1.
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
2.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
3.
Auto racing
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Auto racing is a sport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Almost as soon as automobiles had been invented, races of various sorts were organised, by the 1930s specialist racing cars had developed. There are now numerous different categories, each with different rules and it was won by the carriage of Isaac Watt Boulton. Internal combustion auto racing events began soon after the construction of the first successful gasoline-fueled automobiles, the first organized contest was on April 28,1887, by the chief editor of Paris publication Le Vélocipède, Monsieur Fossier. It ran 2 kilometres from Neuilly Bridge to the Bois de Boulogne, on July 22,1894, the Parisian magazine Le Petit Journal organized what is considered to be the worlds first motoring competition, from Paris to Rouen. One hundred and two competitors paid a 10-franc entrance fee, the first American automobile race is generally held to be the Thanksgiving Day Chicago Times-Herald race of November 28,1895. Press coverage of the event first aroused significant American interest in the automobile, brooklands, in Surrey, was the first purpose-built motor racing venue, opening in June 1907. It featured a 4.43 km concrete track with high-speed banked corners, One of the oldest existing purpose-built automobile racing circuits in the United States, still in use, is the 2. 5-mile -long Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. It is the largest capacity venue of any variety worldwide, with a top capacity of some 257. NASCAR was founded by Bill France, Sr. on February 21,1948, the first NASCAR Strictly Stock race ever was held on June 19,1949, at Daytona Beach, Florida. From 1962, sports cars temporarily took a seat to GT cars. From 1972 through 2003, NASCARs premier series was called the Winston Cup Series, the changes that resulted from RJRs involvement, as well as the reduction of the schedule from 48 to 31 races a year, established 1972 as the beginning of NASCARs modern era. The IMSA GT Series evolved into the American Le Mans Series, the European races eventually became the closely related Le Mans Series, both of which mix prototypes and GTs. The best-known variety of racing, Formula One, which hosts the famous Monaco Grand Prix. In single-seater, the wheels are not covered, and the cars often have aerofoil wings front, in Europe and Asia, open-wheeled racing is commonly referred to as Formula, with appropriate hierarchical suffixes. In North America, the Formula terminology is not followed, the sport is usually arranged to follow an international format, a regional format, and/or a domestic, or country-specific, format. In North America, the used in the National Championship have traditionally been similar though less sophisticated than F1 cars. The series most famous race is the Indianapolis 500, the other major international single-seater racing series is GP2
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.
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
6.
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
7.
EuroBrun
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EuroBrun Racing was an Italo-Swiss Formula One constructor based in Senago, Milan, Italy. They participated in 46 grands prix, entering a total of 76 cars, for the teams debut season in 1988, Mario Tolentino designed the ER188 chassis, to be powered by a normally-aspirated 3. 5-litre Cosworth DFZ engine. 1987 Formula 3000 champion Stefano Modena and long-time Brun sportscar stalwart Oscar Larrauri were signed to drive, despite a solid if unspectacular start to the season, EuroBrun were soon struggling as money ran low. There was internal trouble when Brun unsuccessfully tried to replace Larrauri with Christian Danner, both drivers failed to qualify at certain events, and Modenas 11th place at the Hungarian Grand Prix was their best result. Before the 1989 season, Euroracing slimmed down to a level of involvement, in the shape of a handful of engineers. EuroBrun scaled back to a car, to be driven by Swiss driver Gregor Foitek, while the ER188 was modified slightly to take a Judd V8 engine. The team would make it through pre-qualifying once, in the opening race of the season in Brazil. Even the introduction of George Rytons new ER189 for the German Grand Prix did not help, Foitek quit after the Belgian Grand Prix, to be replaced by the returning Larrauri, who was no more successful. Despite failing to start a race in 1989, the team returned in 1990 with two cars once again. Euroracing had now left the partnership altogether, and the team started the season with the ER189, roberto Moreno led the team, with Claudio Langes in the second car. Langes would not make it through pre-qualifying once, a freak qualifying session at the opening race of the season in the United States saw Moreno start 16th on the grid, and he eventually finished 13th. The capable Brazilian qualified again in San Marino, and came close on occasions, but as Brun lost enthusiasm. After 14 rounds, the team withdrew from the Formula One Championship, Team Profile at Grand Prix Encyclopedia Team profile at F1 rejects Results from Formula1. com
8.
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
9.
Sauber
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Sauber Motorsport AG, competing as Sauber F1 Team, is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing, Swiss investment firm Longbow Finance S. A. are the current majority owners of Sauber. Having not won a Grand Prix as an independent, the team was sold to BMW in 2005, and competed as BMW Sauber from 2006 to 2009, scoring one victory. At the end of the 2009 season, however, BMW pulled out of Formula One, however, due to issues with the Concorde Agreement, the team remained as BMW Sauber for the 2010 season. In March 2010, Peter Sauber announced plans to change the name during the season. At the beginning of the 2011 Formula One season the team dropped BMW from their name. Peter Sauber sold his controlling 66. 6% stake in the team, with the remainder belonging to CEO Monisha Kaltenborn also being sold, the team was sold during the 2016 season to investment firm Longbow Finance. Pascal Picci took over Peter Saubers role as chairman of the board and president, with Kaltenborn remaining as Team principal, Peter Sauber began building sports cars in the 1970s. After using turbocharged Mercedes V8 engines in the 1980s, his became the official factory team of Mercedes-Benz. They won the 24 hours of Le Mans and the World Sports Prototype Championship, competing against Jaguar, among others, drivers such as Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Jochen Mass, Jean-Louis Schlesser and Mauro Baldi raced for Sauber. Sauber participated in a number of racing series before its involvement in Formula One, including the Swiss Sportscar Championship. The first Sauber car, C1, was built in 1970, Sauber, in partnership with Mercedes, won the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1989 and the World Sports Prototype Championship in 1989 and 1990 with the Sauber C9 and Mercedes-Benz C11 respectively. Sauber also built a Group 5 version of BMW M1 The first turbo era of Formula One ended with the 1988 Formula One season, the 1. 5-litre turbocharged engines were phased out in favour of normally aspirated 3. 5-litre engines. Other projects never progressed beyond design studies, such as one carried out by Simtek for BMW and it was a turbulent time that led to the withdrawal of many small teams and even more famous marques such as Brabham and Lotus. A planned Mercedes collaboration with Sauber to enter their own Formula One team was shelved, the team was to be powered by V10 Ilmor engines in a chassis dubbed the C12, a continuation of Saubers naming policy from sports car construction. It was to be piloted by JJ Lehto and Karl Wendlinger, the cars racing debut took place in the first race of 1993, in South Africa. The car was soon turning heads not only for its sharp FW14-like lines and striking black livery but its impressive performance, despite this impressive entrance to the grand prix scene, over the remainder of the season the team rarely saw the finish line due to unreliability and racing accidents. However, they proved their form was not a flash in the pan recording a slow stream of points finishes, despite not achieving a podium, they ended the season with twelve points, seventh out of the thirteen original entries
10.
Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft
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Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft or simply DRM as it was known, was a touring car and Sportscar racing series. It is regarded as a predecessor of the current DTM as Germanys top national series, the DRM began in 1972 as a Group 2 touring car and Group 4 GT racing series for cars like and, in addition to the Deutsche Rundstrecken-Meisterschaft. In these years, the same or similar cars were entered in the European Touring Car Championship. Races were run separately as big Division 1 and small Division 2 in a sprint format, in 1977, Group 5 cars were admitted into the series, making the series better supported with Gr.5 cars than the World Championship of Makes they were intended for. These fast and spectacular turbocharged cars with wide fenders and wings had many fans, especially the Porsche 935 outpowered F1 cars. During common testing sessions at Circuit Paul Ricard,935 passed them on the long Mistral straight, in 1979, the Rennsport Trophäe was introduced for the cheaper original series protagonists, the Group 2 and 4 cars. It consisted of combined races with the DRM until 1981, in 1982, following the FIA rule changes, new Group C sportscars replaced the Group 5 machinery at the renamed International Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft. Meanwhile, the Rennsport Trophäe held separate races and events in 1982 and 1983, in 1984, with just three races held, organisers used three WEC races as additional IDRM point races. Also, the Rennsport Trophäe was replaced by the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft,1985 was the final year of the now called DSM, with just one race was held at Norisring, the rest of them held in conjunction with the popular Interserie. This meant CanAm entered from the series, as it had always been, had to be counted for points The series would be replaced by the Group C-only Supercup in 1986. At that time, the less expensive DTM had taken over as Germanys most important racing series
11.
BMW M1
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The BMW M1 was a sports car produced by German automaker BMW from 1978 to 1981. The result was sold to the public, from 1978 to 1981 and it is the first mid-engined BMW to be mass-produced, the second is the BMW i8. It employs a twin-cam M88/13.5 L six-cylinder petrol engine with Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection. A version of this motor was used in the South African version of the BMW 745i. The engine has six separate throttle bodies, four valves per cylinder and produces 277 PS in the street version, turbocharged racing versions are capable of producing around 850 hp. The M1 coupe was hand-built between 1978 and 1981 under the division of BMW as a homologation special for sports car racing. The body was designed by Giugiaro, taking inspiration from the 1972 BMW Turbo show car, since the engineering of the car was still incomplete, a group of former Lamborghini engineers that had founded a company named Italengineering offered to complete the cars design. Less than 10 miles away from the Lamborghini shop, the engineering for the M1 was finished, only 453 production M1s were built, making it one of BMWs rarest models. Of the 453 produced,20 were race versions created for the BMW M1 Procar Championship, the spirit of the M1 lived on in the M635Csi and the first-generation M5, which use a modified version of the M88/1 engine, the M88/3. The M1 had various successes in motorsports, in 2004, Sports Car International placed the car at number ten on their list of top sports cars of the 1970s. In 1979 the head of BMW Motorsport, Jochen Neerpasch, devised a one-make championship using racing modified M1s, the series was created to aid BMW in building enough M1s to enter the group 4 classification in the World Championship for Makes. The new series, known as the Procar BMW M1 Championship, served as a series for Formula One. The series ran for two years, with Niki Lauda winning the 1979 season, and Nelson Piquet the 1980 season, after BMW met the standards for group 4, the Procars were used by various teams in the world championship as well as other national series. In April 2008, BMW unveiled the M1 Homage concept, to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the M1, the concept vehicle uses a mid-engine layout and borrows styling cues from both the original M1 and the BMW Turbo show car. The BMW Homage concept was released at the event Concorso d’Eleganza Villa dEste 2008, the design was created by Giorgio Giugiaro who got his idea from the BMW Turbo concept which was designed by Paul Bracq. The BMW Turbo had many technical and advanced innovations from BMW, the front of the car differs the most from the other parts of the car. The front sports double head lights which are not the type that are on the original M1. The Homage also incorporates the double badge on the back of the car like the original M1, there are no photos of the interior of the car or the car in action
12.
Hans-Joachim Stuck
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Hans-Joachim Stuck, nicknamed Strietzel, is a German racing driver who has competed in Formula One and many other categories. He was born in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and is the son of Christa Thielmann, as a young boy, his father taught him driving on the Nürburgring. In 1969 he started his first ever race at the Nordschleife. Speaking about that day he said, Getting to the grid was extremely exciting, all of a sudden, my wishes to become a racer came true. I just wanted to start the race and give everybody hell, the following year, at just 19 years of age, he won his first 24 hours race at the wheel of a BMW 2002ti. He won there again in 1998 and 2004, too, each time with a BMW touring car, in 1972, Stuck teamed up with Jochen Mass to drive a Ford Capri RS2600 to victory at the Spa 24 Hours endurance race in Belgium. His campaigns racing the BMW3.0 CSL Batmobile were very successful in 1974 and 1975, later in the 1970s he raced the turbo-charged BMW 320i. After some success in Formula 2 with a March-BMW, he also entered F1 with March, overall, Stuck participated in 81 Grands Prix, debuting on 13 January 1974. He achieved 2 podiums and scored 29 championship points, Stuck was quite successful at Brabham-Alfa in 1977, leading the 1977 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in the rain, but was replaced by Niki Lauda for 1978. Stuck missed an opportunity to join Williams F1 just before this team became successful, due to his height of 194 centimetres, he did not fit well into the F1 cars of the late 1970s that had the cockpit moved forward. Leaving F1 at that time probably spared him bad injuries to the leg, as suffered by Ronnie Peterson, Clay Regazzoni, Marc Surer, Stuck continued racing touring and sports cars all over the world, winning the 24 hours of Le Mans twice with a Porsche 962. Stuck says the 962 is the favourite racecar he has driven during his career, describing it has having the combination of power. In the 1990s he tasted touring car success, winning the DTM Championship in 1990 with Audi and he resumed an official role with BMW after that. January 2008 saw Stuck begin his current position with Volkswagen Motorsport and this role has also seen him use his experience to help refine road cars, including the new Golf VI GTI. Team Stuck³ finished 15th overall following gearbox problems, in April 2012, Stuck was appointed President of the German Motorsport Association. Http, //richardsf1. com/2012/04/26/stuck-gets-german-motorsports-top-job/ † — Retired, but was classified as he completed 90% of the race distance
13.
6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
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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
14.
Oscar Larrauri
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Oscar Rubén Larrauri is a racing driver from Argentina. He participated in 21 Formula One Grands Prix, all with the struggling EuroBrun team and he scored no championship points, only qualifying 8 times. After spending a number of years in cars, Brun Motorsport owner Walter Brun decided to move into Formula One in 1988. Brun Motorsport formed an alliance with Giampaolo Pavanellos Euroracing team who had run the factory backed Alfa Romeo team from 1982-1985. The team became known as EuroBrun and Larrauri was signed to drive for the team alongside 1987 Formula 3000 champion Stefano Modena, larrauris best finish for the year was a 13th place in Mexico with his only other finish being a 16th place in Germany. Larrauri then moved back into sports car racing
15.
Warsteiner
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Warsteiner beer is brewed in the Arnsberg Forest Nature Park outside of Warstein, North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. Warsteiner has been owned by the Cramer family since 1753, Warsteiner is Germanys largest privately owned brewery, its most popular beer is Warsteiner Premium Verum. Warsteiner ranks fifth among Germanys best selling breweries, the history of the brewing family begins in 1753, when farmer Antonius Cramer had to pay a tax of 1 thaler,19 guilders on beer he brewed and sold himself. His son Johannes Vitus followed in his footsteps and brought the selling of home-brewed beer into his house and his company benefited from its central location. However, in 1802 a devastating fire left Warstein in ruins, at the same time, they rebuilt their house as a guest accommodation and became through the establishment of the St. Pancras Church the centre of the town. The headquarters of the Warsteiner Brewery, the Domschänke, still today in the historic core of Warstein. Breweries in the Rhine valley were bombed during World War II, the newly remodelled brewery can fill and package 5,000 bottles per hour. To appeal to German young adults, Warsteiner began a beer-mix drink campaign that includes a Premium Cola, furthermore, Warsteiner has created a long-neck beer bottle and a limited club edition clear-glass bottle to target club-goers. All beers are brewed in accordance with the Germany Purity Law of 1516. Premium Verum, a pilsener beer, is Warsteiners most popular beer. The ingredients are forest spring water, two-row malted summer barley, the alcohol content is 4.8 percent. Premium Dunkel is Warsteiners second most popular beer, Dunkel is a traditional style, dark beer with an alcohol content of 4.8 percent. Warsteiners only non-alcoholic beer, brewed exactly like the Premium Verum, the beer contains 80 calories per 12 oz. bottle. Royal Bavarian is a golden hefeweizen style beer and it is brewed with natural yeast and Bavarian ingredients, and has an alcohol content of 5.5 percent. Warsteiner has been exporting its beers internationally since the 1980s, furthermore, Warsteiner founded and acquired shares in other international breweries like Isenbeck brewery in Argentina and breweries in Africa. Warsteiner in the United States is also friendly to homebrewers in that its bottles are pry-offs, all North American Warsteiner products are brewed under license in the United States. Warsteiner makes a seasonal beer entitled Oktoberfest for the Bavarian celebrations each year, Warsteiner Owner Albert Cramer has been a staunch advocate of competitive ballooning and Warsteiner is the sponsor of the German Hot Air Balloon National Team. Cramer and Warsteiner received the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Air Sports Federation Award in 2001 and continue to be involved in Air Sports sponsorships and activities
16.
1000 km Monza
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The 1000 kilometres of Monza (also called from 1966 Trofeo Luigi Caracciolo was an endurance race mainly for sports cars held at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy. The Coppa Inter-Europa was first held in 1949, on the 6. 3-kilometre circuit, the race expanded to 1000 kilometres in 1954, and moved to the 10-kilometre circuit in 1956. The event was shortened and returned to the 6. 3-km track the next year, in 1960 and 1961, the race was a part of the FIA GT Cup. In 1963, the race was held as an event for production-based cars in the World Sportscar Championship before being expanded to a 1000-kilometer distance in 1965. A lap was 10.1 kilometers long, yielding a distance of 1010 km after 100 laps. From 1970 to 2008, the shorter Grand Prix circuit has used for 173 laps. The Monzas race was valid for the second, both in 1976 and 1977, in 1978 the WorldSport car Championship was cancelled and the Race was arranged on 320 km and valid for European Sportscar Championship. In 1979, cancelled the European Championship the race was only for Italian Championship. In 1989 the race was cancelled due financial problem of Automobil Club of Milan and for the rebuilding of boxes and paddock facilities. Since 1992, the race has used on and off by various series, most notably, the BPR Global GT Series. The FIA Sportscar Championship also held a running of the 1000 km in 2001. In 1995 and 1996 the race was valid for the BPR Global GT Series, reserved to GT cars, after a 1997 without the race, the 1998 edition was not valid for any international championship, returning to the 1000 km format and open also to sportscars. In 1999 the race return to be valid for an internatiomal championship, the SportsRacing World Cup. with distance reduced to 500 km. In 2000 the race was held on the 500 km distance but was called 1000km due the fact in the day on the morning. In 2001 the race valid for the FIA Sportscar Championship return to a reral 1000 km format, after a year without race, in 2003 the race return to the 500 km format. In 2004, the race, again on 1000 km, were resumed as a part of the Le Mans Series, a race for 2006 was planned by the Le Mans Series, but had to be cancelled due to protests over the noise pollution caused by the event. Agreements were later reached to allow the event to return in 2007, after 2008, the race was not held again until 2017 when a 4 hours is scheduled as part of 2017 European Le Mans Series. The record of most wins belongs to Jacky Ickx, who has won the race in 1972,1973 and 1976
17.
24 Hours of Le Mans
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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
18.
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
19.
Porsche 962
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The vehicle was later replaced by the Porsche WSC-95. When the Porsche 956 was developed in late 1981, the intention of Porsche was to run the car in both the World Sportscar Championship and the North American IMSA GTP Championship. However IMSA GTP regulations differed from Group C and subsequently the 956 was banned in the US series on safety grounds as the feet were ahead of the front axle center line. To make the 956 eligible under the new IMSA regulations, Porsche extended the 956s wheelbase to move the front wheels ahead of the pedal box, a steel roll cage was also integrated into the new aluminium chassis. For an engine, the Porsche 934-derived Type-9352, the newer Andial built 3. 2L fuel injected flat-6 would be placed in the 962 by the middle of 1985 for IMSA GT, which made the car more competitive against Jaguar. However it would not be until 1986 that the 2. 6L unit from the 956 was replaced in the World Sportscar Championship, using 2. 8L,3. 0L, and 3. 2L variants with dual turbochargers. The cars run under World Sportscar Championship regulations were designated as 962C to separate them from their IMSA GTP counterparts, the 3. 2L unit, which had been eligible under IMSAs Group 3 engine rules, was banned by IMSA in 1987. In 1988, to counteract against the factory Nissans and the threat of withdrawal from Porsche teams, water-cooled twin-turbo Porsche engines would be allowed back, in total, Porsche would produce 91 962s between 1984 and 1991. 16 were officially used by the team, while 75 were sold to customers. Some 956s were rebuilt as 962s, with two being written off and four others simply rebuilt. Three 962s that were damaged were also rebuilt had been given a new chassis number due to the extensive reconstruction. Due to the demand for 962 parts, some aluminium chassis were built by Fabcar in the United States before being shipped to Germany for completion. Due to the numbers of 962s, some teams took it upon themselves to adapt the car to better suit their needs or to remain competitive. These modifications included new bodywork for better efficiency, while others changed mechanical elements. Beyond minor modification, some private teams reengineered the entire car, some teams would then offer their 962s to other customer teams. Eleven were built, campaigned by Kremer and other teams, john Thompson designed a chassis for Brun Motorsport, eight of which were built and helped the team take second in the World Sportscar Championship in 1987. Thompson would later build two chassis for Obermaier Racing, Richard Lloyd Racings GTI Engineering would turn to Peter Stevens and Nigel Stroud to develop four 962C GTis, which featured entirely revised aero and aluminium honeycomb rather than sheet tubs. Former factory Porsche driver Vern Schuppan would also build five new chassis, in the United States, the ball got rolling when Holbert Racing began making modifications to their own chassis and rebadging them with 962 HR- serial numbers
20.
Joest Racing
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Joest Racing is a racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. The headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany, as a combined driver/team owner, Reinhold Joest first began to race a Porsche 908/3 in the European Sportscar Championship, winning the drivers title. He then switched to Porsche 935s, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1980, the team won the DRM back to back with driver Bob Wollek, in 1982 and 1983. During the 1982 season, whilst the Porsche 956 was only available to the works team and they would race the car into the 1983 season until they took delivery of their 956 prior to Le Mans. This would make them the team to score back to back wins with the same car. In 1986,1988, and 1989 Joest won the Supercup title for teams and they also took the Interserie title for drivers with Winter in 1985 and Bernd Schneider in 1991, and the teams title in 1991. In 1989, FIA introduced the new 3.5 litre Formula One engine rule to Group C, which not many teams were happy about, because few, if any, such engines were available to privateer teams like Joest. The team would compete in the IMSA GTP category beginning in 1990, winning the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1991 with Wollek, Pescarolo, Frank Jelinski, Winter. With their Porsche 962 now being outmoded by the Nissans, Jaguars and Toyotas, in 1993, the Nissan and TWR Jaguar team had withdrawn, and the AAR Eagle Toyota would continue to dominate the series final year. Joest managed to score the cars last IMSA victory at the Road America 500, in the 1990s, the team also had a successful career developing and racing an Opel Calibra in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft. They first won the ITR Gold Cup at the Donington Park round in 1994 with Manuel Reuter driving and they would continue to have a successful career there by the time the series became a full-fledged international championship, winning the title for the final year in 1996 for Opel. In late 1995, Tom Walkinshaw Racing were commissioned by Porsche to produce a WSC car to compete in the 1996 Daytona 24-hour race, the resulting Porsche WSC-95 was based on the TWRs 1991 Jaguar XJR-14 chassis, with the roof removed and a flat-six Porsche engine fitted. The car was withdrawn because of a rule change. For 1996 the concept was revived and Joest were chosen to run the WSC-95s at Le Mans as backup for Porsches own team of works 911 GT1s, Joest won the race with Davy Jones, Manuel Reuter, and Alexander Wurz. They returned in 1997, this time without support. The winning pilots were by Michele Alboreto, Stefan Johansson and Tom Kristensen, as with the #7956 of the 1980s, Joest attempted for a third straight win, although without success, as neither car finished, while Porsche itself prevailed in the 1998 race. In 1998, after being associated with Porsche for many years, Joest helped them build and develop the Audi R8R. Audi, not being sure which concept was the one, also supported an LM-GTP entry
21.
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
22.
Mugello Circuit
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Mugello Circuit is a race track in Mugello, Tuscany, Italy. It has 15 turns and a long straight, the circuit stadium stands have a capacity of 50,000. Grand Prix motorcycle racing host an annual event here, also, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters hold an annual event. The track is property of Scuderia Ferrari which uses it for Formula One testing, the first race of the A1GP 2008/09 season was originally planned to be held at the Mugello circuit on 21 September 2008. However, the race had to be cancelled due to the delay in building the new chassis for the new race cars, road races were held on public streets around Mugello since the 1920s. Giuseppe Campari won there in 1920 and 1921, Emilio Materassi in 1925,1926 &1928. The Mugello GP was revived in 1955 and from the 1964 to 1969 as a Targa Florio-like road race consisting of eight laps of 66.2 km each, including the Passo della Futa of Mille Miglia fame. The anticlockwise track passed the towns of San Piero a Sieve, Scarperia, Violla, Firenzuola, Selva and it counted towards the 1965,1966 and 1967 World Sportscar Championship season. The last WC race was won by Udo Schütz and Gerhard Mitter on a Porsche 910, four other people, including 2 young children were seriously injured. After this incident, Dini spent 2 months in jail, and after his time served he moved out of Italy, the present-day closed Mugello circuit was constructed in 1973 and opened in 1974, about five km east from the easternmost part of the original road circuit. The circuit was used over 1–3 May, for the in-season test during the 2012 Formula One season, by all teams except HRT. The track was praised by Mark Webber, who stated that he did 10 dry laps today around Mugello, four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel was impressed too, saying that “unfortunately we don’t have this track on the calendar. It’s an incredible circuit with a lot of high-speed corners”, on the other hand, Vitaly Petrov from Caterham F1 complained that It is not safe and wide enough. If you lose it, the walls are so close and you will smash into the tyres and it is not for Formula 1 and, if you lost the steering or the tyre pressure dropped or whatever, then it will be a big crash. Nevertheless, it holds a grade 1 FIA license, meaning it meets the standards to host a Formula 1 race, an unofficial track record of 1,21.035 was set by Romain Grosjean during the test
23.
Hockenheimring
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The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it hosts the German Grand Prix. The circuit has very little change in elevation, the circuit has FIA Grade 1 license. The Hockenheimring was originally built in 1932 using roads in the forest as an alternative to the Wildpark-Circuit in Karlsruhe, the Hockenheimring was used for motorcycle racing and was expanded to be used as test track for Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union in 1936. In 1938 it was renamed the Kurpfalzring and that name was used until 1947, after World War II, former DKW and NSU factory rider and world record setter Wilhelm Herz promoted the track successfully. Grand Prix motorcycle racing events were held, with the German motorcycle Grand Prix alternating between Hockenheim and other tracks, the original circuit was almost eight kilometres long and consisted of two long straights with a long Eastern corner in the forest and a U-turn inside Hockenheim joining them together. In 1965, when the new Autobahn A6 separated the village from the part of the track. After Jim Clark was killed on 7 April 1968 in a Formula 2 racing accident, a small memorial was placed near the first chicane, at the site of his accident. In 1982, another chicane was added at the Ostkurve, after Patrick Depailler was killed there in 1980, and the first chicane was made slower as well. The long track length also meant that a typical Formula One race had only 45 laps, prost ran out at the end of the 1986 race, pushing his McLaren towards the line before giving up. He was placed 3rd when he ran dry and was eventually classified 6th, many problems came to light during the 2000 German Grand Prix, where Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello won from having started 18th on the grid, in changeable weather conditions. All the overtaking moves that took place during the race were in the chicanes of the forest sector, a former Mercedes employee, who had been dismissed, breached the tracks security barriers on the first main straight, showing vulnerable security facilities in the forest. The state government of Baden-Württemberg secured the financing for the redesign by Hermann Tilke for the 2002 German Grand Prix, the stadium section remained mostly intact, despite a new surface and a tighter Turn 1. However, the circuit was shortened, with the long. In an extremely controversial move, the old forest section was torn up and replanted with trees, several drivers and team principals, including Ron Dennis, Jarno Trulli and Juan Pablo Montoya, criticised the changes and stated their preference for the old circuit. The new track has a capacity of 120,000. The complex also features a track for drag racing. The Hockenheim Circuit hosted the German Grand Prix for the first time in 1970 when the F1 drivers decided at the French Grand Prix to boycott the Nürburgring unless major changes were made
24.
IMSA GT Championship
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IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada, the series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop and Bill France, Sr. and racing debuted in 1971. It was originally aimed at two of FIAs stock car categories running at two different classes, the GT and touring cars, the first race was held at Virginia International Raceway, it was an unexpected hit with both the drivers and a handful of spectators who attended. For the following year, IMSA founder John Bishop brought in sponsor R. J. Reynolds and in 1975, in 1977, the series would go through a series of major changes. IMSA permitted turbocharged cars for the first time as well as introducing a new category called GTX for cars based on the Group 5 rules, in 1981, after Bishop decided to not follow FIAs newly introduced Group C rules, so he introduced the GTP class for sports prototypes. In 1989, Bishop sold off his organization, after a period of decline in the early 1990s, the worlds sports car category was introduced in 1993 to replace the GTP category in 1994. After a period of multiple ownerships, the organization was eventually renamed Professional Sports Car Racing, in 1999, PSCR decided to drop their own championship in order to sanction a new American Le Mans Series. Despite various names, the GT series was known commonly as the IMSA series as it had been the organizations dominant series, the 1971 season was the first racing season, and featured six races. The early years of the series featured GT cars, similar to the European Group 2 and Group 4 classes, GTO cars were grand touring-type cars with engines of 2.5 L displacement or more, the letter O colloquially meaning over 2. 5L. The GTO group was dominated by Corvettes, then by Shelby Mustangs and then various factory teams consisting of Cougars, 280zxs, Celicas and finally, 300ZXs. GTU cars were by grand touring-type cars with engines of 2.5 L displacement or less, the GTU group was dominated by Porsche 914-6 GTs and SA22 Mazda RX-7s through the end of the 1980s. TO were touring-type cars such as the Camaro with engines of 2.5 L or more displacement, TU were touring-type cars with engines of 2.5 L or less displacement. In essence, these groups had been absorbed from the Trans Am Series, Trans Am would quickly become a support series for IMSA GT. The first champions were Peter H. Gregg and Hurley Haywood, common winners in these early years of IMSA were the Porsche 911 Carrera RSR and Chevrolet Corvette. Camel became the sponsor during the second season, and the series became known as Camel GT Challenge Series. As well as Joe Camel decal, starting fields of 30 or more competitors were not unusual during this era. One of the race events was the Paul Revere 250 which started at the stroke of midnight of the 4th of July. The race was conducted entirely during the night from start to finish, in 1974 a new category called All American Grand Touring was introduced to counteract the Porsche dominance in GTO
25.
Watkins Glen International
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Watkins Glen International is an automobile race track located in Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. Initially, public roads in the village were used for the race course, in 1956 a permanent circuit for the race was built. In 1968 the race was extended to six hours, becoming the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, the chicane was removed in 1985, but another chicane called the Inner Loop was installed in 1992 after a fatal accident during the previous years NASCAR Winston Cup event. The circuit is known as the Mecca of North American road racing and is a popular venue among fans. The facility is owned by International Speedway Corporation. The Watkins Glen International race course has several changes over the years. Currently, two distinct layouts are used—the Boot layout and the 1971 Six Hours layout, the first races in Watkins Glen were initiated by Cameron Argetsinger, whose family had a summer home in the area. With Chamber of commerce approval and SCCA sanction, the first Watkins Glen Grand Prix took place in 1948 on a 6. 6-mile course over local public roads. The original 6. 6-mile course is listed in the New York State register and National Register of Historic Places as the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Course, the second layout 4. 6-mile began use in 1953 and also used existing roads. The Watkins Glen Grand Prix Corporation was formed to manage spectators, parking, the first permanent course was constructed on 550 acres, overlapping part of the previous street course. It was designed by Bill Milliken, and engineering professors from Cornell University and this course was used from 1956–1970. In 1968 the race was extended to six hours, the circuit underwent a major overhaul for the 1971 season. The Big Bend and the leading up to it were eliminated. The pits and start/finish line were relocated to this new straightaway, the 90 now became turn one instead of turn 8. When the 1971 Six Hours of Watkins Glen arrived in July 1971, the short course had been finished, but the Boot segments were not complete, nor was the new pit area. The 1971 Six Hours race was run on the course layout. In addition, for 1971 only, the cars used the original start/finish line, when NASCAR returned to the track in 1986, they chose to use the short course layout. IMSA originally used the Boot, but eventually, that also began using the shorter 1971 layout
26.
Al Holbert
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Alvah Robert Al Holbert was an American automobile racing driver who was a five-time champion of the IMSA Camel GT series. The son of racecar driver Bob Holbert, who ran a Volkswagen-Porsche dealership in Warrington, PA, near Philadelphia. Holbert began racing Porsches in the northeast division of the SCCA, racing a C-production Porsche 914/6 against, among others, Bob Tullius, in 1971, Holbert scored his first race win in a Porsche and would turn professional in 1974. He would score his first of his two IMSA titles in 1976 and 1977 in a Dekon Monza, during that time Holbert jumped ship to the Stuttgart marque. From 1976-1979 Holbert raced 19 career races in NASCAR, in those 19 races, in which he drove primarily for James Hylton, Holbert scored 4 top ten finishes. He also added an IMSA GTP title in a Porsche powered March 83G when Porsche were unable to make their 956 eligible for competition that year, february 27,1983 he won the Grand Prix of Miami. Holbert finished fourth in the 1984 Indianapolis 500, and led the Porsche IndyCar effort in 1987-1988. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1983,1986, and 1987, the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1986 and 1987, Holbert was the head of the Porsche North Americas Motorsports Division and ran his own racing team, Holbert Racing. His plan was to build an open top Porsche-engined racer for customer teams, Porsche eventually built such a car nearly a decade later, although the WSC-95 would never be built for customer teams as Holbert and Porsche intended. On September 30,1988, Holbert was at the IMSA Columbus Ford Dealers 500 and that evening, Holbert was fatally injured when his privately owned propeller driven Piper PA-60 aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff near Columbus, Ohio when a clamshell door was not closed. Holbert successfully diverted his aircraft away from a group of houses it was heading toward, at the end of the season, the team was disbanded and IMSA would retire his race number 14. Former Holbert Racing chief mechanic Kevin Doran later became a team owner. Son, Todd Holbert was also a mechanic, and is currently with Toyota developing their NASCAR Tundra, in 1993, Holbert was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame
27.
Circuito de Jerez
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Circuito de Jerez, formerly known as Circuito Permanente de Jerez, is a 4.428 km racing circuit located close to the city of Jerez de la Frontera, deep within the sherry-producing south of Spain. The project was led by the Spanish engineer Manuel Medina Lara, the circuit opened on 8 December 1985. During 1986 the circuit hosted the first international event in Spain in March. The circuits relatively remote location hindered significant spectator turnout, although up to 125,000 can be accommodated, because of this, F1 moved to Barcelona following the 1991 race. Jerez also hosted the 1997 European Grand Prix, which was the decider between Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve, who collided during the race. This incident resulted in the track being banned from hosting a Grand Prix. It has never hosted another Grand Prix, but remains one of the most popular venues for winter testing, during 2005, the track was resurfaced. It was expected that the Champ Car World Series would race there in 2008 until the series was cancelled early in the year after merging with the IndyCar Series. On 2 May 2013, it was announced that the corner would be renamed after Spanish MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo
28.
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
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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
29.
Jaguar Cars
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Jaguars business was founded as the Swallow Sidecar Company in 1922, originally making motorcycle sidecars before developing bodies for passenger cars. Under the ownership of S. S, Cars Limited the business extended to complete cars made in association with Standard Motor Co many bearing Jaguar as a model name. The companys name was changed from S. S, Cars to Jaguar Cars in 1945. Jaguar was de-merged from British Leyland and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984, Jaguar has, in recent years, manufactured cars for the British Prime Minister, the most recent delivery being an XJ in May 2010. The company also holds royal warrants from Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles, the carmaker said around 1,000 academics and engineers would work there and that construction would start in 2014. The Swallow Sidecar Company was founded in 1922 by two motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley, in 1934 Walmsley elected to sell-out and Lyons formed S. S. Cars Limited funding the replacement of Walmsleys investment by issuing shares to the public, the SS Jaguar name first appeared in September 1935 on a 2. 5-litre saloon, sports models of which were the SS90 and SS100. On 23 March 1945 the S. S, Cars shareholders in general meeting agreed to change the companys name to Jaguar Cars Limited. Said Chairman William Lyons Unlike S. S. the name Jaguar is distinctive, Jaguar made its name by producing a series of successful eye-catching sports cars, the Jaguar XK120, Jaguar XK140, Jaguar XK150, and Jaguar E-Type, all embodying Lyons mantra of value for money. The sports cars were successful in motorsport, a path followed in the 1950s to prove the engineering integrity of the companys products. Jaguars sales slogan for years was Grace, Space, Pace, during the time this slogan was used, but the exact text varied. It had a hemispherical cylinder head with valves inclined from the vertical, originally at 30 degrees and 45 degrees. As fuel octane ratings were low from 1948 onwards, three piston configuration were offered, domed, flat, and dished. The main designer, William Bill Heynes, assisted by Walter Wally Hassan, was determined to develop the Twin OHC unit, Bill Lyons agreed over misgivings from Hassan. It was risky to take what had previously considered a racing or low-volume and cantankerous engine needing constant fettling. The subsequent engine was the powerplant of Jaguar, used in the XK120, Mk VII Saloon, Mk I and II Saloons. It was also employed in the E Type, itself a development from the winning and Le Mans conquering C and D Type Sports Racing cars refined as the short-lived XKSS. Properly maintained, the standard production XK Engine would achieve 200,000 miles of useful life, Two of the proudest moments in Jaguars long history in motor sport involved winning the Le Mans 24 hours race, firstly in 1951 and again in 1953
30.
Red Bull Ring
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The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport circuit in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring and hosted the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years and it was later shortened, rebuilt and renamed the A1-Ring, and it hosted the Austrian Grand Prix again from 1997 to 2003. When Formula One outgrew the circuit, a plan was drawn up to extend the layout, renamed the Red Bull Ring the track was reopened on 15 May 2011 and subsequently hosted a round of the 2011 DTM season and a round of the 2011 F2 championship. Formula One returned to the circuit in the 2014 season, originally built in 1969 to replace the bland and bumpy Zeltweg Airfield circuit, the Österreichring track was situated in the Styrian mountains and it was a spectacular, scenic and unique circuit. Like most fast circuits it was a circuit on engines but more difficult on tires. At the time it was only in F1 average speed to Keke Rosbergs 160.9 mph pole lap of the Silverstone Circuit set during the 1985 British Grand Prix. Interestingly, both times were set using a turbocharged Williams-Honda, american driver Mark Donohue died after crashing at the Vost-Hugel Kurve in 1975. Triple World Champion and long time hero of the home crowd Niki Lauda is the only Austrian driver to win his home Grand Prix and he won the 1984 Austrian Grand Prix at the Österreichring driving a McLaren-TAG Porsche. Lauda went on to win his third and final championship in 1984, beating his team mate Alain Prost by the smallest margin in F1 history and he announced his permanent retirement from driving at the circuit before the 1985 race. The Österreichrings safety concerns had reached a head in the mid 1990s and its length was shortened from 5.942 km to 4.326 km, and the fast sweeping corners were replaced by three tight right-handers, in order to create overtaking opportunities. Its three long straights, as well as a twisty infield section, asked for a setup compromise, as much of the construction work was paid for by the mobile phone provider A1, the track was renamed the A1-Ring. It proceeded to host seven Formula One Austrian Grands Prix between 1997 and 2003, as well as several DTM races and Austrian motorcycle races in 1996 and 1997, the grandstands and pit buildings were demolished in 2004, rendering the track unusable for any motorsport category. In late 2004 and early 2005, there were discussions concerning whether the owner of the circuit, Red Bull, would find another use for the site. There was a circuit extension proposal using part of the old Österreichring, in January 2005, return of motor sports seemed more unlikely than ever, as Dietrich Mateschitz publicly announced that he had no intention of wasting money on a deficient circuit. Throughout 2005 however, there was speculation of the newly founded Red Bull Racing renovating the track to use it as a test venue, in 2006, Austrian racing driver Alexander Wurz claimed he would buy the circuit and have it renovated, but the idea never came to fruition. By 2007, talks involving Red Bull, KTM, Volkswagen and Magna International for a neuer Österreichring failed, the championship has visited the circuit every year since then. In November 2010, F2 announced that Round 6 of the 2011 F2 championship would take place at the Red Bull Ring. The circuit was reopened at an event over the weekend of 15–16 May 2011
31.
24 Hours of Daytona
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It is run on a 3. 56-mile combined road course, utilizing portions of the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield road course. Since its inception, it has held the last weekend of January or first weekend of February, part of Speedweeks. It is also the first race of the season for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the race has had several names over the years. Since 1991, the Rolex Watch Co. is the sponsor of the race under a naming rights arrangement. Winning drivers of all classes receive a steel Rolex Daytona watch, in 2006, the race moved one week earlier into January to prevent a clash with the Super Bowl, which had in turn moved one week later into February a few years earlier. The race has been known historically as a leg of the informal Triple Crown of endurance racing, shortly after the track opened, on April 5,1959, a six-hour/1000 kilometer USAC-FIA sports car race was held on the road course. Count Antonio Von Dory and Roberto Mieres won the race in a Porsche, the race utilized a 3. 81-mile layout, running counter-clockwise. In 1962, a few years after the track was built, known as the Daytona Continental, it counted towards the FIAs new International Championship for GT Manufacturers. The first Continental was won by Dan Gurney, driving a 2. 7L Coventry Climax-powered Lotus 19. Gurney was a factory Porsche driver at the time, but the 1600-cc Porsche 718 was considered too small, in 1964, the event was expanded to 2,000 km, doubling the classic 1000 km distance of races at Nürburgring, Spa and Monza. Starting in 1966, the Daytona race was extended to the same 24-hour length as Le Mans, unlike the Le Mans event, the Daytona race is conducted entirely over a closed course within the speedway arena without the use of any public streets. Most parts of the steep banking are included, interrupted with a chicane on the back straight, unlike Le Mans, the race is held in wintertime, when nights are at their longest. There are lights installed around the circuit for racing, although the infield section is still not as well-lit as the main oval. This was the case in the initial 1962 Daytona Continental, in which Dan Gurneys Lotus had established a lead when the engine failed with just minutes remaining. Gurney stopped the car at the top of the banking, just short of the finish line and this led to the international rule requiring a car to cross the line under its own power in order to be classified. The first 24 Hour event in 1966 was won by Ken Miles, after having lost in 1966 at Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans to the Fords, the Ferrari P series prototypes staged a 1–2–3 side-by-side parade finish at the banked finish line in 1967. The Ferrari 365 GTB/4 road car was given the unofficial name Ferrari Daytona in celebration of this victory, Porsche repeated this show in their 1–2–3 win in the 196824 Hours. After the car of Gerhard Mitter had a big crash caused by tire failure in the banking, his teammate Rolf Stommelen supported the car of Vic Elford and Jochen Neerpasch
32.
Repsol
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Repsol S. A. is an integrated global energy company based in Madrid, Spain. It carries out upstream and downstream activities throughout the entire world and it has more than 24,000 employees worldwide. Repsol also partners with Honda Racing Corporation to compete in MotoGP under Repsol Honda Team, in 1927 CAMPSA, headed by Miguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, was created with the objective of administering concessions in handing over the state monopoly of petroleum companies. Originally the company was arranged so that the state would have a minority stake, the Creation of CAMPSA intensified the progress of the Spanish refinery industry. In 1941 the Spanish government under Francisco Franco created the INI, in order to finance, the INI supported CAMPSA in its exploration of Tudanca, Cantabria, a monumental moment in Spanish exploration on the Iberian Peninsula. In 1948, REPESA was incorporated for the installation of a refinery in the Valley of Escombreras, REPESA became the symbol of the increasing industrial consolidation in the refining sector, as it took on the production and marketing of petrol, oils and lubricants under its own brand name. From the beginning, REPSOL was REPESA’s star brand of petroleum, the Spanish government created INH in 1981 as a public organisation to integrate the various oil and gas companies in which the Spanish state had a controlling interest. In 1989, INH partially privatised Repsol, with an IPO of 26% of Repsol capital, Shares of Repsol, S. A. became listed on stock exchanges in Spain and in New York. Privatization was completed in 1997 when the Spanish government sold the remaining 10% of Repsol capital, in late 1968, REPESA started to develop a prototype team for MotoGP racing and a sponsorship deal. These were the first steps in creating what would one day be known as Repsol Honda, then in 1971 motor sport was relaunched in Spain and Angel Nieto won the world championship in the 125 cc category sporting the Repsol logo on his bike, as a REPESA product brand. In 1999 Repsol bought 97. 81% of the Argentine oil, the acquisition better positioned Repsol as a multinational company. Repsol’s acquisition of YPF also increased its capital to 288 million shares worldwide, Repsols presence in Latin America was one of the keys to corporate growth. It was the first full year after the acquisition of YPF, the companys business structure was more balanced and international. Then in December 2001 Repsol completed an exchange agreement with Petrobras. In 2003 Repsol tripled its reserves and production of hydrocarbons in Trinidad, north American expansion in 2008 saw Repsol open a massive regasification plant on the east coast of Canada with enough capacity to supply up to 20% of the gas demand for New York and New England. Following years of opposition from environmentalist groups, Spain finally gave permission in August 2014 for the company and its partners to explore prospects off the Canary Islands. In 2008 Repsol began an exploration campaign in which it focused its efforts on and invested in exploring in new areas. Using cutting edge technology, the company made over 30 hydrocarbon discoveries, in 1971 Repsol logo first appears, as REPESA brand product, during the motorcycle Derby of that year
33.
Yokohama Rubber Company
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The Yokohama Rubber Company, Limited is a tire company based in Tokyo, Japan. The company founded and started in 1917 in a joint venture between Yokohama Cable Manufacturing and B. F. Goodrich, in 1969 the company expanded to the United States as Yokohama Tire Corporation. The Aspec A300 was the force behind its tremendous rise. Branding, especially in Japan, will often use ADVAN instead of Yokohama, ADVAN wheels and tires have a strong presence in the aftermarket scene worldwide. The company has two manufacturing facilities in the United States, one in Salem, Virginia, and another in West Point, in the 2015-16 season, Yokohama was the sponsors of Premier League football club Chelsea. In the United States, Yokohama Tire Corporation participates in The American Le Mans Series ALMS, Yokohama is the official tire supplier of the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge, the World Touring Car Championship and Japanese Super Formula. Yokohama has been the official supplier of the Macau Grand Prix Formula 3 Intercontinental Cup race since 1983. Yokohama Tire sponsors the NBA teams the Boston Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs, Yokohama also the official tire partner of former American Le Mans Series GT2 team PTG from 2005 until 2009 season
34.
Mercedes-Benz
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Mercedes-Benz is a global automobile manufacturer and a division of the German company Daimler AG. The brand is known for vehicles, buses, coaches. The headquarters is in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, the slogan for the brand is the best or nothing and Mercedes-Benz was one of the top growing brands in 2014 with 18% growth. The Mercedes automobile was first marketed in 1901 by Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, emil Jellinek, an Austrian automobile entrepreneur who worked with DMG created the trademark in 1902, naming the 1901 Mercedes 35 hp after his daughter Mercedes Jellinek. The first Mercedes-Benz brand name vehicles were produced in 1926, following the merger of Karl Benzs, on 28 June 1926, Mercedes Benz was formed with the merger of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimlers two companies. Gottlieb Daimler was born on 17 March 1834 in Schorndorf, after training as a gunsmith and working in France, he attended the Polytechnic School in Stuttgart from 1857 to 1859. After completing various activities in France and England, he started work as a draftsman in Geislingen in 1862. At the end of 1863, he was appointed inspector in a machine tool factory in Reutlingen. Throughout the 1930s, Mercedes-Benz produced the 770 model, a car that was popular during Germanys Nazi period, Adolf Hitler was known to have driven these cars during his time in power, with bulletproof windshields. Most of the models have been sold at auctions to private buyers. One of them is currently on display at the War Museum in Ottawa, the pontiffs Popemobile has often been sourced from Mercedes-Benz. In 1944,46,000 forced laborers were used in Daimler-Benzs factories to bolster Nazi war efforts, the company later paid $12 million in reparations to the laborers families. Mercedes-Benz has introduced many technological and safety innovations that became common in other vehicles. Mercedes-Benz is one of the best-known and established automotive brands in the world, for information relating to the famous three-pointed star, see under the title Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft including the merger into Daimler-Benz. As part of the Daimler AG company, the Mercedes-Benz Cars division includes Mercedes-Benz, mercedes-AMG became a majority owned division of Mercedes-Benz in 1999. The company was integrated into DaimlerChrysler in 1999, and became Mercedes-Benz AMG beginning on 1 January 1999, Daimlers ultra-luxury brand Maybach was under Mercedes-Benz cars division until 2013, when the production stopped due to poor sales volumes. It now exists under the Mercedes-Maybach name, with the models being ultra-luxury versions of Mercedes cars, Daimler coorporates with BYD Auto to make and sell a battery-electric car called Denza in China. In 2016, Daimler announced plans to sell Mercedes-Benz branded all-electric battery cars in China, beside its native Germany, Mercedes-Benz vehicles are also manufactured or assembled in, Since its inception, Mercedes-Benz had maintained a reputation for its quality and durability
35.
Nissan
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Nissan Motor Company Ltd, usually shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama. The company sells its cars under the Nissan, Infiniti, since 1999, Nissan has been part of the Renault–Nissan Alliance, a partnership between Nissan and French automaker Renault. As of 2013, Renault holds a 43. 4% voting stake in Nissan, Carlos Ghosn serves as CEO of both companies. Taken together, the Renault–Nissan Alliance would be the fourth largest automaker, however Nissan is the leading Japanese brand in China, Russia. Nissan is the worlds largest electric vehicle manufacturer, with sales of more than 275,000 all-electric vehicles as of mid-December 2016. Masujiro Hashimoto founded the Kaishinsha Motor Car Works 1 July 1911, in 1914, the company produced its first car, called DAT. DAT Motors built trucks in addition to the DAT and Datsun passenger cars, beginning in 1918, the first DAT trucks were produced for the military market. At the same time, Jitsuyo Jidosha Co. Ltd. produced small trucks using parts, Commercial operations were placed on hold during Japans participation in World War I, and the company contributed to the war effort. In 1926 the Tokyo-based DAT Motors merged with the Osaka-based Jitsuyo Jidosha Co. Ltd. a. k. a, Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo to become DAT Jidosha Seizo Co. Ltd Automobile Manufacturing Co. Ltd. in Osaka until 1932, from 1923 to 1925, the company produced light cars and trucks under the name of Lila. In 1931, DAT came out with a new car, called the Datsun Type 11. Later in 1933 after Nissan Group zaibatsu took control of DAT Motors, in 1933, the company name was Nipponized to Jidosha-Seizo Co. Ltd. and was moved to Yokohama. In 1928, Yoshisuke Aikawa founded the holding company Nihon Sangyo, the name Nissan originated during the 1930s as an abbreviation used on the Tokyo Stock Exchange for Nihon Sangyo. This company was the famous Nissan Zaibatsu which included Tobata Casting, at this time Nissan controlled foundries and auto parts businesses, but Aikawa did not enter automobile manufacturing until 1933. The zaibatsu eventually grew to include 74 firms, and became the fourth-largest in Japan during World War II, in 1931, DAT Jidosha Seizo became affiliated with Tobata Casting, and was merged into Tobata Casting in 1933. As Tobata Casting was a Nissan company, this was the beginning of Nissans automobile manufacturing, in 1934, Aikawa separated the expanded automobile parts division of Tobata Casting and incorporated it as a new subsidiary, which he named Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. The shareholders of the new company however were not enthusiastic about the prospects of the automobile in Japan, at this time, Nissan Motor effectively became owned by Nihon Sangyo and Hitachi. In 1935, construction of its Yokohama plant was completed,44 Datsuns were shipped to Asia, Central and South America
36.
Toyota
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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
37.
Aston Martin
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Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. It was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford and their sports cars are regarded as a British cultural icon. Aston Martin has held a Royal Warrant as purveyor of motorcars to HRH the Prince of Wales since 1982, headquarters and the main production site are in Gaydon, Warwickshire, England, on the site of a former RAF V Bomber airbase. One of Aston Martins recent cars was named after the 1950s Vulcan Bomber, Aston Martin has diversified to speed boats, and real estate development. Aston Martin had a troubled history after the quarter of the 20th century but has also enjoyed long periods of success. “In the first century we went bankrupt seven times, ” incoming CEO Andy Palmer told Automotive News Europe, “The second century is about making sure that is not the case. ”Aston Martin was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. The two had joined forces as Bamford & Martin the previous year to sell cars made by Singer from premises in Callow Street, London where they also serviced GWK, Martin raced specials at Aston Hill near Aston Clinton, and the pair decided to make their own vehicles. The first car to be named Aston Martin was created by Martin by fitting a four-cylinder Coventry-Simplex engine to the chassis of a 1908 Isotta-Fraschini and they acquired premises at Henniker Mews in Kensington and produced their first car in March 1915. Production could not start because of the outbreak of World War I, all machinery was sold to the Sopwith Aviation Company. After the war found new premises at Abingdon Road, Kensington. Bamford left in 1920 and Aston Martin was revitalised with funding from Count Louis Zborowski, in 1922, Bamford & Martin produced cars to compete in the French Grand Prix, which went on to set world speed and endurance records at Brooklands. Approximately 55 cars were built for sale in two configurations, long chassis and short chassis, Aston Martin went bankrupt in 1924 and was bought by Dorothea, Lady Charnwood who put her son John Benson on the board. Aston Martin failed again in 1925 and the closed in 1926. Later that year, Bill Renwick, Augustus Bertelli and investors including Lady Charnwood took control of the business and they renamed it Aston Martin Motors and moved it to the former Whitehead Aircraft Limited Hanworth works in Feltham. The only Renwick and Bertelli motor car made, it was known as Buzzbox, between 1926 and 1937 Bertelli was both technical director and designer of all new Aston Martins, since known as Bertelli cars. They included the 1½-litre T-type, International, Le Mans, MKII and its derivative, the Ulster, and the 2-litre 15/98 and its racing derivative. Most were open two-seater sports cars bodied by Bert Bertellis brother Enrico, with a number of long-chassis four-seater tourers, dropheads. Bertelli was a competent driver keen to race his cars, one of few owner/manufacturer/drivers, the LM team cars were very successful in national and international motor racing including at Le Mans and the Mille Miglia
38.
Konrad Motorsport
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Konrad Motorsport is an auto racing team initially from Austria, but now based in Germany. Founded by Austrian racer Franz Konrad in 1976, the team has mostly run Porsches, although they have also run Ferraris, Lamborghinis, initially competing in the Interserie championship, the team later moved to the World Sportscar Championship running Porsche 962s. In 1991, Franz Konrad designed his own Group C chassis for the World Sportscar Championship with Lamborghini backing, known as the Konrad KM-011, although the car was not successful. The team moved to smaller championships in 1993, where won the 24 Hours Nürburgring and Mil Milhas Brasileiras. The team eventually moved to the BPR Global GT Series competing with Porsche 911 GT2s, by 1997, the team would be involved in multiple racing series, including the FIA GT Championship, IMSA GT Championship, and the Porsche Supercup. After briefly running Lola prototypes, the team switched to running Saleen S7-Rs in the American Le Mans Series. The team would return to running Porsche 911 GT3-RSRs in 2006. Konrad Motorsport continues to use their Porsches in competition today, Konrad Motorsports will partner with Dempsey Racing for the 2014 United SportsCar Championship season, fielding a Porsche 911 GT America in the GTD class
39.
Ford Motor Company
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The Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16,1903, the company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and most luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer, Troller, and Australian performance car manufacturer FPV, in the past, it has also produced tractors and automotive components. Ford owns an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom, and it also has a number of joint-ventures, one in China, one in Taiwan, one in Thailand, one in Turkey, and one in Russia. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family, Fords former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010, in 2011, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938. During the financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, it was close to bankruptcy, Ford is the second-largest U. S. -based automaker and the fifth-largest in the world based on 2015 vehicle production. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe, Ford is the eighth-ranked overall American-based company in the 2010 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2009 of $118.3 billion. In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants, the company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares, still retain 40 percent voting rights. The Ford Motor Company was launched in a factory in 1903 with $28,000 in cash from twelve investors, most notably John. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on Mack Avenue and later its factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Groups of two or three men worked on car, assembling it from parts made mostly by supplier companies contracting for Ford. Henry Ford was 39 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company and it has been in continuous family control for over 100 years and is one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world. The first gasoline powered automobile had been created in 1885 by the German inventor Carl Benz, between 1903 and 1908, Ford produced the Models A, B, C, F, K, N, R, and S. Hundreds or a few thousand of most of these were sold per year, in 1908, Ford introduced the mass-produced Model T, which totalled millions sold over nearly 20 years. In 1927, Ford replaced the T with the Model A, Ford launched the first low-priced car with a V8 engine in 1932. In an attempt to compete with General Motors mid-priced Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Henry Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922, in order to compete with such brands as Cadillac and Packard for the luxury segment of the automobile market. The creation of a laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan in 1951, doing unfettered basic research
