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99-563: A teasing race was to be held in Shanghai , China on November 1–2, 2008 but was later cancelled. The inaugural season's race, the 2009 1000 km of Okayama , was held on 30 October and 1 November 2009 at Okayama , Japan with one 500 km race per day. It was the only event of the inaugural season. A second Asian Le Mans Series event, scheduled for the Shanghai International Circuit , China , on 7 and 8 November

198-615: A back seat to GT cars with the FIA replacing the World Championship for Sports Cars with the International Championship for GT Manufacturers. In national rather than international racing, sports car competition in the 1950s and early 1960s tended to reflect what was locally popular, with the cars that were successful locally often influencing each nation's approach to competing on the international stage. In

297-599: A car with a similar powerplant (Peugeot 908). P2 cars can weigh much less — first 675 kg, then 750 kg and now 825 kg — but are restricted to 3400 cc V6 or V8 normally aspirated or 2000 cc turbocharged powerplants. In the European series in which endurance is a priority and P2s have been run largely by privateers, P2s have not challenged P1s for outright victories; in the American Le Mans Series with generally shorter races P2 has become

396-538: A crop of large-engined "big bangers" the technology of which largely gave rise to Can-Am but soon died out. Clubmans provided much entertainment at club-racing level from the 1960s into the 1990s and John Webb revived interest in big sports prototypes with Thundersports in the 1980s. There was even enough interest in Group C to sustain a C2 championship for a few years; at 'club' level Modified Sports Car ("ModSports") and Production Sports Car ("ProdSports") races remained

495-474: A deal with SAIC Motor . The track layout was inspired from the Chinese character shang (上), the first character in the name of the city Shanghai , meaning "above" or "ascend". There’s a unique start to the lap as the drivers fly into the ever-tightening Turns 1 and 2, before they dart left through 3 and 4. The super-high g force Turns 7 and 8 are loved by the drivers, while the circuit also features one of

594-771: A double header at the Sepang International Circuit. With motorsport in the South East Asia region reigniting after the effects of traveling and freight during the COVID-19 Pandemic, now is the time to bring the Asian Le Mans Series back to its traditional home to countries across throughout Asia. The return of Sepang to the calendar saw the season expanded to five races, with the hugely popular races at Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit also as well featured. Throughout

693-509: A feature of most British race meetings into the 1980s, evolving into a "Special GT" series that was essentially Formula Libre for sports or saloon cars. After a relative period of decline in the 1980s a British GT Championship emerged in the mid-90s. Italy found itself with both grassroots racing with a plethora of Fiat based specials (often termed "etceterinis") and small Alfa Romeos , and exotica such as Maserati and Ferrari – who also sold cars to domestic customers as well as racing on

792-515: A franchise-like approval system in which only approved constructors are eligible, with rules stability enforced for several years at a time, although this led in 2007 to established constructors like Lola and Dallara entering the 2008 series by taking over the rights of existing constructors (Multimatic and Doran respectively). Grand Touring (from the Italian Gran Turismo ) racing is the most common form of sports car racing, and

891-509: A government-funded joint-venture company, the Shanghai Jiushi Group . Herman Tilke was chosen to design the track and associated buildings, and between April and May 2003, engineers visited the site to draw up their plans. The site was actually a swampland, previously used as rice paddy fields, and extensive groundworks had to be completed to construct the circuit. For 18 months some 3,000 workers were on site daily to complete

990-632: A high point in the history of the sport. In Europe, the FIA adopted the ACO GTP rules virtually unchanged and sanctioned the Group C World Endurance Championship (or World Sportscar Championship ), featuring high-tech closed-cockpit prototypes from Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz , Nissan , Jaguar and others. In the US, the IMSA Camel GTP series boasted close competition between huge fields of manufacturer-backed teams and privateer squads –

1089-672: A lake to resemble the ancient Yu Garden in Shanghai. The Shanghai International Circuit is the first in China to be purpose-built for Formula One and it hosts FIA Formula One World Championship Chinese Grand Prix every year since 2004 . The circuit also holds a number of global high-profile series, including the FIA World Endurance Championship and the Blancpain GT Series Asia . In

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1188-456: A larger emphasis on the reliability and efficiency of the car and its drivers as opposed to outright car performance or driver skills. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of one of the best known sports car racing series. 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

1287-399: A long Japanese tradition of such hybrids; a Grand Champion series ran for many years with rebodied Formula 2 and Formula 3000 cars, rather similar to the second incarnation of Can-Am ). In the US, however, road racing actually saw a decline. The IMSA GT Championship had been prototype-based since 1983, with less emphasis on production cars. NASCAR was becoming increasingly dominant, and

1386-703: A mechanic if necessary or permitted. Cars such as the Bugatti Type 35 were almost equally at home in Grands Prix and endurance events, but specialisation gradually started to differentiate the sports-racer from the Grand Prix car. The legendary Alfa Romeo Tipo A Monoposto started the evolution of the true single-seater in the early 1930s; the Grand Prix racer and its miniature voiturette offspring rapidly evolved into high performance single seaters optimised for relatively short races, by dropping fenders and

1485-510: A nationally recognized 4A-rated tourist attraction, the circuit features tourism, shopping, dining, entertainment, and sports. Shanghai International Circuit was conceived by the Shanghai authorities as a way to showcase the city to the world. A 5.3 sq km site was chosen in the Jiading District in the north west of the city, close to major car parts manufacturing facilities and a budget of 2.6 billion yuan ($ 450 million) raised through

1584-810: A number of GT series sprung up at national and European level, with the BPR series eventually evolving into the FIA GT Championship . IMSA GTP continued for a few more years but was replaced by a series for World Sports Cars  – relatively simple open-top prototypes – which gave rise to cars such as the Ferrari 333SP and the Riley & Scott Mk 3, supported by GTs. As the 1990s progressed, these prototypes and others like them started to be raced in Europe and an FIA Sports Car series evolved for them. Since

1683-513: A race for touring cars ) and sports cars, whether descended from primarily road-going vehicles or developed from pure-bred racing cars came to dominate races such as Le Mans and the Mille Miglia . In open-road endurance races across Europe such as the Mille Miglia , Tour de France and Targa Florio , which were often run on dusty roads, the need for fenders and a mechanic or navigator was still there. As mainly Italian cars and races defined

1782-496: A result, some cars racing in the GT category did pass as true sports prototypes, in turn leading to some road-going versions for homologation purposes. The Dauer- Porsche 962 LM, Porsche 911 GT1 -98, Mercedes CLK-GTR and Toyota GT-One were prime examples of prototypes masquerading as GTs. In simplistic terms, sports prototypes are two-seat racing cars with bodywork covering their wheels, and are as technically advanced and, depending on

1881-486: 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 , Chevrolet , Ferrari , Jaguar , Bentley , Aston Martin , Lotus , Maserati , Lamborghini , Alfa Romeo , Lancia , Mercedes-Benz , and BMW

1980-452: A resurgence of interest in sports car racing in the US, with the network originally showing a large amount of sports car racing and sports car–related programming before being replaced by Fox Sports. 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 FIA remains more interested in its own GT and GT3 championships, with

2079-516: A single GT class. Driver requirements to include one driver from Asia were expanded to include any nationality from the Australasia region. In 2015 the season format was changed to a winter one spanning two calendar years. The LMP3 class was added and the GT class was split in GT and GT Am. In the 2016–17 season the GT Cup class replaced GT Am. In the 2017–18 season CN was dropped and GT Am

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2178-570: A single race, such as in the 24 Hours of Le Mans . In mixed-class races, an overall winner is awarded, though individual class winners are often recognised as well. Sports prototype is the name given to a type of car used in sports car racing and is effectively the next automotive design and technological step-up from road-going sports cars and are, along with open-wheel cars, the pinnacle of racing car design. The highest level in sports car racing, these cars are purpose-built racing cars with enclosed wheels, and either open or closed cockpits. Ever since

2277-616: A support series for the Rolex Series, provides a similar series to the old Trans Am Series, mixing conventional sports cars and touring cars. Due to Grand Am's affiliation with NASCAR, many NASCAR drivers occasionally participate in the Rolex Sports Car Series. Max Papis is a notable example in that he was a road racer prior to his tenure in the Sprint Cup Series. Many of these drivers only participate in

2376-489: A time of 1:31.095, a new unofficial track record. As of September 2024, the fastest official race lap records at the Shanghai International Circuit are listed as: Sports car racing#Grand Touring Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built sports prototypes which are

2475-655: A vehicle to increase performance as a season progresses, DPs are restricted to their original conception of the car from the start of the season. For these reasons, the category being labeled as a "prototype" has occasionally been criticised as misleading and being more in line with traditional "spec" race series prevalent in the United States. The intention of the DP formula was to provide a class in which tight technical regulations encouraged close competition and where budget would be relatively unimportant. DP chassis are subject to

2574-415: A very good exit is important as DRS is available down the following straight. At 1.170 km (0.727 mi), it is the equivalent to 11 football pitches laid end to end, or the same length as three and a half of the world's biggest aircraft carriers Turn 14 is a hairpin at the end of the straight – the second gear corner is a prime overtaking spot as DRS is available in the run up to the corner. Turn 16

2673-589: Is a combined classification for GT3 teams, where the winner will get an invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In January 2020, the Asian Le Mans Series hosted its first race outside the continent of Asia at Tailem Bend Motorsport Park , Australia known as the 4 Hours of The Bend. In the 2021 season from February 13–20, the series marked its first venture to the Middle East racing in the United Arab Emirates for two 4 Hours of Dubai races at

2772-416: Is based on 'saloon cars' as opposed to the 'exotics' seen in sports cars. Supercars Championship , is an Production Touring Car Racing specs consists with 5-litre V8 Engine and the fastest touring car racing in the world) and stock car racing (such as NASCAR ). Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over particularly long distances or large amounts of time, resulting in

2871-401: 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. The 12 Hours of Sebring , 24 Hours of Daytona , and 24 Hours of Le Mans have in the past been considered

2970-403: Is found all over the world, in both international and national series. Historically, Grand Touring cars had to be in series production, but in 1976 the class was split into production-based Group 4 Grand Touring Cars and Group 5 Special Production Cars , the latter of which were essentially pure-bred racing cars with production-lookalike bodies. GT racing gradually fell into abeyance in Europe in

3069-656: Is one of the oldest motor races still in existence. 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

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3168-495: Is the last corner – a fourth-gear left-hander which requires a quick tap on the brakes – braking early can be more effective as you can then carry more speed through the corner and then down the pit straight. The total length of the circuit is 5.451 km (3.387 mi), which is about average for a Formula One circuit. Michael Schumacher 's official race lap record of 1:32.238 has stood since 2004. In Q3 of 2018 Chinese Grand Prix , Sebastian Vettel qualified on pole position with

3267-530: Is the sole tire supplier for the series. In the 2013 season the SGT class was opened exclusively for all teams in GT300 class of Super GT. It used the same vehicle regulation of Super GT and counted towards the GT300 championship. This class only participated at the 2013 3 Hours of Fuji . On 20 April 2013, changes were made to the class structure for grand touring. GTC remained open to FIA GT3 category cars while GTC Am

3366-575: The ACO regulations, two categories of sports prototypes are now recognised: P1 and P2. Cars competing in the P1 category must weigh no less than 900 kg and are limited to 6000 cc naturally aspirated and 4000 cc turbocharged engines. 5500 cc turbo- Diesel engines are also permitted in P1 ;– Audi scored Le Mans victories with such a car in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and Peugeot returned to racing in 2007 with

3465-638: The Dubai Autodrome followed by two 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi races at the Yas Marina Circuit . Since then during that year's season until the end of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series season, the championship has been run entirely within the country. The relaunched Asian Le Mans series has very similar rules to the European Le Mans Series with a total of four classes: LMP2, LMPC, GTC, and GTC Am. Compared to its running in 2009

3564-903: The Fuji Speedway in Japan combined Le Mans cars with JGTC machines for automatic entries to the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans . This idea was followed by the American Le Mans Series with the 2000 Race of a Thousand Years race at the Adelaide Street Circuit in Australia . These two events served as a precursor to the planned APLMS series, and at the time of the creation of ELMS, Don Panoz announced his intention to hold an exhibition APLMS race at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia in late 2001. However,

3663-747: The SAIC Shanghai International Circuit ( simplified Chinese : 上海上汽国际赛车场 ; traditional Chinese : 上海上汽國際賽車場 ; pinyin : Shànghǎi Shàngqì Guójì Sàichēchǎng ) for sponsorship purposes, is a motorsport race track , situated in the Jiading District , Shanghai , China . The circuit is best known as the venue for the annual Chinese Grand Prix which was hosted from 2004 to 2019, and from 2024. The Shanghai International Circuit features over 10 top-tier domestic car racing events annually. It also boasts Shanghai's only world-class outdoor go-karting track. As

3762-596: The Targa Florio and as they grew bigger (via the Porsche 910 to the Porsche 908 and finally the Porsche 917 ) the Stuttgart marque became first a competitor for overall wins and then came to dominate sports car racing – both they and Mercedes have made intermittent returns to the top level of the sport through the 1970s, 80s, 90s and 2010s. Sports car racing has intermittently been popular in Japan ;– in

3861-559: The Triple Crown of endurance car racing . And also the additional of Bathurst 12 Hour , Spa 24 Hours , Nürburgring 24 Hours and Suzuka 1000km are considered the Crown Jewel of Endurance race. According to historian Richard Hough , "It is obviously impossible to distinguish between the designers of sports cars and Grand Prix machines during the pre-1914 period. The late Georges Faroux contended that sports-car racing

3960-482: The World Sportscar Championship was conceived, there have been various regulations regarding bodywork, engine style and size, tyres and aerodynamics to which these cars must be built. Sports prototypes may be (and often are) one-of-a-kind machines, and need bear no relation to any road-going vehicle, although during the 1990s, some manufacturers exploited a loophole in the FIA and ACO rules. As

4059-403: The 1950s, sports car racing was regarded as almost as important as Grand Prix competition, with major marques like Ferrari , Maserati , Jaguar and Aston Martin investing much effort in their works programmes and supplying cars to customers; sports racers lost their close relationship to road-going sports cars in the 1950s and the major races were contested by dedicated competition cars such as

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4158-515: The 1960s and 1970s. In Britain 2-litre sports cars were initially popular (the Bristol engine being readily available and cheap), subsequently 1100 cc sports racers became a very popular category for young drivers (effectively supplanting 500 cc F3), with Lola , Lotus , Cooper and others being very competitive, although at the other end of the scale in the early to mid-1960s the national sports racing scene also attracted sophisticated GTs and later

4257-424: The 1960s progressed, with worldwide battles between Ferrari, Ford, Porsche, Lotus, Alfa Romeo and Matra as well as other more specialist marques running on into the early 1970s. The competition at Le Mans even made it to the movie screens, with Steve McQueen 's film Le Mans . This era was seen by many as the highpoint of sports car racing, with the technology and performance of the cars comfortably in excess of what

4356-596: The 1960s small-capacity sports racers and even a local version of the Group 7 cars as raced in the Canadian-American Challenge Cup were popular; a healthy local sports prototype championship ran until the early 1990s and now the Super GT series provides high-budget exposure to manufacturers, with many international drivers appearing. The Japanese manufacturers have also been frequent visitors to

4455-634: The 1980s and 1990s, with silhouette cars continuing to race in IMSA races in the USA. When GT racing revived after the collapse of the World Sports Car Championship at the end of 1992, the lead in defining rules was taken by the ACO. Under the ACO rules, Grand Touring cars are divided into two categories, Grand Touring 1 (GT1, formerly GT) and Grand Touring 2 (GT2, formerly N-GT). As the name of

4554-694: The 24 Hours of Daytona. The original Trans-Am Series dissolved in 2006, but returned to action in 2009 with tube frame TA1 and TA2 divisions racing with production-based TA3-American and TA3-International divisions. In addition, the SCCA continues to provide a major support series for Trans-Am. This series, known as the SCCA World Challenge , consists of a one-hour race for each round, combining three classes: GT ( Chevrolet Corvette , Aston Martin DB9 , etc.), "GTS" ( Acura TSX , BMW 3 Series , etc.; replaced

4653-653: The ACO & FIA to come together to create the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) starting in 2012. This new series replaced the ILMC and was a spiritual successor to the former FIA World Sportscar Championship. In 2012, the Rolex Sports Car Series overhauled its Daytona Prototype class, allowing for production-based designs. The ALMS's new LMP/LMC format, however, has not held up. The prototype classes split again in 2011, with LMP1 having three cars and LMP2 having one. A new "GT Pro Am" class

4752-411: The ACO announced the revival of the Asian Le Mans Series for the 2013 series. The format will be run very similarly to the European Le Mans Series , with the ACO expecting around 16-18 cars for the first relaunched season. However, only 8 cars showed up for the first race of the season, making it the smallest ever grid in ACO sanctioned racing. This record was broken a year later when only six cars started

4851-699: The ACO's rules the basis for the LMS and ALMS. The Le Mans Prototype is somewhat reminiscent of the old Can Am prototype. Further splits in the American scene saw the Grand American Road Racing Association form a separate series, the Rolex Sports Car Series , with its own GT and prototype rules aimed at providing cheaper, lower-cost racing for independent teams. Grand Am's Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge ,

4950-669: The Continental Challenge's Grand Sport class, promoting its other touring car class to "GTS". This came after several years of the old TC class being an Acura-BMW- Mazda affair. For 2012, the series adopted a "B-spec" touring car class comparable to that of the Continental Challenge's Street Tuner class. 2010 also saw the introduction of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) by the ACO, featuring events in America, Asia and Europe. This in turn led

5049-522: The Daytona oval and prohibitively expensive for smaller teams to run. Compared to the LMPs, DPs are severely limited in terms of approved technology; for instance, they are required to be constructed of steel tube frames with carbon-fibre skins, rather than being carbon-fibre monocoques, and must use production-based engines. In addition, contrary to their European counterparts who continuously alter and develop

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5148-644: The European Le Mans Series suffered from a lack of entrants during its debut season and was eventually canceled. Don Panoz decided that the APLMS would likely have even less interest. Thus the APLMS exhibition race and all plans for an Asian series were scrapped. The ACO attempted to develop their own championship modeled on their own Le Mans Endurance Series in 2006 with the development of the Japan Le Mans Challenge , overseen by

5247-561: The French car industry switched from making large powerful cars to small utilitarian ones, French sports cars of the 1950s and early 1960s tended to be small-capacity and highly aerodynamic (often based on Panhard or Renault components), aimed at winning the "Index of Performance" at Le Mans and Reims and triumphing in handicap races. Between the late 1960s and late 1970s, Matra and Renault made significant and successful efforts to win at Le Mans. In Germany, domestic production based racing

5346-623: The IndyCar Series' split from CART in 1996 put more emphasis on ovals regarding domestic open-wheel racing. Also contributing to the decline was the retirement of Mario Andretti from Formula One. It would be over a decade before another American driver would join Formula One, viz. Scott Speed , although Speed was ultimately unsuccessful and eventually joined NASCAR himself. The debut of the SpeedVision television network brought

5445-613: The Jaguar C and D types, the Mercedes 300SLR, Maserati 300S, Aston Martin DBR1 and assorted Ferraris including the first Testa Rossas. Top Grand Prix drivers also competed regularly in sports car racing. After major accidents at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1957 Mille Miglia the power of sports cars was curbed with a 3-litre engine capacity limit applied to them in the World Championship from 1958. From 1962 sports cars temporarily took

5544-420: The LMP1 and LMGT1 categories are dropped. The GTC class is opened to GT3 category cars in addition to Super GT series GT300 teams. All classes follow a "Pro-Am" categorization with each car requiring at least one amateur-rated driver, and each car must have at least one driver of Asian nationality. The season champions of LMP2 and GTC receive an invitation to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans . Michelin

5643-454: The NASCAR-owned Grand Am series. The ALMS has now introduced "GTE-PRO" and "GTE-AM" for endurance races. In 2014, American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series were merged into United SportsCar Championship , with IMSA as its sanctioning body. Fox Sports 1 (successor of Speed Channel) was returned as main broadcaster of the unified series. Daytona Prototype was replaced in 2017 by Daytona Prototype International (DPi), which based on

5742-453: The SCCA's World Challenge, and failing to garner a television contract. A major factor in this is the fact that Trans Am's teams still use vehicles dating back to 1999. In most other series, teams tended to update their vehicles every few years or so (examples include the 2005 vs. 2010 Mustangs in the Continental Challenge and the two different generations of Mazda RX-8 in the Rolex Series). Other television changes include Speed Channel losing

5841-422: The Sports Car Endurance Race Operation (SERO). It too lacked competitors and was canceled after its second season. In 2009, a reborn Asian Le Mans Series held an inaugural event in Okayama , Japan with two 500 km races. A 1000 km race in Zhuhai , China , was held as part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in 2010, and it was also part of the Asian Le Mans Series. At the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans

5940-535: The US sports car scene ( Nissan and Toyota in particular during the heyday of IMSA) and to the European scene, in particular Le Mans, where despite many years of trying by all the main Japanese marques the only victory to have been scored by a Japanese marque was by Mazda in 1991, until 2018 when Toyota scored a first and second-place finish. Toyota followed this with another 1-2 finish in 2019. Powerful prototypes (effectively pure-bred two-seater racing cars with no real link to production vehicles) started to appear as

6039-426: The US, imported Italian, German and British cars battled local hybrids, with initially very distinct East and West Coast scenes; these gradually converged and a number of classic races and important teams emerged including Camoradi , Briggs Cunningham and so on. The US scene tended to feature small MG and Porsche cars in the smaller classes, and imported Jaguar, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Allard and Ferrari cars in

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6138-405: The cars were technically similar to Group Cs but used a sliding scale of weights and engine capacities to try to limit performance. Both Group C and GTP had secondary categories, respectively Group C2 and Camel Lights, for less powerful cars, targeting entries by small specialist constructors or serious amateur teams. The FIA attempted to make Group C into a virtual "two seater Grand Prix" format in

6237-436: The category as well for the first time venturing in the Middle East starting in the 2021 Asian Le Mans Series season with the 4 Hours of Dubai at Dubai Autodrome and 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit . Shanghai International Circuit The Shanghai International Circuit ( simplified Chinese : 上海国际赛车场 ; traditional Chinese : 上海國際賽車場 ; pinyin : Shànghǎi Guójì Sàichēchǎng ), also called

6336-401: The class implies, the exterior of the car closely resembles that of the production version, while the internal fittings may differ greatly. GT2 cars are very similar to the FIA GT2 classification, and are considered 'pure' GT cars; that is production exotic cars with relatively few internal modifications for racing. The Porsche 911 is currently the most popular car in the GT2 class. 2009 will be

6435-446: The course of the category of the Asian Le Mans Series since it was inaugurated in the 2009 1000 km of Okayama race event and after it was revived in 2013, it has held races on 10 different circuit venues across 7 countries. The Series would hold its first race outside the continent of Asia with the 4 Hours of The Bend race at The Bend Motorsport Park in Australia during the 2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series season. It would also hold races in

6534-407: The demise of Group C (where Japan and Germany both had successful series of their own) Japan has largely gone its own way in sports car racing; the Super GT series is for very highly modified production-based cars; although prototypes are slowly returning to Japanese racing in the Japan Le Mans Challenge many of these 'prototypes' are little more than rebodied Formula 3 cars (although there has been

6633-402: The early 1990s, with engine rules in common with F1, short race distances, and a schedule dovetailing with that of the F1 rounds. This drove up costs and drove away entrants and crowds, and by 1993 prototype racing was dead in Europe, with the Peugeot , Jaguar, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz teams all having withdrawn. In an attempt to provide a top-class endurance racing series to replace the WSPC,

6732-459: The facility – a remarkable feat of both engineering and logistics. When it opened, visitors found a vast complex, dominated by the main grandstand and pit complex, which featured wing-like viewing platforms crossing the circuit at either end. This can hold 30,000 spectators alone, and others around the circuit take the total capacity to 200,000. Paddock facilities were also unique – each of the F1 teams had its own building, arranged like pavilions in

6831-419: The first race of the 2014 season at Inje . The ACO further announced that cars running under the GT300 regulations in the Japanese Super GT series would be eligible to enter in the Asian Le Mans Series' GTC class , with organisers from both series working together to create calendars that would allow GT300 teams to compete in both championships. Following the end of the 2014 season, the ACO took over as

6930-399: The former touring car class), and Touring Car (a "showroom stock" class similar to Grand Am's Continental Challenge). The Trans Am series returned in 2009, but has yet to establish a television contract. The 2010s have seen a major overhaul of sports car racing in the United States. The Pirelli World Challenge reformatted in 2010 to have a showroom stock touring car group comparable to that of

7029-438: The four ACO homologated LMP2 chassis made by Dallara , Onroak (Ligier) , Oreca , and Riley - Multimatic , with brand bodywork and homologated engines. Manufacturers are asked to partner with a privateer team, and each car will sport manufacturer bodywork, corresponding to their brand-identity. These rules are made to both control costs and attract manufacturers to the series. In 2018, SRO Motorsports Group has taken over

7128-514: The genre, the category came to be known as Gran Turismo (particularly in the 1950s), as long distances had to be travelled, rather than running around on short circuits only. Reliability and some basic comfort were necessary in order to endure the task. After the Second World War , sports car racing emerged as a distinct form of racing with its own classic races, and, from 1953, its own FIA sanctioned World Sportscar Championship . In

7227-493: 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 racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing , alongside open-wheel racing (such as Formula One , IndyCar Series and Super Formula Championship ), touring car racing (such as the British Touring Car Championship , which

7326-530: The larger classes. A breed of powerful hybrids appeared in the 50s and 60s and raced on both sides of the Atlantic, featuring European chassis and large American engines – from the early Allard cars via hybrids such as Lotus 19s fitted with large engines through to the AC Cobra . The combination of mostly British chassis and American V8 engines gave rise to the popular and spectacular Can-Am series in

7425-499: The last run of the GT1 class as a result of budgeting issues. GT1 teams are currently enlisting to run their cars in the GT2 class next year. The American Le Mans Series also runs a "GT-Challenge" class, which currently only uses Porsche 911 GT3 Cups but will open to other cars next year. This category is designed for privateer and rookie teams as an easier way to enter the series. For 2011,

7524-429: The left-right complex sees a constant G-force of 3 and a minimum speed of about 160 km/h (99 mph). Turns 9 and 10 immediately follow – two slow left-handers which require a good exit to gain speed down the next straight. Turns 11 and 12 effectively make up a slow left-right chicane where the use of kerbs are important but traction is low. Turn 13 is a very long right-hander which becomes less and less tight, and

7623-452: The longest straights on the calendar, the 1.2 km (0.7 mi) stretch that separates turns 13 and 14. The first two bends make a 185 km/h (115 mph) right-hand curve which leads immediately into turns 3 and 4 taken at 105 km/h (65 mph). One and two are far more difficult – a lift on entry followed by various taps of the throttle and brakes are needed so the car maintains balance throughout. It also becomes blind towards

7722-482: The management of Pirelli World Challenge , with USAC as its sanctioning body since 2017. Beginning in 2019, NBC Sports will be replacing Fox Sports as main broadcaster of WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with six-year broadcasting rights. There are many kinds of sports cars that compete, but they can be broadly broken down into two main categories: Sports prototypes and Grand Touring (GT) cars. These two categories (or "classes") are often mixed together in

7821-418: The middle of the corner. Three and four are less complicated, with three being a simple hairpin, but a good exit is needed from four to gain speed down the following straight and through turn 5. The complex of turns 1–4 makes up the first of two "snails" on the circuit, the other being turns 11–13. Turn 6 is a second gear, right-handed hairpin with plentiful run-off. Turns 7 and 8 make up a high speed chicane –

7920-798: The most active prototype category with serious involvement from Porsche and Acura and whereas P2 in Europe tends to involve races of attrition, in the US series the P2s, particularly the Porsche RS Spyder are often quicker round a lap than P1s, with the Porsche having scored many overall victories against the Audis in P1. Prototype rules for 2010 and beyond will encourage production-based engines (GT1 engines in LMP1, GT2 engines in LMP2) and rules to equalise

8019-518: The organizer for the series from the S2M Group. A primary issue that supported the takeover included low car counts for the season which prompted the cancellation of a scheduled round in Thailand and limited the series to grow while only in its second year. Plans for 2015 include a three-race calendar to begin later in the year around September then expand to five rounds in 2016 with the first race in

8118-799: The past, the circuit has hosted the MotoGP world championship, and a one-off V8 Supercars China Round of the Australian-based V8 Supercar championship in 2005 , and also the final round of the A1 Grand Prix in 2006/2007 . In 2011, the Shanghai International Circuit signed a sponsorship deal with Audi and was subsequently named the Shanghai Audi International Circuit and the SAIC International Circuit following

8217-504: The performance of petrol and diesel LMP1s are also being addressed. Daytona Prototypes are a product of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series , and offer a different interpretation of the prototype theme. DPs, as they are often called, are closed-cockpit, purpose-built racing machines which are less expensive and (deliberately) somewhat slower than Le Mans Prototypes, which were becoming dangerously quick on

8316-466: The premier form of "sports car" racing from 1976, with prototypes going into a general decline apart from Porsche 936 domination at Le Mans and a lower-key series of races for smaller two-litre Group 6 prototypes. A peculiarly American form of sports car racing was the Can-Am series, in which virtually unlimited sports prototypes competed in relatively short races. This series ran from 1966 to 1974 and

8415-437: The regulations they are built to, as quick as or quicker than their single-seat counterparts. Although not widely known, sports-prototypes (along with Formula 1 cars) are responsible for introducing the most numbers of new technologies and ideas to motorsport, including rear-wings, ground effect 'venturi' tunnels, fan-assisted aerodynamics and dual-shift gearboxes. Some of these technologies eventually filter down to road cars. In

8514-471: The rights to almost every series. The World Challenge was transferred to Versus, while the ALMS was transferred to an ESPN/ABC partnership. ALMS races are shown live online with a telecast the following day (although Speed still has the rights to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is still televised live). For 2012, some races will be televised live. Speed, having a partnership with NASCAR, still has exclusive rights to

8613-581: The second seat. During the later 1930s, French constructors, unable to keep up with the progress of the Mercedes-Benz and Auto-Union cars in GP racing, withdrew into primarily domestic competition with large-capacity sports cars – marques such as Delahaye , Talbot and the later Bugattis were locally prominent. Similarly, through the 1920s and 1930s the road-going sports/GT car started to emerge as distinct from fast tourers (Le Mans had originally been

8712-513: The series starting in the 2021 season. The calendar would also return to an annual format instead of spanning two calendar years since back in the 2015-16 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic . In the 2023 season of the Asian Le Mans Series, a bronze pro-am rated driver would be mandatory in each class for the first time. Therefore the LMP2 Am & GT Am Classes would officially be dropped. The 2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series season began with

8811-625: The spring. One round will be held on the same weekend as the FIA World Endurance Championship , similar to the double-headers it shares with the European Le Mans Series and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship . Class structure will remain unchanged. In October 2016, the Asian Le Mans Series announced a partnership with the GT Asia Series . It includes a new Michelin Asia GT Challenge, which

8910-453: The world stage. Road races such as the Mille Miglia included everything from stock touring cars to World Championship contenders. The Mille Miglia was the largest sporting event in Italy until a fatal accident caused its demise in 1957. The Targa Florio , another tough road race, remained part of the world championship until the 1970s and remained as a local race for many years afterwards. As

9009-558: Was a grand tourer championship in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the predecessor to today's Super GT series. Plans for a new endurance championship were initially conceived by Don Panoz and backed by the ACO in 2000 with plans for an Asian-Pacific Le Mans Series, modeled after his American Le Mans Series and planned European Le Mans Series for 2001. Two previews of this event were held. The 1999 Le Mans Fuji 1000km at

9108-556: Was added. Initially, this format was only to be used in endurance races, but was eventually applied to all races. For 2012, only a handful of LMPs are being entered, with almost all of them being powered by Japanese manufacturers ( Nissan , Honda , etc.). The British manufacturer Morgan has entered a Judd -powered LMP. Aston Martin Racing , who for several years had entered an LMP, has returned to GT for 2012. The reformatted Trans-Am Series remained stagnant, being heavily overshadowed by

9207-609: Was an expansion of the USRRC that conformed to FIA Group 7 rules. The original Can-Am fell victim to rising costs and the energy crisis . The ACO, organisers of the Le Mans 24 Hours, attempted to come up with a formula that would encourage more prototypes back to the race but would also be relatively economical – their Grand Touring Prototype rules in the late 1970s, based on fuel consumption rules, gave rise to two different varieties of sports car racing that were widely held to be

9306-468: Was back. In the 2018–19 season the new LMP2 cars homologated after the ACO's 2017 regulations were eligible for the LMP2 class and the earlier LMP2 cars were eligible for the new LMP2 Am class. The GT Cup class would be dropped in the 2019–20 season. ACO 's Generation II 2020 Regulation Built LMP3 Cars from manufacturers such as Ligier , ADESS , Ginetta & Duqueine Engineering were now eligible in

9405-621: Was cancelled by the ACO due to economic circumstances. The winning teams in each of the four categories ( LMP1, LMP2 , GT1 and GT2 ) earned automatic invitations to the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans . The series was relaunched for the 2013 season with an announcement at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans . Following the end of the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship (JSPC) in 1992 there was no major endurance series involving sports prototypes in Asia, although there

9504-453: Was introduced as a trophy to gentleman drivers and teams that competed from Lamborghini Super Trofeo , Porsche Carrera Cup Asia , Ferrari Challenge Asia-Pacific , Audi R8 LMS Cup Asia , and Lotus Cup Asia. The class was renamed GT Am the following season. For the 2014 season, Group CN was admitted into the series replacing the entry-less LMPC class from 2013. The grand tourer classes including LM GTE , GTC, and Super GT300 were merged into

9603-526: Was largely dominated by BMW , Porsche and Mercedes-Benz , although sports car/GT racing gradually became eclipsed by touring cars and the initially sports car based Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft gradually evolved into the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft . Porsche started to evolve a line of sports prototypes from the late 1950s; noted for their toughness and reliability they started to win in races of attrition such as

9702-467: Was not born until the first 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1923 , and while as a joint-creator of that race he may have been prejudiced in his opinion, it is certainly true that sports-car racing as it was known after 1919 did not exist before the First World War." In the 1920s, the cars used in endurance racing and Grand Prix were still basically identical, with fenders and two seats, to carry

9801-657: Was seen in Formula 1. Homologation saw many out-and-out racing cars produced in sufficient quantities to see them classed as production vehicles; the FIA responded by placing more restrictions on even the allegedly production-based cars and placed draconian limits on the power available to prototypes – these prototypes of the late 1960s/early 1970s were comfortably quicker than contemporary Grand Prix machinery and for 1972 they were constrained to run much smaller engines to F1 rules, often de-tuned for endurance. Group 4 Grand Touring Cars and Group 5 Special Production Cars became

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