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Overview of Sports Car Racing

Sports car racing is a motorsport that features two-seater sports cars, including purpose-built prototypes and grand tourers, often focusing on endurance and reliability over pure speed. Major events include the FIA World Endurance Championship and the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans, highlighting the team aspect of the sport. Prestigious manufacturers like Porsche and Ferrari have built their reputations on success in this racing category, which emphasizes strategy and teamwork.

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45 views1 page

Overview of Sports Car Racing

Sports car racing is a motorsport that features two-seater sports cars, including purpose-built prototypes and grand tourers, often focusing on endurance and reliability over pure speed. Major events include the FIA World Endurance Championship and the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans, highlighting the team aspect of the sport. Prestigious manufacturers like Porsche and Ferrari have built their reputations on success in this racing category, which emphasizes strategy and teamwork.

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somethingworks56
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Sports car racing

Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road


Sports car racing
racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats
and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-
built sports prototypes which are the highest level in
sports car racing or grand tourers (GT cars) based on
road-going models and therefore, in general, not as
fast as sports prototypes. Sports car races are often,
though not always, endurance races that are run over
particularly long distances or large amounts of time,
resulting in a larger emphasis on the reliability and Highest ACO (1923–present)
efficiency of the car and its drivers as opposed to governing body FIA (2012–present)
outright car performance or driver skills. The FIA IMSA (1969–present)
GARRA (2000–2013)
World Endurance Championship and IMSA
SportsCar Championship are examples of some of Characteristics
the best known sports car racing series. Sports car Contact Yes
racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, Team members Yes
alongside open-wheel racing (such as Formula One), Mixed-sex Yes
touring car racing (such as BTCC, which is based on Type Outdoor
'saloon cars' as opposed to the 'exotics' seen in sports Venue Road and street
cars) and stock car racing (such as NASCAR). courses (Oval
minority)
A type of hybrid between the purism of open-
wheelers and the familiarity of touring car racing, this style is often best associated with the annual
24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. First run in 1923, Le Mans is one of the oldest motor races
still in existence.[1] Other classic but now defunct sports car races include the Italian classics, the
Targa Florio (1906–1977) and Mille Miglia (1927–1957), and the Mexican Carrera Panamericana
(1950–1954). Most top-class sports car races emphasise endurance (generally between 6 and 24
hours), reliability, and strategy, over pure speed. Longer races usually involve complex pit strategy
and regular driver changes. As a result, sports car racing is seen more as a team endeavour than an
individual sport, with team managers such as John Wyer, Tom Walkinshaw, driver-turned-
constructor Henri Pescarolo, Peter Sauber and Reinhold Joest becoming almost as famous as some
of their drivers.

The prestige of storied marques such as Porsche, Audi,[2] Chevrolet, Ferrari, Jaguar, Bentley,
Aston Martin, Lotus, Maserati, Lamborghini, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW is
built in part upon success in sports car racing. These makers' top road cars have often been very
similar both in engineering and styling to those raced. This close association with the 'exotic'
nature of the cars serves as a useful distinction between sports car racing and touring cars.[3]

The 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans are considered to form
the Triple Crown of endurance racing. Other crown jewel sports car endurance races include Petit
Le Mans, Nürburgring 24 Hours, Spa 24 Hours, Bathurst 12 Hour and Suzuka 1000km.[4]

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