Sports cars racing

Sports car racing is a form of circuit racing, withexpensive and (deliberately) somewhat slower
cars that have two seats and enclosed wheelthan Le Mans Prototypes. Compared to the LMPs,
wells. They may be purpose-built or related toDPs are sharply limited in terms of approved
road-going sports cars.technology; for instance, they are required to be
A kind of hybrid between the purism ofconstructed of steel tube frames with
open-wheelers and the familiarity of touring carcarbon-fiber skins, rather than being carbon-fiber
racing, this racing is often associated with themonocoques, and must use production-based
annual Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race. First runengines.
in 1923, it is one of the oldest motor races still inGrand Touring (from the Italian word Gran
existence. Other classic but now defunct sportsTurismo) racing is the most common form of
car races include the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia.sports car racing, and is found all over the world,
Most top class sports car races emphasisein both international and national series. Under the
endurance (races are typically anywhere from 2.5ACO rules, Grand Touring cars are divided into
to 24 hours in length), reliability and strategy overtwo categories, Grand Touring 1 (GT1, formerly
pure speed. Longer races usually involve complexGTS) and Grand Touring 2 (GT2, formerly GT).
pit strategy and regular driver changes - sportsWhile GT cars are effectively based on road
car racing is seen more as a team sport than agoing versions, some GT1 cars in the mid to late
gladiatorial individual sport and team managers like1990s were purpose-built sports-prototypes
John Wyer, Tom Walkinshaw,(Toyota GT-One, Porsche 911 GT1-98, Mercedes
driver-turned-constructor Henri Pescarolo, PeterCLK-GTR) which spawned exotic production cars
Sauber and Reinhold Jöst have becomewith homologation production limits of 25 cars (for
almost as famous as many of their drivers.small manufacturers, such as Saleen) or 100 cars
The prestige of Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus, Maserati,(for major manufacturers like DaimlerChrysler). As
Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, and Astonthe name of the class implies, the exterior of the
Martin derives in part from success in sports carcar closely resembles that of the production
racing and the World Sportscar Championship.version, while the internal fittings may differ
Road cars sold by these manufacturers have ingreatly. GT2 cars are very similar to the FIA GT2
many cases been very similar to the cars thatclassification, and are 'pure' GT cars; that is
were raced, both in engineering and styling. It isproduction exotic cars with relatively few internal
this close association with the 'exotic' nature ofmodifications for racing. The Porsche 911 is
the cars that serves as a useful distinctioncurrently the most popular car in the GT2 class.
between sports car racing and Touring Cars.FIA divides GT cars into three categories, called
The 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Daytona,GT1 (formerly GT), GT2 (formerly N-GT) and
and 24 Hours of Le Mans were once widelyGT3 (recently introduced). These divisions are
considered to be the trifecta of sports car racing;very close to the ACO rules outlined above, and
driver Ken Miles would have been the only driveragain some crossover racing does occur,
to win all three in the same year, but an error inparticularly in the GT2 class. The GT3 class is new
the team orders of the Ford GT40 team at Leand was introduced for 2006. These cars are
Mans in 1966 took the win from him, although hecloser to standard form than in GT2, and in most
finished first.cases modifications are restricted to those found
There are many kinds of sportscars that race butin one-make cups. In 1998, FIA dropped the
they can be broadly broken down into two mainoriginal form of the GT1 category because of
categories: Sports-prototype and Grand Touringrising costs. The GT1 class was for the purebred
(GT). These two categories are often mixedsupercars and purpose-built race cars, such as the
together in a single race, such as the 24 Hours ofMcLaren F1. Rising costs coupled with declining
Le Mans.entries led to the death of this class, and it was
Sports-Prototype is the name given to a type ofreplaced by GT2 (FIA, which evolved into the
car used in sportscar racing and is effectively thecurrent GT1) and Le Mans Prototype (LMP, by the
next automotive design step up from road-goingACO).
supercars. The highest level in sportscar racingGrand-Am has only one class for Grand Touring
sports-prototypes are purpose-built racing carscars, somewhere between ACO/FIA GT2 and
with enclosed wheels, and either open or closedFIA GT3, with less-powerful Porsche 911 GT3
cockpits. Since the World Sportscar ChampionshipCup cars allowed, as well as purpose-built
was conceived there have been varioustube-frame "silhouette" machines reminiscent of
regulations regarding bodywork, engine style andthe former IMSA GTO/GTU classes.
size, tyres and aerodynamics to which these carsOther Divisions
must be built. Sports-prototypes may be (andThere are currently three series of sports car
often are) one-of-a-kind machines, and need bearraces based on the rules in use at Le Mans, the
no relation to any road-going vehicle, althoughAmerican Le Mans Series in North America, the
during the 1990s some manufacturers exploited aLe Mans Endurance Series in Europe and the
loophole in the FIA and ACO rules which meantJapan Le Mans Challenge in Japan. However,
cars racing in the GT category were actually truesports car racing in general extends far beyond
sports-prototypes and sired some road-goingthese rules, encompassing the Grand-Am
versions for homologation purposes. Theprofessional series in North America as well as
Dauer-Porsche 962LM, Porsche 911 GT1-98,amateur road racing classes in the Sports Car
Mercedes CLK-GTR and Toyota GT-One wereClub of America.
prime examples.Amateur sports car racing throughout the United
In simplistic terms, sports-prototypes are 2-seatStates is sanctioned by clubs such as the Sports
racing cars with bodywork covering their wheels,Car Club of America. The SCCA's sports-racing
and are as technically advanced and, depending onclasses include C and D Sports Racing, Sports
the regulations they are built to, as quick as or2000 and Spec Racer Ford, in descending order of
quicker than their single-seat counterparts.speed and sophistication.
Although not widely known sports-prototypesIn Japan, the Super GT series divides cars into
(along with Formula 1 cars) are responsible fortwo classes, called GT500 and GT300. These cars
introducing the most numbers of neware more highly modified than their European and
technologies and ideas to motorsport, includingAmerican counterparts, with cars often sporting
rear-wings, ground effect 'venturi' tunnels,tube frames and highly divergent engines. The
fan-assisted aerodynamics and dual-shiftnumbers in the classifications refer to the
gearboxes. Some of these technologies eventuallymaximum power available to each class; this is
filter down to road cars.achieved through the use of engine restrictors.
In the ACO regulations, two categories ofProponents of the series claim that the Super GT
sports-prototypes are recognized: P1 and P2. Carscars are the fastest sports cars in the world,
competing in the P1 category must weigh no lesswhile critics deride the cars as being outside the
than 900kg and are limited to 6000cc naturallylimits of 'acceptable' modifications. In recent years
aspirated and 4000cc turbocharged engines.however, rule changes in both GT500 and GT1
5500cc turbo-Diesel engines are also permitted in(aimed at eventually allowing both classes to
P1 - Audi scored a Le Mans victory with such acompete with each other in the future) have
car in 2006 and Peugeot are returning to racing inbrought the cars closer to each other, although
2007 with a car with a similar powerplant. P2 carsGT500 cars still have a notable advantage in
can weigh much less — 750kgaerodynamics (enough to compensate for GT1
— but are restricted to 3400cccars greater horsepower).
normally-aspirated or 2000cc turbochargedIn Europe, most national championships (British,
powerplants. On paper, the P2 cars are able toFrench, and the Spanish-based 'International GT
challenge the supposedly faster P1 cars due toOpen' series) run under basically FIA/ACO GT
their lighter weight, at the expense of less power.regulations with some modifications to ensure
However, as of recent years the P2 cars enteredcloser racing, although some championships are
have raced with debilitating reliability problems andmore open to allow non-homologated GT cars to
in 2005 actually finished behind the slower GT1race. The Belcar series in Belgium allows
class at Le Mans; the first P2 to look like a serioussilhouettes and touring cars to race alongside GTs,
challenge to the P1 class is the new Porsche RSwhile the VdeV Modern Endurance allows small
Spyder.prototypes from national championships such as
Daytona Prototypes are a product of thethe Norma, Centenari and Radical to race
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, and offer aalongside GT3 class cars. Britcar permits a wide
different interpretation of the prototype theme.range of touring and GT cars to compete in
DPs, as they are often called, are closed-cockpit,endurance races, and Britsports permits various
purpose-built racing machines which are lesskinds of sports racer.