a relatively uncompetitive car, and wanting to see how he would perform in a better one, Neubauer suggested Moss buy a Maserati for the 1954 season. In the Italian Grand Prix at Monza he passed both drivers who were regarded as the best in Formula One at the time—Juan Manuel Fangio in a Mercedes, Ascari retired with engine problems, and Moss led until lap 68 when his engine also failed. Fangio took the victory, and Moss pushed his Maserati to the finish line, Neubauer, already impressed when Moss had tested a Mercedes-Benz W196 at Hockenheim, promptly signed him for 1955. Mosss first Formula One victory was in the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree, leading a 1–2–3–4 finish for Mercedes, it was the first time he beat Fangio, his teammate and arch rival, who was also his friend and mentor
3.
Scuderia Ferrari
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Scuderia Ferrari S. p. A. competing as Scuderia Ferrari is the official name of the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer, Ferrari, and competes in Formula One racing. It is the oldest surviving and most successful Formula One team, the team was founded by Enzo Ferrari, initially to race cars produced by Alfa Romeo, though by 1947 Ferrari had begun building its own cars. As a constructor, Ferrari has a record 16 Constructors Championships, Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, Mike Hawthorn, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Niki Lauda, Jody Scheckter, Michael Schumacher and Kimi Räikkönen have won a record 15 Drivers Championships for the team. Since Räikkönens title in 2007 the team narrowly lost out on the 2008 drivers title with Felipe Massa, Schumacher is the teams most successful driver. Joining the team in 1996 and departing in 2006 he won five titles and 72 Grands Prix for the team. His titles came consecutively between 2000 and 2004, including the constructors title of 1999 consecutively being won until the end of 2004, this was the teams most successful period. Currently, World Champions Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel are the two race drivers. The team is known for its passionate support base known as the tifosi. The Italian Grand Prix at Monza is regarded as the home race. The Scuderia Ferrari team was founded by Enzo Ferrari on 16 November 1929 and became the team of Alfa Romeo. In 1938, Alfa Romeo management made the decision to enter racing under its own name, establishing the Alfa Corse organisation, Enzo Ferrari disagreed with this change in policy and was finally dismissed by Alfa in 1939. The terms of his leaving forbade him from motorsport under his own name, in 1939 Ferrari started work on a racecar of his own, the Tipo 815. The 815s, designed by Alberto Massimino, were thus the first Ferrari cars, World War II put a temporary end to racing, and Ferrari concentrated on an alternative use for his factory during the war years, doing machine tool work. After the war, Ferrari recruited several of his former Alfa colleagues and established a new Scuderia Ferrari, the team owns and operates a test track on the same site, the Fiorano Circuit built in 1972, which is used for testing road and race cars. The team is named after its founder, Enzo Ferrari, Scuderia is Italian for a stable reserved for racing horses and is also commonly applied to Italian motor racing teams. In 1947 Ferrari constructed the 12-cylinder,1.5 L Tipo 125, a Formula One version of the Tipo 125, the Ferrari 125 F1 was developed in 1948 and entered in several Grand Prix, at the time a World Championship had not yet been established. In 1950, the Formula One World Championship was established, and it is the only team to have competed in every season of the World Championship, from its inception to the current day. The company later switched to the large-displacement naturally aspirated formula for the 275,340, after the 1951 Formula One season the Alfa team withdrew from F1, causing the authorities to adopt the Formula Two regulations due to the lack of suitable F1 cars
4.
Porsche
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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
5.
Endurance racing (motorsport)
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Endurance racing is a form of motorsport racing which is meant to test the durability of equipment and endurance of participants. Teams of multiple drivers attempt to cover a distance in a single event. Endurance races can be run either to cover a set distance in laps as quickly as possible, one of the more common lengths of endurance races has been running for 1,000 kilometres, or roughly six hours. Longer races can run for 1,000 miles,12 hours, teams can consist of anywhere from two to four drivers per event, which is dependent on the drivers endurance abilities, length of the race, or even the rules for each event. Coppa Florio was an Italian car race started in 1900, and renamed in 1905 when Vincenzo Florio offered the initial 50000 Lira, the Brescia race visited the route Brescia-Cremona-Mantova-Brescia. In 1908, the race used the Circuito di Bologna, Bologna-Castelfranco Emilia-SantAgata Bolognese-San Giovanni in Persiceto-Bologna, since 1914 most of the Coppa Florio was co-organized with the Targa Florio near Palermo, Sicilia, running four or five laps,108 km each. The Mille Miglia was an endurance race which took place in Italy 24 times from 1927 to 1957. The worlds first organized 24-hour automobile race event was held on a 1-mile oval track at Driving Park, Columbus, beginning on the afternoon of July 3, four cars from Frayer-Miller, Pope-Toledo, Peerless and White Steamer raced for a $500 silver trophy. The winning Pope-Toledo car covered 828.5 miles, a protest was filed by the Frayer-Miller and Peerless teams, alleging the Pope-Toledo was not owned by the driver, instead sent from the factory with an engine built for racing. The first 24-hour race to place at a dedicated motorsport venue was at Brooklands. This incurred the wrath of local residents and would lead to the Double Twelve race and this format meant the race took place for 12 hours each between 8am to 8pm and between it, the cars were locked up overnight to prevent maintenance work from being performed on them. The 2001 Dakar Rally saw competitors cover a distance of 10,739 kilometres with a time of 70 hours over 20 days with three classes of cars, motorbikes, and trucks. The 1992 Paris–Cape Town Rally covered a distance of 12,427 km, the 1994 edition saw competitors return to Paris, for a distance of 13,379 km. The Expedition Trophy, first held in 2005, runs from Murmansk to Vladivostok, the 1908 New York to Paris Race covered a distance of over 16,000 km, taking 169 days from February 12 to July 30. The various endurance formats were appealing to manufacturers, not only as alternatives to the expense of Grand Prix racing, in automobile endurance racing, three events have come to form a Triple Crown. They are considered three of the most challenging endurance races over the decades, the Rolex 24 at Daytona,12 Hours of Sebring, hans Herrmann was the first in 1970 to win the three races, and Timo Bernhard the most recent. No driver has won the three events in the year, Hurley Haywood and Al Holbert have won the three races at least twice each. Bold on year indicate at which race the driver achieved his Triple Crown, the FIA World Endurance Championship is an international sports car racing series organized by both the Automobile Club de lOuest and the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile
6.
Sports car racing
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Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going models, a type of hybrid between the purism of open-wheelers and the familiarity of touring car racing, this style is often associated with the annual Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race. First run in 1923, Le Mans is one of the oldest motor races still in existence, other classic but now defunct sports car races include the Italian classics, the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia, and the Mexican Carrera Panamericana. Most top class sports car races emphasize endurance, reliability, and strategy, longer races usually involve complex pit strategy and regular driver changes. These makers top road cars have often very similar both in engineering and styling to those raced. This close association with the nature of the cars serves as a useful distinction between sports car racing and touring cars. The 12 Hours of Sebring,24 Hours of Daytona, and 24 Hours of Le Mans were once considered the trifecta of sports car racing. In the 1920s, the used in endurance racing and Grand Prix were still basically identical, with fenders. Cars such as the Bugatti Type 35 were almost equally at home in Grands Prix and endurance events, but specialisation gradually started to differentiate the sports-racer from the Grand Prix car. As mainly Italian cars and races defined the genre, the category was called Gran Turismo, as long distances had to be travelled, reliability and some basic comfort were necessary in order to endure the task. After the Second World War, sports car racing emerged as a form of racing with its own classic races. Top Grand Prix drivers also competed regularly in sports car racing, from 1962 sports cars temporarily took a back seat to GT cars with the FIA replacing the World Championship for Sports Cars with the International Championship for GT Manufacturers. The US scene tended to feature small MG and Porsche cars in the smaller classes, the combination of mostly British chassis and American V8 engines gave rise to the popular and spectacular Can-Am series in the 1960s and 1970s. Clubmans provided much entertainment at club-racing level from the 1960s into the 1990s, after a relative period of decline in the 1980s a British GT Championship emerged in the mid-90s. Road races such as the Mille Miglia included everything from stock touring cars to World Championship contenders, the Mille Miglia was the largest sporting event in Italy until a fatal accident caused its demise in 1957. The Targa Florio, another road race, remained part of the world championship until the 1970s. Between the late 1960s and late 1970s, Matra and Renault made significant, the competition at Le Mans even made it to the movie screens, with Steve McQueens film Le Mans. This era was seen by many as the highpoint of sports car racing, with the technology, a peculiarly American form of sports car racing was the Can-Am series, in which virtually unlimited sports prototypes competed in relatively short races
7.
ADAC
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The ADAC is an automobile club in Germany, founded on May 24,1903 as German Motorbiker Association, and was renamed to its present name in 1911. With more than 18 million members in May 2012, it is the largest automobile club in Europe and it is also the largest motorcyclist association in the world, with 1.5 million members. Both the ADAC, and its older rival AvD, are members of the FIA, the European Grand Prix, the former ADAC Eifelrennen, the 24 Hours Nürburgring and many other races are hosted by ADAC. The ADAC also operates a fleet of mobile mechanics in yellow cars that assist motorists in trouble - the Yellow Angels. The ADAC runs its own modification center whereby ordinary vans are turned into mobile garages in 55 man-hours, in addition to this, the ADAC provides 44 air ambulance helicopters for urgent medical rescues in Germany, strategically placed so that any location can be reached within 15 minutes. The ADAC also offers its membership to non German residents, having signed contracts with automobile clubs worldwide, in the UK, it is possible to have breakdown recovery through the local AA while having an ADAC membership. The ADAC is publisher of the magazine with the largest distribution in Germany, on June 3,2008, the ADAC suspended its involvement with the FIA over the scandal surrounding Max Mosley and his subsequent retention as FIA president. The ADAC break-down assistance service was launched in Germany in 1927, during the Nazi period, starting in 1934, all motorists organizations and clubs were replaced by Der Deutsche Automobil-Club e. V. which was closely associated with the National Socialist Motor Corps. These original ADAC Gelbe Engel used NSU Konsul motorbikes, at the end of 1962 ADAC announced the retirement of their motor-bike-sidecar combinations which would be replaced by 40 appropriately equipped Volkswagen Beetles. Growth rates during the twenty years were greatly boosted by German reunification. ADAC is a member for the European Road Assessment Program in Germany. ADAC regularly publishes maps showing safety characteristics of German roads and these maps based on EuroRAPs Road Protection Score Protocol is a measure of how well a road protects road users in the event of an accident. Data on road characteristics is gathered by driving through road inspections using a specially equipped RPS inspection vehicle, trained assessors then rate the safety features and hazards on the inspected road and use standardised formula to produce a safety rating—star rating—which is comparable across Europe. ADAC also undertakes road inspections on behalf of other EuroRAP members, ADAC is the campaigns partner in Germany. Breakdown Breakdown Cover European Campaign for Safe Road Design EuroRAP The dictionary definition of ADAC at Wiktionary ADAC official website
8.
1953 World Sportscar Championship
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The 1953 World Sportscar Championship was the first FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was a seven race international motor racing series for sports cars contested from 8 March to 23 November 1953, the championship was won by Ferrari. The 1953 World Sports Car Championship was contested over a seven race series, sometimes, even the Drivers World Champion joined in. Classes were split between closed cars and open cars, with further divisions due to engine displacement, scuderia Ferrari were a dominant force in 1953, winning three races, a result of Enzo Ferrari’s determination to bring prestige to his marque. Championship points were awarded for the first six places in race in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Manufacturers were only awarded points for their highest finishing car with no points awarded for positions filled by additional cars, only the best 4 results out of the 7 races could be retained by each manufacturer. Points earned but not counted towards the championship totals are listed within brackets in the above table, the following models contributed to the net championship point scores of their respective manufacturers. classicscars. com 1953 World Sports Car Championship points table at www. classicscars. com
9.
Alberto Ascari
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Alberto Ascari was an Italian racing driver and twice Formula One World Champion. He was a racer who completed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Back to back World titles in 1952 and 1953 sandwiched an appearance in the Indianapolis 500 in 1952, Ascari also won the legendary Mille Miglia in 1954. When Alberto was a child, his father, Antonio, who was also a racing driver. Alberto once admitted that he warned his children not to become close to him because of the risk involved in his profession. So this proved when he was killed during a test session for Scuderia Ferrari at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza and he was preparing for the Supercortemaggiore 1000 kilometre race that he was to have run with his protégé Eugenio Castellotti on the weekend that followed the accident. The son of one of Italys great pre-war drivers, Alberto Ascari went on to one of Formula One racings most dominant. His unexplained fatal accident – at the age as his fathers, on the same day of the month. Born in Milan, Ascari was the son of Antonio Ascari, such was his passion to become a racing driver like his father, twice he ran away from school. He raced motorcycles in his earlier years, at the age of just 19, Ascari was signed to ride for the Bianchi team. He also married a girl the same year. When Italy entered World War II, the garage, now run by Alberto, was conscripted to service. It was during this period, he established a transport business. His partner in the enterprise was a racing driver, Luigi Villoresi. The pair did survive being capsized in Tripoli harbour along with a shipment of lorries, as their business supported the Italian war effort, it made them exempt from being called up during the war. Following the end of World War II Alberto Ascari began racing in Grands Prix with Maserati 4CLT and his teammate was Villoresi, who would become a mentor, teammate and friend to Ascari. The pair were successful on the circuits in the North of Italy, soon he was bestowed with the nickname Ciccio, meaning Tubby. Formula One regulations were introduced by the FIA in 1946, with the aim of replacing the pre-war Grand Prix structure
10.
Giuseppe Farina
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Dottore Giuseppe Antonio “Nino” Farina, was an Italian racing driver and was the first official Formula One World Champion, gaining the title in 1950. He was also the Italian Champion in 1937,1938 and 1939, during his thirty-year racing career he suffered a series of accidents. Born in Turin, Farina was the son of Giovanni Carlo Farina who founded the Stabilimenti Farina coachbuilder, Giuseppe began driving a two-cylinder Temperino, at the age of just nine. He became a Doctor of Political Science, he excelled at skiing, football. He cut short a career as an officer with the Italian army to fulfil a different ambition. While still at university Farina purchased his first car, a second-hand Alfa Romeo, while trying to beat his father, he crashed, breaking his shoulder and receiving facial cuts, establishing a trend that continued throughout his crash-prone career. It was Nuvolari who to some extent, guided Farina’s early career, in 1935, he raced for the factory Maserati team, showing enough promise to impress Enzo Ferrari, who recruited him to drive for Scuderia Ferrari, the team that ran the works-supported Alfa Romeos. It was in an Alfa Romeo 8C that he finished second in the Mille Miglia and he made mistakes aplenty, but kept coming back for more and became a Grand Prix winner, when he won the 1937 Grand Prix of Naples. Although he was noted for his style and intelligence, he had a petulant streak. He was involved in two fatal accidents, the first was during the 1936 Grand Prix de Deauville, when he tried to pass Marcel Lehoux for second. Farina’s Alfa Romeo 8C collided with Lehoux’s ERA, causing the ERA to overturn, Lehoux was thrown out, received a fractured skull and died in hospital, while Farina escaped with minor injuries. Two seasons later, during the 1938 Gran Premio di Tripoli, the cars to collided and overturned. Farina survived without injuries, but Hartmann died the following day. In 1938, the official Alfa Romeo team, Alfa Corse, returned to motor sport and Farina was a member. Driving the new Alfa Romeo 158 Voiturette in 1939, he won the Grand Prix d’Anvers, Coppa Ciano, the following year, he won the Tripoli Grand Prix and finished second in the Mille Miglia for the third time. After World War II, Farina returned to Alfa Corse to drive their 158 and he won the 1946 Grand Prix des Nations. However, he left Alfa Corse after a disagreement over team leadership and he came back to the sport in 1948 with a privately entered Maserati and a works Ferrari. During this period, he also got married to Elsa Giaretto, in her opinion motor sport was a silly and dangerous activity, and she tried to persuade Farina to stop
11.
Ferrari
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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.
Formula One
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Formula One is the highest class of single-seat auto racing that is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile. The FIA Formula One World Championship has been the form of racing since the inaugural season in 1950. The formula, designated in the name, refers to a set of rules, the F1 season consists of a series of races, known as Grands Prix, held worldwide on purpose-built F1 circuits and public roads. The results of each race are evaluated using a system to determine two annual World Championships, one for drivers, one for constructors. The racing drivers are required to be holders of valid Super Licences, the races are required to be held on tracks graded 1, the highest grade a track can receive by the FIA. Most events are held in locations on purpose-built tracks, but there are several events in city centres throughout the world. Formula One cars are the fastest road racing cars in the world. Formula One cars race at speeds of up to approximately 375 km/h with engines currently limited in performance to a maximum of 15,000 RPM, the cars are capable of lateral acceleration in excess of five g in corners. The performance of the cars is very dependent on electronics – although traction control and other driving aids have been banned since 2008 – and on aerodynamics, suspension, the formula has radically evolved and changed through the history of the sport. F1 had a global television audience of 425 million people during the course of the 2014 season. Grand Prix racing began in 1906 and became the most popular internationally in the second half of the twentieth century. The Formula One Group is the holder of the commercial rights. Its high profile and popularity have created a major merchandising environment, since 2000 the sports spiraling expenditures and the distribution of prize money favoring established top teams have forced complaints from smaller teams and led several teams to bankruptcy. On 23 January 2017 it was confirmed that Liberty Media had completed its $8 billion acquisition of Delta Topco, the Formula One series originated with the European Grand Prix Motor Racing of the 1920s and 1930s. The formula is a set of rules that all cars must meet. Formula One was a new formula agreed upon after World War II during 1946, the first world championship race was held at Silverstone, United Kingdom in 1950. A championship for constructors followed in 1958, national championships existed in South Africa and the UK in the 1960s and 1970s. Non-championship Formula One events were held for years, but due to the increasing cost of competition
13.
Jochen Mass
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Jochen Richard Mass is a German former racing driver. Mass was born in Dorfen, Bavaria and he participated in 114 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 14 July 1973 at the British Grand Prix. He won one GP race, secured no pole positions, achieved 8 podiums, Mass is perhaps best known for his blameless part in the death of Gilles Villeneuve. On 8 May 1982, with only 10 minutes left until the end of the session for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. As Villeneuve came up behind Mass exiting a super-fast left turn, Villeneuve had already committed to the right hand side and the two cars touched wheels, launching the helpless Canadian skyward. Villeneuves car hit the ground nose-first and was torn apart in a series of violent cartwheels. His seat was dislodged and he was flung from his car, Mass stopped his car, jumped out and ran back to Villeneuve’s wrecked car, but there was nothing he could have done. Villeneuve was flown to hospital and taken off later that evening. In 1972, he teamed up with Hans-Joachim Stuck to drive a Ford Capri RS2600 to victory at the Spa 24 Hours endurance race in Belgium and he went on to win that years World Sportscar Championship. He finished second to Clay Regazzoni and Arturo Merzario in a November 1972 9-hour race at the Kyalami Circuit, in Johannesburg, Mass co-driver in a Chevron B-21 was Gerry Birrell.8 seconds, for an average of 124.3 miles per hour. Mass placed second to Jean-Pierre Jarier in a Formula Two race at Nivelles and he had finished second in the first heat and third in the second. He completed his first Formula One race at the 1973 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, Mass came in seventh in a Surtees. He drove a McLaren-Ford to third place in the 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos, Mass won the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix after leader, Rolf Stommelens car hit a protective barrier, exploded into flames and catapulted into the crowd at the Montjuich circuit. Four spectators were killed and twelve were injured, stommelen suffered multiple fractures and was in a critical condition after the accident. Mass was declared the winner in his Texaco McLaren-Ford, when the race was stopped immediately after the accident, Merzario and Mass led an Alfa Romeo sweep of the first two positions in the 1975 Coppa Florio manufacturers championship automobile race at Pergusa. Mass was third in the 1975 French Grand Prix at Le Castellet, on lap 44 he broke the record set by Denny Hulme, clocking a time of 1,50.60 over the 3. 61-mile circuit. Mass and Jacky Ickx teamed in a Porsche to claim victory in the Dijon Six-Hour Race, Mass won the eighth and final race of the 1976 World Sports Car Championship series. He completed the 4.2 kilometre, Salzburg course in 1 hour,28 minutes,25.24 seconds, Mass and Ickx drove a Porsche 935 in the 197724 Hours of Daytona endurance race
14.
Jacky Ickx
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Jacky Ickx was introduced to the sport when he was taken by his father, motoring journalist Jacques Ickx, to races which he covered. Despite this family background, Jacky had limited interest in the sport until his father bought him a 50 cc Zündapp motorcycle, soon afterwards, Ickx won 8 of 13 races at the first season and the European 50 cc trials title. He also competed in car races where he had already significant experience from taking part in the 1000 km races at the Nürburgring. Ickx entered his first Grand Prix at the Nürburgring in 1966, driving a Matra MS5-Cosworth one-litre Formula Two car, however, a first lap collision with John Taylor caused both cars to retire and Taylor later died as a result of burns received in the accident. In 1967, Ickx again drove at the Nurburgring, with an F2 Matra MS7-Cosworth 1. 6-litre, despite the greater power of the Formula One cars, only two F1 drivers qualified with a faster time than Ickx, Denny Hulme and Jim Clark. As Ickx was racing in the separate F2 class, he started the race all of the F1 cars. He was forced to retire after 12 laps with broken front suspension, at Monza in 1967, he made his F1 debut in a Cooper T81B-Maserati, finishing sixth, despite suffering a puncture on the last lap. He also drove for Cooper in the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, in 1968 Ickx drove in Formula 1 for Ferrari. He retired from his first two races, but at his race at Spa-Francorchamps he started from the front row. At the French Grand Prix at Rouen he took his first win, in heavy rain, Ickx also finished third at Brands Hatch and fourth at the Nürburgring after driving almost the entire race in heavy rain without his helmet visor. At Monza he finished the race in third position, in Canada he crashed and broke his left leg during practice, thus did not start and also missed the subsequent United States Grand Prix. He returned in time for the race of the season in Mexico. Ickx scored 27 points in the 1968 Formula One season finishing in place behind Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart. In 1969, Ickx moved to Brabham, partly at the instigation of the John Wyer team for whom hed had considerable success in sports cars. Wyers main sponsor, Gulf Oil were keen to ensure that they retained his services rather than lose him to Ferraris sports car team. In the 1969 Mexican Grand Prix Ickx finished second and ended the year as runner-up in the world championship. He returned to the Ferrari team for the 1970 season, a move he had been considering since the Italian Grand Prix, as in 1969, Ickx had a disappointing start to the 1970 season. On the first lap of the Spanish Grand Prix he collided with the BRM of Jackie Oliver and it took at least 20 seconds for him to leave the burning car and he was hospitalized with severe burns
15.
Porsche 956
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The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984, the project began in June 1981, and the first prototype chassis was completed on March 27,1982, in time for the beginning of the World Championship season. Jürgen Barth tested the first chassis at Porsches private test track, the 956 features a chassis made of an aluminium monocoque, a first for the company, helping to allow the car to meet the 800 kg weight minimum in Group C. The engine is the same as the one used in the Porsche 936/81, the very first dual clutch gearbox was also designed for the 956, mated to a traditional 5-speed manual. An improved chassis with better fuel efficiency from a Bosch Motronic electric system was developed for 1984, in total, twenty-eight 956s would be built by Porsche from 1982 to 1984, with an unofficial 29th chassis built from spare parts by Richard Lloyd Racing. The 956 was also the first Porsche to have ground effect aerodynamics, as a comparison, the ground effects Porsche 956 produced over three times as much downforce as the older model Porsche 917 that raced over a decade earlier. In 1983,956 chassis #107 was used by Porsche as a testbed for their P01 Formula One engine, later badged as TAG, the car was able to test some of the characteristics of a Formula One car in order to develop the engine. As of the 2012 German Grand Prix, the TAG-Porsche engine sits in 7th place on the list of F1 race winning engines, Porsche tested its Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe dual-clutch transmission in the 956 in the early 1980s. PDK would be used in the Porsche 962, and would make its way into production Porsches with the 2009997 Carrera and Carrera S. The Porsche 956 also appeared with two different rear wing designs, the cars were fitted with a larger, high downforce rear wing for most events. Notably, the factory backed Rothmans Porsche team did not make use of the front wings. The 956 would be replaced by the Porsche 962 in 1985. The 956 made its debut at the Silverstone 6 Hour race, after missing the following round at the 1000 km Nürburgring for developmental reasons, the Ickx/Bell unit reappeared at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. They led the race for the entire 24 hours, eventually taking the overall win - their third win together, as they had already won in 1981 with a Porsche 936 that had used an early version of the 956 engine, their car had started number 1. The two other factory 956 followed them, so the three factory Porsches finished 1-2-3 in the order of their starting numbers.13 seconds, at an speed of 202 km/h. The race lap record is held by the same Bellof, during the 19831000 km Nürburgring, at the 19851000 km of Spa, Bellof died after colliding with Jacky Ickxs newer 962. Safety concerns over the 956 led to its end as teams upgraded to the safer 962. The 956s last win would come courtesy of Joest Racing in the last race of the 1986 WEC season, Porsche USA -1982 Porsche 956 C Coupé Porsche USA -1983 Porsche 956 C Coupé
16.
Stefan Bellof
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Stefan Bellof was a German racing driver, best known for setting the fastest lap ever on the Nordschleife configuration at the Nürburgring in 1983, driving a Porsche 956. He was the winner of the Drivers Championship in the 1984 World Sportscar Championship and he also competed with the Tyrrell Formula One team during 1984 and 1985. He was killed in an accident during the 19851000 km of Spa World Sportscar Championship race, several other top-five championship placings occurred during the next few years before Bellof claimed his first karting title, by winning the International Karting Championship of Luxembourg in 1976. In the same season, Bellof also finished thirteenth in the Karting World Championship in Hagen, a full season in the 1600cc class beckoned in 1980, and Bellof became champion taking eight victories and nine podium placings from twelve races. Bellof also contested three VW Castrol Europa Pokal races, of which he won one, as well as those outings, Bellof moved into the German Formula Three Championship, making his début for Bertram Schäfers team at Wunstorf. Luck eluded Bellof however, as he finished the race in thirteenth position, while title rivals Frank Jelinski and Franz Konrad finished in first, eleven points separated Bellof from Jelinski, who claimed his second successive German Formula Three championship. At the conclusion of the season, Bellof contested the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch, but was excluded from the meeting after finishing sixth in his quarter-final heat, for excessive contact. Bellof made a promise to the clerk of the course, saying that the official had better watch my career, because Ill be back here next year. Bellof joined Mike Thackwell and Alain Ferté at a test session with Maurer Motorsport at Circuit Paul Ricard in France at the end of the 1981 season. After acquiring an amount of BMW backing, Bellof assumed a place in the team, with Maurer eventually becoming his manager. The first race of the season was the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone and he followed this win up with a second successive triumph at the Jim Clark Gedächtnisrennen at Hockenheim, having started from pole position and achieved the fastest lap during the race. Two points from the six races ruled him out of the championship hunt, as he fell to an eventual fourth place classification. By comparison to his 1982 season, Bellofs 1983 season was less successful. Bellofs only other points-scoring finish was fourth at Silverstone, as he finished the season in position on nine points. While competing in Formula Two in 1982, Bellof made a appearance in the World Endurance Championship at the 1000 km of Spa. The pairing retired from the race on lap 51, due to a problem with the starter motor, the previous weekend, Bellof had joined Kremer to compete in the Hessen Cup at Hockenheim as part of the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, but retired with transmission failure. In 1983 Bellof joined the Rothmans-backed Porsche factory team for the World Endurance Championship driving a Porsche 956 alongside Derek Bell.274 kilometres per hour. Bellofs pole time for the race –1 minute,13.15 seconds – would have put him twelfth on the grid for the British Grand Prix later in the year
17.
World Sportscar Championship
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The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The official name of the series changed throughout the years, however it has generally been known as the World Sportscar Championship from its inception in 1953. The World Sportscar Championship was, with the Formula One World Championship, in 2012 the World Sportscar Championship was revived and renamed as the World Endurance Championship. Cars were split into Sports Car and GT categories and were divided into engine displacement classes. The Ferrari and Maserati works teams were fierce competitors throughout much of the decade, notably absent from the overall results were the Jaguar works team, who did not enter any events other than Le Mans, despite the potential of the C- and D-Types. In 1962, the calendar was expanded to include smaller races, the World Sportscar Championship title was discontinued, being replaced by the International Championship for GT Manufacturers. They group cars into three categories with specific sizes, less than one litre, less than two litres, and over two litres. Hillclimbs, sprint races and smaller races expanded the championship, which now had about 15 races per season, for 1963 the three engine capacity classes remained but a prototype category was added. For 1965 the engine classes became for cars under 1300 cc, under 2000 cc, in 1972 the Group 6 Prototype and Group 5 Sports Car classes were both replaced by a new Group 5 Sports Car class. These cars were limited to 3.0 L engines by the FIA, the new Group 5 Sports Cars, together with Group 4 Grand Touring Cars, would contest the FIAs newly renamed World Championship for Makes from 1972 to 1975. Prototypes returned in 1976 as Group 6 cars with their own series, the World Championship for Sports Cars, in 1981, the FIA instituted a drivers championship. While this change was unwelcome amongst some of the private teams, several of the old guard manufacturers returned to the WSC within the next two years, with each marque adding to the diversity of the series. Under the new rules, it was possible for normally aspirated engines to compete with the forced induction engines that had dominated the series in the 70s. In addition, most races ran for either 500 or 1000 km, Group B cars, which was a GT class, were also allowed to race, but entries in this class were sparse, and Group B cars disappeared from the series, with sports-prototypes dominating the championship. Porsche was the first constructor to join the series, with the 956, as costs increased, a C2 class was created for privateer teams and small manufacturers, with greater limits to fuel consumption. In this lower class, most cars used either the BMW M1 engine or the new Cosworth DFL, but, like in the main class, alba, Tiga, Spice and Ecurie Ecosse were among the most competitive in this class. While the Group C formula had brought back to the sport. For 1986, the World Endurance Championship became the World Sports-Prototype Championship, the new classification, known as Group C Category 1, was designed to mandate Formula One engines
18.
2001 European Le Mans Series
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The 2001 European Le Mans Series season was the only season for the IMSA European Le Mans Series. It is a series for Le Mans Prototypes and Grand Touring race cars divided into 4 classes, LMP900, LMP675, GTS and it began 17 March 2001 and ended 6 October 2001 after 7 races. The series came about following the expansion of Don Panozs American Le Mans Series to include European rounds in 2000. The ELMS become a series for 2001, although following the same IMSA and ACO rules that the ALMS followed. Like the Petit Le Mans for the ALMS, the 1000 km of Estoril was meant to be an event that would earn automatic entries to the 24 Hours of Le Mans for its winners. A lack of interest from the European racing community and competition from the FIAs series, another planned series, known as Asian-Pacific Le Mans Series was planned to begin in late 2001, but never occurred. The Le Mans Endurance Series was eventually renamed the European Le Mans Series in 2012, following the demise of the European Le Mans Series, the ACO would attempt to create another European-based sportscar series in 2003 with the more successful Le Mans Endurance Series. The aged IMSA sportscar series was taken over and became the new American Le Mans Series, following this success, Panoz attempting to bring sportscar racing back to Europe, which had lacked a major sportscar series since the demise of the World Sportscar Championship in 1992. This led to the 2000 American Le Mans Series season, which included two races in Europe as the Nürburgring and Silverstone Circuit, as well as a round in Australia and these races would serve as a precursor to what would become the separate European Le Mans Series in 2001. To aid in the development of the ELMS, the 2001 season shared some races between both ALMS and ELMS, the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans, normally ALMS races, were considered optional races for ELMS teams. At the same time, the ELMS races at Donington Park and this allowed for the possibility of boosting the draw from international teams to either series. This means that the car count for the 2001 season was small, for the ELMS events that included ALMS teams, very few teams actually bothered to make the trip across the Atlantic to participate in races that appeared to have very few serious competitors. Of the ALMS teams that did race, nearly all were factory backed squads that had the money to spend on transporting their equipment to Europe. Thus the entry lists for each race fell from 25 at the beginning of the season to a mere 14 at seasons end, with some classes only having one or two competitors. With a lack of involvement from teams, and less interest from the due to the lack of teams. The demise of the European Le Mans Series would not be the end of racing in Europe. This series would be far more successful, with a number of participants from the very beginning. At the same time in the development of the European Le Mans Series, originally named the Asian Le Mans Series, it was later known as the Asian-Pacific Le Mans Series
19.
American Le Mans Series
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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
20.
Panoz, LLC
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Panoz, LLC is an American manufacturer of high performance sports automobiles. The company has also extensively involved in professional racing, and designs, engineers and builds its own race cars, i. e. chassis. Founded in 1989 as Panoz Auto Development by Dan Panoz, son of pharmaceutical, the company is located in Braselton, Georgia. Panoz products have included the Panoz Roadster and AIV Roadster, all Panoz road cars are tested at Panoz-owned Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia and built at the Braselton workshop. Since 1997, Panoz cars have competed in racing series around the world, Panoz has shifted its American Le Mans and European racing programs toward production-based classes that allow Esperante variants to be raced in modified form. In addition to Le Mans series wins, an Esperante GTLM won the GT2 class at the 200624 Hours of Le Mans and it was made up of the motorsports-related holdings of Don Panoz. Headquartered in Braselton, Georgia, the group includes several racing series, a racetrack, the group also owns a racing school operating at multiple locations. The American Le Mans Series was created by Don Panoz in 1999 and it held its inaugural event, the 1998 Petit Le Mans as part of the Professional Sportscar Racing series. The ALMS has a partnership with the Automobile Club de lOuest, the series now holds 12 rounds across North America. In 2014, the merged with the Rolex Sports Car Series to form United SportsCar Racing. Panoz also owns the International Motor Sports Association, the organization that sanctions the ALMS, the Panoz group owns Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, and holds a long-term lease to operate Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida. It previously owned Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada but was sold in 2011, the tracks host the American Le Mans Series, in addition to other top-level auto and motorcycle racing series. Élan Motorsport Technologies is an umbrella company containing the car manufacturing companies owned by Panoz. Élan-built cars now race in the Indy Racing League, Champ Car World Series, American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, the Panoz Racing School is a driver training school operated at Road Atlanta and Sebring International Raceway. Students learn racing techniques in purpose-built Panoz GT-RA cars, following completion of the course, students are eligible for an SCCA regional racing license. The school also includes programs where customers can receive instruction in their own road cars, the Panoz Racing Series is a one-make series made up of the Panoz school cars, as well as the more powerful Panoz GTS model. The series is designed for amateurs to learn racing in a low-cost environment. Panoz also owns and operates Château Élan Resort & Winery in Braselton, Georgia, the Diablo Grande Winery & Resort in Patterson, California, and the St. Andrews Bay hotel in St Andrews, Scotland
21.
Jan Magnussen
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Jan Ellegaard Magnussen is a Danish professional racing driver and a factory driver for General Motors. He has competed in several of the most prestigious events in motor sport including CART, NASCAR, the FIA Formula One World Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Born in Roskilde, Magnussen dominated the 1994 British Formula 3 championship with Paul Stewart Racing, winning 14 of the 18 events, Magnussen scored his first British F3 win that April at Donington Park, also taking pole for the race. He also won at Brands Hatch, twice at Silverstone, and he won six of the first eight races. He then won again at Donington Park, and both season-ending rounds at Silverstone and he made his Formula One debut at the 1995 Pacific Grand Prix in Aida, sitting in for Mika Häkkinen, who was unwell. In 1996 Magnussen drove in the CART series and International Touring Car Championship, for 1997–1998 he had a seat in Formula One with the newly founded Stewart Grand Prix team, owned in part by his old F3 boss Paul Stewart. Team founder Jackie Stewart once described him as, the most talented young driver to emerge since Ayrton Senna and he scored his only championship point in his last race in F1, the 1998 Canadian Grand Prix, for the rest of the season he was replaced by Jos Verstappen. Magnussen started 24 GPs, one less than he entered, because his car was damaged in an accident during the start of the 1997 Brazilian Grand Prix causing him to retire before the restart, in 1999 he participated in 7 CART races. In 1999 and 2000 he raced in the American Le Mans Series with Panoz,2001 he drove a Peugeot in Danish Touring Car series and raced in 8 ALMS races. 2002 he also raced for Peugeot in DTC and in 10 ALMS races, Jan Magnussen won the 2008 GT1 and 2013 GT Drivers championships, both with Corvette Racing. Magnussen has participated in classes in the 24 hours of Le Mans every year since 1999. Also, Magnussen has participated in the 12 Hours of Sebring every year since 1999, winning the GT1 class in 2006,2008, in 2005, Magnussen drove a Toyota Corolla in the Danish Touring Car Championship. In the Danish Touring Car series he drives a Chevrolet Lacetti for Perfection Racing and he has won the DTC on two occasions in 2003 and 2008. On 11 June 2010, it was announced that Magnussen would make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut driving the No.09 HendrickCars. com Chevrolet for Phoenix Racing at Infineon Raceway, after starting 32nd on the grid, he finished in 12th position. Magnussen drove the No.57 Stevenson Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro with Robin Liddell and Andrew Davis in the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series season opener, the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Following the Rolex 24, he moved to the teams No.97 car, Magnussen finished 24th in GT points and his best finish was second with four top-10s. Magnussens eldest son, Kevin Magnussen is also a racing driver, Kevin mentioned that his father was his first hero when he was a child. † Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as he had completed over 90% of the race distance, † – Did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance
22.
David Brabham
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David Brabham is an Australian professional racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have won the Le Mans 24 Hour sports car race, Brabham won the American Le Mans Series in 2009 and 2010. He also competed in Formula One, racing for the Brabham, Brabham is the youngest son of three-time Formula One world champion Sir Jack Brabham. Brabham, who was born in Wimbledon, London, spent his childhood in Australia, despite his fathers motor racing fame he took little interest in motor racing until after he left school. As a child he played the more accessible sport of football up until the age of twelve, Brabhams professional racing career began in Australia in 1983, racing karts for two years, after which he moved into the Ford Laser one make series for 1985. In 1986 he switched to Formula Ford 1600 and subsequently to Australian Formula 2, winning the 1987 Australian Drivers Championship in that category. The 1987 ADC was, unlike previous years, only held as a race rather than a series of rounds and was run as a support category to the 1987 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.7 second victory. He also competed in the New Zealand Formula Atlantic series, the American Formula Atlantic series, a move from Australia to Europe under sponsorship from Camel in 1989 saw him joining the Bowman team and winning the British Formula Three Championship. Brabhams break into Formula One in 1990 with the Brabham team met with little success and he had raised a considerable amount of sponsorship to join the team bearing his family name but financial constraints hindered the team all season. While David had been hired to drive ahead of the season he requested to skip the first two races to prepare himself, Gregor Foitek taking the seat instead and his first outing with the team was the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix where he failed to qualify. His first Formula One start came at the race in Monaco where his father Jack had won in 1959. In 14 races he only managed to qualify the uncompetitive Judd-engined car six times and this, and David being unable to raise the reported $3m needed to keep his place in the team, led to him being replaced at the end of the season. Brabham joined the Tom Walkinshaw Racing Jaguar team in 1991 and also in that year won the Spa 24 Hours driving a Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R alongside Naoki Hattori, Brabham returned to Formula One in 1994 with the under-funded Simtek team after his father brought shares in the team. The second seat was to be filled by paying drivers, with Roland Ratzenberger taking the first five races before Jean-Marc Gounon took over. The S941 chassis was overweight, used a manual gearbox as opposed to the semi-automatic types used by most teams. Despite this Brabham qualified for round of the series. The team suffered the blow of the death of Roland Ratzenberger during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix. Traditionally the other team driver would withdraw in such a situation, in Ratzenbergers memory the team made a collective decision to see out the season, with Brabhams strong leadership often cited as a key factor
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