1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
Manchester
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Manchester is a major city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 514,414 as of 2013. It lies within the United Kingdoms second-most populous urban area, with a population of 2.55 million, Manchester is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation. The local authority is Manchester City Council and it was historically a part of Lancashire, although areas of Cheshire south of the River Mersey were incorporated during the 20th century. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a township but began to expand at an astonishing rate around the turn of the 19th century. Manchesters unplanned urbanisation was brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution, Manchester achieved city status in 1853. The Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, creating the Port of Manchester and its fortunes declined after the Second World War, owing to deindustrialisation. The city centre was devastated in a bombing in 1996, but it led to extensive investment, in 2014, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network ranked Manchester as a beta world city, the highest-ranked British city apart from London. Manchester is the third-most visited city in the UK and it is notable for its architecture, culture, musical exports, media links, scientific and engineering output, social impact, sports clubs and transport connections. Manchester Liverpool Road railway station was the worlds first inter-city passenger railway station and in the city scientists first split the atom, the name Manchester originates from the Latin name Mamucium or its variant Mancunium and the citizens are still referred to as Mancunians. These are generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name, both meanings are preserved in languages derived from Common Brittonic, mam meaning breast in Irish and mother in Welsh. The suffix -chester is a survival of Old English ceaster and their territory extended across the fertile lowland of what is now Salford and Stretford. Central Manchester has been settled since this time. A stabilised fragment of foundations of the version of the Roman fort is visible in Castlefield. After the Roman withdrawal and Saxon conquest, the focus of settlement shifted to the confluence of the Irwell, much of the wider area was laid waste in the subsequent Harrying of the North. Thomas de la Warre, lord of the manor, founded and constructed a church for the parish in 1421. The church is now Manchester Cathedral, the premises of the college house Chethams School of Music. The library, which opened in 1653 and is open to the public today, is the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Manchester is mentioned as having a market in 1282, around the 14th century, Manchester received an influx of Flemish weavers, sometimes credited as the foundation of the regions textile industry
3.
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
4.
ByKolles Racing
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ByKolles Racing, formally known as Kodewa GmbH & Co. KG, is a racing team based in Greding, Germany. Founded in 2000 by Romulus Kolles and his son Colin Kolles as Kolles Racing, Colin left the team to become director of the Jordan Grand Prix Formula One team at the start of the 2005 season, a position he held until 2009. With Colin away, Romulus moved the team to the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters series with Audi under the sponsorship title Futurecom TME. The Kolles team shifted their interest to car racing by participating in the Le Mans Series and later the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Kodewa participated in the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship with the backing of Lotus Cars under the title Lotus LMP2, in 2014 they lost their Lotus backing and rebranded as ByKolles Racing with a new LMP1 prototype, the CLM P1/01. The series in which the team competed are listed, ByKolles. com Lotus LMP2
5.
2008 Formula Renault UK season
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The 2008 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship was the 20th British Formula Renault Championship season. The season began at Brands Hatch on March 29 and finished at the venue on September 21. The championship was won by Adam Christodoulou with Dean Stoneman winning the Graduate Cup, all races held in United Kingdom. * – race 12 was the replacement round for the second Croft race, riki Christodoulou had originally won the pole in the qualifying session held. Points are awarded to the drivers as follows, Best 18 results count towards the championship, T. Pts — points if all races counted. G. Pts — drivers in the Graduate Cup, with the best 15 results counting,2008 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Winter Cup The official website of the Formula Renault UK Championship
6.
2009 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship
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The 2009 Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship was the 21st British Formula Renault Championship. The season began at Brands Hatch on 5 April and ended at the venue on 4 October, after twenty rounds held in England. Dean Smith won the title, despite missing the rounds of the series. Harry Tincknell won the Graduate Cup for first-year drivers, the series swelled to 29, for the second meeting at Thruxton. All races were held in United Kingdom, points are awarded to the drivers as follows, Best 18 results count towards the championship. T. Pts – points if all races counted, G. Pts – drivers in the Graduate Cup, with the best 15 results counting. The 2009 Formula Renault UK Winter Series was the 12th British Formula Renault Winter Series, the series began at Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit on 31 October and ended at Rockingham Motor Speedway on 7 November, after four races at two rounds held in England. All races were held in United Kingdom, the official website of the Formula Renault UK Championship
7.
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
8.
British Formula Renault Championship
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The British Formula Renault Championship referred to one of two Formula Renault championships that were held in the United Kingdom. The main series was Renault Sport UKs Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship which was held from 1989 to 2011 and was recognized as the British Formula Renault championship. However, in March 2012 it was announced that the Formula Renault UK series would not take place in 2012, a secondary championship organised by the British Automobile Racing Club and known as the Protyre Formula Renault Championship was held continuously between 1995 and 2014. The championship was the only Formula Renault 2.0 championship operating in the United Kingdom after the demise of the main series, the British Formula Renault Championship, was founded by the British Automobile Racing Club in 1989. Renault Sport UK took over the organization of the championship from the following year and this championship was recognized as British Formula Renault, although the official name of the championship was changed to the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship in 2005. The BARC organized a championship in 1995. From then, until 2011, two existed in the United Kingdom. However, the BARC championship differed from the UK championship in that it is an amateur series. The BARC championships Club Class uses old chassis previously used in the UK series, Renault Sport UK also supports the BARC series. In 2000, Tatuus replaced the chassis and it pioneered the modern one make racing series that is today in GP2 Series, GP3 Series. This brought keen attention to the different Formula Renault 2.0 Championships and became a chance to found new championships in Italy, Brazil, both Räikkönen and then Hamilton went on to become Formula One World Champions in 2007 an 2008 respectively. It then became the championship for any aspiring single seater driver to compete in. In March 2012, it was announced that the Formula Renault UK series would not take place in 2012. This was due to a low number of entries to the championship after only receiving six confirmed competitors, originally, it was planned by series promoter Stéphane Ratel Organisation that the championship would take a one-year hiatus, leading to a re-launch in 2013. However, it was reported in the media that the series was ended definitively in September 2012, a new proposal to reintroduce Formula Renault UK was made by the BARC and motorsport promoter Grovewood in 2014. The revived series would be a championship, with the modern Tatuus FR2. 0/13 being used alongside the older machines used in the BARC series. Formula Renault BARC, which had been suffering from declining grid sizes, with the failure of the plan, the BARC also dropped their existing Formula Renault series, leaving no dedicated British Formula Renault Championship for 2015. The BARC instead planned to run a Formula Libre category, which would accommodate the existing Formula Renault cars alongside those from other Formulas whose British championships had recently ended
9.
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
10.
Auto racing
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Auto racing is a sport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Almost as soon as automobiles had been invented, races of various sorts were organised, by the 1930s specialist racing cars had developed. There are now numerous different categories, each with different rules and it was won by the carriage of Isaac Watt Boulton. Internal combustion auto racing events began soon after the construction of the first successful gasoline-fueled automobiles, the first organized contest was on April 28,1887, by the chief editor of Paris publication Le Vélocipède, Monsieur Fossier. It ran 2 kilometres from Neuilly Bridge to the Bois de Boulogne, on July 22,1894, the Parisian magazine Le Petit Journal organized what is considered to be the worlds first motoring competition, from Paris to Rouen. One hundred and two competitors paid a 10-franc entrance fee, the first American automobile race is generally held to be the Thanksgiving Day Chicago Times-Herald race of November 28,1895. Press coverage of the event first aroused significant American interest in the automobile, brooklands, in Surrey, was the first purpose-built motor racing venue, opening in June 1907. It featured a 4.43 km concrete track with high-speed banked corners, One of the oldest existing purpose-built automobile racing circuits in the United States, still in use, is the 2. 5-mile -long Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. It is the largest capacity venue of any variety worldwide, with a top capacity of some 257. NASCAR was founded by Bill France, Sr. on February 21,1948, the first NASCAR Strictly Stock race ever was held on June 19,1949, at Daytona Beach, Florida. From 1962, sports cars temporarily took a seat to GT cars. From 1972 through 2003, NASCARs premier series was called the Winston Cup Series, the changes that resulted from RJRs involvement, as well as the reduction of the schedule from 48 to 31 races a year, established 1972 as the beginning of NASCARs modern era. The IMSA GT Series evolved into the American Le Mans Series, the European races eventually became the closely related Le Mans Series, both of which mix prototypes and GTs. The best-known variety of racing, Formula One, which hosts the famous Monaco Grand Prix. In single-seater, the wheels are not covered, and the cars often have aerofoil wings front, in Europe and Asia, open-wheeled racing is commonly referred to as Formula, with appropriate hierarchical suffixes. In North America, the Formula terminology is not followed, the sport is usually arranged to follow an international format, a regional format, and/or a domestic, or country-specific, format. In North America, the used in the National Championship have traditionally been similar though less sophisticated than F1 cars. The series most famous race is the Indianapolis 500, the other major international single-seater racing series is GP2
11.
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
12.
Greater Manchester
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Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million. Greater Manchester was created on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972, Greater Manchester spans 493 square miles, which roughly covers the territory of the Greater Manchester Built-up Area, the second most populous urban area in the UK. It is landlocked and borders Cheshire, Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Lancashire, for the 12 years following 1974 the county had a two-tier system of local government, district councils shared power with the Greater Manchester County Council. The county council was abolished in 1986, and so its districts became unitary authority areas. However, the county has continued to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference, and as a ceremonial county, has a Lord Lieutenant. A further devolution of powers to Greater Manchester is set to place upon the election of the inaugural Mayor of Greater Manchester scheduled for 2017. Before the creation of the county, the name SELNEC was used for the area. Since deindustrialisation in the century, Greater Manchester has become known as an exporter of media and digital content, for its guitar and dance music. Although the modern county of Greater Manchester was not created until 1974, there is evidence of Iron Age habitation, particularly at Mellor, and Celtic activity in a settlement named Chochion, believed to have been an area of Wigan settled by the Brigantes. Stretford was also part of the believed to have been occupied by the Celtic Brigantes tribe. The remains of 1st-century forts at Castlefield in Manchester, and Castleshaw Roman fort in Saddleworth, are evidence of Roman occupation. Much of the region was omitted from the Domesday Book of 1086, Redhead states that this was only a partial survey was taken. During the Middle Ages, much of what became Greater Manchester lay within the hundred of Salfordshire – an ancient division of the county of Lancashire, Salfordshire encompassed several parishes and townships, some of which, like Rochdale, were important market towns and centres of Englands woollen trade. The development of what became Greater Manchester is attributed to a tradition of domestic flannel and fustian cloth production. Infrastructure such as rows of terraced housing, factories and roads were constructed to house labour, transport goods, however, it was Manchester that was the most populous settlement, a major city, the worlds largest marketplace for cotton goods, and the natural centre of its region. In the 1910s, local government reforms to administer this conurbation as an entity were proposed. In the 18th century, German traders had coined the name Manchesterthum to cover the region in, however, the English term Greater Manchester did not appear until the 20th century. One of its first known recorded uses was in a 1914 report put forward in response to what was considered to have been the creation of the County of London in 1889
13.
British Touring Car Championship
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The British Touring Car Championship is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by TOCA. It was established in 1958 as the British Saloon Car Championship and was renamed as the British Touring Car Championship in 1987. The championship has run to various national and international regulations over the years including FIA Group 2, FIA Group 5, FIA Group 1, FIA Group A, FIA Super Touring. A lower-key Group N series for production cars ran from 2000 until 2003, the championship was initially run with a mix of classes, divided according to engine capacity, racing simultaneously. The new one-class system was popular with manufacturers from the beginning with six manufacturer supported teams from BMW, Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Toyota, to this day, the super touring era during the 1990s is still looked at as the most successful period of the BTCC. The high number of manufacturer-backed teams provided very close competition, close and hard fought racing on track, in order to reduce the costs to compete in the championship, the organisers introduced new regulations for the 2001 season. The BTC Touring regulations cut costs dramatically but both manufacturer and spectator interest was low, however, the Super 2000 rules were observed for the overall championship from the 2007 season. The 2000s saw cheaper cars than the later Supertouring era, with factory teams. In 2009, the BTCC released details of its Next Generation Touring Car specification, the NGTC specification also aimed to cut costs by reducing reliance on WTCC/S2000 equipment, due to increasing costs/complexity and concerns as to its future sustainability and direction. Currently, the cars used are a mix of 2, S2000 cars continued running in the Jack Sears Trophy until the 2014 season. BTCC teams are a mixture of manufacturer entries and independent teams such as BTC Norlin, in 2010, following Vauxhalls decision to pull out of the series, there were two new works teams, Chevrolet, run by RML, and Honda, run by Team Dynamics. This included finishing all 30 championship races that year, something no other driver has achieved before or since and this ended Vauxhalls run of 4 victories in the drivers and teams championships between 2001 and 2004. Neal and Dynamics were also victorious in 2006, before Vauxhall won the 2007 title with Italian Fabrizio Giovanardi. Team Dynamics also achieved the first overall race win in the Supertouring era when Neal won a round of the 1999 BTCC at Donington park. These cost reductions saw a rise in independent entries – teams or individuals entering cars purchased from the teams when they update their chassis. With the introduction of the NGTC rules, all share a number of common components provided through a contract with RML Group. This has allowed many independent teams to enter without the need for manufacturer support, and negating the need to source ex-works cars. Teams can install an engine from their marques broad family of cars, or opt to lease an engine from TOCA, to further keep costs in check, the BTCC uses a single tyre supplier, with Dunlop the current supplier of rubber to all the teams
14.
Wigan
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Wigan /ˈwɪɡən/ is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas,7.9 miles south-west of Bolton,10 miles north of Warrington and 16 miles west-northwest of Manchester, Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a population of 97,000 in 2011. Historically in Lancashire, Wigan during classical antiquity was in the territory of the Brigantes, the Brigantes were subjugated in the Roman conquest of Britain during the 1st century, and it is asserted that the Roman settlement of Coccium was established where Wigan lies. Wigan is believed to have incorporated as a borough in 1246 following the issue of a charter by King Henry III of England. At the end of the Middle Ages it was one of four boroughs in Lancashire established by Royal charters, the others were Lancaster, Liverpool, during the Industrial Revolution Wigan experienced dramatic economic expansion and a rapid rise in the population. Although porcelain manufacture and clock making had been major industries in the town, Wigan subsequently became known as a mill town. The first coal mine was established at Wigan in 1450 and at its peak there were 1,000 pit shafts within 5 miles of the town centre, mining was so extensive that one town councillor remarked that a coal mine in the backyard was not uncommon in Wigan. Coal mining ceased during the part of the 20th century. Wigan Pier, a wharf on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, was famous by the writer George Orwell. In his book, The Road to Wigan Pier, Orwell highlighted the poor working and living conditions of the inhabitants during the 1930s. Following the decline of activities in the region, Wigan Piers collection of warehouses and wharfs became a local heritage centre. On 24th November 2016, on his 80th birthday, a statue of Dave Whelan was unveiled outside the stadium. Wigan had a population of 99,391 in 2011 but its Urban Subdivision had a population of 103,608, the name Wigan has been dated to at least the 7th century and probably originally meant a village or settlement. It has also suggested that the name is Celtic, named after a person called Wigan. This may have linked with Tre to give an original name of Trewigan. The name of the town has been recorded variously as Wigan in 1199, Wygayn in 1240, the first people believed to have settled in the Wigan area were the Brigantes, a Celtic tribe who controlled most of northern Britain. In the 1st century, the area was conquered by the Romans, the late 2nd-century Antonine Itinerary mentions a Roman settlement called Coccium 17 miles from the Roman fort at Manchester and 20 miles from the fort at Ribchester
15.
Adrian Quaife-Hobbs
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Adrian Rodney Quaife-Hobbs is a British race car driver, notable for being the youngest driver to win the T Cars championship and the youngest ever winner of a MSA-sanctioned car racing series. Quaife-Hobbs began his career in 2002, racing in the Honda cadets category, winning four races in his first season,2003 saw Quaife-Hobbs move up to the more powerful Mini Max category where he took several podium finishes and a race victory. Quaife-Hobbs continued racing in the Mini Max series for 2004, winning the Bayford Meadows Championship,2006 also saw Quaife-Hobbs win the British Racing Drivers Clubs Rising Star Award, becoming the youngest driver to receive the award at the age of fifteen. For 2007, Quaife-Hobbs was promoted to the Formula BMW class, running in its UK series, Quaife-Hobbs finished his debut season tenth in the Drivers Championship with 405 points. Following the closure of the 2007 FBMW UK season, Quaife-Hobbs decided to enter the Formula Renault Eurocup with BVM Minardi to gain experience in the Formula Renault cars. He did well on his debut, despite retiring in the first race, he finished eighth in the second from thirteenth position, enough to earn him three points. Quaife-Hobbs also competed in two Formula Renault NEC races with Motopark Academy and at Spa, he got his first Formula Renault podium in only his third event,2007 also saw Quaife-Hobbs win a place on the prestigious MSA British Race Elite scheme run by David Brabham. Quaife-Hobbs entered the Eurocup for a season in 2008 as well as the Italian championship. He returned to Motopark Academy for 2009 campaigns in the Eurocup and Northern European Cup, Quaife-Hobbs stepped up into the Formula 3 Euro Series for the 2010 season, staying with Motopark Academy for his graduation into the series. He earned points in first races of the Circuit Paul Ricard and Hockenheim meetings, after the Euro Series opener, Quaife-Hobbs elected to concentrate on the new-for-2010 GP3 Series, signing a contract with Manor Racing. At Spa he secured his first podium and he finished in fifteenth position in the championship standings. Quaife-Hobbs stayed in GP3 for 2011 with Manor and he achieved his first win at Valencia. In 2012 Quaife-Hobbs graduated to the Auto GP World Series, competing for Super Nova International. Since the start of the season, he has taken victory in Monza and Valencia and he went on to take every pole bar one throughout the season, and took the championship. For 2013 Quaife-Hobbs was signed to race for MP Motorsport in the GP2 Series, the highlight of the first half of the season was a second place at Monaco, before he switched to Hilmer Motorsport from Hungary onwards. Following a second podium in Belgium, Quaife-Hobbs scored his maiden GP2 victory at Monza in the sprint race and he finished the season 13th overall, with a total of 56 points and one win. For 2014, Quaife-Hobbs remained in GP2, but drove for the Rapax Team alongside Simon Trummer, for the second season in a row he finished the year in 13th position in the championship standings. For the 2015 season, Quaife-Hobbs moved into racing with the Von Ryan Racing team
16.
Brands Hatch
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Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit near Swanley in Kent, England. First used as a dirt track circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hosts many British and International racing events. Gerhard Berger once said that Brands Hatch is the best circuit in the world, Paddock Hill Bend is a renowned corner. The longer Grand Prix layout played host to Formula One racing, including such as Jo Sifferts duel with Chris Amon in 1968. Noise restrictions and the proximity of residents to the Grand Prix loop mean that the number of race meetings held on the extended circuit are limited to just a few per year. The full Grand Prix Circuit begins on the Brabham Straight, an off-camber, slightly curved stretch, despite the difficulty of the curve, due to the straight that precedes it, it is one of the tracks few overtaking spots. The next corner, Druids, is a bend, negotiated after an uphill braking zone at Hailwood Hill. After the straight, the circuit climbs uphill though the decreasing-radius Surtees turn, the most significant elevation changes on the circuit occur here at Pilgrims Drop and Hawthorn Hill, which leads into Hawthorn Bend. The track then loops around the woodland with a series of mid-speed corners, most notably the dip at Westfield and Dingle Dell, the British Rallycross Circuit at Brands Hatch was designed and constructed by four-times British Rallycross Champion Trevor Hopkins. 0.9 miles long and completed around 1981, unlike earlier rallycross courses at Brands Hatch, cars start on the startline then veer right and downhill on the loose at Paddock Hill Bend. From Cooper Straight, the cars swoop up the old link road, Brands Hatch was originally the name of a natural grassy hollow that was shaped like a amphitheatre. Using the natural contours of the land, many cyclists from around London practised, raced, the first actual race on the circuit was held in 1926, over 4 miles between cyclists and cross-country runners. Within a few years, motorcyclists were using the circuit, laying out a three-quarter-mile anti-clockwise track in the valley. They also saw the advantage of competing in a natural arena just a few hundred yards from the A20, and with the passage of time, the first motorcycle races were very informal with much of the organisation being done on the spot. Initially the racing was on a strip approximately where Cooper Straight came to be when the track was tarmacked. In 1932, four local motorcycling clubs joined forces and staged their first meeting that March, motorcycle racing quickly resumed after World War II and in 1947, Joe Francis persuaded the BBC to televise a grass track meeting, the first motorcycle event to be televised on British TV. Following World War II, cinders were laid on the track of what was by then known as Brands Hatch Stadium and that was until 1950 when the 500 Club managed to persuade Joe Francis, that the future for his stadium lay in car and motorcycle road racing. The group behind 500 c. c. single-seater racing cars was the 500 Club and it, together with the owners, amongst those giving the demonstration was a very young Stirling Moss
17.
Carlin Motorsport
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Carlin, formerly Carlin Motorsport, is a motor racing team based in the United Kingdom. It currently competes in six championships, GP2 Series, GP3 Series, FIA European Formula 3 Championship, MSA Formula, Euroformula Open Championship, in 2009, Carlin Motorsport was reborn as Carlin, part of the Capsicum Motorsport Group headed up by Grahame Chilton and Rupert Swallow. Carlin has provided a well-trodden staircase to F1, other notable Carlin drivers are Jamie Green, Oliver Jarvis, Oliver Turvey, Álvaro Parente, Charlie Kimball and Robert Wickens. In the 2005-06 A1 Grand Prix season, Carlin were contracted to run the Lebanon, Portugal, the team stuck with just the Lebanon team for the 2006–07 and 2007–08 seasons before switching to the Korea team in 2008–09 before the series folded next season. The team has been competing in the British Formula 3 Championship since 1997, the team achieved their first victory with Narain Karthikeyan in 1999 and since 2001, has won 9 championships to become the most successful team in British F3 history. The champions are Takuma Sato, Alan van der Merwe, Álvaro Parente, Jaime Alguersuari, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Éric Vergne, Felipe Nasr Jack Harvey, Carlin joined Formula 3 Euro Series in 2008. After poor results in the first three seasons, in 2012 William Buller finished fifth and Carlos Sainz Jr. finished ninth, Carlin also entered the 2012 FIA European Formula 3 Championship, where Sainz finished fifth and Buller sixth. In the 2013 FIA European Formula 3 Championship, Harry Tincknell was fifth, in 2014, Antonio Giovinazzi finished sixth, King seventh and Jake Dennis ninth. In 2015, Giovinazzi was runner-up and George Russell finished sixth, Carlin has entered the Formula 3 Macau Grand Prix since 1998. The team has been contesting in the series since 2003, and have won a race in the every year since then. The team has won two titles and one team championship. The champions are Mikhail Aleshin and Robert Wickens in 2010 and 2011 respectively, Carlin took a year sabbatical in 2014 due to driver and budgetary issues. They returned in 2015, replacing Czech outfit ISR Racing, before withdrawing once again after the series lost its Renault backing, Carlin was replaced in the 2016 Formula V83.5 Championship by RP Motorsport. The team joined the GP3 Series in 2010 for its inaugural season, in its second season in 2011, the team finished 9th overall. In the 2012 the team finished third in the standings and third in the drivers championship after a strong season from António Félix da Costa and teammates Alex Brundle. Carlin were fourth in the standings at the end of the 2013 season whilst Ardens Daniil Kvyat claimed the Drivers Championship. The following year, they claimed the Constructors title in addition to Red Bull Junior driver Alex Lynns title win, for the 2015 season, Jann Mardenborough, Mitch Gilbert and Ferrari Academy driver Antonio Fuoco will race for Carlin. At the end of the 2015 season, Carlin withdrew from the sport, the team joined the GP2 Series in 2011 for the first time
18.
Henry Surtees
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Henry John Surtees was a British racing driver and the son of John Surtees. He was educated at Worth, an independent school in West Sussex, Henry Surtees finished his debut season in the championship 7th in the overall points standings, and second in the Rookie Cup. The season was marred by penalties and a disqualification at Oulton Park, after two races in 2007, Surtees moved up full-time to the Formula Renault UK series in 2008 with Manor Competition. Surtees would go on to finish 12th in the championship, including a third-place finish during a race at Silverstones National Circuit. He also competed in the Winter Series again, having finished 13th in 2007 and he battled James Calado for the title, with Calado coming out on top. Surtees competed in one meeting during the 2008 season, in the final two races at Donington Park for Carlin Motorsport. Surtees revelled with a win and a second in his two races in the National Class, Surtees signed up to the revived FIA Formula Two Championship ahead of the 2009 season on 2 January 2009. He drove car number seven in the series and he scored a podium in the first of the two races at Brands Hatch, coming third, and achieved a pole position at Brno. Surtees results placed him fourteenth in the championship, at the end of the season. At Brands Hatch on 19 July 2009, during a Formula Two race, the wheel broke its tether and bounced back across the track into the following group of cars and collided with Surtees helmet. The mass of the wheel assembly hitting his head was 29 kilograms, but given the speed of his car at the time the wheel struck, the impact yielded approximately 60,000 joules of kinetic energy. The car continued straight ahead into the barrier on the approach to Sheene Curve, also losing a wheel and this indicated that Surtees had lost consciousness, with his foot still pressing the accelerator. Surtees was extricated from the car and taken to the medical centre. He was pronounced dead later that day and his death was attributed to severe head injuries, inflicted by colliding with the wheel rather than the following crash with the barriers. Surtees funeral took place on 30 July at Worth Abbey, near Turners Hill, in June 2010, a group of Surtees school friends swam the English Channel in stints to raise money for charity in his memory. In 2010, the Henry Surtees Award was launched, to be awarded annually for the most outstanding performance by a rising motor racer and its first winner was Formula Renault UK champion Tom Blomqvist. † As Surtees was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points, * Surtees died during round eight of the sixteen round series Henry Surtees profile on Driver Database Henry Surtees fatal crash on YouTube
19.
Oulton Park
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Oulton Park Circuit is a motor racing track in the small village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about 5 miles from Winsford,13 miles from Chester city centre,8 miles from Northwich and 17 miles from Warrington with a rail connection along the Mid-Cheshire Line. It occupies much of the area which was known as the Oulton Estate. The track is set in the grounds of Oulton Hall, which were used as a staging camp by General Patton prior to the Normandy landings. At this time the famous boxer Joe Louis gave exhibition bouts at Oulton Park in the vicinity of the Deer Leap section of the circuit, the track is characterised by rapidly changing gradients, blind crests and several tight corners. The full circuit is 2.8 mi, the highest part of the course is Hill Top. Paddock facilities are reasonable in size with large areas of hard-standing, the race track can be adapted for shorter courses. The British Touring Car Championships uses all of the Cascades Corner and Lakeside and this hairpin cuts out all of the Island section of the circuit and takes the cars straight back over Hill Top. Beginning in 2007, all the circuits marshalling stations were redesigned with protective cages and this was to prevent incidents similar to those seen in the 2006 season when cars had collided with marshalling posts. A cage-protected marshals station was built at the bottom of the back straight near the chicane preceding Knickerbrook. In the early 18th Century the Oulton Estate comprised a manor house, by the end of the century this farmland was converted into a park, which now is the site of Oulton Park. Some buildings that were part of the estate still exist to this day, by the early 1950s England had a goodly number of motor racing tracks but the northwest was not well served. The members of the Mid-Cheshire Car Club took it on themselves to rectify the situation, the circuit they developed was on the estate of the Grey-Egerton family. With Sir Philip Gray-Egertons permission, a circuit was mapped out starting early in 1953 and by August the new track was in existence, measuring a sinuous 1.504 miles, almost rectangle in shape. The main event of the day as the 33-lap 49. 6-mile Formula Two race which was won by Tony Rolt driving Rob Walker’s Connaught A Type, the supporting Formula III event was divided into three 10-lap heats and a 17-lap final which went to Les Leston. It was a joint motorcycle and car event, the Wirral 100 Motor Club joining the Mid-Cheshire Car Club in organising it, the car side of the day was confined to three Formula III races and a final which was won by Glaswegian Ninian Sanderson from Ken Tyrrell. By April 1954, the track had grown to 2.23 miles in length, at Easter 1975, another circuit layout measuring 1.654 miles came into use. Oulton Park is unique amongst the new post-World War II circuits in that it is true road circuit whilst its contemporaries were, with one exception, converted airfields
20.
Fortec Motorsport
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The team was bought in 1995 by current owner Richard Dutton. Past drivers for the team include Juan Pablo Montoya, Gianmaria Bruni, Danny Watts, Jamie Green, James Rossiter, Mike Conway, Fabio Carbone, fortec has enjoyed great success since its inception. In 2002 Danny Watts won the British Formula Renault Championship for the team, in the same year, Fabio Carbone won the prestigious Marlboro Masters Formula Three race, held at Zandvoort in the Netherlands. The teams next win came with another British Formula Renault title in 2004, with Mike Conway finishing over 90 points clear of his nearest rival. Driver Patrick Hogan ended the season on the number of points. Duncan Tappy and Dean Smith finished in the top two placings in 2007, another teams title followed in 2008. Fortec were also crowned Team Champions in the Formula Renault 2.0 UK Championship with Alex Lynn clinching the title with a record-breaking twelve wins in one season. Oliver Rowland secured second in the Championship, as well as winning the Graduate Cup, william Buller was Fortecs top finisher in the British Formula 3 Championship, as he finished fourth in the Championship. After the Formula Renault UK was cancelled for the 2012 season, the team joined the Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
21.
Croft Circuit
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Croft Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Dalton-on-Tees in North Yorkshire, England. The tarmac circuit is just over 2 miles long and is based on the lands of an airfield, the circuit holds meetings of the British Touring Car Championship, British Rallycross and Pickup Truck Racing race series. The first records of racing at Croft date back to the 1920s, at the beginning of the Second World War an airfield named RAF Croft was built on the site now occupied by the circuit. RAF Croft also known as Croft Aerodrome, was used as a bomber airfield. It was home to a number of different aircraft types including Wellington, Lancaster, Whitley, Stirling, there were a number of notorious accidents mainly involving returning bombers missing their runway. One bomber made it all the way back from Germany only to crash into a tree at Atley Hill, about 4 miles away, the dead stump of the tree survived as a grim memorial on Atley Hill until it was grubbed out by the landowner in the mid 1990s. Croft Aerodrome was home to a number of squadrons including 419 Squadron from Canada, the platforms at the nearby Eryholme railway station were often crowded with airmen and ground crew during the war years. The verges along the access road to Croft Aerodrome were used to store racks of bombs and other military equipment. In 1947 businessman and councillor John Neasham acquired the lease to the land and formed Darlington, however, the club folded after only 5 years and the airfield fell into disuse. The first meeting on 3 August 1964 attracted a crowd of between 30,000 and 50,000 people, over the years the circuit has played host to many famous names and has hosted national and international meetings. However, slowly attention focussed on circuits in the south of England such as Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Lydden, the events were utilised by ITVs World Of Sport and were televised live. Whilst Rallycross was considered to be a sport, circuit racing continued. By 1981 the profitability had fallen and with the circuit requiring a total resurfacing, local farmer, George Shield, agreed a lease to run Rallycross and, in conjunction with Darlington & District Motor Club, successfully developed the track for this sport. Croft held the FIA Internations-Cup events of 1987 and 1990 as well as the 1994 British round of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, with the attention brought by Rallycross the decision was taken to reintroduce tarmac racing and became a popular host of motorcycle and car racing. In 1997 the circuit underwent a major transformation - the circuit was extended to 2.127 miles and new pits, paddock complex, control tower, British Touring Cars and British Superbikes soon came to the circuit. British Superbikes remained a feature until 2011, while British Touring Cars remain a regular feature on the calendar. A regular Monster Energy British Rallycross Championship fixture continues the history of Rallycross at Croft. The MSA British RallyCross Grand Prix featured at Croft in 2013, in 2000, an official complaint was upheld by local residents over the noise produced by the racing car engines
22.
Silverstone Circuit
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Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side, the Northamptonshire towns of Towcester and Brackley and Buckinghamshire town of Buckingham are close by, and the nearest large towns are Northampton and Milton Keynes. Silverstone is the current home of the British Grand Prix, which it first hosted in 1948, the 1950 British Grand Prix at Silverstone was the first race in the newly created World Championship of Drivers. The race rotated between Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch from 1955 to 1986, but relocated permanently to Silverstone in 1987, the circuit also hosts the British round of the MotoGP series. However, the Donington Park leaseholders suffered economic problems resulting in the BRDC signing a 17-year deal with Ecclestone to hold the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Silverstone is built on the site of a World War II Royal Air Force bomber station, RAF Silverstone, the airfields three runways, in classic WWII triangle format, lie within the outline of the present track. Silverstone was first used for motorsport by an ad hoc group of friends who set up a race in September 1947. One of their members, Maurice Geoghegan, lived in nearby Silverstone village and was aware that the airfield was deserted and he and eleven other drivers raced over a two-mile circuit, during the course of which Geoghegan himself ran over a sheep that had wandered onto the airfield. The sheep was killed and the car written off, and in the aftermath of this event the race became known as the Mutton Grand Prix. The next year the Royal Automobile Club took a lease on the airfield and their first two races were held on the runways themselves, with long straights separated by tight hairpin corners, the track demarcated by hay bales. However, for the 1949 International Trophy meeting, it was decided to switch to the perimeter track and this arrangement was used for the 1950 and 1951 Grands Prix. In 1952 the start line was moved from the Farm Straight to the straight linking Woodcote and Copse corners, for the 1975 meeting a chicane was introduced to try to tame speeds through the mighty Woodcote Corner, and Bridge Corner was subtly rerouted in 1987. The track underwent a major redesign between the 1990 and 1991 races, transforming the ultra-fast track into a technical track. The reshaped tracks first F1 race was perhaps the most memorable of recent years, following the deaths of Senna and fellow Grand Prix driver Roland Ratzenberger at Imola in 1994, many Grand Prix circuits were modified in order to reduce speed and increase driver safety. As a consequence of this the entry from Hangar Straight into Stowe Corner was modified in 1995 so as to make its entry less dangerous, in addition, the flat-out Abbey kink was modified to a chicane in just 19 days before the 1994 GP. Parts of the circuit, such as the grid, are 17 metres wide. After a new pit building, the Silverstone Wing, was completed in time for the 2011 race, almost flat out, the right-hander of Abbey leads immediately into the left-hander of Farm before cars brake heavily into the second gear, right-handed turn three, Village Corner. Turn 6, the left hander of Brooklands, is taken by drivers in second gear and leads immediately into Luffield, another second gear curve, a right-hand hairpin
23.
James Calado
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James John Calado is a British professional racing driver from England, currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for AF Corse. His career has been funded by the Racing Steps Foundation, born in Cropthorne, Worcestershire, Calado had an extensive karting career, starting out at Cadets level in 1999. In 2002, Calado stepped up to TKM Juniors, finishing fifth in the Super 1 championship,2003 saw Calado contest pan-European series for the first time, driving a Gillard Parilla kart for the PDB Racing Team in the ICA Junior class. He finished runner-up to Nicholas Risitano in the European Championship, beating future Formula One drivers Sébastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari. He moved to Tony Kart for the 2004 season, and once finished in the top three of the European Championship, this time finishing third behind Stefano Coletti and Jules Bianchi. He also finished fifth in the Andrea Margutti Trophy, and ninth in the Italian Open Masters. He moved up to the ICA class in 2005, and won the European Championship ahead of his future team-mate Jean-Éric Vergne and he returned to the UK to contest the Renault Elite League in the Super Libre class, finishing seventh in the championship. Calado moved into the top class of international karting in 2006, sixth in the Italian Open Masters, Calado went to Macau for the International Kart Grand Prix, where he finished as runner-up to Michael Christensen. His final season of karting, in 2007, saw his fourth top-five placing in the European Championship and he also placed ninth in the South Garda Winter Cup. Calado moved into the British Formula Renault Championship for the 2008 season, with no prior single-seater experience, Calado was placed into the Graduate Cup for first-year drivers. Calado finished runner-up to Dean Stoneman in that championship, and he finished seventh in the overall championship and he took two pole positions at Snetterton and Oulton Park, with one victory coming at Snetterton from that pole. He also earned three other podium placings throughout the season, Calado also contested two rounds of the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup at Zolder and Spa-Francorchamps. He earned two top-five finishes en route to finishing 25th in the championship standings, amassing 38 points. At the conclusion of the season, Calado enter the Winter Series of both the British and Portuguese Formula Renault championships, Calado continued in the British series for the 2009 season, staying with Fortec for his sophomore campaign. Calado was the most successful driver in the series, taking a total of eight victories and he also earned ten pole positions, and set the fastest lap of the race on seven occasions. However, retirements at Thruxton, Oulton Park and Croft took the title out of the hands of Calado and into the hands of Dean Smith, Calado ultimately finished as runner-up behind Smith,34 points behind the Wolverhampton driver. Calado also contested three rounds of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 for Fortec, competing in Barcelona, Spa and he finished seventeenth in the championship, amassing ten points from a fifth in Barcelona and seventh at Spa. He lost a podium finish at Barcelona due to a puncture with two remaining, which could have ultimately turned into a win after the post-race disqualification of winner Albert Costa
24.
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
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The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps motor-racing circuit is the venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, and of the Spa 24 Hours and 1000 km Spa endurance races. It is also home to the all Volkswagen club event,25 Hours of Spa and it is one of the most challenging race tracks in the world, mainly due to its fast, hilly and twisty nature. Spa is a circuit of many racing drivers and fans. Despite its name, the circuit is not in Spa but lies in the vicinity of the town of Francorchamps within the boundaries of the municipality of Stavelot, with a part in the boundaries of Malmedy. Designed in 1920 by Jules de Thier and Henri Langlois Van Ophem, the track was intended to have hosted its inaugural race in August 1921, however this event had to be cancelled as there was only one entrant. The first car race was held at the circuit in 1922, the circuit was first used for Grand Prix racing in 1925. The old Spa circuit was essentially a speed course with drivers managing higher average speeds than on other race tracks, until 2000, it was possible to travel over the race track when it was still a public road. Near Malmedy, the Masta straight began, which was interrupted by the fast Masta Kink between farm houses before arriving at the town of Stavelot. Before 1970, there were no safety modifications of any kind done to the circuit, former Formula One racing driver and team owner Jackie Oliver was quoted as saying if you went off the road, you didnt know what you were going to hit. The old Spa circuit was unique in that speeds were high with hardly any let-up at all for 3–4 minutes. This made it a difficult mental challenge, because most of the corners were taken at 180+ mph and were not quite flat- every corner was as important as the one before it. If a driver lifted just that bit more, then whole seconds. Even the slightest error of any kind was punished very harshly in more ways than one, but this reality also worked inversely- huge advantages could be gained if a driver came out of a corner slightly faster. When Armco crash barriers were added to the track in 1970, deaths became less frequent there but the track was still notorious for other factors. The Ardennes Forest had very unpredictable weather and there were parts where it was raining and the track was wet, and other parts where the sun was shining, in 1969, the Belgian Grand Prix was boycotted by F1 because of the extreme danger of Spa. There had been 10 racing fatalities in total at the track in the 1960s, the drivers demanded changes made to Spa which were not possible on short notice, so the Belgian Grand Prix was dropped that year. Armco was added to the track and sections of it were improved, for the 1971 race, the track owners and authorities had not brought the track up to date with mandatory safety measures, and the race was cancelled. Formula One would not return to Spa until 1983 on the modern track, the Masta Kink was one of the most fearsome sections on any race track in the world, requiring skill and bravery in equal measure to get it right
25.
Circuit Zolder
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The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating 4.011 km motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, f1 moved to Zolder in 1973 and with the exception of a race at Nivelles-Baulers in 1974, Zolder was the location of the Belgian Grand Prix until 1982. That year popular Canadian driver Gilles Villeneuve was killed during qualifying at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix, Villeneuves Ferrari 126C2 collided at speed with the March of Jochen Mass. The Ferrari was torn up in the accident and when rolling, after Villeneuves death, the Belgian Grand Prix was held at Spa-Francorchamps in 1983, before returning to Zolder one final time in 1984. Fittingly, Ferrari driver Michele Alboreto won the race carrying Villeneuves #27 on his car, since 1985, the Belgian Grand Prix has permanently moved to Spa. Since 2009, Circuit Zolder has hosted a race in December for the World Cup. The circuit hosted the UCI BMX World Championships in 2015, in the beginning of 2006, the track underwent safety adaptations. In 2007, the track hosted a Champ Car World Series Grand Prix, the track was venue of a round of the World Series by Renault championship from 2003 to 2006, and replaced Zandvoort as site for the Masters of Formula 3 in 2007 and 2008. Zolder was featured on the car programme Top Gear in 2008, in the episode, the shows British hosts competed against their German counterparts from D MOTOR. Zolder hosted also the FIA WTCC Race of Belgium in 2010 and 2011, the last race they drove in 2011 was won by Rob Huff in a Chevrolet and Gabriele Tarquini in a SEAT. The WTCC then disappeared from the Belgian circuits until in 2014 the circus returned to Spa, at this time, mainly the Blancpain Sprint Series and the BRCC national championship come by in Zolder. And also the 24 Hours of Zolder passes as an event around the end of August or the beginning of September. info
26.
Rockingham Motor Speedway
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It claims to be Europes fastest racing circuit, and was the first banked oval constructed in Britain since the closure of Brooklands in 1939. Located in Northamptonshire, Rockingham falls under the control of two local authorities, Rockingham is easily accessible from the A1, M1, A14, A43 and A6116, and is located 30 minutes from Leicester, Peterborough and Northampton. The nearest railway station is Corby, which is two miles from the circuit and runs a direct service to London St Pancras International. Rockingham has 13 configurations of track, which can be used for anything from touring cars to motorcycles to rally cars. The circuit is overlooked by the 6280 seat Rockingham Building, a steel-framed, glass-fronted grandstand building containing suites, offices, bars and kitchens, together the building and grandstands offer a total seating capacity of 52,000. The inner pit and paddock complex is accessed from the Rockingham Building via two tunnels and there is a further spectator viewing area on top of the pit garages. The 1.48 mile American-style banked oval circuit is 18.3 metres wide and has a bank angle of 7 degrees and comprises four very distinct corners. Rockinghams oval is unique in the UK and one of only two speedways in Europe, the oval circuit can also be converted to a road course layout for events by positioning temporary chicanes and curves both on the main area and apron of the circuit. The fastest lap, and therefore outright lap record was set by Patrick Carpentier in 25. 551secs in the Player’s Forsythe Racing Reynard-Cosworth, Carpentier became for first Canadian to ever hold the outright lap record at an English circuit. The US-based series returned in September 2002 and this was the last time Champ Cars raced at this facility. The race ran over the distance of 500 km, Scotland’s Dario Franchitti took the chequered flag in his Team KOOL Green Lola-Honda. The ISSC is 1.94 miles long and between 18.3 and 11 metres wide, with a bank angle of 7 degrees at turn 1. Rockinghams International Super Sportscar Circuit is used by the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship as well as for most other car race events, the circuit combines long straights, sweeping high-speed bends with a lower speed, highly technical infield layout. Average lap speeds around the range from 1m 24s in the BTCC to 1m 12s in British F3. The site has a wet handling area with a plate which is used to simulate a variety of driving conditions including ice, rain. These different road conditions are simulated at much slower speeds than in normal driving, the area is designed to give drivers a greater understanding of the latest ABS, traction control and crash mitigating technologies, and the way that they affect vehicle control. Construction of Rockingham started late in 1999, with the meeting planned for May 2001. Rockingham Motor Speedway was constructed on a British Steel works brown field site as an oval with the intention of bringing the American oval racing across the Atlantic for the first time
27.
Dean Smith (racing driver)
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Dean Smith is a British racing driver, who was the 2009 champion of the British Formula Renault Championship and winner of that years McLaren Autosport BRDC Award. After previously competing in karting, Smith was awarded a Formula BMW scholarship in 2004 and he took three wins on his way to winning the championship in 2005. Smith moved up to the British Formula Renault Championship in 2006, in 2007, he finished as runner-up to Fortec Motorsport teammate Duncan Tappy. He made the move to the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 2008 for Fortec, Smith finished 2008 by scoring two fourth-placed finishes on his British Formula 3 debut with Fortec. A lack of funds prevented him from a full F3 campaign in 2009 and he also took second place in the final race of the Eurocup season at the brand-new Ciudad del Motor de Aragón circuit in Spain. In December 2009 he was awarded the prestigious McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, as part of the prize he will test a McLaren Formula One car. Smith will race in the new GP3 Series in 2010, with Carlin, official website Career statistics from Driver Database
28.
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
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The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit, the track has stands with a capacity of 140,700. The circuit has FIA Grade 1 license, until 2013 the track was known only as the Circuit de Catalunya, before a sponsorship deal with Barcelona City Council added Barcelona to the tracks title. The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was built in 1991 and began hosting the Spanish Grand Prix that same year. Construction also coincided with the Olympic Games scheduled to take place in Barcelona the next year, because so much testing is done at this circuit, Formula One drivers and mechanics are extremely familiar with it. This has led to criticism that drivers and mechanics are too familiar with Catalunya, when first used, overtaking was frequent as cars could follow closely through the last two corners and slipstream down the long straight. The 2007 season saw the first of the two final sweepers replaced with a chicane in an effort to improve overtaking. However, the redesign has not yet shown any effect, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has hosted a motorcycle Grand Prix since 1992, originally the European motorcycle Grand Prix from 1992 and later the Catalan motorcycle Grand Prix since 1996. There are at least five points on the track where riders are known to overtake, as in Formula 1, Turn 1 is arguably the most popular place for overtaking. The circuit is not known to produce amounts of overtaking. The FIM made a change to the chicane for 2017 by moving up the chicane to prevent riders from cutting the pit lane entrance. The FIA World Rallycross Championship currently visits Catalunya since 2015, the wind direction at the circuit can change drastically during the day, a significant factor given the importance of aerodynamics to modern Formula One cars. A given tyre compound can work well when tested, but not so well a couple of months later and these changeable conditions can make for unexpected performances from some teams during the race. The changeable wind conditions have also caused accidents at the circuit, the MotoGP layout is the same, except that the chicane is moved up a few metres. On December 15,2016, the FIM announced the change was permanent by announcing plans for a chicane ahead of the current car chicane, the World RX of Spain uses parts of the track near turns 11–15, with two additional gravel sections. Turn 1 is the main overtaking point at Catalunya, as it is a zone at the end of a long DRS straight. The inside and outside are equally difficult for overtaking, drivers who can hold the line around the outside of turn one, can get the inside line for turn two. Turn 3 is a long, flat-out right-hander that has a g-force of about four, and it leads to a short straight before turn 4, the Repsol curve
29.
Circuit de la Sarthe
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The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe located in Le Mans, Maine, France, is a semi-permanent race course most famous as the venue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. The track also includes roads that remain open to the public most of the year. The circuit, in its present configuration, is 13.629 kilometres long, making it one of the longest circuits in the world, capacity of the race stadium, where the short Bugatti Circuit is situated, is 100,000. Le Mans is a race where up to 85% of the time is spent on full throttle, meaning immense stress on engine. Even with the modifications put in place over the years, the Sarthe circuit is known for being very fast. This classic configuration was 8.369 miles long and remained almost unaltered even after the 1955 tragedy and its frighteningly narrow pit straight was narrowed off to make room for the pits and was part of the road itself, without the road becoming wider just for the pits. The pit straight was about 12 feet wide and the race track, the pit area was modified at a cost of 300 million francs, the signalling area was even moved to the exit of the slow Mulsanne corner, and the track was resurfaced. With cars getting ever faster in the 1960s, criticism rose, especially when drivers were killed. Since 1965, a smaller but permanent Bugatti Circuit was added which shares the pit lane facilities, for the 1968 race, the Ford chicane was added before the pits to slow down the cars. The circuit was fitted with Armco for the 1969 race, one of the Porsche Curves was affectionately named Maison Blanche and a short straight with a slight kink and two chicanes before the pits named the Ford chicanes were all added. In 1979, due to the construction of a new public road and this redesign led to a faster double-apex corner as well as requiring the removal of the second Dunlop Bridge. In 1986, because of construction of a new roundabout at the Mulsanne corner and this created a right hand kink prior to Mulsanne corner. In 1987, a chicane was added to the very fast Dunlop curve where cars would go under the Dunlop bridge at 180 mph, the Le Mans circuit was changed between the Dunlop Bridge and Esses, with the straight now becoming a set of fast sweeping turns. This layout allowed for a transition from the Le Mans circuit to the Bugatti circuit. This layout change would require the tracks infamous carnival to be relocated because the area it had once occupied became runoff. As part of the development, a new extended pit lane exit was created for the Bugatti Circuit and this second pit exit re-enters the track just beyond the Dunlop Chicane and before the Dunlop Bridge. Following the fatal crash of Danish driver Allan Simonsen at the 2013 race at the exit of Tertre Rouge into D338, the radius will be moved in approximately 200m for safety reasons with new tyre barriers at the exit. Le Mans was most famous for its 6 km long straight, called Ligne Droite des Hunaudières, a part of the route départementale D338
30.
Renault Sport Series
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The Renault Sport Series is a motor racing series. The series consists of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, the F4 Eurocup 1.6 was made part of the World Series in 2010, but was then dropped for 2011. The flagship Formula Renault 3.5 Series became the World Series Formula V83.5 in 2016, Renault started the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup in 2003, as a support series in Eurosports Super Racing Weekends. The series ran with Tatuus chassis and a Nissan 3.5 L V6 engine. In 2005, Renault left the Super Racing Weekend and started the World Series by Renault, the Dallara chassis was retained, while the Renault V6 was improved to 425 PS. Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and the Eurocup Mégane Trophy also joined the series in 2005 to support the main FR3.5 series. At the end of July 2015, Renault Sport announced it would be withdrawing its backing to the Formula Renault 3.5 from 2016 onwards, handing the control of the series to co-organiser RPM. However, Renault Sport also said it would continue the Renault Sport Series with the Renault Sport Trophy, World Series by Renault Renault Sport Series
31.
Edmonton Indy
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The Edmonton Indy was a round of the IndyCar Series held at a temporary circuit set up at the Edmonton City Centre Airport near the downtown area of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was formerly called the Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton and was a round of the Champ Car World Series and it was one of three Champ Car races added to the 2008 IndyCar Series following the merger of the two American open wheel racing series. The inaugural race was held in 2005 and was known as the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix and it was known in 2006 as the West Edmonton Mall Grand Prix Presented by The Brick. In 2007, Katz Group signed with the Grand Prix of Edmonton as the lead sponsor. In 2010, Honda Canada Inc. was the sponsor of the race. There was no sponsor in 2011. Further negotiations had the race returned on the 2011 IZOD IndyCar Series schedule for July 22–24, on February 8,2011, the promoter unveiled the new racecourse which received rave reviews from several IndyCar drivers. On September 21,2012, Octane Motorsports announced that they will not stage the 2013 race due to poor attendance, City officials have said that they do not plan to look for a replacement promoter. The 2005 race festivities took place from July 15 through July 17,2005, in 2006, there were 3 support series events. The Champ Car Atlantic Championship series, the CASCAR series, the 2006 race festivities took place from July 21 through July 23,2006. The CASCAR race event took place on Saturday, July 22,2006, the Champ Car Atlantic Championship race, the Champ Car World Series race, and the D-Sport Drifting Demo all took place on Sunday, July 23,2006. The 2007 race festivities took place from July 20 through July 22,2007, the Northern Alberta Sports Car Club held GT and Vintage class support races also. The 2008 race festivities took place July 24 through July 26,2008, there were also 2 support series events, the Atlantic Championship series and the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. The IndyCar Series race took place on Saturday and not Sunday in 2008 because of an agreement between the IRL and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. By agreement, the IRL is not permitted to race opposite the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the race festivities took place from July 23 through July 25,2010. There were three series at this event, the Indy Lights Series, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. In addition, there were also a demonstration provided by D-Sport Drifting and this year also saw the creation of an off the track event team called Race Week Edmonton. This all volunteer teams mandate was to assist in promoting the Honda Edmonton Indy with various events such as car shows, a go kit derby, autoslalom, the race festivities took place from July 22 through July 24,2011
32.
Grand Prix of Baltimore
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The Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT was an IndyCar Series and American Le Mans Series race held on a street circuit in Baltimore, Maryland. The inaugural race was held September 4,2011, ESPN said it was the best inaugural street race in North America in the last 30 years. The races are contested on a street circuit around the Inner Harbor area of downtown Baltimore. On February 15,2012 it was announced that the city of Baltimore had entered into an agreement with Downforce Racing to manage the race. However, Downforce failed to fulfill their obligations to the city, on May 10,2012 it was announced that Race On LLC. and Andretti Sports Marketing, led by racing legend Michael Andretti would take over the organization and promotion of the event. Race On LLC is owned by Gregory ONeill and J. P. Grant III, on September 13,2013 it was announced that the race would not be held in 2014 or 2015 due to scheduling conflicts. The cars travel east along Pratt Street to Light Street, where they turn right and this forms the slowest corner on the circuit, a right-hand hairpin turn that leads the cars back north along Light Streets southbound lanes to Conway Street. The cars turn left here and head west along Conway Street to the Camden Station. They then navigate a chicane designed to slow the cars down before the pit entry — the circuit is unusual in that the pits are not located on the main straight — and turn left again. The cars circle around Oriole Park at Camden Yards stadium to Russell Street and this short straight feeds into a pair of sweepers, right and then left, that lead to Pratt Street and the 0. 5-mile long main straight. Finally, the cars navigate a chicane placed at the junction between Pratt and Howard Street as they cross train lines. However, during the first practice sessions for the 2012 race, several drivers — including Simon Pagenaud, IndyCar officials abandoned the practice session and reinstalled the temporary chicane. Other changes for the 2012 race included the re-profiling of the chicane before the pit entry, in 2011, the circuit had been narrowed down to a single lane with several tight corners to force the cars to slow down. This was simplified for 2012 and widened, slowing the cars down, along with the closing of the commercial center of downtown Baltimore for track preparation, trees were removed from city streets, spawning a court case. With Baltimore Racing Development $3 million in debt, including nearly $1.2 million owed to Baltimore City and this meant the race would only take place again if both the city and IndyCar approved a new organizer. IndyCar officials have expressed hope that a new organizer will be found, the new contract includes provisions such as a $3 per ticket surcharge for city services to reduce the risk of unpaid fees to the city
British.JPG)
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Signatech-Alpine
Team SARD-Morand
ByKolles Racing Team
Pierre Kaffer
Marco Bonanomi
