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76-557: The World Sportscar Championship was the world endurance racing series run for sports car racing , sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 to 1992 . The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance , and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid to a professional racing series where

152-455: A distance of 10,739 kilometres (6,673 mi) with a winning time of 70 hours over 20 days with three classes of cars, motorbikes, and trucks. The 1992 Paris–Cape Town Rally covered a distance of 12,427 km. The 1994 edition saw competitors return to Paris, for a distance of 13,379 km. The Expedition Trophy , first held in 2005, runs from Murmansk to Vladivostok, for a total distance of 12,500 km. The 1908 New York to Paris Race covered

228-515: A distance of over 16,000 km, taking 169 days from February 12 to July 30. In the beginning of formalised endurance racing, the races tended to be for sports cars while the Grand Prix cars of the era began to evolve into the open wheel racing cars of today and ran over shorter distances. Over time sports cars began to evolve away from their roots as a production based alternative to pure-bred racing machines of Grand Prix cars, which led to

304-725: A loop race starting and finishing in Ensenada. The Intercontinental GT Challenge is world sports car racing endurance series run by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation , like the GTWCEEC. Its rule set is similar to GTWCEEC, although it is centred on internationally renowned endurance races that are often part of multiple championships, such as the Bathurst 12 Hours and the Nürburgring 24 Hours , which belong to

380-548: A real-time simulation of 24 hour events. In the 2018 stealth video game Hitman 2 , a level takes place amidst an endurance race in Miami, Florida , with a target being a racer in the event. In the early days of endurance racing cars and motorcycles raced side by side, but the two were soon separated. The most notable motorcycle endurance race was the Bol d'Or , first run on the circuit of Vaujours , near Paris in 1922. Only one rider

456-669: A win. At the end of the 1970 season, Ferrari had won the 12 hours of Sebring , while the Porsche 917 and 908 took the remaining nine wins of the championship season. At Le Mans , the Ferrari suffered from reliability problems, although it was considered to be equally fast to the 917. Four 512s were entered by Ferrari for that race, but the Vaccarella/Giunti car was out after seven laps, the Merzario/Regazzoni car

532-579: Is of greater importance than all out speed. As well as the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race for automobiles there is also a 24 hours event for karts which takes place at the kart circuit Alain Prost at Le Mans, France. This race has taken place since 1986 and its winners list include four times Champ Car champion Sébastien Bourdais (in 1996). 24 Heures Motonautiques de Rouen - take place on the Seine River Ferrari 512 Ferrari 512 S

608-408: Is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world. The race was founded by Ed Pearlman in 1967 and is sanctioned by SCORE International . The Baja 1000 allows various types of vehicles and classes to compete on the same course at the same time. The course has remained relatively the same over the years, with about every event being either a point-to-point race from Ensenada to La Paz , or

684-512: Is related to the former Japan Le Mans Challenge that turned into the older Asian Le Mans Series (which was cancelled after one season). The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (GTWCEEC) is a European sports car racing endurance series run by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation . It is similar to the ELMS, but only uses performance-balanced GT3 cars instead of prototypes and holds generally shorter races, although some races are exceptions, such as

760-493: The 1970 International Championship for Makes , as Ferrari had abandoned sports car racing after 1967, save for few entries in 1969. Clay Regazzoni and Jacky Ickx , who had returned from Brabham , were Ferrari's F1 men for 1970, but as endurance racing typically requires two drivers per car, at least six more drivers were needed to enter four cars, to match the four or more Porsche factory-backed entries. Also, Alfa entered factory prototype cars, and competed for drivers. Starting

836-486: The 1971 International Championship for Makes , the factory focused on the new Ferrari 312 PB and abandoned the 512 which was only entered by privateers. From 1972 onwards, the 512 (as the 917) was withdrawn from the world championship following a change in the regulations; some 512s in private hands went on to compete in the CanAm and Interserie races. In the mid 1970s, Ferrari had competed in sports prototype racing with

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912-586: The 1978 - 1981 seasons) and Grand Touring (GT) (except of the 1953 - 1961 and 1982 seasons). In 1985 - 1992 seasons titles were awarded only to teams entering sports prototypes (instead of manufacturers of sports prototypes), excluding teams entering GT cars. In 1962 - 1967 seasons titles in both categories were awarded in several engine capacity divisions . In 1962 - 1963 seasons titles were also awarded in three engine capacity subdivisions (or series ) within each division of GT cars category. Key: Winning manufacturer = The company that owned

988-741: The 24 Hours of Le Mans , the 12 Hours of Sebring , the Tourist Trophy and Nurburgring 1000 km. Manufacturers such as Ferrari , Maserati , Mercedes-Benz , Porsche , and Aston Martin fielded entries, often featuring professional racing drivers with experience in Formula One , but the majority of the fields were made up of gentleman drivers ( privateers ) in the likes of Nardis and Bandinis . Cars were split into Sports Car and GT (production car) categories and were further divided into engine displacement classes. The Ferrari and Maserati works teams were fierce competitors throughout much of

1064-503: The 24 Hours of Spa , which the series is centred on. One of the key emphases of the series is being friendly for amateur and gentlemen drivers, and there are numerous non-pro classes in addition to the premier GT3 Pro class. The series began in 2011 and saw increased involvement in 2012 and 2013 . The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport endurance race held on the Baja California Peninsula . It

1140-508: The BMW M1 engine or the new Cosworth DFL , but, like in the main class, a variety of solutions were employed by each individual manufacturer. Alba , Tiga , Spice and Ecurie Ecosse were among the most competitive in this class. While the Group C formula had brought manufacturers back to the sport, it was again Porsche - with its 956 & 962 Group C line - that continued their domination of

1216-580: The Ferrari P series of cars, been regularly defeated by the Ford GT40 , which used a 7.0-litre engine. For 1968, the rules were changed limiting Group 6 prototypes to a maximum engine capacity of 3.0 litres, as in Formula One. Despite having a suitable engine, Ferrari sat out the 1968 season, to return in 1969 with the Ferrari 312 P . In that year, Porsche had taken full advantage of a loop hole with

1292-537: The GT World Challenge Australia and Nurburgring Langstrecken-Serie championships respectively. Endurance motor racing has proven a popular subject for depiction in video games, and on film. The Lee H. Katzin film Le Mans , starring Steve McQueen , used real race footage, and enjoys cult status. The 1986 arcade game WEC Le Mans was the first to portray endurance racing in a videogame, while Gran Turismo 4 and 5 extended this to

1368-555: The Porsche 917 , making the risky investment of building 25 examples of a five-litre car to allow homologation into the FIA 's Group 5 sports car category. Selling half of his business to Fiat , Enzo Ferrari raised the funds to match that investment. Surplus cars were intended to be sold to racing customers, which meant that several dozen high powered sports cars were available, and with each requiring two drivers in an endurance race, there

1444-627: The World Championship for Sports Cars , but this was to last only for two seasons (1976–1977). In 1981, the FIA instituted a drivers championship. In 1982, the FIA attempted to counter a worrying climb in engine output of the Group 5 Special Production Cars by introducing Group C , a new category for closed sports-prototypes (purpose built racing cars) that limited fuel consumption (the theory being that by limiting fuel consumption, engine regulations could be more relaxed). While this change

1520-464: The 1022, bought by the last team, was destroyed at the 24 Hours of Daytona , they would use the 1032. During the 1970 race season several other Ferraris 512 Ss were destroyed. That was the case with the 1012 spyder after its crash at practice for the ADAC 1000km Nürburgring . Car number 1026, having been raced as factory car No. 7 by Derek Bell and Ronnie Peterson at the 1970 Le Mans 24 hours ,

1596-491: The 25 cars manufactured for the 1970 season were not raced that year. Number 1020 was converted to 512 M specifications at the end of the season and sold to NART, which entered it in competition in 1971. Number 1024 remained unsold in 1970, was transformed into a 512 M and sold one year later to the Scuderia Brescia Corse. Car number 1036 was used as test car by the racing division of Ferrari; later it

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1672-624: The ACO launched their own international championship, the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup , the same year. Following the success of the ACO's Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC), the FIA reached an agreement with the ACO to create a new FIA World Endurance Championship for 2012. The series shares many elements of the ILMC, including the use of the 24 Hours of Le Mans as part of the series schedule. The series continued to utilise

1748-771: The ACO's two primary classes, Le Mans Prototypes and GT Endurance (GTE). Hypercar replaced LMP1 as the primary class in 2021, running LMH and LMDh cars, the same as used in the IMSA Sportscar Championship's top class GTP . Championship titles are awarded for constructors and drivers in prototypes, while a constructors cup are awarded in the GTE categories. From 2017 championship titles are awarded also for constructors and drivers in GTE category. LMGT3 replaced GTE in 2024. Note: In 1953 - 1984 seasons titles were awarded to manufacturers of sports cars belonging to two main categories: Sports prototype (except of

1824-484: The FIA's newly renamed World Championship for Makes from 1972 to 1975. From 1976 to 1981 the World Championship for Makes was open to Group 5 Special Production Cars and other production based categories including Group 4 Grand Touring cars and it was during this period that the nearly-invincible Porsche 935 dominated the championship. Prototypes returned in 1976 as Group 6 cars with their own series,

1900-615: The Ferrari 512 S and Porsche 917 seemed fairly evenly matched. At the beginning of 1970 the Ferrari 512s were hampered by predictable early problems, including a weak suspension and transmission problems, but the fact that Porsche already had six months of equally mixed experiences with its 917 in 1969 would be decisive for the rest of the season. Contrary to Porsche, Ferrari did not organise an intramural competition. At Porsche, JWA Gulf , KG Porsche Salzburg, and later Martini Racing all received direct factory support. Thus, at least four cars were real works cars, without putting strain on

1976-566: The Ford's won four years in a row, in what is now considered the Golden Age of sports car racing. In 1972 the Group 6 Prototype and Group 5 Sports Car classes were both replaced by a new Group 5 Sports Car class. These cars were limited to 3.0 L engines by the FIA, and manufacturers gradually lost interest. The new Group 5 Sports Cars, together with Group 4 Grand Touring Cars, would contest

2052-795: The International Sports Racing Series which evolved into the short-lived FIA Sportscar Championship in 2001 until 2003. Sports prototypes then came exclusively under the control of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and their sanctioned series, the American Le Mans Series in North America and the Le Mans Series in Europe. The FIA's championship for GTs was eventually promoted to world championship status in 2010 , while

2128-469: The Porsche drivers. Vaccarella was "the man of the rocky mountains" at the Targa Florio and Schetty was the specialist of hillclimbing racing where Porsche was also a dominant factor. Derek Bell and Jackie Oliver were also unavailable at most endurance races, since they drove F1 for Brabham and BRM . John Surtees , who had quit Ferrari in 1966 after an argument with Eugenio Dragoni, returned for

2204-650: The Targa Florio near Palermo , Sicilia, running four or five laps, 108 km each. The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race founded in 1906- the track length of the last decades was limited to the 72 kilometres of the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, which was lapped 11 times. The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy 24 times from 1927 to 1957. The world's first organized 24-hour automobile race event

2280-524: The WSCC and ELMS/AsLMS below. The series features both Le Mans Prototypes and GT cars. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is included as a feature race, while the other races are 6 hours long and take place in countries all over the world such as Bahrain, Brazil, Japan, and the United States. The WEC is considered a revival of the defunct World Sportscar Championship which ended in 1992. An early championship

2356-496: The World Endurance Championship in 2012, the series has dropped LMP1 and now features LMP2 as its premier category, in addition to LMP3 and GT categories. The Asian Le Mans Series (AsLMS) is an Asian sports car racing series run by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). It uses the same car categories and regulations as the ELMS, and also provides automatic entries to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The series

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2432-542: The World Sportscar Championship. In 1982, the race was dropped as the series attempted to cut costs by both keeping teams in Europe and running shorter races. Among others, the following races also counted towards the championships in certain years: In the early years, now legendary races such as the Mille Miglia , Carrera Panamericana and Targa Florio were part of the calendar, alongside

2508-525: The championship (as Group C Category 2 cars) during the one transitional year. They were however seriously handicapped in terms of weight, fuel allocation and grid positions. For 1991 the championship took on yet another new name, the FIA Sportscar World Championship and the new 3.5 litre rules took full effect for the 1992 championship with the old Group C cars no longer included. The new generation of WSC racing engines, with

2584-515: The championship, which now had about 15 races per season. The famous races like Le Mans still counted towards the prototype championship, however, the points valuation wasn't very tabular so the FIA returned to the original form of the championship with about 6 to 10 races. For 1963 the three engine capacity classes remained but a prototype category was added. For 1965 the engine classes became for cars under 1300 cc (Class I), under 2000 cc (Class II), and over 2000 cc (Class III). Class III

2660-539: The class (and European GT racing altogether) disappeared from the series, with sports-prototypes dominating the championship. Porsche was the first constructor to join the series, with the 956 , but soon several other makes joined the series, including Jaguar Cars , Mercedes-Benz , Nissan , Toyota , Mazda and Aston Martin . As costs increased, a C2 class (originally named C Junior) was created for privateer teams and small manufacturers, with greater limits to fuel consumption. In this lower class, most cars used either

2736-446: The creation of GT and touring car racing classes, and these classes continued to embrace the endurance format. Multiple drivers per car was an early adaptation as the rigors of endurance racing quickly overcome the abilities of most racing drivers to compete solo, although solo attempts on 24 hour races like Le Mans would continue into the 1950s. The various endurance formats were appealing to manufacturers, not only as alternatives to

2812-572: The decade, but although Maserati cars won many races the make never managed to clinch the World title. The Mercedes-Benz work team pulled out of the championship after 1955 due to their crash at Le Mans , while the small Aston Martin factory team struggled to find success in 1957 and 1958 until it managed to win the championship in 1959. Notably absent from the overall results were the Jaguar works team, who did not enter any events other than Le Mans, despite

2888-517: The establishment of several endurance racing series — thereby giving teams the opportunity of running their cars in Championship events throughout the year. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an international sports car racing series organized by both the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It supeceded the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup , run in 2010 and 2011, and uses similar rules to

2964-537: The expense of Grand Prix racing, but also because of its increased relevance to road going models. In automobile endurance racing, three events have come to form a Triple Crown. They are considered three of the most challenging endurance races over the decades: the 24 Hours of Daytona , 12 Hours of Sebring , and 24 Hours of Le Mans . Strong spectator figures, media interest and television coverage of endurance racing's Triple Crown events ( 24 Hours of Daytona , 12 Hours of Sebring , and 24 Hours of Le Mans ) has led to

3040-413: The factory itself, as personnel and funds were provided by these professional teams. And even the privateers like AAW Shell Racing and David Piper Racing received much better support than Ferrari's clients. Ferrari did not adopt this modern scheme, but entered cars themselves in the traditional manner, as "Spa Ferrari SEFAC ". Having only a few Formula One drivers under contract in the previous years, with

3116-626: The factory with an engine built for racing. The first 24-hour race to take place at a dedicated motorsport venue was at Brooklands in England, eleven days after its opening in 1907. This incurred the wrath of local residents and would lead to the Double Twelve race. This format meant the race took place for 12 hours each between 8 am to 8 pm and between it, the cars were locked up overnight to prevent maintenance work from being performed on them. The 2001 Dakar Rally saw competitors cover

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3192-761: The inaugural FIM Endurance Cup initially made up of four races, the Thruxton 500 , Montjuich , Warsage , and the Bol d'Or . The popularity of motorcycle endurance racing increased in the 1970s with the arrival of four-cylinder machines from Japan. In 1976 the FIM Endurance Cup became the European Championship and in 1980 a World Championship . Motorcycle endurance classics: Endurance races last for an extended period, ranging from 30 minutes up to 24 hours or more, for one or more drivers. In general, consistency, reliability, and pit strategy

3268-471: The intellectual rights to the chassis and the engine of the car that a team entered for a race.;  Winning team = The company that registered a car and driver for a race, and was then responsible for preparing and maintaining that car during the race weekend.;  SP = Sports prototypes .;  SP Jnr = Sports prototypes built by small manufacturers or entered by privateer teams .;  GT = GT cars . Endurance racing (motorsport) One of

3344-522: The loop hole for the five litre sports cars became obsolete after 1971, Ferrari decided to abandon factory entries of the 512 in favor of developing a new three litre prototype, the 312 PB . In 1971, Penske entered an improved 512 M (No. 1040) in Sunoco livery which was able to challenge the 917, taking pole position several times. Just in time for the 24h of Daytona, Ferrari in January 1970 presented

3420-634: The manufacturers left the top class of sportscar racing, the series essentially collapsed. A lack of entries meant the 1993 season was cancelled before the first race. In 1994, the World Sportscar title would return, this time in the hands of the International Motor Sports Association in North America for use in the IMSA GT series. The name would be used for the series' top class of prototypes until 1998 when

3496-440: The more common lengths of endurance races can be running for 500 kilometres (310 mi), or roughly 3 hours, or 1,000 kilometres (620 mi), or roughly 6 hours. Longer races can run for 1,000 miles (1,600 km), 12 hours, or even 24 hours. Teams can consist of anywhere from two to four drivers per event, which is dependent on the driver's endurance abilities, length of the race, or even the rules for each event. Coppa Florio

3572-529: The new name as the FIA World Endurance Championship . The series was known under different names throughout the years: Titles were given to manufacturers from 1953 to 1984 and to teams from 1985 to 1992. The most famous event was the 24 Hours of Le Mans which was the part of the championship in every season except of the 1956 , 1975 – 79 and 1989 – 90 seasons. The 24 Hours of Daytona followed near-continuous inclusion on

3648-454: The old European Le Mans Series which was created by IMSA and the ACO, but only ran in 2001. LMS champions and runners-up in all four categories receive an automatic entry to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. All races used to be 6 hours long, but the format was changed to 3 hours in 2013 to differentiate it further from the WEC; currently, it has been reextended to 4 hours. With the debut of

3724-519: The points tally of late Jochen Rindt , who had a fatal accident during practice for the 1970 Italian Grand Prix . Of the 12 works racers on Ferrari 512 S in 1970, nine are still alive. Ignazio Giunti was killed in Buenos Aires in January 1971, driving the brand new Ferrari 312PB. He was leading the 1971 1000 km Buenos Aires race when he collided with the Matra which Jean-Pierre Beltoise

3800-603: The potential of the C- and D-Types . In 1962, the calendar was expanded to include smaller races, while the FIA shifted the focus to production based GT cars. The World Sportscar Championship title was discontinued, being replaced by the International Championship for GT Manufacturers . They group cars into three categories with specific engine sizes; less than one litre, less than two litres, and over two litres. Hillclimbs , sprint races and smaller races expanded

3876-473: The races in Monza , Spa and at the Nürburgring . Whilst JWA Gulf, KG Salzburg and Martini Racing could count on stable pairings for the whole season, Ferrari's race director Mauro Forghieri had to change his pairings over and over. Eventually his top racer Mario Andretti could only be present for the three American rounds (Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen ). In total 12 different drivers were seen in 1970 at

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3952-467: The required number of 25 512 S, as 17 complete cars and eight assembly kits, to the homologation authorities. Of those cars, fitted with the traditional even chassis numbers, ranging from 1002 to 1050, 19 were raced in 1970, five of them being spyders . Unlike Porsche, which built over 50 917s in total, Ferrari could not sell off all surplus cars. The only 512 chassis winning major races in 1970 were Nos. 1026 (Sebring) and 1010 (Kyalami). A number of

4028-462: The same heavy testing duties as most other F1 racers), who all could drive, for example, the ultra-fast Spa-Francorchamps in a 917K just as competently as they could drive the twisty, winding Targa Florio course in a 908/03. Ferrari only entered one car in the Targa Florio, driven by Giunti and Vaccarella, whereas Porsche entered 4 cars in the event and won it easily. Although all of the Ferrari drivers were just as capable, they were not as available as

4104-728: The season, former Ferrari works driver Pedro Rodríguez had been lost to Porsche's JWA Gulf Racing of John Wyer , and to BRM in F1, while another former works racer, Chris Amon was now involved in F1 with March , just like Mario Andretti . It was scheduled that Regazzoni, Ickx, Ignazio Giunti , Peter Schetty, Nino Vaccarella and Arturo Merzario should race as many rounds as possible. Only Vaccarella and Schetty were free from F1 obligations. Although fast, they were not such typical all-rounders as Jo Siffert , Brian Redman , Vic Elford , Hans Herrmann and Pedro Rodriguez (of them Siffert raced in F1 for March and Rodriguez raced F1 for BRM, but had not

4180-547: The series ended. 1994 also signaled the return of an international GT series after an absence of over a decade with the introduction of the BPR Global GT Series . The success of the series lead to a friendly takeover by the FIA in 1997, becoming the FIA GT Championship . Prototypes were mainly absent from European tracks (Le Mans being the sole notable exception) until 1997, which saw the creation of

4256-426: The series in the '70s and early '80s. In addition, most races ran for either 500 or 1000 km, usually going over three and six hours, respectively, so it was possible to emphasize the "endurance" aspect of the competition as well. Group B cars, which was a GT class, were also allowed to race, but entries in this class were sparse; combined with fatal accidents in rallying where the Group B class saw more popularity,

4332-669: The sport. For 1986, the World Endurance Championship became the World Sports-Prototype Championship . Although the Group C formula was a success, with regular crowds of 50,000 to 70,000 at WSC events (a modern Grand Prix in Europe will have similar crowds), and upwards of 350,000 at the 24 hours of Le Mans, the FIA introduced new rules for 1991 at the behest of FIA vice president Bernie Ecclestone; 750 kg machines with contemporary normally aspirated engines, which were purpose-built 3500cc racing units. The new classification, known as Group C Category 1 ,

4408-414: The sports car aces driving for Porsche, Ferrari could barely find qualified drivers for its entries. Besides the factory cars, there were the private cars of Scuderia Filipinetti , NART , Écurie Francorchamps , Scuderia Picchio Rosso, Gelo Racing Team and Escuderia Montjuich. Those private cars never received the same support from the factory. They were considered as field fillers, never as candidates for

4484-521: The stated intent of cost reduction and improved competition, quickly proved highly suspect. Costs rose massively as works teams developed cars capable of qualifying around halfway up a Formula 1 grid, despite weighing some 200 kg more. Manufacturers again abandoned the sportscar series, realising they now had an engine suitable for F1. In particular, Mercedes and Peugeot elected to either concentrate on or move solely to F1. The more exotic engines were unaffordable for teams like Spice and ADA , thus after

4560-403: The unique Daytona Prototypes and Daytona-spec GT cars. The series is considered to be the successor of the defunct IMSA GT Championship as well as the American Le Mans Series and Rolex Sports Car Series that merged to form it. The European Le Mans Series (ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series run by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The ELMS is seen as a rebirth of

4636-468: The wheel of a factory 512 S . Of them the promising Ignazio Giunti did nine of the ten rounds, being only absent at the BOAC 1000 km. Merzario and Vaccarella made seven entries, Ickx and Schetty six of the ten. Only Vaccarella and Surtees were 35 years old or older. Except for Clay Regazzoni (31), all others were younger than 30 years, with Ickx (25), Peterson (26), Merzario (27) and Bell (28). Peterson

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4712-575: The world's largest automakers spent millions of dollars per year. The official name of the series frequently changed throughout the years but was generally known as the World Sportscar Championship from its inception in 1953. Alongside the Formula One World Championship , it was one of the two major World Championships in circuit motor racing. The championship was revived in the 2012 season under

4788-436: Was a sports prototype car produced by Italian manufacturer Ferrari from 1969 to 1970. As it name suggests, the car had a 5.0L V12 engine. A total 25 units were built. The car entered in the 1970 International Championship for Makes by the factory Scuderia Ferrari and private teams. Later that year, modified versions resembling their main competitor, the Porsche 917 , were called Ferrari 512 M (for modificata ). In

4864-431: Was a shortage of experienced pilots. The engine of the 512 S was a completely new 60° V12 with 560 PS (412 kW) output. Compared to Porsche's air-cooled flat-12, it needed a maze of cooling pipes and a heavy radiator. Since the chassis was of steel, reinforced with aluminium sheet, weight was 100 kg more than that of the alloy-framed 917. Notwithstanding the weight difference and higher center of gravity,

4940-596: Was an Italian car race started in 1900, and renamed in 1905 when Vincenzo Florio offered the initial 50 000 Lira and a cup designed by Polak of Paris. The Brescia race visited the route Brescia-Cremona-Mantova-Brescia. In 1908, the race used the Circuito di Bologna: Bologna-Castelfranco Emilia-Sant'Agata Bolognese-San Giovanni in Persiceto-Bologna. Since 1914 most of the Coppa Florio was co-organized with

5016-534: Was designed to attract more American manufacturers, with no upper limit on engine displacement. The period between 1966 and 1971 was possibly the most successful era of the World Championship, with S (5 L sports cars ) and P (3 L prototypes) classes, and cars such as the Ferrari 512S , Ferrari 330 P4 , Ford GT40 , Lola T70 , Chaparral , Alfa Romeo 33 , and Porsche 's 908 , 917 battled for supremacy on classic circuits such as Sebring , Nürburgring , Spa-Francorchamps , Monza , Targa Florio , and Le Mans where

5092-441: Was designed to mandate Formula One engines. Although power was generally less than existing Group C cars (around 650 bhp compared to around 750 bhp upwards) the new cars are considered to be among the quickest sportscars ever. However, the take up of these new regulations was slow and only a handful of Category 1 cars were ready for the 1991 season. Consequently, the FIA also allowed cars complying with pre-1991 Group C rules to contest

5168-526: Was destroyed at the hands of Derek Bell during the Le Mans film productioin. Chassis number 1032 was subject of controversy in the 1980s, and even Christie's was involved. On the reconversion of the 1032 into a 512 M parts were used to rebuild it on the 1050 chassis. Compared to Porsche which since the mid-1960s strived to align the top sports car drivers of that era, Ferrari's Mauro Forghieri could not count exclusively on top racers in their quest to win

5244-540: Was held on a 1-mile oval track at Driving Park , Columbus, Ohio on July 3–4, 1905. Beginning on the afternoon of July 3, four cars from Frayer-Miller , Pope-Toledo , Peerless and White Steamer raced for a $ 500 silver trophy. The winning Pope-Toledo car covered 828.5 miles. A protest was filed by the Frayer-Miller and Peerless teams, alleging the Pope-Toledo was not owned by the driver, instead sent from

5320-540: Was not raced in 1970. Car number 1050 was sold to Corrado Manfredini (but only as chassis plus body); after it was combined with parts of Nos. 1022 and 1032, it was transformed into a 512 M and campaigned in 1971. In total, the factory team used nine cars for international endurance racing. The Scuderia Filipinetti (Switzerland, Herbert Müller ) and NART raced two cars each. Écurie Francorchamps (Belgian importer of Ferrari), Escuderia Montjuich (Spain), Gelo Racing Team (Germany) and Picchio Rosso raced one car each. After

5396-474: Was only hired for Le Mans, a serious mistake by Forghieri who should have offered him a full year contract. Another handicap for Ferrari was its full season commitment to F1 racing, so that the 512 S cars did not receive full technical help at all times. Ickx finished second in the F1 World Championship and won three races, while Regazzoni finished third and won once. Both failed to surpass

5472-688: Was out after 38 laps and the Bell/Peterson car was out a lap later, and about five hours later the Ickx/Schetty car was out after 142 laps. For speed tracks such as Le Mans, Spa, Monza and the Osterrichring, an extra rear body panel designed to suit the 512 better was fitted on the car. The modified 512 M had proven to be fast at the end of the season, and Ickx/Giunti also won the Kyalami non-championship Springbok nine-hours race. As

5548-544: Was permitted per bike and there was no stopping other than for refuelling. Motorcycle endurance racing began to expand after the second World War as new races began to emerge, among them the 24 Hour Race in Warsage , Belgium in 1951, the 24 Hours of Montjuïc in Barcelona in 1957, 24 hours in Monza , Italy in 1959, and the Thruxton 500 mile endurance race at Thruxton , Hampshire , England in 1960. 1960 also saw

5624-538: Was sold to Solar Productions for Steve McQueen 's Le Mans , also known as French Kiss with Death . Lastly, number 1036 was converted to an open-top version and raced in Can-Am in 1974. Car 1040, sold to Chris Cord and Steve Earle, was entered in 1971 by Penske at Daytona, Sebring, Le Mans and Watkins Glen, setting the pole positions at the American tracks. Number 1048 was sold as a test car to Scuderia Filipinetti and

5700-648: Was the Australian Endurance Championship , held since 1981. The WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (WSCC) is a US sports car racing series organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The season begins with the 24 Hours of Daytona , traditionally held in the last weekend of January or the first weekend of February. There then follows a further 12 races, including the famed 12 Hours of Sebring , 6 Hours of Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans . The WSCC includes Le Mans Prototypes and Le Mans-spec GT cars and formerly featured

5776-474: Was unwelcome amongst some of the private teams, manufacturer support for the new regulations was immense. Several of the 'old guard' manufacturers returned to the WSC within the next two years, with each marque adding to the diversity of the series. Under the new rules, it was theoretically possible for normally aspirated engines to compete with the (expensive to maintain) forced induction engines that had dominated

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