1.
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
2.
United States Grand Prix West
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A Formula 5000 race was held there in 1975, and the US was just the second country to host two Championship F1 events in the same season. Southern California had seen a championship Formula One race before, the 1960 United States Grand Prix was held at Riverside Raceway, which was just an hour drive from Long Beach. Like most street circuits used in Formula One and other disciplines of racing, Long Beach gained a reputation for being a grueling race that was very punishing on the car. In 1978 the start/finish line was moved to the long sweeping Shoreline Drive at the bottom of the circuit, so the race distance was 79.5 laps, and the parade lap went from the pits to the start on Shoreline Drive rather than completing a whole lap. That race was won by Argentine Carlos Reutemann, and Australian Alan Jones finished a great 2nd place for the new Williams team,1979 got off to a confused start in which Reutemann was prevented from joining the start after trouble with his Lotus during the warm-up. The field was not stopped under orders, so Canadian pole-sitter Gilles Villeneuve continued, Frenchman Jacques Laffites engine seized and he hopped into the spare car. Reutemann went out anyway, he retired with gearbox problems, the race saw a spirited drive from Frenchman Jean-Pierre Jarier in the Tyrrell. He climbed up to 2nd behind Villeneuve in a Ferrari, although he had to back to finish 6th. Villeneuve won from his teammate Scheckter, in 1980 there was a number of incidents, including a messy pile-up at the Le Gasomet hairpin. Alfa Romeo driver Bruno Giacomelli spun entering that corner and came to a dead stop, but the worst accident was yet to come- Clay Regazzoni in an Ensign crashed appallingly when his brakes failed at 180 mph at the end of Shoreline Drive. While going off the course, the Swiss driver hit Ricardo Zuninos crashed and he then hit the wall next to the track and went straight-on past Queens Hairpin and crashed into retaining tire barriers head-on, still moving extremely quickly. This devastating accident did not seem to be survivable, brazilian Nelson Piquet dominated that race weekend, it was the first of his twenty-three F1 victories, with his countryman Emerson Fittipaldi taking 3rd. 1981 brought a change to the course, with one of the left handers at Pine Avenue being re-made from two corners to one corner. For 1982, there were changes to the circuit, which removed Queens Hairpin. A whole new section of road was used for the race, thus, the race distance was shortened from 79.5 to 75.5 laps. This race saw Ferrari take a stance on the FISA–FOCA war by mounting 2 differently sized wings on the back of their cars. As a symbol of where the conflict would go, these 2 wings exploited a loophole in the regulations, american Mario Andretti made a one-off appearance for the Williams team, he crashed on the 20th lap. The final event in 1983 brought more track modifications, the elevated Ocean Boulevard and the steep runs up to and down from it, were no longer used, and Seaside Way, a road that runs parallel to Ocean Boulevard was used instead
3.
IndyCar Series
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The IndyCar Series is the premier level of open wheel racing in North America. Its parent company began in 1996 as a competitor to CART known as the Indy Racing League which was created by then Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George, in 2008, the IndyCar Series merged with the Champ Car World Series. The series is sanctioned by INDYCAR, due to the legal settlement with CART, the Indy Racing League was unable to utilize the name IndyCar until the beginning of the 2003 season. For 1996–1997, the series was referred to as the Indy Racing League. For 1998–1999, the series garnered its first title sponsor, and was advertised as the Pep Boys Indy Racing League, the contract was not renewed after the second year. In 2000, the series sold its rights to Internet search engine Northern Light for five seasons. After only two seasons, however, the agreement ended when Northern Light reevaluated its business plan. The league reverted to the Indy Racing League name for the 2002 season, the IndyCar Series name was officially adopted beginning in 2003, as the series was now legally entitled to use it. Simmons also co-authored the new IndyCar theme song, I Am Indy, izod was announced as the series title sponsor beginning on November 5,2009. Exact financial terms were not disclosed but the deal is worth at least $10 million per year, izod ended its sponsorship after the 2013 season. On March 14,2014, Verizon Wireless was announced as the title sponsor. Since the series inception, IndyCar Series events have been broadcast in the United States on several networks, including ABC, CBS, ESPN, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Sports Networks, and Spike. Beginning in 2009, NBCSN began a 10-year deal to broadcast 13 IndyCar races per season, whereas the remaining races, including the Indianapolis 500, would remain on ABC through 2018. As of the 2016 season, ABC airs 5 races per season, in the United Kingdom, since the launch of BT Sport in August 2013 races are shown on one of the BT branded channels or ESPN. Previous to August 2013, the IndyCar Series races were broadcasts on the Sky Sports family of networks, the IndyCar Series also had highlights of all the races on the channel Five British terrestrial channel and Five USA, but has since been discontinued since the 2009 season. In Portugal, all of the IndyCar Series are broadcast on Sport TV, in February 2013, Sportsnet announced that it would become the official Canadian broadcaster of the IndyCar Series beginning in the 2013 season in a five-year deal with the series. The new contract will include broadcasts on the Sportsnet regional networks, Sportsnet One, additionally, Sportsnet would also originate coverage from the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Indianapolis 500, and Honda Indy Toronto with Bill Adam, Todd Lewis, and Rob Faulds. Canadian driver Paul Tracy also joined Sportsnet as an analyst, rede Bandeirantes serves as the Brazilian broadcast partner in that country since 1989
4.
Long Beach, California
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Long Beach is the 36th most populous city in the United States and the 7th most populous in California. It is located on the Pacific Coast of the United States, as of 2010, its population was 462,257. Long Beach is the second largest city in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the Port of Long Beach is the second busiest container port in the United States and is among the worlds largest shipping ports. The city also maintains a progressively declining oil industry with minor wells located both directly beneath the city as well as offshore, manufacturing sectors include those in aircraft, automotive parts, electronic equipment, audiovisual equipment, petrochemicals, precision metals and home furnishings. Long Beach lies in the corner of Los Angeles County. Downtown Long Beach is approximately 22 miles south of Downtown Los Angeles, indigenous people have lived in coastal Southern California for over 10,000 years, and several successive cultures have inhabited the present-day area of Long Beach. By the 16th-century arrival of Spanish explorers, the dominant group were the Tongva people and they had at least three major settlements within the present-day city. Tevaaxaanga was a settlement near the Los Angeles River, while Ahwaanga and Povuunga were coastal villages. Along with other Tongva villages, they were forced to relocate in the century due to missionization, political change. In 1784 the Spanish Empires King Carlos III granted Rancho Los Nietos to Spanish soldier Manuel Nieto, the Rancho Los Cerritos and Rancho Los Alamitos were divided from this territory. The boundary between the two ran through the center of Signal Hill on a southwest to northeast diagonal. A portion of western Long Beach was originally part of the Rancho San Pedro and its boundaries were in dispute for years, due to flooding changing the Los Angeles River boundary, between the ranchos of Juan Jose Dominguez and Manuel Nieto. In 1843 Jonathan Temple bought Rancho Los Cerritos, having arrived in California in 1827 from New England and he built what is now known as the Los Cerritos Ranch House, a still-standing adobe which is a National Historic Landmark. Temple created a cattle ranch and prospered, becoming the wealthiest man in Los Angeles County. Both Temple and his house played important local roles in the Mexican–American War. On an island in the San Pedro Bay, Mormon pioneers made an attempt to establish a colony. Two years previous Flint, Bixby & Co had also purchased along with Northern California associate James Irvine, to manage Rancho Los Cerritos, the company selected Lewellyns brother Jotham Bixby, the Father of Long Beach. Three years later Bixby bought into the property and would form the Bixby Land Company
5.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
6.
Sponsor (commercial)
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Sponsoring something is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is known as sponsor. Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property in return for access to the commercial potential associated with that property. While the sponsoree may be nonprofit, unlike philanthropy, sponsorship is done with the expectation of a commercial return, while sponsorship can deliver increased awareness, brand building and propensity to purchase, it is different from advertising. Unlike advertising, sponsorship can not communicate specific product attributes, nor can it stand alone, as sponsorship requires support elements. A range of psychological and communications theories have been used to explain how commercial sponsorship works to impact consumer audiences, cornwell, Weeks and Roy have published an extensive review of the theories so far used to explain commercial sponsorship effects. Title sponsor is highest status of sponsorship and it characterizes the most significant contribution to a company in organizing and hosting an event. Often the name of sponsor is placed next to the name of competition, teams. In case of title sponsors presence the general sponsor position may remain free, general sponsor is a sponsor that makes one of the largest contributions and that receives for it the right to use the image of competition as well as extensive media coverage. If necessary, the status of the sponsor may be supplemented by the general sponsors for certain categories. Official sponsor is a sponsor that makes a part of raised funds. Typically, the status may be granted by category. Technical sponsor is a sponsor which promotes organization of sporting events through the partial or full payment of goods, participating sponsor is a company, the sponsorship fee size of which usually does not exceed 10% of total raised funds. Informational sponsor is an organization that provides support through media coverage, conducting PR-actions, joint actions. All sponsorship should be based on contractual obligations between the sponsor and the sponsored party, sponsors and sponsored parties should set out clear terms and conditions with all other partners involved, to define their expectations regarding all aspects of the sponsorship deal. Sponsorship should be recognisable as such, the terms and conduct of sponsorship should be based upon the principle of good faith between all parties to the sponsorship. There should be clarity regarding the rights being sold and confirmation that these are available for sponsorship from the rights holder. Sponsored parties should have the right to decide on the value of the sponsorship rights that they are offering
7.
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
8.
Al Unser Jr.
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Alfred Al Unser Jr. nicknamed Little Al, Al Junior, or simply Junior, is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner. Unser was born into a family in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is the son of Al Unser and the nephew of Bobby Unser, by the age of 11, Al Junior was racing sprint cars. After high school, he was already in the World of Outlaws series of sprint car racing and he soon moved into road racing, winning the Super Vee title in 1981 and the Can-Am title in 1982. In 1982, Unser made his debut on the CART circuit and he suffered personal tragedy when his sister Debbie was killed in a dune buggy accident, but this did not deter Unser, and a year later, he competed in his first Indianapolis 500, finishing 9th. The penalty dropped him from an original finish of 9th, to 10th, despite being lauded for his performance as a rookie, Unser Jr. narrowly lost the rookie of the year award to Teo Fabi. Unser continued racing on the CART circuit, becoming one of the rising stars. He finished second in the CART championship point standings in 1985 and he began competing in the IROC championship in 1986, winning that championship with two victories in four races. At the age of 24, Unser was the youngest IROC champion ever, Unser won the 1988 and 1986 IROC championships. Unser won the 24 Hours of Daytona, also at age 24 for the first time in 1986 and again in 1987. Unser continued to improve on the CART circuit, finishing fourth in the standings in 1986, third in 1987, second in 1988. This race is remembered for a show of sportsmanship, as Little Al climbed out of his wrecked racecar. Unser would have his day at Indy in 1992, however, defeating Scott Goodyear by 0.043 of a second, during the off-season he drove in the 1993 Daytona 500 for Hendrick Motorsports finishing 36th in what would be his only NASCAR start. He ran well in the race, running with the pack all day, until a late race crash with Kyle Petty and Bobby Hillin. During an interview with Mike Joy after the accident, Joy asked him if he would be back, Unser said that he wanted to come back, but it would never happen. Unser also tested a Williams F1 car but never competed in the series, in 1994, Unser again won at Indy, this time with Penske Racing. His teammates were Emerson Fittipaldi, the man whom he battled with five years before, Little Als decline in performance coincided with the Penske teams struggles with the Penske chassis and his teammates suffered similar results during this time. Team Penske began abandoning the maligned in-house Penske chassis for customer Lola chassis during the 1999 season, Unser would eventually leave CART to join the budding Indy Racing League for the 2000 campaign
9.
Newman/Haas Racing
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Newman/Haas Racing was an auto racing team that competed in the CART series and the IndyCar Series from 1983 to 2011. The team operations were based in Lincolnshire, Illinois, Newman/Haas Racing was formed as a partnership between actor, automotive enthusiast, and semi-professional racer Paul Newman and long-time auto racing impresario Carl Haas. The duo were competitors in sports car racing during the 1970s and early 1980s, Newman/Haas was one of the most-successful teams in Indy car racing during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. The team won 105 CART/Champ Car races and eight season championships, during the 1980s, and for the better part of the 1990s, the team was closely aligned with the Andretti family. In 1983, Mario Andretti signed as primary driver, an arrangement that would carry Andretti through the remainder of his career, Michael Andretti joined the team from 1989–1992 and again from 1995-2000. Both Mario and Michael won a CART championship driving for the team, Newman/Haas is also notable as the team for which Nigel Mansell competed in CART, winning the 1993 title. Despite their many years of success in Indy car racing, and its status as an elite team in the sport. Reflecting on the perceived Andretti curse, the teams best finish was only a place by Mario Andretti. From 2007 to 2010 Mike Lanigan became a partner in the company, after the 2011 season, Carl Haas announced that the team would not run in the IndyCar Series in 2012 due to the economic climate. The team closed its doors, sold off its equipment, Newman/Haas was one of the most successful teams in the history of CART, its drivers winning eight championships and over 100 individual races. The team had many notable drivers over the years, including Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Cristiano da Matta, Sébastien Bourdais, Justin Wilson, and Graham Rahal. At its inception, the team was an outfit, with championship veteran Mario Andretti. Team co-owner Carl Haas brought in Lola as chassis manufacturer for the team, Haas spearheaded Lolas first full-time, full-scale assault on the Indy car market, and the car was quickly picked up by other teams. By the end of the decade, Lola would be one of dominating chassis manufacturers in the paddock, Andretti won two races in 1983, and finished a strong third in points for the first-year team. In 1984, Andretti won six races, nine poles, in 1985, Andretti started off with three wins and one second place in the first four races of the season. He became mired in a slump, and later suffered a broken collarbone. While Andretti recovered from injury,1980 F1 World Champion Alan Jones drove one race in substitution finishing 3rd at Road America, andrettis second place at the 1985 Indianapolis 500 would tie for the teams best result in that event, but was widely overshadowed as a highly disappointing defeat. Andretti lost the race to Danny Sullivan in the famous Spin and Win moment, in 1986, Andretti suffered a crash during practice at Indianapolis, forcing him to start in a back-up car
10.
Team Penske
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Team Penske is an American professional stock car racing and open wheel racing team that currently competes in the IndyCar Series, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and the Xfinity Series. Debuting at the 196624 Hours of Daytona, the team has competed in various other types of professional racing such as Can Am, Trans Am. Team Penske is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske, the team president is Tim Cindric. Penske has been involved with IndyCar racing since 1968, when they first fielded a stock block-powered Eagle with Mark Donohue, the team first competed at Indianapolis in 1969, and within three years had become the team to beat, winning the race with Donohue in 1972. Penske Racing has 1,463 starts in IndyCar races,231 pole positions,71 wins from pole,47 double wins of which 8 are 1–2–3 finishes from the Pocono race on June 26,1977, to January 1,2015. In 2001, team Penske marked its return to the Indy 500 after an absence due to the open wheel split. Later, in 2001 Roger Penske announced he would leave CART for the IRL IndyCar Series, Castroneves has won the Indianapolis 500 three times, as well as other CART and IRL races with Team Penske. Sam Hornish Jr. is the 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner and the IndyCar Series Champion and his 2001 and 2002 championships were with Panther Racing, prior to joining Team Penske. Juan Pablo Montoya is the 2015 Indianapolis 500 winner and the leader in the championship with 2 wins in the season. Since 2007, the IndyCar Series cars have carried Team Penske insignia, for 2009, Cellco Partnership, a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone, joined Exxon Mobil as associate sponsors, and the team will be billed as Verizon Championship Racing. In 2010, Phillip Morris USA discontinued their relationship with Team Penske, the team subsequently changed their livery to black and white, reflecting Verizon sponsorship. Team Penske became a team for the first time since 1994. Roger Penske announced a switch to Chevrolet powerplants for the 2012 IndyCar Series season, Briscoe would have struggles throughout the season, but managed to find victory lane at Sonoma. However, Power would come up short in the championship after a crash at the season finale, Briscoe left the team after 2012 for other opportunities. In 2014, Will Power took the IndyCar Championship for Team Penske after 3 concurrent runner up finishes in 2011-2013. Power got a win at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in the 5th race of the season and just 2 weeks later, Juan Pablo Montoya would loose the championship in the final race on a tie-breaker to Scott Dixon. Team Penske would go on to dominate 2016, filling the top 3 positions in the final standings, capping the season with a dominating race victory, Simon Pagenaud won his first IndyCar championship, becoming the ninth Penske driver to be crowned champion. Roger Penske’s organization claimed its 14th such title and its second in three years, Penskes 1994 IndyCar World Series Championship was one of, if not the most dominating performance from a race team in history of American open wheel racing
11.
Lola Cars
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Lola Cars International Ltd. was a racing car engineering company founded in 1958 by Eric Broadley and based in Huntingdon, England. Enduring more than fifty years, it was one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world, Lola Cars started by building small front-engined sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles. Lola was acquired by Martin Birrane in 1998 after the unsuccessful MasterCard Lola attempt at Formula One, Lola Cars was a brand of the Lola Group, which combined former rowing boat manufacturer Lola Aylings and Lola Composites, that specialized in carbon fibre production. After a period in administration, Lola Cars International ceased trading on 5 October 2012. Many of Lolas assets were purchased by a partnership composed of Multimatic Engineering. Lola was one of the top chassis suppliers in the 1960s, after its small front-engined sports cars came various single-seaters including Formula Junior, Formula 3, Formula 2 and Formula 1 cars. Broadley designed Lola Mk.6 coupe fitted with the Ford V8 engine, Ford took a keen interest in this and paid Broadley to put the company on hold for two years and merge his ideas with Roy Lunns work, giving rise to the Ford GT40. In 2005, Lola announced that a new batch of T70 coupés, to the original specifications and these will be homologated for historic racing and there is talk of a one-make series for the cars. Various Group 5 and Group 6 sports cars including the T212 and T28x/29x/38x/39x series were built, competing with Chevron, March. Alain de Cadenets Le Mans specials tended to be based on Lola technology, derivatives of this car were successful for some time in IMSA and Group C racing. Later Lola Group C and GTP cars tended to be specifically for manufacturer programmes, specifically the later Nissan Group C entries. Lola also built a car for the 3.5 L Group C formula, the T92/10, more recently, Lola has produced a range of sports cars for Le Mans-style racing starting with the B98/10, which was successful in the European market but less so in the USA. The B2K/10, with its additional central headlight reminiscent of a cyclops or a locomotive was more notable for its looks than its performance, a dedicated LMP675 car was built for MG in 2001, powered by a two-litre four-cylinder AER turbocharged engine. This was entered at Le Mans by the team as the MG-Lola EX257. Later developments of this car have been fitted with assorted small V8s, an updated version of the Lola LMP2 came in 2005 with the introduction of the Lola B05/40. It quickly became a contender in LMP2 by taking class honours in 2005 and 2006 at Le Mans with Ray Mallock Limited. It also earned several wins in the American Le Mans Series in 2005 and 2006 with Intersport Racing, including a second-place overall finish in the 200612 Hours of Sebring. In 2007, extensive updates were made to the chassis, to accommodate the all-new Acura powerplant run by Fernandez Racing, in addition, an essentially brand new LMP2 prototype, the B07/40, was built to house the new AER-based Mazda engine
12.
Dallara DW12
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The Dallara DW12 is a formula racing car developed and produced by Italian manufacturer Dallara for use in the IndyCar Series. The DW12 was introduced after the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship, the chassis is named after Dan Wheldon, who was killed at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on October 16,2011. Starting in 2012 the series moved to using a chassis supplied by Dallara. Using a single supplier to supply chassis was introduced as a cost control method, the new specification of chassis also improved safety, the most obvious feature being the partial enclosure around the rear wheels. This chassis is intended to support multiple aerodynamic kits, but the introduction of these was delayed until 2015, with Honda and Chevrolet supplying the alternatives to the Dallara package. The nomenclature is similar to that of the old Formula One team Ligier, Dallara cars have won twelve of the sixteen Indianapolis 500s they have contested. In 2013, Dallara reached its milestone 200th Indy car victory at Barber, the 2012 season saw the implementation of the Indy Racing Leagues new ICONIC Plan, the biggest change to the sport in recent history. The car used through 2011, a 2003/2007-model Dallara IR-05, IndyCar accepted proposals from BAT Engineering, Dallara, DeltaWing, Lola and Swift for chassis design. On July 14,2010, the decision was made public. Under the new ICONIC regulations, all teams compete with a core rolling chassis, called the IndyCar Safety Cell. Teams will then outfit the chassis with separate body work, referred to as Aero Kits, which consist of front and rear wings, sidepods, development of Aero Kits is open to any manufacturer, with all packages to be made available to all teams for a maximum price. ICONIC committee member Tony Purnell gave an invitation to car manufacturers and companies such as Lockheed Martin. The IndyCar Safety cell will be capped at a price of $349,000 and will be assembled at a new Dallara facility in Speedway, Aero Kits will be capped at $70,000. Teams have the option of buying a complete Dallara safety cell/aero kit for a discounted price, on May 12,2011, Dallara unveiled the first concept cars, one apiece in oval and road course Aero Kit configuration. On April 30,2011, IndyCar owners voted 15–0 to reject the introduction of multiple Aero Kits for the 2012 season, citing costs. On August 14,2011, IndyCar confirmed that the introduction of multiple Aero Kits would be delayed until 2013 for economic reasons, Chevrolet and Lotus had already announced their intention to build aero kits. 2011 Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon carried out the first official test of the Dallara chassis at Mid-Ohio in August 2011, following Wheldons death at the season-ending race in Las Vegas, Dallara announced that the 2012 chassis would be named the DW12 in his honor. The first official test of the Dallara IR12 chassis was carried out by Dan Wheldon at Mid-Ohio on August 8,2011, Phase I of testing involved Wheldon, and was planned to involve three road courses and three ovals, over a total of about twelve days
13.
Chevrolet
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Chevrolet, colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors. Louis Chevrolet and ousted General Motors founder William C. Durant started the company on November 3,1911 as the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Durant used the Chevrolet Motor Car Company to acquire a stake in General Motors with a reverse merger occurring on May 2,1918. Chevrolet-branded vehicles are sold in most automotive markets worldwide, with the exception of Oceania. However, GM reversed this move in late 2013, announcing that the brand would be withdrawn from Europe, with the exception of the Camaro, Chevrolet vehicles will continue to be marketed in the CIS states, including Russia. After General Motors fully acquired GM Daewoo in 2011 to create GM Korea, in North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Durant was cast out from the management of General Motors in 1910 for five years and he took over the Flint Wagon Works, incorporating the Mason and Little companies. As head of Buick Motor Company prior to founding GM, Durant had hired Louis Chevrolet to drive Buicks in promotional races, Durant planned to use Chevrolets reputation as a racer as the foundation for his new automobile company. Actual design work for the first Chevy, the costly Series C Classic Six, was drawn up by Etienne Planche, the first C prototype was ready months before Chevrolet was actually incorporated. However the first actual production wasnt until the 1913 model, so in essence there were no 1911 or 1912 production models, only the 1 pre-production model was made and fine tuned throughout the early part of 1912. Then in the fall of that year the new 1913 model was introduced at the New York auto show, Chevrolet first used the bowtie emblem logo in 1914 on the H series models and The L Series Model. It may have been designed from wallpaper Durant once saw in a French hotel room, more recent research by historian Ken Kaufmann presents a case that the logo is based on a logo of the Coalettes coal company. An example of this logo as it appeared in an advertisement for Coalettes appeared in the Atlanta Constitution on November 12,1911, others claim that the design was a stylized Swiss cross, in tribute to the homeland of Chevrolets parents. Chevrolet eventually unified all vehicle models with the gold bowtie in 2004, Louis Chevrolet had differences with Durant over design and in 1914 sold Durant his share in the company. By 1916, Chevrolet was profitable enough with successful sales of the cheaper Series 490 to allow Durant to repurchase a controlling interest in General Motors. After the deal was completed in 1917, Durant became president of General Motors, in 1919, Chevrolets factories were located at Flint, Michigan, branch assembly locations were located in Tarrytown, N. Y. Norwood, Ohio, St. Louis, Missouri, Oakland, California, Ft. Worth, Texas, mcLaughlins were given GM Corporation stock for the proprietorship of their Company article Sept.23,1933 Financial Post page 9. In the 1918 model year, Chevrolet introduced the Series D, Sales were poor and it was dropped in 1919
14.
INDYCAR
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INDYCAR is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Championship auto racing. The trade name INDYCAR was officially adopted on January 1,2011, INDYCAR is owned by Hulman & Company, which also owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex and the Clabber Girl brand. The Leagues premier series was named the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series in 2003, in 2013, IZOD announced that they would be leaving the series. Verizon took over as sponsor in 2014, and the name became the Verizon IndyCar Series. The series initially raced exclusively on oval tracks, as the series was founded partly in response to the prominence of road. In 2005, the series abandoned its unofficial ovals-only stance, by 2009, the series had a roughly 50/50 split of ovals and road/street courses. Presently, the series currently runs one-third of its schedule on ovals, Indy Lights is the development series for the IndyCar series. It originally started in 2002, as the IRL Infiniti Pro Series coincidentally in the year as CARTs own Indy Lights series came to an end. Since the 2008 reunification, the Indy Lights name returned, the Indy Lights run as support races to IndyCar Series races. In the past, a round during the United States Grand Prix was also apart of the schedule, the series is now promoted by Andersen Promotions. The Pro Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear is a racecar driver development series in North America. Competitors use spec Formula Mazda race cars built by Star Race Cars, the original series, using first-generation tube-frame cars started in the early 1990s, with the current, high-tech, carbon-fiber car released in 2004. The series has historically included road courses, street courses, the series primary sponsors are Mazda and Cooper Tire and the cars, while purpose built for the track with carbon fiber monocoques, are powered by 250 horsepower Mazda Renesis rotary engines. The series stated goal is to develop new race driving talent, in 2010, the series became a part of The Road to Indy. In 2013 the series promotion was taken over by Andersen Promotions, uSF2000 is a series the organisation started sanctioning in 2010. Originally started in 1991 and folded in 2006, it was restarted in 2010 as part of the Road to Indy ladder series promoted by Andersen Promotions. The series utilizes tube frame Formula Ford chassis fitted with larger Mazda MZR four cylinder engines and wings, like other governing bodies, IndyCar awards points based upon where a driver finishes in a race. The top three drivers are separated by ten and five points respectively, the fourth through tenth-place finishers are separated by two points each
15.
Champ Car
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Such racing had been sanctioned by the AAA, USAC, SCCA, the CRL, CART, and IndyCar. In its most popular and recent contemporary usage, Champ Car was the given to a governing body formerly known as Championship Auto Racing Teams. The CART series was founded in 1979 by team owners who disagreed with the direction, at the height of the popularity of the series in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it was known as the CART/PPG Indy Car World Series. The term Champ Car temporarily disappeared from use, with the more marketable term Indy Car being utilized, in 1996, the open wheel split saw the CART series take a different direction from the newly created Indy Racing League IRL and the Indy 500. Thereafter, it re-branded itself as CART again, and re-booted the term Champ Car as the moniker for the machines used, the series was advertised as CART FedEx Championship Series from 1997 to 2002. CART went bankrupt at the end of the 2003 season, a trio of CART team owners acquired the assets of the sanctioning body and renamed it as the Champ Car World Series, again highlighting the historic Champ Car term. In 1905 the AAA established the national driving championship and became the first sanctioning body for auto racing in the United States, the AAA ceased sanctioning auto racing in the general outrage over motor racing safety that followed the 1955 Le Mans disaster. In response, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Tony Hulman formed USAC to take over the sanctioning of what was called championship auto racing, USAC sanctioned the championship exclusively until 1978, when a split between USAC and some of the car owners prompted the formation of the rival CART series. The split from USAC was spurred by a group of activist car owners who had grown disenchanted with what they saw as a sanctioning body. Gurney took his inspiration from the improvements Bernie Ecclestone had forced on Formula One with his creation of the Formula One Constructors Association. The White Paper called for the owners to form CART as a group to promote USACs national championship. The group would work to negotiate television rights and race purses. USACs rejection of the led the owners to form a new series in late 1978 under the principles laid out in the Gurney White Paper. The first race was held in March 1979, the newness of the organization, however, prevented it from being recognized by ACCUS, the United States representative to the FIA. An arrangement was reached such that the SCCA would act as the body for the new series. This would allow the events to be listed on the International Motorsports Calendar, the new series quickly gained the support of the majority of team and track owners, with the only notable holdout being A. J. Foyt. This meant that the front and mid-pack teams would be racing in the new CART series, of the 20 races held in 1979,13 were part of the 1979 CART Championship. Of the 10 tracks to host races, five would host CART events exclusively and one, Ontario, by 1982, the CART series was almost universally recognized as the American national championship
16.
1975 SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship
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The 1975 SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship was won by Brian Redman driving a Lola T332 Chevrolet. In light of the Can Am Series folding the previous year, however, only two years later, the Formula 5000 category would form the basis for a revived Can Am Series. After 1975, Lolas dominance would end as March and Shadow cars would win events the following year and it would also be the end of Chevrolets several year sweep of the championship as an engine manufacturer, as a Dodge powered car would garner a victory in 1976. The 1975 SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship was contested over a nine race series, Championship points were awarded on a 36-24-16-12-8-5-4-3-2-1 basis for the first ten positions in each race. My Formula 5000 Old Racing Cars Formula 5000 page
17.
Formula 5000
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Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula, the 5000 denomination comes from the maximum 5.0 litre engine capacity allowed in the cars, although many cars ran with smaller engines. Manufacturers included McLaren, Eagle, March, Lola, Lotus, Elfin, Matich, in its declining years in North America Formula 5000 was modified into a closed wheel, but still single-seat sports car racing category. The engines used were generally 5 litre, fuel injected Chevrolet engines with about 500 horsepower at 8000 rpm, increasing costs and Lola domination meant the formula quickly lost its appeal after 1975. Older cars continued to be used in the SCCA national races, unfortunately, smaller privateer teams and drivers that entered Britains non-championship F1 events were left behind, and the RAC quickly adopted the American F5000 regulations. A European championship was first run in 1969 as the Guards Formula 5000 Championship and this was renamed to Guards European Formula 5000 Championship in 1970, to Rothmans European Formula 5000 Championship in 1971 and then to ShellSport European Formula 5000 Championship in 1975. Peter Gethin managed to launch his F1 career thanks to his F5000 championship titles, March 75A and Chevron B30 cars were successful with the V6, the March in particular being little more than a 751 Formula One car with minor modifications for the new engine. However, the problem that befell US F5000 happened in Europe. This was a British-based series for Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 5000 and Formula Atlantic cars, the F1 Championship was open to Formula 1 and Formula 2 cars only, with Formula 5000 cars no longer eligible. Older F5000 cars continued to be used in the British Sprint Championship and were common in Formula Libre races well into the 1980s. In Australia and New Zealand, the Tasman Formula, defining cars eligible for the annual Tasman Series, was extended in 1970 to include Formula 5000 cars as well as the existing 2.5 litre cars. However, by the 1970s Formula One had become more commercial, the four Australian Formula 5000 Tasman races continued as the Rothmans International Series from 1976 until 1979. Although still called Australian Formula 1 until 1983, F5000 was replaced by Formula Pacific, while European cars such as the various Lolas, McLarens and Chevrons were popular, locally made cars from Matich, Elfin and McRae were also successful. The most popular engine used was the 5.0 L Chevrolet V8, with the Australian made Repco Holden, based on the 5.0 L Holden V8 engine, also popular and successful. Formula 5000 remains a popular category in Australia and New Zealand with the Tasman Revival Series running races in both countries. There is a proposal to re-launch the Tasman Series in December 2016 with a version of the formula. In South Africa, F5000 first ran concurrently with used F1 cars, the category was revived in the late 2000s in New Zealand as an amateur historic racing category. In 2009/2010, a five race series was held, the final round as a support race for the 2010 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne
18.
1976 Formula One season
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The 1976 Formula One season was the 30th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The season also included two races for Formula One cars. Hunt had moved from the Hesketh team to McLaren, taking the place of dual World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi who had moved to drive for his brother Wilsons Fittipaldi Automotive team for the season. The controversy began in Spain where Hunt was initially disqualified from first place, giving the race to Lauda, the six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 confounded the skeptics by winning in Sweden, with Lauda third and Hunt fifth. Hunt won in France and, it seemed, in Britain, but the race had been restarted after a first lap pile-up and Hunt drove on an access road returning to the pits and he was eventually disqualified after an appeal from Ferrari. Lauda became the race winner. Lauda then crashed heavily in West Germany and appeared likely to die from his injuries, Hunt won the race and finished fourth to John Watsons Penske in Austria. Miraculously, Lauda returned to fourth in Italy, where Hunt, Jochen Mass. Hunt won in Canada and in the US but Lauda took third to lead Hunt by three going into the final race in Japan. In appalling weather conditions Mario Andretti won, Lauda withdrew because of the hazardous conditions, Chris Amon, drove his last grand prix in Germany, failing to win a single championship race. The 1976 Wolf-Williams cars were originally Heskeths, and Williams had left the team by September, the 2013 film Rush is based on this season, focusing on the rivalry and friendship between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. The following teams and drivers contested the 1976 World Championship of F1 Drivers, clay Regazzoni in the second Ferrari took the lead at the start. Regazzoni, Lauda, Hunt and Shadows Jean-Pierre Jarier battled, Regazzoni and Jarier collided, and the former had to pit for repairs. Lauda now led from Hunt and Jarier, but Hunt crashed out due to a sticking throttle, Lauda thus started his title defence with victory, with Patrick Depailler second in the Tyrrell, and Tom Pryce completing the podium in the other Shadow. At the Kyalami circuit near Johannesburg, Hunt took pole position for the time in two races, with Lauda alongside again. It was Lauda who led into the first corner, with Hunt dropping down to fourth behind McLaren teammate Jochen Mass, Hunt was waved through by Mass, and passed Brambilla to take second after five laps. Lauda led from start to finish to win again, with Hunt second, well after the South African race, the drivers assembled at Long Beach in the US for the third round. Regazzoni took pole position with Depailler second, forcing Hunt and Lauda onto the second row, the top four maintained their positions at the start, and almost immediately Regazzoni began to pull away
19.
Renault in Formula One
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Renault are currently involved in Formula One as a constructor, under the name of Renault Sport Formula One Team. They have been associated with Formula One as both constructor and engine supplier for various periods since 1977, in 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine to Formula One in its first car, the Renault RS01. In 1983, Renault began supplying engines to other teams, although the Renault team won races and competed for world titles, it withdrew at the end of 1985. Renault continued supplying engines to other teams until 1986, then again from 1989 to 1997, Renault returned to Formula One in 2000 when it acquired the Enstone-based Benetton Formula team. In 2002 Renault re-branded the team as Renault F1 Team and started to use Renault as their constructor name, for the 2011 Formula One season the team competed under the name Lotus Renault GP but retained the Renault constructor name. In 2012, the changed their constructor name to Lotus and operated as Lotus F1 Team until the end of 2015. Renault has also supplied engines to teams, including Red Bull Racing, Benetton Formula. In addition to its two own F1 World Constructors Championships and two Drivers Championships, as a supplier, Renault has contributed to nine other World Drivers Championships. It has collected over 160 wins as engine supplier, ranking third in Formula One history, Renaults first involvement in Formula One was made by the Renault Sport subsidiary. Renault entered the last five races of 1977 with Jean-Pierre Jabouille in its only car, the Renault RS01 was well known for its Renault-Gordini V61.5 L turbocharged engine, the first regularly used turbo engine in Formula One history. The first race the team, under the name Equipe Renault Elf, entered was the 1977 French Grand Prix, the round of the season. The teams début was delayed until the round, the British Grand Prix. The cars first qualifying session was not a success, and Jabouille qualified 21st out of the 30 runners and 26 starters,1.62 seconds behind pole sitter James Hunt in the McLaren. Jabouille ran well in the race, running as high as 16th before the turbo failed on lap 17. The team missed the German and Austrian Grands Prix as the car was being improved after its British disappointment and they returned for the Dutch Grand Prix, and the qualifying performance was much improved as Jabouille qualified tenth. He had a start, but ran as high as sixth before the suspension failed on lap 40. The teams poor qualifying form returned in Italy, as Jabouille qualified 20th and he ran outside the top 10 until his engine failed on lap 24, continuing their awful run of reliability. After this, Renault did not travel to the finale in Japan
20.
1977 Formula One season
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The 1977 Formula One season was the 31st season of the FIAs Formula One motor racing. Niki Lauda won his championship, despite Mario Andretti winning more races. Jody Scheckters Wolf won first time out, Shadow took their only victory, renault entered grand prix racing with a turbocharged car which was initially not very successful. The German ATS team took over the Penske cars and the South African Grand Prix was the last race a BRM ever qualified to start. Lauda departed Ferrari even before the season ended, so did not complete the season, Ferrari won its third consecutive Constructors title with new driver Carlos Reutemann having a solid season. The season was marred by one of the most horrific accidents in Formula One history. During the South African GP on 5 March, TV cameras captured how Tom Pryce was unable to avoid 19-year-old race marshall Frederik Jansen van Vuuren, there was further tragedy as Carlos Pace lost his life in an aviation accident only a couple of weeks after Pryces accident. The 1977 season started in Argentina, returning after a years absence and it was reigning world champion James Hunt who started off his title defence with pole position in his McLaren. Countryman John Watson shared the front row with him in the Brabham, the weather was, as was very often the case in Buenos Aires oppressively hot, which contributed to the attrition of this race. Watson took the lead at the start with Hunt second, Watson led for the first 10 laps until Hunt moved ahead and pulled away, with Mario Andrettis Lotus third, but soon the other McLaren of Jochen Mass took the place. Mass had to soon after with an engine failure which caused him to spin. Watson took the lead again, but he also had suspension failures, Watson eventually retired, and Pace struggled towards the end due to heat in his cockpit and was passed by Jody Scheckters Wolf and Andretti, but the latter retired then with a wheel bearing failure. Scheckter took the first win of 1977, with Pace second, the second round took place at the longest circuit of the year – the very demanding and difficult 5-mile Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, Brazil. Hunt took pole again with Reutemann second and Andretti third on the grid, home hero Pace took the lead at the start, with Hunt dropping behind Reutemann as well but soon Hunt was back behind Pace and attacking. There was contact, and Hunt took the lead whereas Pace had to pit for repairs, Hunt led Reutemann until he began to suffer from tyre troubles and was passed by Reutemann. Hunt pitted for new tyres, and rejoined fourth and soon passed Niki Lauda in the Ferrari, Reutemann marched on to victory, Hunt was second and Lauda third after Watson crashed out. The race in South Africa was over a month later, but Hunt still continued his streak of poles, with Pace alongside, Hunt led off at the start, with Lauda and Scheckter following him after Pace struggled. The order stayed put until the lap when Lauda took the lead and was never headed again
21.
1983 United States Grand Prix West
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The 1983 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One motor race held on March 27,1983 at Long Beach, California. Once again, the circuit had been modified, primarily to free up Ocean Boulevard. As practice began on Friday, two bumps where the circuit rejoined the old layout at the end of the Seaside Way straight were causing problems, some teams were concerned that the suspension on their cars would not last more than a few laps under race conditions. Overnight repair work smoothed the problematic bumps, Tambay grabbed his first pole with a lap of 1,26.117, the only lap to beat teammate Arnouxs Friday time, Keke Rosberg took third with 1,27.145, ahead of teammate Jacques Laffite. American Danny Sullivan Tyrrell), in his season of Formula One, managed ninth, while the other American in F1. The McLarens of Watson and Lauda were never able to arrive at a balanced setup, the race took place in warm and sunny conditions. Tambay held the lead at the first corner, Rosberg, immediately behind him, tried to squeeze through the middle of the all-Ferrari front row. He touched Arnouxs right front with his rear as he swung wide. Rosberg spun later in the lap while attempting to overtake, after one lap, Sullivan was up to sixth, behind Arnoux, and Cheever was ninth, immediately behind Prost. Sullivan was passed by Patrese on the lap, and then by Prost. Before long, however, Prost began dropping back with a misfire that had been plaguing him recurrently all weekend, Cheever was able to get by Arnoux and Patrese when Arnoux began to lose grip from his Goodyears, and was up into fifth place. When Cheever entered the Renault pit for a new set of tires, however, he found the still working on Prosts car. Prosts problem was solved and he continued, albeit three laps down. Meanwhile, Rosberg had regained second place behind Tambay and, by lap 20, was looking for a way by. On lap 26, Rosberg attempted to take the lead again, but collided with Tambay, Rosberg continued again, driving around the outside of the disabled car. As he entered the chicane before the line, he found his teammate Laffite alongside. The two Williams cars touched briefly, and Jarier ran into the back of Rosberg, who hit the wall, bounced off, Jarier continued, but only briefly, as a damaged front wing had spoiled his handling, and he retired in the pits. Laffite was now in the lead, with Patrese in second, by lap 28, the McLarens were lying third and fourth, having passed Marc Surer, Sullivan and Johnny Cecotto
22.
John Watson (racing driver)
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John Marshall Watson, MBE is a British former racing driver and current commentator from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One, winning five Grands Prix and was third in the 1982 championship and he also competed in the World Sportscar Championship finishing second in the 1987 championship. After his retirement from motorsport, he became a commentator for Eurosports coverage of Formula One from 1990 to 1996 and he currently commentates on the Blancpain GT Series. John Watson was born in Belfast and educated in Rockport School, watsons Formula One career began in 1972, driving a customer March-Cosworth 721 for Goldie Hexagon Racing in a non-Championship event, the World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch. Neither was particularly successful, as in the British race he ran out of fuel on the 36th lap, Watson scored his first championship point in Monte Carlo the following year, for Goldie Hexagon Racing. He went on to score a total of six points that season and he failed to score points the following year, driving for Team Surtees, Team Lotus and Penske Cars. At the Spanish Grand Prix he had the chance to score his first win and he was in 2nd position behind Mario Andretti until he had a problem with his car because it suffered vibrations and had to enter the pit lane. He still finished 8th which was his best result in 1975 and he secured his first podium with third place at the 1976 French Grand Prix. Later that season came his first victory, driving for Penske in the Austrian Grand Prix having qualified second on the grid, after the race he shaved off his beard, the result of a bet with team owner Roger Penske. In the third race of the 1977 Formula One season, the South African Grand Prix, he managed to complete the distance, scored a point. His achievements were overshadowed, however, by the deaths of driver Tom Pryce, problems with the car, accidents, and a disqualification meant that he raced the full distance in only five of the 17 races. In 1978, Watson managed a successful season in terms of race finishes. He managed three podiums and a pole, and notched up 25 points to earn the highest championship placing of his career to that point. Later in the 1981 season, the strength of the McLarens carbon fibre monocoque was demonstrated when he had a crash at Monza during the Italian Grand Prix. Watson lost the car coming out of the high speed Lesmo bends, similar accidents had previously proven fatal, but Watson was uninjured. His most successful year was 1982, when he finished third in the drivers championship, in several races he achieved high placings despite qualifying towards the back of the grid. At the end of the 1983 season however, Watson was dropped by McLaren, negotiations with team boss Ron Dennis reportedly broke down when Watson asked for more money than dual World Champion Lauda was earning, citing having won a GP in 1983 where Lauda did not. Dennis instead signed Renault refugee Alain Prost for nothing, Watson raced with Laudas race number of 1
23.
McLaren
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McLaren Racing Limited, competing as McLaren Honda, is a British Formula One team based at the McLaren Technology Centre, Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has competed in and won the Indianapolis 500. The team is the second oldest active team after Ferrari and they are one of the most successful teams in Formula One history, having won 182 races,12 drivers championships and eight constructors championships. The team is an owned subsidiary of McLaren Technology Group. Further American triumph followed, with Indianapolis 500 wins in McLaren cars for Mark Donohue in 1972, the combination of Prost and Senna was particularly dominant—together they won all but one race in 1988—but later their rivalry soured and Prost left for Ferrari. Fellow English team Williams offered the most consistent challenge during this period, however, by the mid-1990s, Honda had withdrawn from Formula One, Senna had moved to Williams, and the team went three seasons without a win. Ron Dennis retired as McLaren team principal in 2009, handing the role to longtime McLaren employee Martin Whitmarsh. At the end of 2013, after the teams worst season since 2004, McLaren announced in 2013 that they would be using Honda engines from 2015 onwards, replacing Mercedes-Benz. The team raced as McLaren-Honda for the first time since 1992 at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, Bruce McLaren Motor Racing was founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren. Bruce was a driver for the British Formula One team Cooper with whom he had won three Grands Prix and come second in the 1960 world championship. In 1964 and 1965, McLaren were based in New Malden, then Feltham, during this period, Bruce drove for his team in sports car races in the United Kingdom and North America and also entered the 1965 Tasman Series with Phil Hill, but did not win it. He continued to drive in Grands Prix for Cooper, but judging that teams form to be waning, Bruce made the teams Grand Prix debut at the 1966 Monaco race. His race ended after nine laps due to an oil leak. Neither car brought great success, the best result being a fourth at Monaco, for 1968, after driving McLarens sole entry for the previous two years, Bruce was joined by 1967 champion and fellow New Zealander Denny Hulme, who was already racing for McLaren in Can-Am. That years new M7A car, Herds final design for the team, was powered by Cosworths new and soon to be ubiquitous DFV engine, Hulme also won the Italian and Canadian Grands Prix later in the year, helping the team to second in the constructors championship. The year 1970 started with a place each for Hulme. After his death, Teddy Mayer took over control of the team, Hulme continued with Dan Gurney. Gurney won the first two Can-Am events at Mosport and St. Jovite and placed ninth in the third, but left the team mid-season, and Gethin took over from there
24.
McLaren MP4/1
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The McLaren MP4/1 was a Formula One racing car produced by the McLaren team. It was used during the 1981,1982 and 1983 seasons and it was the first Formula One car to use a carbon fibre composite monocoque, a concept which is now ubiquitous. The MP4 was the first car to be following the merger of the McLaren team and Ron Dennis Project 4 team. The main engineer for the MP4 was John Barnard, within months the design had been copied by many of McLarens rivals. The car was powered by a 3.0 litre Ford-Cosworth V8 engine. John Watson and Andrea de Cesaris drove the MP4/1 for most of the 1981 season with Niki Lauda replacing de Cesaris for the 1982 and 1983 seasons. In 1982, the updated MP4B nearly brought Watson to the World Championship, in that same year however, it did take second in the Constructors Championship, collecting 69 points. This car was used throughout most of the season, during the 1983 season, McLaren worked with Techniques dAvant Garde and Porsche to develop a turbocharged V6 engine and the MP4/1D was the test mule. This infuriated Dennis and designer John Barnard- who had designed the MP4/2 just for the new turbo-charged engine, but this car was not really expected to win or even finish races. In total, the MP4/1 brought McLaren 6 wins,11 other podium finishes, BBC commentator Murray Walker drove the MP4/1C at Silverstone in 1983
25.
Cosworth DFV
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The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA and its development in 1967 for Colin Chapmans Team Lotus was sponsored by Ford. For many years it was the dominant engine in Formula One, and it was also used in other categories, including CART, Formula 3000 and Sportscar racing. The engine was a 90°,2,993 cc V8, with bore & stroke of 85.67 x 64.897 mm producing over 400 bhp from the start, reaching over 500 bhp by the end of its Formula 1 career. The 1983 DFY variant had a bore and stroke of 90 x 59 mm giving 2,993 cc. In 1965, the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile, that administered Formula One racing, Chapman approached the Ford Motor Company and David Brown of Aston Martin for funding, each without initial success. Chapman then approached Ford of Britains public relations chief, former journalist Walter Hayes, since Hayes had joined Ford in 1962 the pair had previously collaborated in the production of the successful Lotus Cortina, introduced in 1963. Hayes arranged dinner for Chapman with Ford employee Harley Copp, a British-based American engineer who had backed and engineered Fords successful entry into NASCAR in the 1950s, stage two would produce a V8 engine for Formula One, by May 1967. Team-mate Jim Clark moved up through the field in his identical car, however, this dominant performance belied a serious fault in the timing gear. Clark took three wins that season, but reliability problems left him third in the Drivers Championship,10 points behind Champion Denny Hulme. The progress of the engine was documented in a film produced by the Ford Motor Companys film section, entitled 9 Days in Summer. Initially, the agreement between Ford, Cosworth and Lotus was binding on all parties, and Ford as the funder had no plans to sell or hire the DFV to any other teams. Only Brabhams Repco V8 engine provided a combination of power and reliability. Hayes released the DFV initially to French team Matra, headed by Ken Tyrrell with Jackie Stewart as a driver. What followed was an age, where teams big or small could buy an engine which was competitive, light, compact, easy to work with. The DFV effectively replaced the Coventry Climax as the standard F1 powerplant for the private teams. Lotus, McLaren, Matra, Brabham, March, Surtees, Tyrrell, Hesketh, Lola, Williams, Penske, Wolf and Ligier are just some of the teams to have used the DFV. In 1969 and 1973 every World Championship race was won by DFV-powered cars, the advent of ground effect aerodynamics on the F1 scene in 1977 provided a new lease of life for the now decade-old engine
26.
1982 United States Grand Prix West
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The 1982 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One motor race held on April 4,1982, at the temporary street circuit at Long Beach, California. In his third race since returning from a self-imposed two-year retirement, Austrian Niki Lauda won the seventh United States Grand Prix West at Long Beach and it was the 18th victory of Laudas career, and his first for McLaren. Canadas Gilles Villeneuve crossed the line in third, but he was disqualified after the race when a protest of his Ferraris rear wing was upheld by the officials. Just five days after the race in Brazil, Carlos Reutemann had shocked his boss Frank Williams. When former World Champion Alan Jones insisted he was not available, Williams contacted another former Champion, American Mario Andretti. His commitment to the Patrick Indy racing team posed no conflicts, so he agreed to drive the second Williams for the weekend, saying, I had nothing else to do, significant changes had been made to the course since the previous years race. The Queens Hairpin at the end of Shoreline Drive had been transformed into a turn that led into a new section of track with several demanding corners. The changes increased the length of the lap only slightly, seeing this development, Lauda intentionally used only one set and kept a brand new set for Sundays race. It was the Italians first pole position, and he was ecstatic, at the time, de Cesaris was the youngest driver to achieve pole position, a record beaten by Rubens Barrichello at the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix. Lauda, meanwhile, knew he had a set of rubber for the race. Defending World Champion Nelson Piquet was the fastest Goodyear runner, in position on the grid. Sunday was clear, warm and gorgeous with a crowd of 82,000, as the cars formed on the grid for the start, Lotus driver Elio de Angelis lined up on the wrong side. He quickly backed out of the spot, bumping his teammate Nigel Mansell behind him, when Mansell put his car into reverse, thinking that de Angelis was coming back further, the green light came on. As a result, Mansell claims to be the driver to have started a race in reverse. Everyone got away cleanly, though Mansell found himself near the back of the field, at the front, de Cesaris made an excellent start, jumping into the lead ahead of Lauda and René Arnoux. On lap six, with the Italian beginning to stretch his lead slightly, his Alfa Romeo teammate Giacomelli closed up on Lauda, who was right behind Arnoux. As the three approached the hairpin, Giacomelli made a run down the outside of Lauda, locked up his brakes. Both cars were out, and de Cesaris now led Lauda by 5.7 seconds, prost hit the inside wall whilst under braking for the right hander at the end of Ocean Boulevard and was immediately out
27.
Niki Lauda
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Andreas Nikolaus Niki Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One driver and a three-time F1 World Drivers Champion, winning in 1975,1977 and 1984. He is currently the driver to have been champion for both Ferrari and McLaren, the sports two most successful constructors. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and he is also Bombardier Business Aircraft brand ambassador. He was also a consultant for Scuderia Ferrari and team manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years and he is currently working as a pundit for German TV during Grand Prix weekends and acts as non-executive chairman of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team. Lauda owns 10% of the team, however, he survived, and recovered enough to race again just six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix. Niki Lauda was born on 22 February 1949 in Vienna, Austria and his paternal grandfather was the Viennese-born businessman Hans Lauda. Lauda became a racing driver despite his familys disapproval, after starting out with a Mini, Lauda moved on into Formula Vee, as was normal in Central Europe, but rapidly moved up to drive in private Porsche and Chevron sports cars. With his career stalled, he took out a £30,000 GBP bank loan, secured by an insurance policy. Because of his familys disapproval he had a feud with his family over his racing ambitions. He was quickly promoted to the F1 team, but drove for March in F1, although the F2 cars were good, Marchs 1972 F1 season was catastrophic. Lauda took out another loan to buy his way into the BRM team in 1973. Regazzoni spoke so favourably of Lauda that Ferrari promptly signed him, after an unsuccessful start to the 1970s culminating in a disastrous start to the 1973 season, Ferrari regrouped completely under Luca di Montezemolo and were resurgent in 1974. The teams faith in the little-known Lauda was quickly rewarded by a finish in his début race for the team. His first Grand Prix victory – and the first for Ferrari since 1972 – followed only three races later in the Spanish Grand Prix and he finished fourth in the Drivers Championship and demonstrated immense commitment to testing and improving the car. The 1975 F1 season started slowly for Lauda, after no better than a finish in the first four races. Lauda famously gave away any trophies he won to his garage in exchange for his car to be washed and serviced. It would be a feat not achieved since Jack Brabhams victories in 1959 and 1960 and he also looked set to win the most races in a season, a record held by the late Jim Clark since 1963. Most of the other drivers voted against the boycott and the race went ahead, unlike Lunger, Lauda was trapped in the wreckage
28.
Ferrari 126C
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The Ferrari 126C was the car with which Ferrari raced in the 1981 Formula One season. The teams first attempt at a turbo engined Formula 1 car, it was designed by Mauro Forghieri and Harvey Postlethwaite, the Ferrari 126C was designed to replace the highly successful but obsolete 312T series in use since 1975. The car was first tested during the Italian Grand Prix in 1980, in testing it proved far faster than the 312T5 chassis the team were then using and Gilles Villeneuve preferred it, though he had reservations about the handling. Early unreliability of the engine put paid to Villeneuves 1981 championship hopes but he did score back to back victories in Monaco and Spain. Because of the handling the 126CK was at its best on fast tracks such as Hockenheim, Silverstone, Monza. The car proved to be very fast but Gilles Villeneuve found the handling to be atrocious, Postlethwaite later said that the 126CK had a quarter of the downforce that the Williams or Brabham had that year. The poor aero of the car created a tendency to make the car slide into corners before the ground effect pulled the car back on to the track. This had the effects of exposing the drivers to even larger g-forces than the Williams FW07 or Brabham BT49. In all it made for a very tricky driving experience, with the arrival of Harvey Postlethwaite and a complete overhaul of the car in time for the 1982 season, things looked better. Smaller, nimbler and with improved aerodynamics, the 126C2 handled far better than its predecessor. Villeneuve and Didier Pironi posted record times in testing with the new car and this was done as a deliberate exploitation of rule loopholes in retaliation for Williams water-cooled brakes exploit, part of the FISA–FOCA wars, and resulted in disqualification. Then came the race at San Marino after which Villeneuve accused Pironi of having disobeyed team orders. The fallout from the race preceded Villeneuves death in an accident during qualifying at the next round in Belgium. Pironi himself was killed in a similar accident in Germany, putting an end to his motor racing career. The 126C2 was further developed during the season, with new wings and bodywork tried, an improved chassis was designed and developed mid-season that was introduced for the French Grand Prix that changed the rocker arm front suspension to a more streamlined pull-rod suspension. A thinner longitudinal gearbox was designed and developed to replace the transverse gearbox to promote better undisturbed airflow from the underside of the ground-effects chassiss side-pods. Mandatory flat bottoms for the cars were introduced for 1983, reducing ground effect, version of the 126C2 was introduced this in mind. This car was built and raced for the first half of the 1983 season, however, Ferrari took the constructors title for the second year in a row
29.
American open wheel car racing
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American Championship car racing, also known as Indy Car racing, is a category of professional-level automobile racing in the United States and North America. As of 2016, the top-level American open wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar, competitive events for professional-level, single-seat open-wheel race cars have been conducted under the auspices of several different sanctioning bodies since 1902. A season-long, points-based, National Championship of drivers has been recognized in 1905,1916. The Indianapolis 500, which debuted in 1911, is the marquee event of Indy Car racing. The open-wheeled, winged, single-seater cars have generally similar to those in Formula One. The fame of the Indianapolis 500 leads many to refer to the cars that compete on the American Championship circuit as Indy cars. This form of racing has experienced high levels of popularity over the years, the golden era of the 1950s was followed by a decade of transition and innovation in the 1960s, which included increased international participation. The sport experienced considerable growth and exposure during the popularity of the CART PPG Indy Car World Series in the 1980s. Two organizational disputes in 1979 and 1996, respectively, led to a split that divided the participants among two separate sanctioning bodies, however, an official unification took place in 2008 that brought the sport back together under one single sanctioning body. The national championship was sanctioned by the Contest Board of the American Automobile Association, the AAA first sanctioned automobile motorsports events in 1902. At first it used the rules of the Automobile Club of America and it introduced the first track season championship for racing cars in 1905. Barney Oldfield was the first champion, no official season championship was recognized from 1906-1915, however, single races were held. Official records regard 1916 as the next contested championship season, years later, retroactive titles were named back to 1902. These post-factum seasons are considered unofficial and revisionist history by accredited historians, Racing did not cease in the United States during WWI, but the official national championship was suspended. The Indianapolis 500 itself was suspended for 1917–1918 due to the war. In 1920, the championship resumed, and despite the difficult economic climate that would later follow. Shortly after Pearl Harbor, all auto racing was suspended during World War II, from 1942 to 1945 no events were contested, banned by the U. S. government primarily on account of rationing. Racing resumed in full in 1946, the 1946 season is unique, in that it included six Champ Car events, and 71 Big Car races, as organizers were initially unsure about the availability of cars and participation
30.
Indy Lights
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Indy Lights is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, the Indy Lights series has been promoted by Anderson Promotions since 2014, which also manages the Road to Indy programme. A similar series named Indy Lights filled the role for the CART series. The Indy Lights champion is awarded a $1M scholarship toward the IndyCar Series, during the early 1960s, open wheel cars were front engined roadsters. The primary ladder series included sprints and midgets, by the end of the decade, and into the 1970s, the cars evolved into rear-engine formula-style machines. Likewise, the series began to follow the same mold. When USAC became the sanctioning body for top-level Indy car racing. The SCCA Super Vee and Formula Atlantic series were among the first formula-based ladder series, however, neither had any direct tie to USAC. In 1977, USAC started the Mini-Indy series, using Super Vee machines, the series ended after 1980 when USAC stopped sanctioning Indy car races outside of Indianapolis. The original Indy Lights series was formed as a racing series that acted as a developmental circuit for CART from 1986 to 2001. It was founded in 1986 as the American Racing Series, the series was renamed Indy Lights in 1991. The CART-sanctioned series became popular and secured the title sponsorship of Firestone. Later, Firestones subsidiary Dayton Tires took over as tire supplier, a spec-series, CART Indy Lights used March chassis from 1986 to 1992. Lola provided chassis from 1993 to 2001, buick V6 engines were used for its entire existence. The ARS/Indy Lights series championship winners included two CART champions, two IndyCar Series champions, seven CCWS race-winners and two Formula One drivers, the Indy Lights schedule closely followed that of the CART series, with the noteworthy exception of Indianapolis. The series typically had a gap of up to a month while the primary CART teams raced at the Indy 500, the races were usually held the morning of the CART series races, as an undercard, support event. In early years, the Indy Lights series skipped superspeedway races such as Michigan, by the late 1990s and early 2000s, CART was suffering from financial problems. Meanwhile, in 1996, the rival Indy Racing League was formed, CART canceled the minor league outright after the 2001 season
31.
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
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The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association. It is a result of a merger between two existing North American sports car racing series, the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series. The initial United SportsCar Championship name of the series was announced on March 14,2013, WeatherTech later signed a deal to take over title sponsorship of the series starting in 2016, rebranding the series. The inaugural 2014 season began with the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona on January 25–26, on November 20,2012 the merger committee announced that SME Branding were selected to develop the name, logo and identity of the new series. On January 8,2013, the two announced a preliminary class structure for the new merged series. Grand-Ams Daytona Prototype category and IMSAs P2 would combine into a prototype class. The Le Mans Prototype Challenge class of single cars from the American Le Mans Series would continue as is. The GT class of the American Le Mans Series would remain unchanged, while Grand-Ams GT class will form another GT class, the only category of cars not represented in the new series is the American Le Mans Series P1 category. The reveal date for the new series was March 14,2013 at the Chateau Élan Hotel and Conference Center at Sebring International Raceway, American Le Mans CEO Scott Atherton announced the new sanctioning body would remain IMSA while Ed Bennett revealed the new titles for the series five classes. On August 9,2013 Fox Sports 1 announced it had signed a TV contract with IMSA to televise the entire USCC season between 2014 and 2018. Later, on September 12,2013, Tudor was announced as the sponsor for the series. On August 8,2015, WeatherTech was announced as the new entitlement sponsor for the series, renaming the series to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, originally based on a Canadian series before being acquired by Grand-Am, the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge is a production-based touring car series. The series is split into two known as Grand Sport, intended for large capacity GT-style cars, and Street Tuner, consisting of smaller sedans and coupes. The IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge until 2013 supported some Rolex Series races and this series continued with the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship after the merger and is somewhat comparable to the old Trans Am Series. There are four different classes in the United SportsCar Championship series, originally combined Grand-Ams Daytona Prototype with the American Le Mans Series P2 prototypes and the DeltaWing, all built to 2014 specifications. In 2017 the class will feature new Daytona Prototype international and LMP2 cars, GT Le Mans, a continuation of the ALMS GT class, consisting of cars matching the Automobile Club de lOuests GTE specification. GT Daytona, a class that combined the Grand-Am GT & GX classes with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars from the ALMS GTC class, starting in the 2016 season the class adopted full FIA GT3 specifications
32.
Atlantic Championship
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The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. Starting in 2012, the series was revived with SCCA Pro Racing sanction, the Atlantics series is a developmental open-wheel racing series in North America, also called a ladder series. A US$2 million prize was announced for the winner of the 2006 racing season and future seasons, simon Pagenaud became champion in 2006 and claimed the first such prize, and he promptly moved to Champ Car in 2007 to race for Walker Racing. The series champion for 2007, Raphael Matos, also won the $2 million prize towards a Champ Car ride, however, he elected not to accept it as he felt that without other sponsorship, he would be driving for a non-competitive team. 2007 runner-up, Franck Perera, who finished on the eight times during the season and won three races ultimately signed to race with Champ Car team Conquest Racing. When Champ Car was purchased by IndyCar prior to the 2008 season, as of 2009, the series offers an unrestricted $1 million prize to the season champion, $500,000 to the runner-up, and $250,000 to the third-place finisher on the season. These season rewards are part of total of $3 million in prize money, which also features $50,000 for each race win. Starting in 2006, the series has run exclusively with Swift 016. a chassis powered by Mazda-Cosworth MZR2300 cm³ DOHC inline-4 engines producing 300 bhp. The cars are capable of speeds in excess of 175 mph, the new formula has lowered the costs of running a full Atlantic season to around $500, 000–$600,000. For example, the 2007 season featured 30 drivers, chassis, Swift 016. a, Carbon-fibre composite with kevlar, two roll-over structures. Formula Atlantic as a class evolved in the United Kingdom in 1971 from the US Formula B rules, with 1600 cm³ production-based twin-cam engines. Conceived by John Webb of Brands Hatch as a category for national competitors with the performance near a Formula Two car, a single (Yellow Pages championship ran in 1971–72, with a rival BP backed series appearing in 1973. Only one series ran in 1975-76, in the year taking the title Indylantic. But the formula was under threat from Formula 3 and no series ran in 1977–78, the series returned in 1979 with backing from Hitachi and continued to 1983, with diminishing grids and few new cars appearing. US manufacturer Swift came to displace the British imports and dominate in North America, IMSA in the United States took advantage of the large number of teams and organized their own series in 1976. During these years, the series attracted guest drivers from Europe, including Formula One, particularly at the Trois-Rivières street race in Quebec, guest drivers included James Hunt, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Riccardo Patrese, Patrick Depailler, Jacques Laffite, Didier Pironi and Vittorio Brambilla. The series could not sustain the success of earlier seasons and was cancelled for 1984, in its place a Pacific series was conducted exclusively on the US West Coast in 1985. This rebirth expanded to an East Coast Atlantic series the following year, from 1990 to 2005, the series was sponsored by Toyota and the cars were powered by 1600 cc Toyota 4A-GE engines available in kit form from Toyota Racing Development
33.
Pirelli World Challenge
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The Pirelli World Challenge is a North American auto racing series that is managed by WC Vision and sanctioned by the United States Auto Club. The World Challenge series was born in 1990, and celebrated its 25th anniversary season in 2014. The series consists of seven driver classifications and six classes of vehicles, Grand Touring, GT Cup, GTS, Touring Car, Touring Car B-spec since 2012, in 2014, a GTA driver classification was established for professional drivers that do not make their living primarily from racing. In 2016, The series frequently races alongside the IndyCar Series on race event weekends, the SCCA created a showroom stock class for amateur club racing in 1972. In 1984, following the success of the Longest Day of Nelson and another 24-hour race at Mid-Ohio, for 1985, the series became a 6-race professional championship with sponsorship from Playboy magazine. Escort radar detectors sponsored the series from 1986 until 1991, in 1990, the series was officially named World Challenge and was restructured to adopt rules similar to the European Group A for homologated production cars. The higher-cost sports classes were dropped after 1996, leaving the class format as it would stand until 2010, speed TV network began sponsoring the series in 1999. With fields growing, the series began separate races for the GT and Touring classes in 2000, in 2010, the series moved away from the partnership with SPEED, and signed a broadcast partnership with Versus for coverage. The series moved existing touring cars into a new GTS class, while changing the rules for the car class to reduce costs. With the SpeedVision television contract, the World Challenge eventually succeeded Trans Am as the SCCAs premier series, in July 2008, the World Challenge series was purchased by WC Vision, a group of investors. The Sports Car Club of America remains the partner of the series. Starting with the 2011 season, the signed a partnership with Pirelli. In 2014, the Pirelli World Challenge established a GT-A classification similar to the FIAs bronze category, in 2015, the series established GT Cup, featuring Porsche 991 Cup Cars that ran as part of the overall GT Class races. In 2016, the series established SprintX classes of racing featuring two-driver sprint races for several driver classes, as part of the partnership with the SRO, the GTS class was expanded to include GT4 homologations. For 2017, the Pirelli World Challenge has transferred to USAC as its sanctioning body, GT Cup class is expanding to include Cup cars from Lamborghini and Ferrari, while SprintX classes expand in both driver classification specificity and competition-legal platforms. Each season consists of upwards of 12 event weekends and between 10-20 rounds or races, some rounds or race use a standing start, as opposed to the all rolling starts seen in other sports car racing series. Each race has a maximum 50 minute time limit, in 2017, the series will begin the season at the Streets of St. Petersburg. GT/GTA classes will compete across 5 event weekends and 9 total races or rounds, GT Cup will compete across 4 event weekends and 8 total races or rounds, while GTS will compete across nine event weekends and 18 total races
34.
Trans-Am Series
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The Trans-Am Series is an automobile racing series which was created in 1966 by Sports Car Club of America President John Bishop. Originally the series was open to FIA Group 2 Touring Cars, marques such as Porsche, Alfa Romeo, BMW, Datsun, Mini Cooper, Saab, and Volkswagen competed in the series Under 2.0 Liter category. At first, the Trans-Am cars were modified versions of their road version, the competition was divided into two classes- an Under 2-Liter class and the Over 2 Liter class,111 inch wheel base or less and displacement limited to 5.0 liters. The first race was in 1966 at Sebring International Raceway, the overall win went to Jochen Rindt driving an Alfa Romeo GTA, with Bob Tullius taking second overall and first in the Over 2-Liter class. Allan Moffat in a 1600 cc Lotus Cortina won the race at Bryar. Ford of Britain had full factory effort with the Alan Mann Lotus Cortinas, in 1967 Porsche lobbied the SCCA to reclassify the 911 as a sedan. Then dominated the Under 2-Liter field winning the championship over Alfa Romeo. In Over 2-Liter, Ford edged out Mercury to win the manufacturers championship, Penske Racing campaigned Chevrolet Camaro Z28s through 1969, then Roger Penske signed with American Motors to race the Javelin in 1970 and 1971. Mark Donohue would chalk up 20 race victories between 1967 and 1970, fords factory team was run by Bud Moore Engineering with Parnelli Jones and George Follmer the drivers. Plymouth hired All American Racers to run their team, with drivers Dan Gurney, Dodge used Ray Caldwells Autodynamics team, Sam Posey and occasionally Tony Adamowicz drove. Jerry Titus ran the Pontiac Team Firebird Trans Am, Penske Racing ran the effort for AMC Javelin, with drivers Mark Donohue and Peter Revson. In 1971 all the American manufacturers pulled their sponsorship from the series except for AMC, the boxy six-year-old Tempest had once been Adams wifes daily driver, with over 80,000 miles on the odometer when it was turned into an A Sedan racer. It proved to be surprisingly fast, at a time even a one-year-old car was considered out of step with the competition. It was entered in the round of the 1971 Trans-Am Championship. Unable to qualify, the car was allowed to start from the back of the pack, with Bob Tullius behind the wheel, it mowed through the field, and was running second behind eventual winner Mark Donohues factory-supported Penske Racing AMC Javelin when the engine expired. 1971 the U2 class was renamed the Two-Five challenge, as the displacement limit was increased to 2.5 liters. 1971 was very exciting as Horst Kwech in a Herb Wetanson Alfa-Romeo GTV, after a hard fought season with much off-track puffing, Datsun won. When these two marques dropped out, interest in the series waned and the SCCA cancelled the series, beginning in the 1970s, Trans-Am cars would also be seen running in the IMSA GT Championship
35.
Formula D
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Formula DRIFT or Formula D is the premier United States drifting series. The new entity would solely own, operate and launch the first official drifting series in North America,2014 will be Formula Drifts eleventh year of competition. With more than 60+ currently licensed drivers competing, Formula Drift is recognized as the premier North American professional drifting championship series, the series consists of a seven-round championship played out at race tracks across the United States. Judged on execution and style, rather than who finishes the course in the fastest time, Formula Drift brings together traditional racing, Formula Drift works closely with a huge variety of endemic and non-endemic business partners from energy drinks to the military. Most notably Formula Drift works with the largest amount of tire suppliers to a single series, achilles, Falken, Hankook, Maxxis, Kenda, Nitto, GT Radial, and Yokohama all work together to supply teams and develop test their products. Formula Drift is home to 60+ professional drift drivers, the competition for Formula Drift licenses is intense. Drivers in the U. S. can compete in a number of regionally sanctioned Pro-Am series for licensing, Drivers from around the world have set their sights on Formula Drift as the series of choice worldwide in which to compete. This also includes the legions of talented drivers from Japan, who have competed previously in the D1 Grand Prix, other drivers who crossed over to Formula Drift from foreign series are the Irish drivers Darren McNamara, James Deane, Eric OSullivan, and Dean Kearney. These drivers rose to acclaim in their European home series before making the move stateside, Rd.1 Long Beach GP street course, Long Beach, CA. Seasons 2006 -2016 Rd.2 Road Atlanta, Braselton, seasons 2004 -2016 Rd.3 Orlando Speed World in Orlando, FL. Season 2015 -2016 Rd.4 Wall Speedway in Wall, seasons 2005-2007, 2009-2016 Rd.5 Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA. Seasons 2006 -2016 Rd.6 Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, seasons 2013 -2016 Rd.7 Toyota Speedway at Irwindale Irwindale, CA. Season 2004 -2016 Palm Beach International Raceway in Palm Beach, seasons 2011 -2013 Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas NV. Seasons 2009 -2012 Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, CA, seasons 2004 -2010 Summit Point Motorsports Park in Summit Point, WV. Season 2007 Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ, Season 2008 Reliant Center in Houston, TX. Seasons 2004 -2005 Soldier Field in Chicago, IL, Season 2005 -2006 Formula Drift has increased its international presence every year since 2008 with the addition of demonstration and sister series in other countries. Taking the Formula Drift brand internationally is a huge milestone and our priority is to continue to build the Series here while growing the sport of drifting as a whole, said Jim Liaw, president and co-founder of Formula Drift. We are very careful in choosing our event partners and take consideration of the boundaries of our international affiliates such as Drift Australia, MSC
36.
Speed Energy Formula Off-Road
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The Speed Energy Formula Off-Road Presented By Traxxas is an American off-road racing series. The series was formed by former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Robby Gordon in 2013, the Trucks formerly competed primarily in American football stadiums, but began racing mostly on street circuits starting in 2014. By 2011, there was speculation that after his NASCAR career was over, the Stadium Super Trucks held an exhibition race at Crandon International Off-Road Raceway after the conclusion of the World Championship races on September 2,2012. The Stadium Super Trucks began with a season in 2013. The series held their first official race at the University of Phoenix Stadium on April 6,2013, the race was won by Rob MacCachren, Justin Matney finished second, and Gordon passed the flipped-over truck of P. J. Jones on the final lap for third. Gordon and MacCachren battled throughout the 2013 season, and Gordon won the championship by seven points, as support events, the series scheduled monster trucks, quad bikes and Side by Side UTVs. On December 11,2013, Gordon announced that the series will be among the events held at the X Games Austin in 2014, on March 4,2014, the series was rebranded as the Speed Energy Formula Off-Road Presented By Traxxas. The series X Games final was held at Circuit of the Americas on June 8, apdaly Lopez won the gold medal, Sheldon Creed and Gordon earned silver and bronze, respectively. On September 23,2014, sponsorship marketing company Elevation Group purchased a 40 percent stake in the series, the 2013 season also featured drivers from other disciplines, like Arie Luyendyk Jr. and Paul Tracy, Nick Baumgartner and Traxxas owner Mike Jenkins. Other off-road drivers who have competed in the series included Moto X biker Jeremy Stenberg, like Gordon, other NASCAR drivers have competed in the series. P. J. Jones also made starts for Gordons Robby Gordon Motorsports team in NASCAR, in 2016, Sara Price became the first female driver in series history when she made her debut at Toronto. Eventually, the series focused almost exclusively on street courses, before you know it, were doing 10 street races instead of stadiums and dirt races, which brings it to a completely different fan audience, Gordon stated. On the street courses, aluminum ramps are placed on the track, the ramps are 17 feet,6 inches long and 28 high, in late 2014 and into 2015, the series expanded outside the United States and Canada, starting with the Race of Champions in Barbados. On October 16, Gordon announced the series would race at the Adelaide Street Circuit in Australia for 2015 as an event for the Adelaide 500. On May 13, the series was invited to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England, the 2016 schedule featureds four races in the United States, one in Canada, four in Australia, one in New Zealand, and one to be confirmed. In 2017, the series will make its debut on a track at the Texas Motor Speedway. Powered by a 600-hp Chevrolet LS V8 engine, the trucks weigh 2,900 pounds and are built with a steel-tube frame, the trucks are 135 long and 52 high, feature a three-speed transmission and can reach speeds as high as 140 mph. A portion of the frame protects the driver from rolls, the trucks high center of mass and soft suspension makes the vehicle prone to rolling
37.
Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race
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Beginning in 1991, the event raised money for Racing for Kids, a national fund-raising program benefiting childrens hospitals in Long Beach and Orange County. The TPCR pitted celebrities against professional racers from various types of motor racing and they raced in identically prepared cars built by Toyota or Toyota owned Scion. From its inception until 2005, the drivers drove showroom stock Toyota Celicas, Scion tCs were used from 2006 to 2012, and the Scion FR-S began use in 2013. One seat was put up for auction, the high bidder for which also participated in the race, all celebrities were given thorough practice, safety, and training sessions before competing, and no serious injuries occurred, despite a large number of crashes throughout the years. Several celebrities who have taken part in the TPCR have gone on to take up auto racing as a hobby or as team owners. The celebrities received a 30-second head start to begin the race against the professionals, on March 11,2016 it was announced that the 2016 running of the event would be the final event due to Toyota moving its headquarters from nearby Torrance to Texas. * = overall champion ^ James and Josh Brolin is the only combination to win the celebrity portion of the event. However, Josh had the distinction of being an overall winner, ^ The Unsers and the Jones are the only father-son combination to win the Pro portion of the event, with Parnelli Jones winning multiple times. ^ Paul Moyer is an anchor at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. ^ After Amatos win, Grand Prix officials required NHRA drag racers to race as professionals, ^ After Alfonso Ribeiro won two consecutive races, TGPLB rules required past celebrity winners must race as professionals. ^ For the 20th Anniversary race in 1996, there were no professional drivers, all-time statistics at Toyota. com Includes a complete listing of everyone who has ever competed in the event. Photos of practice sessions for the 2005 race
38.
Mark Smith (American racing driver)
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Mark Smith is an American racing driver. Now retired, he competed in the CART IndyCar Series, Smith entered karting competition at the age of 14 and won 6 championships in multiple IKF divisions. In 1985 he moved up to Formula Ford scoring 4 race wins in two seasons and then advanced to Formula Super Vee, in 1993 Mark moved up to the CART Indy Car Series racing primarily on road and street circuits for Arciero Racing. Smith qualified twice for the 1993 Indianapolis 500 but was bumped from the field and his second bumping at the hands of Didier Theys happened just 6 minutes before the end of qualifications that year, an outcome that added to the Speedway myth about The Curse of the Smiths. Mark qualified for the 1994 Indianapolis 500 and was bumped from the field by Bobby Rahal, with 14 minutes remaining Smith made a bold attempt to qualify an ill-handling T93 Lola back-up car. His warm up lap of 221.8 mph was fast enough to make the race, on the following lap he crashed heavily into turn two. Smiths best Indy Car finish was a 5th place at the 1994 Michigan 500, Smith has produced a number of short films including Denmark and A House, A Home. He is the co-author of two photography books The Powder Road and Österlandet, Smith is a graduate of University of Oregon. Mark Smiths Driver DB Profile Mark Smiths Indy Lights statistics at ChampCarStats. com Mark Smiths statistics at ChampCarStats. com
39.
Monaco Grand Prix
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The Monaco Grand Prix is a Formula One motor race held each year on the Circuit de Monaco. The circuit has been called an exceptional location of glamour and prestige. The race is held on a course laid out in the streets of Monaco, with many elevation changes and tight corners as well as a tunnel. In spite of the low average speeds, it is a dangerous place to race. It is the only Grand Prix that does not adhere to the FIAs mandated 305-kilometre minimum race distance, the event was part of the pre-Second World War European Championship and was included in the first World Championship of Drivers in 1950. It was designated the European Grand Prix two times,1955 and 1963, when title was an honorary designation given each year to one Grand Prix race in Europe. Graham Hill was known as Mr. Monaco due to his five Monaco wins in the 1960s, brazils Ayrton Senna won the race more times than any other driver, with six victories, winning five races consecutively between 1989 and 1993. Fernando Alonso is the driver to have won the race in consecutive years for different constructors, winning for Renault in 2006. Like many European races, the Monaco Grand Prix predates the current World Championship, the principalitys first Grand Prix was organised in 1929 by Antony Noghès, under the auspices of Prince Louis II, through the Automobile Club de Monaco. Alexandre Noghès, Antonys father, was founding president of the ACM, the ACM made their first foray into motorsport by holding the Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo in 1911. Their application was refused due to the lack of a major event held wholly within Monacos boundaries. The rally could not be considered as it used the roads of other European countries. To attain full national status, Noghès proposed the creation of an automobile Grand Prix in the streets of Monte Carlo, Noghès obtained the official support of Prince Louis II. Noghès also gained support for his plans from Monegasque Louis Chiron, Chiron thought that the topography of the location would be well suited to setting up a race track. The first race, held on 14 April 1929, was won by William Grover-Williams driving a Bugatti, the first Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco was an invitation-only event, but not all of those invited decided to attend. The leading Maserati and Alfa Romeo drivers decided not to compete, Mercedes sent their leading driver Rudolf Caracciola to drive a Mercedes SSK. Caracciola drove a race, bringing his SSK up to second position at the end of the race. The race was won by Williams driving a Bugatti Type 35B painted dark green, another driver who competed using a pseudonym was Georges Philippe, the Baron Philippe de Rothschild
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Greater Los Angeles Area
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Throughout the 20th century, it was one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States, although growth has slowed since 2000. As of the 2010 U. S. Census, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of nearly 13 million residents. Meanwhile, the metropolitan regions population at the 2010 census was estimated to be over 17.8 million residents. Either definition makes it the second largest metropolitan region in the country, behind the New York metropolitan area, the agglomeration of the urbanized Greater Los Angeles area surrounds the urban core of Los Angeles County. However, this Census definition includes large, sparsely populated and primarily desert swaths of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, according to the U. S. However, more than half of this area lies in the sparsely populated eastern areas of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Los Angeles has a reputation for sprawl. For comparison, the New York–Newark Urbanized Area as a whole had a density of 5,309 per square mile. Los Angeles sprawl may originate in the decentralized structure. Its major commercial, financial, and cultural institutions are geographically dispersed rather than being concentrated in a single downtown or central area. Also, the density of Los Angeles proper is low when compared to some other large American cities such as New York, San Francisco, Boston. This is misleading though, since unlike other cities the boundary of Los Angeles incorporates mountain areas with almost no people, when the actually built up area is considered, urban Los Angeles has density in excess of 10,000 people per square mile. Densities are particularly high within a 5-mile radius of downtown, where some neighborhoods exceed 20,000 people per square mile. Also, what gives the entire Los Angeles metro region a high density is the fact many of the citys suburbs. Within its urbanized areas, Los Angeles is noted for having small lot sizes, buildings in the area are low when compared to other large cities, mainly due to zoning regulations. Los Angeles became a city just as the Pacific Electric Railway spread population to smaller cities much as interurbans did in East Coast cities. In the first decades of the century, the area was marked by a network of fairly dense. The ascendance of the automobile helped fill in the gaps between these towns with lower-density settlements. Many working class whites migrated to this area during the 1960s and 1970s out of East, as a result, there was a large growth in population into the Conejo Valley and into Ventura County through the US101 corridor
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Port of Long Beach
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The Port of Long Beach, also known as the Harbor Department of the City of Long Beach, is the second-busiest container port in the United States, after the Port of Los Angeles, which it adjoins. Acting as a gateway for US–Asian trade, the port occupies 3,200 acres of land with 25 miles of waterfront in the city of Long Beach. The Port of Long Beach is located less than two miles southwest of downtown Long Beach and approximately 25 miles south of downtown Los Angeles, the seaport generates approximately US$100 billion in trade and employs more than 316,000 people in Southern California. San Pedro Breakwater was started in 1899 and over time was expanded to protect Port of Long Beach, the Port of Long Beach was founded on 800 acres of mudflats on June 24,1911, at the mouth of the Los Angeles River. In 1917, the first Board of Harbor Commissioners was formed to supervise harbor operations, due to the booming economy, Long Beach voters approved a $5 million bond to improve the inner and outer harbor in 1924. By 1926 more than one million tons of cargo were handled, the old Municipal Pier was rebuilt into the Municipal Wharf in 1925. In 1925 construction started on Pier A and Pier B, with opening of Pier A in 1930, in 1921, oil was discovered at the Long Beach Oil Field on and around Signal Hill. In 1932, the fourth-largest oil field in the United States, Wilmington Oil Field, was discovered, much of field was underneath Long Beach. The hundreds of oil wells from Wilmington Oil Field provided oil revenues to the City, the first offshore oil well in the harbor was brought online in 1937, shortly after the discovery that the oil field far extended into the harbor. In the mid-1930s, the port was expanded, largely due to the need to oil to foreign markets. The extraction of hundreds of millions of barrels of oil caused concern for subsidence, engineers and geologists were promptly assigned to the problem, building dikes for flood control at high tide. On July 3,1930 the Federal River and Harbor Act authorizes expanding the San Pedro Bay breakwater by 3. 5-mile completed in 1949, Long Beach became a home port for the The United States Navys Pacific Fleet in 1932. In 1940 the navy purchased 105 acres on Terminal Island built the Long Beach Naval Shipyard there, in 1946, after World War II, the Port of Long Beach was established as America’s most modern port with the completion of the first of nine clear-span transit sheds. Pier E was completed and Pier B was expanded to two times its size in 1949, pierpoint Landing completed on Pier F in 1948, becoming a large sport fishing spot. Concerns regarding subsidence increased until Operation Big Squirt, a water injection program, in 1971 Pier J expansion is complete with a 55-acre container and car import terminal, becoming Toyotas Western distribution center. In 1972 International Transportation Service completes a 52-acre container terminal on Pier J with a 1, 200-foot wharf, maersk Line Pacific completes on Pier G a 29-acre container terminal. Port of Long Beach is the largest container terminal in America, with the rapid expansion of the port pollution also increased. The Port of Long Beach instituted programs to prevent and control oil spills, contain debris, due to its efforts, the port was awarded the American Association of Port Authorities Environmental E Award
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1975 Long Beach Grand Prix
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The 1975 Long Beach Grand Prix was the inaugural running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The race was held September 28,1975, on a 2. 02-mile temporary street circuit and it was race 7 of the 1975 SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship. An estimated 65,000 spectators saw Englishman Brian Redman win the race from Australian Vern Schuppan, in 1974 the city of Long Beach began a billion-dollar redevelopment program of the downtown area. Chris Pook, a British travel agent working in Long Beach, in order to prepare for a Formula One race the following year, the organizers decided to hold a Formula 5000 race that was held at a track in Riverside with an exhibition in Long Beach. Qualifying times were set in two sessions on Saturday, seeded drivers had one 45-minute session and one 1 hour,15 minute session, while non-seeded drivers had two 45-minute sessions. Starting positions were set by two races, with the finishers from Heat 1 starting in odd positions and Heat 2 in even positions. At the start, Al Unser led from 2nd on the grid, on lap 3, polesitter Tony Brise had taken the lead and Mario Andretti took over second place. Brise led until lap 15, when both Andretti and Unser got by, Brise re-passed Unser on the next lap, and battled with Andretti until he re-took the lead on lap 29. On lap 33, Andretti retired with transmission problems, and one lap later Brise retired with a broken driveshaft, Brian Redman took the lead and pulled away to a nearly 30-second victory over Vern Schuppan and Eppie Wietzes. Redman also clinched the points championship
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1976 United States Grand Prix West
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The 1976 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One motor race held on March 28,1976, in Long Beach, California. The race was the round of the 1976 Formula One season. It was the second Formula One race held in California, the first being the 1960 United States Grand Prix at Riverside, the race was held over 80 laps of the 3. 251-kilometre street circuit for a total race distance of 260 kilometres. The race was won by Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni in a Ferrari 312T by 42 seconds over team mate and championship points leader, french driver Patrick Depailler finished third driving a Tyrrell 007. Italy was the first country to host two Championship Formula One races in the year in 1957. The United States would become the second as the first USGP West at Long Beach, California, appeared on the 1976 F1 calendar, along with the autumn race at Watkins Glen. The new races organizers, headed by British businessman and Long Beach resident Chris Pook, an unending list of former Champions was present for the weekends vintage race, including Denny Hulme, Jack Brabham, and Juan Manuel Fangio himself. Dan Gurney and American Champion Phil Hill were also in attendance after helping to conceive, when the cars took to the track, the drivers differed in their opinions of the concrete-lined street circuit which featured two hairpins and a long, curving waterfront straight. Ferraris reigning World Champion Niki Lauda said the course was much bumpier than Monaco and harder on the car, emerson Fittipaldi said he liked it very much, but Frenchmen Jacques Laffite and Patrick Depailler would not agree. In qualifying, Lauda led first, then James Hunts McLaren, after spending much of the session with ignition trouble, Depailler made a last-minute bid and slotted his Tyrrell onto the front row in second, less than two-tenths off the Ferraris pace. At the start, Regazzoni rocketed away and settled into the lead, ahead of Hunt, Depailler, exiting the first turn, Vittorio Brambilla squeezed Carlos Reutemann into the wall, putting both cars out. Then, on the back straight by the harbor, Gunnar Nilssons Lotus broke its rear suspension. He emerged with only a stiff neck, on lap four, Hunt was bearing down on Depailler for second place. He tried to slip inside the Tyrrell entering the right-hand hairpin just before the back straight, as they exited the corner side-by-side, Depailler moved across and pushed the McLaren into the barrier. Hunt yanked himself from his car, certain that it was undrivable, after the race, the McLaren mechanics came to retrieve the car and were able to drive it back to the pits. On the same lap, John Watson bumped Laffites Ligier from behind, Laffite was spun around by the contact and dropped from eighth to fourteenth place. Meanwhile, Lauda made his way by Depailler on lap five and took place, seven seconds behind Regazzoni. Mario Andretti had moved from fifteenth on the grid to ninth in the Parnelli VPJ 4B-Ford, including the fastest lap to that point and this would be the last race for the American Vels-Parnelli car
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1976 United States Grand Prix
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The 1976 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 10,1976, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. This event was referred to as the United States Grand Prix East in order to distinguish it from the United States Grand Prix West held on March 28,1976, in Long Beach. Austrian Niki Lauda arrived in the United States for the race of 1976 with an eight-point lead over Britains James Hunt in the drivers championship. Lauda had led comfortably with five wins in the seasons first nine races, Hunt then won three of the next five races, including Germany where Lauda was injured. Lauda recovered to race in Italy and Canada, but his lead over Hunt in the championship had narrowed considerably. Fridays first qualifying session saw only a handful of drivers venture out onto a wet race track, when Austrian Otto Stuppacher went out first, there were still streams of water running across in places. McLaren manager Teddy Mayer said The drivers finished in reverse ratio to the proportion of their IQs, the rain stopped before the afternoon session began, and after 15 minutes on the still wet track, drivers began changing to slicks. Times dropped quickly on the track as driver after driver jumped to the top of the charts, only to fall back down again as the others went faster. Both wheels were broken, and even stopping to replace them, Depaillers steering was out of line. Later, as Hunt stood in the next to a four-foot, 150-pound air bottle, Rob Walker asked. James answered, No, we are keeping one for Niki on Sunday. Hunt finished Friday on pole, ahead of Jody Scheckters Tyrrell, the Marches of Ronnie Peterson and Vittorio Brambilla, saturdays rain was worse than Friday mornings had been, so the times from Friday afternoon made up the grid. Stuppacher was the one who failed to qualify. Overnight, snow fell on the circuit, but the sun came out on Sunday as 100,000 fans, at the start, Scheckter jumped ahead of Hunt and led into the first turn. They were followed by Brambilla, Peterson, Lauda, Depailler, John Watsons Penske, Scheckter and Hunt began to draw away immediately, with the Tyrrell 2.5 seconds ahead after five laps. After being held up by Brambilla for four laps, Lauda moved into third,5.8 seconds behind Hunt, meanwhile, a battle was being waged for fourth among Brambilla, Peterson, Laffite, Carlos Pace, Watson, Clay Regazzoni, Andretti and Jochen Mass. Hans-Joachim Stuck, who had qualified sixth but suffered a clutch on the grid, was working his way forward and had now reached the end of this group. Further down, on lap 15, the Ensign of Jacky Ickx went wide in Turn 6, the car suddenly snapped right and hit the Armco barrier head on
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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
Brian Redman
Clay Regazzoni
Mario Andretti
Carlos Reutemann
Gilles Villeneuve
Nelson Piquet
Alan Jones
Niki Lauda
Alex Zanardi
Juan Pablo Montoya
Sébastien Bourdais
Takuma Sato
Scott Dixon
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Luis Díaz
Timo Bernhard
Olivier Beretta
Mika Salo
Jan Magnussen
Jeroen Bleekemolen
Alex Popow
Damien Faulkner
Maxime Martin
Antonio García
Filipe Albuquerque
Stephen Simpson
