1.
A1 Team China
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A1 Team China is the Chinese team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. The seat holder A1 Team China is Liu Yu. Werner Gillis is the team principal, and technical support is provided by Team Astromega. Drivers, Cheng Congfu, Ho-Pin Tung Driver, Cheng Congfu A mixed bag of results for the team, culminated in 13th position, including a podium at one of the teams home races in Zhuhai. Drivers, Cheng Congfu, Ho-Pin Tung Fortunes changed for Team China, as the mix of Cheng and Tung managed to lift the team to 15th position, as well as scoring a podium. Drivers, Tengyi Jiang, Qinghua Ma Team China were uncompetitive in the season, scoring points only once. Spr indicate a Sprint Race, fea indicate a Main Race, a1gp. com Official A1 Grand Prix Web Site Official Team Website - A1 Team China
2.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
3.
Velp, Gelderland
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Velp is a Dutch town within the municipality of Rheden, located between Arnhem, Rozendaal, and the town of Rheden. The town of Velp covers an area of approximately 11.01 square kilometres, Velp was a separate municipality between 1812 and 1818, when it was merged with Rheden. The municipality also covered the village Rozendaal, jan Goossens, former American indoor soccer player. Map of the municipality, around 1868
4.
FIA World Endurance Championship
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For the FIA World Endurance Championship contested from 1981 to 1985, see World Sportscar Championship. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing championship organized by the Automobile Club de lOuest. The World Endurance Championship name was used by the FIA from 1981 to 1985. World champion titles are awarded to the top scoring manufacturers and drivers over the season, while other cups and trophies will be awarded for drivers and private teams. The calendar includes four races in Europe, two in the Americas, two in Asia and one in the Middle East, with a future expansion. Six titles are awarded each season based on total point tally, the GTE Pro class champion are awarded a World Cup, while the leaders in LMP2 and GTE Am are awarded a Trophy. The final Trophy is awarded to the best privateer team amongst all four classes, the points system is similar to that used in the FIAs other world championships, awarding points to the top ten finishers on a sliding point margin scale from first to tenth. Cars finishing the race but classified eleventh or further are awarded a half point, double points are awarded for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. WeatherTech SportsCar Championship European Le Mans Series FIA GT1 World Championship FIA World Endurance Championship Automobile Club de lOuest Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile
5.
2013 FIA World Endurance Championship
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The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style racing cars meeting four ACO categories. World Championships were awarded to drivers and to LMP1 category manufacturers, the eight race championship began in April at the Silverstone Circuit and ended in November at the Bahrain International Circuit. The season was marred by the death of Allan Simonsen in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, an initial calendar was published by the FIA World Motor Sports Council on 28 September 2012. Seven of the eight races on the schedule are carried over from 2012, the 6 Hours of Silverstone now begins the season in April before Spa in May and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June. In order to save costs and utilize shipping by sea instead of air, são Paulo remains as the first post-European event, while the new 6 Hours of Circuit of the Americas replaces the 12 Hours of Sebring as the American round of the series. Fuji and Shanghai are moved forward on the calendar, leaving Bahrain to now close the season in November, an additional World Cup was awarded for the 2013 season, with drivers in both LMGTE categories having a unified championship. Further, the LMP2 and LMGTE Am categories had FIA Endurance Trophies awarded for their drivers, the qualifying format of the race weekend wasalso changed, with teams requiring two drivers each to set two timed laps. The qualifying results were determined based on an average of the four total laps, the new qualifying format has been met with much criticism from drivers. The pre-race warm-up session has also eliminated from the series. The LMP2 category saw several changes in order to lower costs. Diesel engines were allowed in the LMP2 category for the first time, limits on tyres was also be set in the LMGTE Am category. Two LMP2 teams, Starworks Motorsport and HVM Status GP later withdrew their full-season entries citing a lack of funding, the highest finishing competitor entered in the World Endurance Championship is listed below. Invitational entries may have finished ahead of WEC competitors in individual races, entries are required to complete the timed race as well as to complete 70% of the overall winning cars race distance in order to earn championship points. A single bonus point is awarded to the team and all drivers of the pole position car for each category in qualifying, for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race result points allocation was doubled. Due to the 6 Hours of Fuji not completing 75% of the race time, four titles are awarded to drivers in the 2013 season. A World Championship is reserved for LMP1 and LMP2 drivers, a World Cup is available for drivers in the LMGTE categories. Further, two FIA Endurance Trophies are also awarded to drivers in the LMP2 and LMGTE Am categories, Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loïc Duval won the Championship at the 6 Hours of Shanghai. Gianmaria Bruni won the FIA World Endurance Cup for GT Drivers at the 6 Hours of Bahrain, bertrand Baguette, Martin Plowman and Ricardo González earned the Trophy for LMP2 Drivers at the 6 Hours of Bahrain
6.
OAK Racing
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OAK Racing is an endurance racing team specialising in sports prototypes based in Le Mans, France. In 2013 won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMP2 class, in 2012 it is contesting the FIA World Endurance Championship with LMP1 and LMP2 prototypes as well as the European Le Mans Series, which caters for LMP2 cars only. After a number of years in the LMP2 class the team stepped up to the premier LMP1 category in 2011. Powered by Honda Performance Development and Nissan engines, OAK Racing has been the official LMP1 development team for Dunlop since 2009, in 2012 OAK Racing became a manufacturer through its Onroak Automotive manufacturing division. Privateer outfits have been able to purchase the chassis since December 2011, since late 2006 OAK Racing has been owned by entrepreneur and racing driver Jacques Nicolet. In 2006 they switched their attention to sports-prototypes and the Le Mans Series, Nicolet assumed control of the team in late 2006, remaining in the LMS with a switch to the LMP2 class for the following season. In 2008 OAK Racing embarked on an ambitious programme by fielding a pair of Pescarolo-Judds, one in LMP1. The team officially became OAK Racing in 2009, by the end of the season the team had achieved six podiums from eight races, including a top-three LMP2 finish at the Le Mans 24 Hours and a victory in the Asian Le Mans Series. In December 2009 OAK Racing reached an agreement with Pescarolo Sport to take over the side of its business. Consequently, the development and construction of the chassis, bodywork and spare parts of the Pescarolo prototypes was assumed by OAK Racing, as well as all commercial activities. In 2010 the team fielded two LMP2-spec Judd-powered OAK-Pescarolos in both the Le Mans Series and the Le Mans 24 Hours whilst also entering the ACO’s new Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. For the 2011 season the team entered two OAK-Pescarolo LMP1 prototypes and capped the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season with a third place finish at the 6 Hours of Silverstone. OAK Racing entered as well one OAK-Pescarolo, LMP2 in the ILMC, meanwhile, the team also finished 2nd overall in the LMP2 class standings. For 2012 OAK Racing split the design, manufacturing, and sales divisions of the team into an independent company named Onroak Automotive. Onroak launched a revised LMP2 that, as well as being raced by the team, following a partnership with the Morgan Motor Company, the car was branded as Morgan LMP2. After a 20-year absence an FIA-sanctioned World Endurance Championship was revived in 2012, OAK Racing initially entered a single car in both prototype classes and saw its #24 Morgan-Judd 2012 LMP2 take pole position and finish second on debut at the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring. Meanwhile, numerous engine reliability issues prompted the team to withdraw its LMP1 car from the championship after Le Mans, following the installation of a new HPD engine the car made its competitive WEC return for the two last rounds in Asia. At the 201324 Hours of Le Mans, OAK Racing took the LMP2 class victory with a 1-2 finish, car No.35 first place, drivers Martin Plowman, Ricardo González and Bertrand Baguette
7.
Signature Team
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Signature is a French auto racing team that competes in the Formula 3 Euro Series and the FIA World Endurance Championship. The team won the FIA European Formula Three Cup in 1999 with Benoît Tréluyer, in 2002, Renaud Derlot won the European F3 Cup for the team. In 2003, Signature won the championship in the first Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, with Tristan Gommendy. Edoardo Mortara and Jean-Karl Vernay repeated this feat in 2009, the team began competing in the Le Mans Series in 2009 in the LMP1 category. Signatech provided the chassis for the Formula Future Fiat, a formula racing series in Brazil held in 2010 and 2011. In 2011, in cooperation with the Nissan GT Academy, Signatech finished 2nd in LMP2 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 2012, Signature decided to pull out of the Formula 3 Euro Series, to concentrate on its involvement in sport car races. The team finished 10th overall at the 201224 Hours of Le Mans using a Nissan-powered Oreca 03, in 2013, Renault Alpine partnered with Signatech to run an LMP2 car in the European Le Mans Series with French drivers Pierre Ragues and Nelson Panciatici. Signatech managed to win the LMP2 Teams and Drivers championships, in 2014, Signatech delivered chassis for the Formula 4 Sudamericana. Signatech plans to join the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2014 in the LMP2 category, continuing its partnership with Renault-Alpine
8.
2013 Asian Le Mans Series
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The 2013 Asian Le Mans Series was the second season of the Automobile Club de lOuests Asian Le Mans Series endurance auto racing championship. The series was launched in 2009 at the 1000 km of Okayama. The project was reinitialized by the Automobile Club de lOuest in 2012, with the Chinese S2M Group serving as the series promoter and TS Motorsport serving as organizer. It is the fourth 24 Hours of Le Mans-based series created by the ACO, following the American Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series, the four event season began in Inje, South Korea on 4 August and ended in Selangor, Malaysia on 8 December 2013. The Asian Le Mans Series follows much of the utilized by the American and European Le Mans Series. Three categories of cars are eligible for the series, Le Mans Prototype 2, Le Mans Prototype Challenge, GT Challenge, all four categories require at least one amateur driver and one professional driver in each car, although teams are allowed a maximum of three drivers per car. In order to boost Asian participation in the series, all cars must also have at least one driver of Asian nationality, an LMGTE category, identical to that used at Le Mans, was considered but later dropped for the 2013 season. For the 3 Hours of Fuji, an SGT class is added into the race, entrants must keep their original driver lineup in order to be eligible for the race. An initial six race 2013 calendar was revealed during the 20126 Hours of Shanghai, the first half of the season was exclusively in China, with the Zhuhai International Circuit, Shanghai International Circuit, and Ordos International Circuit playing host. Fuji Speedway in Japan hosts the second round a month before the 6 Hours of Fuji World Endurance Championship event, Zhuhai, the sole remaining Chinese round, is moved back to October for the third race of the year. The Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia will serve as the finale for the season, all events on the calendar will have practice sessions held on Friday, qualifying on Saturday, and the three-hour race on Sunday. Unlike the American and European Le Mans Series, the Asian Le Mans Series will not share any race weekends with the FIA World Endurance Championship. Scoring system The winners of the LMP2 championship and the top two finishers in the GTC championship earn automatic entry to the 201424 Hours of Le Mans, Asian Le Mans Series Official Website
9.
2011 IndyCar Series
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The 2011 Izod IndyCar Series was the 16th season of the IndyCar Series and the 100th recognized season of American open wheel motor racing. The season was sanctioned by IndyCar and was part of the Mazda Road to Indy, the season began in March and concluded in October, consisting of seventeen events. It was the season running the IR–05 Dallara spec cars. It was also the season running the Honda Indy V8 normally-aspirated engines which had been the series sole engine supplier since 2006. The events took place in states of the United States, as well Canada, Brazil. The schedule featured ten street/road courses and eight on oval tracks, the premier event was the 95th Indianapolis 500, won by Dan Wheldon. Dario Franchitti claimed his fourth IndyCar Series Championship title and he went into the final race of the season leading Will Power by 18 points. However, the race and the season were both marred by a 15-car pile-up early in the race that claimed Wheldons life, the race was abandoned after 12 completed laps and the final points total reverted to the previous event, with Franchitti winning the title. Rookie of the Year honors went to Canadian James Hinchcliffe, who led American J. R. Hildebrand in the standings by 6 points going into the final race. Hildebrands season was highlighted by a winning the Indianapolis 500. His 2nd-place finish at Indy earned him top honors for the race. Sunoco would become the fuel of the series starting in 2011. Sunoco would work with APEX–Brasil and UNICA to provide ethanol for the series, on January 11, the series made several announcements with regards to the upcoming season, The governing body adopted the doing business as name of INDYCAR. The legal entity remains Indy Racing League, LLC, and is mentioned in the INDYCAR Rule Book. The restart zone on ovals were moved from turn 3 to just before the start/finish line, restart procedures would mimic those of NASCAR, including double-file restarts, separate pitting for lead lap and non-lead lap cars, and the waving around of lapped cars that did not pit. The free pass rule would not be implemented, pit stall selection for each race would be determined by the qualifying order of the previous round at the track of the same type. Exceptions to this will be the opener at St. Petersburg, which would be set by final entrants points from 2010, and the Indy 500. On March 6, the announced that the maximum field size for every IndyCar event this season would be limited to 26 cars, except for the Indianapolis 500
10.
2011 FIA GT1 World Championship
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The championship comprised two titles, GT1 World Champion for Drivers and GT1 World Champion for Teams. The season commenced at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on 25–26 March, the ten event season included an inaugural race at the Ordos International Circuit in China. Germans Lucas Luhr and Michael Krumm of the JR Motorsports team won the World Drivers Championship after earning four race victories, a ten-event calendar was announced at the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting on 10 December 2010. The Ordos International Circuit of China gave the series a fourth event outside Europe, several national events were moved to new circuits, Zolder replaced Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and the Sachsenring replaced the Nürburgring in Germany. The Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba was originally planned as a Brazilian round for the championship, at the behest of the SRO Group, the FIA approved a replacement event at the Goldenport Park Circuit as a second Chinese round for the series, scheduled a week after the Ordos event. A day after the Goldenport round, the Beijing GT1 World Supercars exhibition event was held in the Olympic Green in Beijing,2011 was the final season in which the Maserati MC12 GT1, Corvette C6. R, and Aston Martin DBR9 were eligible for the championship. The three were running under a waiver to meet homologation requirements. In June 2010, Aurora Racing Designs announced plans to develop a GT1 car based on the BMW Alpina B6 and this project did not however come to fruition and no additional companies joined the six approved manufacturers. All of the Maserati teams decided to sit out for the last approved season, Aston Martin, Ford, Nissan, and Lamborghini were all confirmed as having two teams entered, while a fifth manufacturer was seeking the required second team necessary for entry. In March the FIA announced an entry of 20 cars, with Corvette joining the four manufacturers. Several of the teams which competed in 2010 announced their intentions not to return for 2011. This included Matech Competition, who was moving to concentrate on development of the Ford GT for other racing series, hegersport and Phoenix Racing also announced they would not be involved in FIA GT1 in 2011, while Reiters Lamborghinis had been sold. Defending GT1 World Champions Vitaphone Racing Team had moved to the new Blancpain Endurance Series, returning teams for 2011 included Sumo Power GT, Münnich Motorsport, Marc VDS Racing Team, Hexis AMR, and Young Driver AMR. Swiss Racing Team also returned, but opted for Lamborghinis instead of their 2010 Nissans, JR Motorsports, a partner of Sumo Power, took over the second Nissan squad, while Marc VDS sister team Belgian Racing shared representation of Ford. The Mad-Croc Racing partnership of 2010 was divided for 2011, with DKR Engineering forming their own Corvette squad, both teams were ineligible for the Teams Championship as neither had secured a second car for the start of the season. No teams announced plans to campaign the Maserati MC12, ending seven straight seasons of competition in GT1, prior to the Ordos round, Swiss Racing Teams Lamborghinis were transferred to Münnich Motorsport. At the same time, DKR Engineering merged their outfit with Exim Bank Team China, Münnich then took over DKRs former entry under the new title of DKR www-discount. de allowing the series to maintain an 18-car field. On 18 March 2011 the FIA published an entry list of teams, following the 2010 season, three major changes were made to the GT1 regulations
11.
2009 Superleague Formula season
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The 2009 Superleague Formula season was the second Superleague Formula championship. The series was rebranded the Superleague Formula by Sonangol for this season and it began on June 28 at Magny-Cours and finished on November 8 at Jarama. Bourdais described Superleague as the best alternative to F1, Liverpool F. C. run under Hitech Junior Team with driver Adrián Vallés, were crowned series champions for the first time at the last event of the season. All teams competed on Michelin tyres, giorgio Pantano had signed an official deal with Al Ain before they announced they would not be able to compete in this season. A week later however, they changed their decision and entered the championship with drivers Miguel Molina, however, Al Ain were replaced by Sevilla FC from round 3 at Donington Park. Beijing Guoan and Borussia Dortmund did not compete this year, FC Midtjylland, Olympique Lyonnais and Sporting CP made their debut in 2009. Roma swapped race teams prior to round 4 of the series, with Flamengo switching from ADR to Azerti, reid Motorsport took over the cars of Galatasaray S. K. and Sevilla FC from Ultimate Motorsport prior to round 5 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Changed teams Yelmer Buurman, PSV Eindhoven → R. S. C, Roma also at the midway point of the season. Julien Jousse replaced Perera to complete the two rounds for A. S. Enrique Bernoldi was replaced by Jonathan Kennard at CR Flamengo at the Monza round while Bernoldi was on FIA GT Championship duty, duncan Tappy was replaced by Scott Mansell at Galatasaray S. K. at the Donington round. Ho-Pin Tung replaced Mansell after Donington and completed the rest of the season for Galatasaray, Miguel Molina was replaced by Esteban Guerrieri at Al Ain at the Zolder round. Al Ain left the series after the Zolder round, Guerrieri represented Sevilla FC at the Donington round. Sébastien Bourdais replaced Esteben Guerrieri at Sevilla FC from the Estoril round onwards to complete the season for Sevilla, Esteban Guerrieri replaced Davide Rigon at Olympiacos CFP from the Estoril round onwards to complete the season for Olympiacos. Ho-Pin Tung was replaced by María de Villota at Atlético Madrid at the Estoril round, María de Villota completed the season for Atlético Madrid. Álvaro Parente replaced the injured Tristan Gommendy at F. C. Porto at the Estoril round, the calendar for the season was announced on January 29,2009. Adding to last years qualifying and race format, a third Super Final race was added to 4 out of the 6 events for the top six scorers from the weekends first two races. The six cars raced to decide a Weekend Winner and to whom the top prize money would go, Official race commentary on the SF World Feed same from Ben Edwards and Bruce Jouanny for every round of the season. Jonathan Green and Martin Haven have also featured in the commentary box, Ben Constanduros and Warren Pole were the pitlane reporters and interviewers
12.
Formula E
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Formula E, officially the FIA Formula E Championship, is a class of auto racing that uses only electric-powered cars. The series was conceived in 2012, and the championship started in Beijing on 13 September 2014. The series is sanctioned by the FIA, alejandro Agag is the current CEO of Formula E. The Formula E championship is contested by ten teams with two drivers each. Racing generally takes place on temporary street circuits which are approximately 2 to 3.4 km long. Currently, only the Mexico City ePrix takes place on a road course, all events begin with two practice sessions in the morning, an opening 45-minute session followed by a further 30-minute session. Drivers each have two cars at their disposal with 200 kW available throughout, the qualifying session normally takes place at noon and lasts one hour. The drivers are divided into four groups of five, with each group having six minutes to set their best lap, full power of 200 kW is available throughout with drivers only able to use one car. Since the second season, the five fastest drivers then go out again, one-by-one, the race itself lasts for approximately 50 minutes with drivers making one mandatory pit stop to change cars. Tire changes, unless caused by a puncture or damage, are not permitted during this pit stop, in race mode the maximum power is restricted to 170 kW. Points are awarded using the standard FIA system, for each race, fans can vote for their favourite driver via various social media channels to give them an extra power boost. Voting starts about two weeks prior to an event and is open during the opening six minutes of the race. The three winning Fanboost drivers each receive an extra 100 kJ of energy to be used in a window between 180 kW and 200 kW. Points are awarded to the top ten drivers using the standard FIA system, three points are also awarded to the driver securing the pole position, while the driver setting the fastest lap receives an additional point. The championship consists of both a drivers’ and teams’ championship, a drivers end of season total is made up a drivers best results. A teams total is made up by counting both drivers throughout the season. For the first season, all teams were supplied an electric racing car built by Spark Racing Technology, the chassis was designed by Dallara, with an electric motor developed by McLaren, a battery system created by Williams Advanced Engineering and a Hewland five-speed gearbox. Michelin was the tyre supplier
13.
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
14.
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
15.
FIA GT1 World Championship
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The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile, held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand tourer race cars based on road cars and conforming with the GT1. All cars were performance balanced with weight and restrictor adjustments to artificially equalise their performance, championships were awarded each season for drivers and teams. The FIA GT1 World Championship started in 2010 as a successor to the FIA GT Championship which had featured the GT1 category as well as a GT2 category. However, as there were no interested GT2 teams and only a handful of former GT1 runners were willing to participate, the SRO decided that the 2012 season would be contested with GT3-spec cars only. The series folded after the 2012 season due to the costs, shrinking car counts and issues with the calendar. The FIA GT1 World Championship held races in ten countries, with each event consisting of two races over a weekend. Qualifying involved a system similar to Formula One, in which three sessions were held and following each session, the slowest cars were eliminated and their grid positions set. The first race of each weekend was a race, the results of which determined the starting grid for a second race awarding full championship points. Each car was required to change tires and drivers at least once during each race, the series penalized cars which won races with Ballast weight, but that practice was removed for 2012. With rules changes in 2012, there were no limit to the number of manufacturers in the series, to ensure close competition, each model of car was tested by the FIA to determine any mandatory adjustments for performance balancing. Performance adjustments were made between races during the season. To defray costs for teams, the SRO provided free transport for cars. The world tour visited three continents, Europe, Asia and South America, yas Marina Circuit of the United Arab Emirates represented the series only Middle East round. South America featured the Potrero de los Funes Circuit in Argentina, germanys races switched from the Nürburgring to the Sachsenring from 2010 to 2011, while Belgiums races moved from the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to Zolder. For 2011 the series visited Asia with a Chinese round at the Ordos International Circuit, six manufacturers were represented in the inaugural season of FIA GT1, with Chevrolet, Maserati, and Aston Martin retaining the grandfathered Corvette C6. R, MC12, and DBR9 cars they had utilized in the FIA GT series. Ford, Nissan, and Lamborghini all brought new or modified vehicles developed specifically for FIA GT1, the Ford GT, Nissan GT-R, the champions of the 2010 season were crowned at the San Luis street circuit in Argentina after the Qualifying Race on the 5th of December 2010
16.
Superleague Formula
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Superleague Formula was an open wheel single seater motor racing formula, which started in 2008, at Donington Park in the United Kingdom. The league introduced team sponsorship by association football clubs and it used the slogan The Beautiful Race, Football at 300 km/h. By 2011 the link with football was fading with more than half the teams no longer associated with football teams and it was founded by businessmen Alex Andreu and Robin Webb. On 19 May 2010, Andreu stepped down in his role as series president, the season ran between April and November at the same time as most other European race series. Every team used identical cars and 750-horsepower V-12 engines, the Sonangol Group was the series title sponsor from June 2009 until the end of the 2010 season. The future of the championship was in doubt after the cancellation of over three-quarters of 2011 season events, in April 2012, when most European motor racing started, there had been no news or information regarding the possibility of a 2012 or 2013 season running. The website updates ceased in 2011, and no further seasons were organised, continuing the concept of Premier 1 Grand Prix, the Superleague Formula was announced in 2005, receiving the full approval of the FIA in December 2005. The goal was to have a grid of twenty teams. Much of the sales, marketing and technology work would be handled centrally by the league, the inaugural season, in 2008, was won by Chinese club Beijing Guoan, driven by Italian FIA GT Championship racer, Davide Rigon. The season consisted of six double-headers, featuring 18 clubs, and also brought victories for Liverpool F. C. A. C. Milan, PSV Eindhoven, F. C. Porto, Sevilla FC, Al Ain and Borussia Dortmund. Superleague Formulas debut race was seen in 62 countries, and 100,000 people watched the races, with 34,000 fans attending the last race in Jerez. In 2009, the season was won by English club Liverpool F. C. driven by Spanish racer Adrián Vallés. The season consisted of six double-headers, featuring 19 clubs, and brought first victories for Tottenham Hotspur, FC Basel 1893, Rangers F. C. Olympiacos CFP, Sporting CP, R. S. C. This was the first season to feature the Super Final format, the races were broadcast in 62 countries to a reach of 100 million people. 2010 was the season and saw the biggest change yet, with the calendar increased from six to twelve race weekends. An average of 18 clubs competed at each event throughout the season, the remaining cars carried national identities with many more closely associated with the competing drivers rather than any football connection. After the cancellation of the 2011 Chinese rounds, there were no reports on the 2012 season. With many drivers and teams having joined other series, as well as no updates from the Superleague Formula website, Superleague Formula’s race format incorporated a Saturday qualification and races on Sunday, one with a reverse grid
17.
GP2 Asia Series
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The GP2 Asia Series was a form of open wheel motor racing based on the GP2 series. The series was announced during the weekend of the 2007 Monaco Grand Prix. GP2 series organiser Bruno Michel commented that It is of importance that the GP2 Asia Series maintains a strong. Our inclusion as the races on the programme of Asian Grands Prix in 2008 is an essential key in this new venture. The first season ran during the main GP2 series off season, January–April and it ran alongside the new Speedcar Series, and the events in Malaysia and Bahrain acted as support races for the Formula One championship. In effort to promote motor racing in Asia, each team is encouraged to have at least one driver whose passport does not come from Western Europe or the Americas, for the avoidance of doubt, Turkey and Russia are not included in the list of European countries. In 2011, it was announced that the GP2 Asia Series would be merged with the European series after the 2011 season, pole for Saturday races,2 points Fastest lap,1 point in each race. Driver recording fastest lap has to drive 90% of race laps, the driver must also start the race from his allocated grid position and finish in the top ten of the race to be eligible for the fastest lap point. With this points system, the most number of points anyone can score in one round is 20 by claiming pole position, list of GP2 Asia Series drivers GP2 Series GP3 Series Formula One Formula 3000 Formula Three Formula Two GP2 Series official website GP2 Asia Series official website
18.
GP2 Series
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The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, in 2010 the GP3 Series class was launched, as a feeder class for the GP2 series. In the 2017 the series was rebranded as the FIA Formula 2 Championship, many drivers have used GP2 as a stepping stone into Formula One. 2009 GP2 champion Nico Hülkenberg moved up to a Williams F1 race driver in the 2010 Formula 1 season, in addition, Heikki Kovalainen, Nelson Piquet Jr. and Lucas di Grassi —all runners up— became Renault test drivers the following year. All three earned F1 seats, but have since been replaced, karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov were also granted an F1 seat in 2010. For 2011 Pastor Maldonado was granted the hot seat at Williams and this meant that Nico Hülkenberg was deposed by Williams. Sergio Pérez was given the drive alongside Kamui Kobayashi, another former GP2 driver and GP2 Asia Series winner, jérôme dAmbrosio got his Virgin Racing drive for the 2011 season. However, some drivers have reached Formula One without competing in GP2, for example Paul di Resta, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Éric Vergne, Valtteri Bottas, and Kevin Magnussen. During 2011, it was announced that in 2012 the GP2 and GP2 Asia Series would combine to make a single, current Formula One drivers that have come from GP2 racing include Lewis Hamilton, Romain Grosjean, Stoffel Vandoorne, Jolyon Palmer and several more. At the end of the 2016 season, nine of the champions were able to secure a seat in Formula 1. On Friday, drivers had a 45-minute free practice session and a 30-minute qualifying session, the qualifying session decides the grid order for Saturdays race which has a length of 180 kilometres. During Saturdays race, each driver has to make a pit stop in which at least two tyres have to be changed, on Sunday there is a sprint race of 120 kilometres. The grid was decided by the Saturday result with top 8 being reversed, so the driver who finished 8th on Saturday have started from pole position, 2005–2011 Pole for Saturday races,2 points Fastest lap,1 point in each race. Driver recording fastest lap has to drive 90% of race laps, the driver must now also start the race from his allocated grid position and as of 2008 must finish in the top ten of the race to be eligible for the fastest lap point. With this points system, the most number of points anyone can score in one round is 20 by claiming pole position, 2012-2016 From the 2012 season the GP2 series changed its scoring system. Therefore, the number of points a driver can score at any round will be 48. Overall weight is 688 kg including driver, the 2011 specification GP2 Series car has been designed by Dallara Automobili. The 2006 GP2 car featured a rear wing, with the triplane rear wing used in previous seasons only to be used at the Monaco race
19.
A1 Grand Prix
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A1 Grand Prix was a single make open wheel auto racing series. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themselves or a team, as such, it was often promoted as the World Cup of Motorsport. The series was ratified by the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile and races were held in the traditional Formula One off-season, the nation-based A1GP concept was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai, initially in 2003. After a successful first season of A1GP, it was announced on 29 September 2006 that Maktoum was to sell his position as Chairman & Director of A1GP, the transfer of his share in the organisation of A1 Grand Prix to RAB Capital was finalized in December 2006. Tony Teixeira took control of the series in 2006, leading it to liquidation by 2009, the nation-based A1GP concept was founded by Sheikh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum of Dubai, initially in 2003. Thirty franchises were made available, twenty-three of them were restricted to specified nations, the first season was planned for 12 rounds, however the cancellation of a race scheduled for Curitiba, Brazil in January 2006 reduced this number to 11. Nelson Piquet, Jr. won the race of the series for A1 Team Brazil. Their winning form was not to continue, wins at Estoril and Malaysia saw A1 Team France build up a sizeable gap. By the start of the break, France had run away with the lead with A1 Team Switzerland 28 points behind. At the final race of the season in Shanghai, A1 Team France were crowned the first-ever A1 Grand Prix world champions with 172 points, Switzerland were second with 121 points and A1 Team Great Britain third with 97 points. Katherine Legge was the first woman to drive A1 Grand Prix cars during test session in December 2005 on Dubai Autodrome, changes were made for the 2006–07 season to race durations and distances to improve the spectacle for attendees and TV viewers. The 2006–07 schedule was released on 7 July 2006, with the first race at Circuit Park Zandvoort on 1 October 2006, New teams Team Singapore and Team Greece joined the competition but Team Turkey failed to secure funding for the season. Team Austria, Team Japan, Team Portugal and Team Russia did not return for the second season, however, after securing funding Team Portugal competed in the final four rounds of the second season in South Africa, Mexico, China and Britain. Team Germany won the series with 128 points,35 points lead ahead of Team New Zealand, the 2008–09 season was the first season in which the new Powered by Ferrari A1GP car was used. According to 2007–08 champion Neel Jani, 90% of teams in the paddock warned Teixeira ahead of time that this car change was untimely and an inefficient use of funds. Rule changes included shorter qualifying sessions, a pit-stop during the now longer Sprint Race, removal of limits on Friday test drivers, and reduced Sprint Race points scoring. The opening round of the season, scheduled as part of the well established Nikon SuperGP race meeting, was cancelled five days before practice was due to begin. The event was underwritten by the Queensland state government, who have mentioned the possibility of taking legal recourse against A1 Grand Prix
20.
German Formula Three Championship
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The German Formula Three Championship was the national Formula Three championship of Germany, and the former West Germany. In 2003, the merged with the French Formula Three Championship to form the Formula 3 Euro Series. A lower-level series, the ATS Formel 3 Cup, subsequently operated in Germany, since the late 1980s, the list of German F3 champions has included many notable drivers, including Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher and nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen. The first few years of Formula Three in Germany were inevitably subject to the effects of the countrys post-war geo-political situation, the West German championship ran from 1950 to 1954, while the East German equivalent continued until 1956. During this period, both used the then-standard 500cc two-stroke formula. This era was notable for BMWs first foray into open-wheeled racing as an engine supplier, the 500cc Formula 3 specification was superseded in 1958 by Formula Junior, with engine capacities of 1000cc or 1100cc that were derived from production cars, rather than motorcycles. This new specification was adopted in a revived German F3 Championship in 1960, the 1961 title was won by Kurt Ahrens, Jr. who became champion again in 1963. He was effectively a back-to-back winner, because there was no championship in 1962, in 1964, the Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile ended Formula Junior and returned to Formula Three, but this time with 1000cc four-cylinder production-based engines. However, it would be ten years before Formula Three was revived in Germany, the first German F3 champion of this era was Giorgio Francia of Italy, who won the title in 1974. He was also the first non-German driver to win the title, other notable drivers of this era were two-time champions Bertram Schäfer and Frank Jelinski. Schäfer drove for his eponymous team, Bertram Schäfer Racing, which won the championship with Jelinski. BSR became a stalwart of German F3, winning a total of eight drivers titles and it still competes in the series today. In the 1980s, the German F3 Championship began to some notable champions that would later graduate to Formula One. Bernd Schneider and Joachim Winkelhock went on to make F1 appearances,1985 champion Volker Weidler also competed in F1 and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991. However, the 1990 champion was arguably the most notable of them all, heinz-Harald Frentzen competed against Schumacher, and later became a winner of three Grands Prix. Schumachers championship successor, Tom Kristensen from Denmark, embarked on a career that peaked with a record number of eight Le Mans wins. He has since established himself in the DTM touring car series, the last champion of this period, Gary Paffett, went on to win the DTM drivers championship title and worked as a test driver for McLaren-Mercedes. In 2007, he returned to racing in the DTM, in 2002, the motorsport governing bodies of France and Germany collaborated to revive the concept of a European F3 championship
21.
Formula BMW
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Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young kart racing graduates first experience of car racing, the new formula was created by BMW Motorsport in 2001, with the first of its championships being inaugurated in Germany in 2002. Selected competitors from each series meet in the World Final at the end of each season, from 2011 onwards BMW ceased to support the Pacific and Europe series, in favour of the Formula BMW Talent Cup. The Talent Cup, which was the final Formula BMW championship in existence, BMW has prior experience of junior formula racing, as a successful engine supplier in Formula Two and, more briefly, Formula Three in the 1970s. Its European F2 Championship program, which ran from 1973 to 1981, the company ended its participation prior to its first entry into Formula One in the 1980s. BMW returned to the categories in Germany in 1991, as the engine supplier to the Formula ADAC championship. The first champion was Christian Abt, the new formula made its debut at Hockenheim in April 2002. The team took Rosbergs son, Nico, to the 2002 championship title in his rookie year, by 2006, Nico Rosberg had progressed to Formula One. Formula BMW then expanded to four championships across three continents. The German series was followed by a south-east Asian championship in 2003, and series in the United Kingdom, the UK and German championships merged into a new pan-European series in 2008. The centres provided courses in driving, chassis setup, fitness and nutrition, media management. To be eligible to compete in Formula BMW, drivers had to be at least fifteen years old and they must have held an International racing license no higher than Grade C. Competitors must take part in a Licensing Course at one of the Racing Centres, BMW also provided an annual scholarship for five young drivers in each championship, between the ages of fifteen and eighteen, who were chosen through a selection process. It provides each driver with a budget of £35,000 in the UK, US$50,000 in Asia, and US$40,000 in the USA. The best drivers from each championship were invited to the Formula BMW World Final, the 2006 event was held at Valencia. It is composed of a series of elimination heats followed by a final race, the winner was awarded a Formula One test with BMW-Sauber. Formula BMW was what is referred to as a slicks and wings formula
22.
Chinese language
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Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases mutually unintelligible, language varieties, forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many ethnic groups in China. Nearly 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language, the varieties of Chinese are usually described by native speakers as dialects of a single Chinese language, but linguists note that they are as diverse as a language family. The internal diversity of Chinese has been likened to that of the Romance languages, There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin, followed by Wu, Min, and Yue. Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and certain Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms, all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. Standard Chinese is a form of spoken Chinese based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. It is the language of China and Taiwan, as well as one of four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six languages of the United Nations. The written form of the language, based on the logograms known as Chinese characters, is shared by literate speakers of otherwise unintelligible dialects. Of the other varieties of Chinese, Cantonese is the spoken language and official in Hong Kong and Macau. It is also influential in Guangdong province and much of Guangxi, dialects of Southern Min, part of the Min group, are widely spoken in southern Fujian, with notable variants also spoken in neighboring Taiwan and in Southeast Asia. Hakka also has a diaspora in Taiwan and southeast Asia. Shanghainese and other Wu varieties are prominent in the lower Yangtze region of eastern China, Chinese can be traced back to a hypothetical Sino-Tibetan proto-language. The first written records appeared over 3,000 years ago during the Shang dynasty, as the language evolved over this period, the various local varieties became mutually unintelligible. In reaction, central governments have sought to promulgate a unified standard. Difficulties have included the great diversity of the languages, the lack of inflection in many of them, in addition, many of the smaller languages are spoken in mountainous areas that are difficult to reach, and are often also sensitive border zones. Without a secure reconstruction of proto-Sino-Tibetan, the structure of the family remains unclear. A top-level branching into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman languages is often assumed, the earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BCE in the late Shang dynasty
23.
Standard Chinese
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Its pronunciation is based on the Beijing dialect, its vocabulary on the Mandarin dialects, and its grammar is based on written vernacular Chinese. Like other varieties of Chinese, Standard Chinese is a language with topic-prominent organization. It has more initial consonants but fewer vowels, final consonants, Standard Chinese is an analytic language, though with many compound words. There exist two standardised forms of the language, namely Putonghua in Mainland China and Guoyu in Taiwan, aside from a number of differences in pronunciation and vocabulary, Putonghua is written using simplified Chinese characters, while Guoyu is written using traditional Chinese characters. There are many characters that are identical between the two systems, in English, the governments of China and Hong Kong use Putonghua, Putonghua Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, and Mandarin, while those of Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia, use Mandarin. The name Putonghua also has a long, albeit unofficial, history and it was used as early as 1906 in writings by Zhu Wenxiong to differentiate a modern, standard Chinese from classical Chinese and other varieties of Chinese. For some linguists of the early 20th century, the Putonghua, or common tongue/speech, was different from the Guoyu. The former was a prestige variety, while the latter was the legal standard. Based on common understandings of the time, the two were, in fact, different, Guoyu was understood as formal vernacular Chinese, which is close to classical Chinese. By contrast, Putonghua was called the speech of the modern man. The use of the term Putonghua by left-leaning intellectuals such as Qu Qiubai, prior to this, the government used both terms interchangeably. In Taiwan, Guoyu continues to be the term for Standard Chinese. The term Putonghua, on the contrary, implies nothing more than the notion of a lingua franca, Huayu, or language of the Chinese nation, originally simply meant Chinese language, and was used in overseas communities to contrast Chinese with foreign languages. Over time, the desire to standardise the variety of Chinese spoken in these communities led to the adoption of the name Huayu to refer to Mandarin and it also incorporates the notion that Mandarin is usually not the national or common language of the areas in which overseas Chinese live. The term Mandarin is a translation of Guānhuà, which referred to the lingua franca of the late Chinese empire, in English, Mandarin may refer to the standard language, the dialect group as a whole, or to historic forms such as the late Imperial lingua franca. The name Modern Standard Mandarin is sometimes used by linguists who wish to distinguish the current state of the language from other northern. Chinese has long had considerable variation, hence prestige dialects have always existed. Confucius, for example, used yǎyán rather than colloquial regional dialects, rime books, which were written since the Northern and Southern dynasties, may also have reflected one or more systems of standard pronunciation during those times
24.
Pinyin
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Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
25.
Chinese people in the Netherlands
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Chinese people in the Netherlands form one of the largest overseas Chinese populations in continental Europe. As of 2012, official statistics showed 80,198 people originating from the Peoples Republic of China or the Republic of China on Taiwan, or people with at least one such parent. During the Great Depression, many of the seamen were laid off and also took to street peddling, especially of pindakoekjes and their numbers dropped as a result of voluntary outmigration and deportations, by World War II, fewer than 1,000 remained. Another group of early ethnic Chinese in the Netherlands were students, they were not from China, however. In 1911, these students established the Chung Hwa Hui, which was in contact with various Chinese organizations, largely of Peranakan origin, the students tended to speak Indonesian local languages as their mother tongues, and had already done their early education at Dutch-medium schools. However, with increasing tensions in Indonesia–Netherlands relations in the late 1950s and early 1960s, though the number of Chinese students from Indonesia dropped off, tens of thousands of ethnic Chinese were forced to leave the country due to the violent political situation in Indonesia in 1965. As with the students, these tended to speak no Chinese, with Indonesian languages as their mother tongues. Also in the 1980s, the Netherlands began to become a choice for students from mainland China. In the beginning, these were PRC government-financed students, consisting of top students selected by examination, however, in the 1990s, more privately financed students, students on Dutch scholarships, and short-term exchange students began to arrive. By 2002, embassy figures showed roughly 4,000 PRC students in the Netherlands and this represents growth of 92. 8% compared to the population in 1996, the earliest year for which statistics are available. However, the groups within the population show sharply differing growth trends. The number of persons of mainland Chinese background grew by 152% over that same period, there is also migration of Surinamese Hakkas to the Netherlands who constitute about 10% of the Chinese population. Amsterdam has a Chinatown, but they are purely a commercial district, rotterdam and The Hague also have similar districts. Chinese in the Netherlands are often perceived to be snakeheads, participating in smuggling Chinese migrants from Eastern Europe to the United Kingdom, in the end, the government didnt grant the Chinese official minority status as the Chinese didnt want government subsidies and minority status. There are also some intra-community tensions between recent expatriates, especially students, and the older overseas Chinese, the latter are largely Cantonese-speaking, while the former use Mandarin as their lingua franca. In contrast, the old overseas Chinese describe the students as arrogant and they rarely join any of the associations set up by other Chinese migrants or their descendants, instead preferring their own associations. Li, Minghuan, Living Among Three Walls, the Peranakan Chinese in the Netherlands, in Sinn, Elizabeth, The Last Half Century of Chinese Overseas, Hong Kong University Press, pp. 167–184, ISBN 978-962-209-446-8 Pieke, F. N
26.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
27.
Kart racing
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Kart racing or karting is a variant of open-wheel motorsport with small, open, four-wheeled vehicles called karts, go-karts, or gearbox/shifter karts depending on the design. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher ranks of motorsports. Karts vary widely in speed and some can reach speeds exceeding 260 kilometres per hour, American Art Ingels is generally accepted to be the father of karting. A veteran hot rodder and a car builder at Kurtis Kraft. Instantly popular, Karting rapidly spread to countries, and currently has a large following in Europe. The first kart manufacturer was an American company, Go Kart Manufacturing Co, in 1959, McCulloch was the first company to produce engines for karts. Its first engine, the McCulloch MC-10, was an adapted chainsaw two-stroke engine, later, in the 1960s, motorcycle engines were also adapted for kart use, before dedicated manufacturers, especially in Italy, started to build engines for the sport. The chassis are made of steel tubing, there is no suspension, therefore chassis have to be flexible enough to work as a suspension and stiff enough not to break or give way on a turn. Kart chassis are classified in the USA as Open, Caged, all Commission Internationale de Karting - Fédération Internationale de lAutomobile or CIK-FIA approved chassis are Straight and Open. Open karts have no roll cage, Caged karts have a roll cage surrounding the driver, they are mostly used on dirt tracks. In Straight chassis the driver sits in the center, Straight chassis are used for sprint racing. In Offset chassis the driver sits on the left side, Offset chassis are used for left-turn-only speedway racing. The stiffness of the chassis enables different handling characteristics for different circumstances, typically, for dry conditions a stiffer chassis is preferable, while in wet or other poor traction conditions, a more flexible chassis may work better. The best chassis allow for stiffening bars at the rear, front, braking is achieved by a disc brake mounted on the rear axle. Front disc brakes are used in most shifter kart classes and are popular in other classes, however. Shifter karts have dual master cylinders, one for the front, professionally raced karts typically weigh 165 to 175 lb, complete without driver. Avanti, Tony Kart, Trulli, Birel, CRG, Gillard, Intrepid, Kosmic, Zanardi or FA Kart, emmick, Coyote, Bandit, Shadow, MGM, Titan, PRC and Margay are American companies producing kart chassis. Amusement park go-karts can be powered by 4-stroke engines or electric motors and they are adequate for racing and fun kart applications
KCMG
Alexandre Imperatori
Matthew Howson
OAK Racing-Team Asia
Adderly Fong
Pegasus Racing
David Cheng
