Sports car racing: Difference between revisions

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The [[12 Hours of Sebring]], [[24 Hours of Daytona]], and 24 Hours of Le Mans have in the past been considered the [[trifectaEndurance_racing_(motorsport)#Triple_Crown|Triple Crown]] of sports[[Endurance_racing_(motorsport)#Automobile_endurance_racing|endurance car racing]].

According to historian [[Richard Hough]], "It is obviously impossible to distinguish between the designers of [[sports car]]s and [[Grand Prix motor racing|Grand Prix]] machines during the pre-1914 period. The late [[Georges Faroux]] contended that sports-car racing was not born until the [[24 Hours of Le Mans|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."<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=A History of the World's Sports Cars|last=Hough|first=Richard Alexander|publisher=London - George Allen and Unwin Ltd|publication-place=London|year=1961|pages=23|oclc=907907085}}</ref>[[File:NW Rennzweier 1.jpg|thumb|right|1900 [[NW Rennzweier]] (''The Double Racer'')]]

In the 1920s, the cars used in [[Endurance racing (motorsport)|endurance racing]] and [[Grand Prix motor racing|Grand Prix]] were still basically identical, with fenders and two seats, to carry 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 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&nbsp;– marques such as [[Delahaye]], [[Talbot]] and the later Bugattis were locally prominent.

[[File:Jaguar XKD 606 1956.jpg|thumb|The [[1957 24 Hours of Le Mans]] was won in a [[Jaguar XKD]].]]

In Europe, the FIA adopted the ACO GTP rules virtually unchanged and sanctioned the [[Group C]] [[World Sportscar Championship|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 [[International Motor Sports Association|IMSA]] [[IMSA GT Championship|Camel GTP]] series boasted close competition between huge fields of manufacturer-backed teams and privateer squads&nbsp;– 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.

[[Daytona Prototype]]s are a product of the [[Grand-Am Road Racing|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 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 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 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 Cars|Lola]] and [[Dallara]] entering the 2008 series by taking over the rights of existing constructors (Multimatic and Doran respectively).

*[[Porsche Supercup]]&nbsp;– One-make series for Porsche Carrera Cup cars, serving as a support series for the Formula One world championship. PredominatelyPredominantly European series, but has since also ventured into western Asia.

*[[24H Series|24H Series&nbsp;–]] Endurance series for GT and Touring cars. PredominatelyPredominantly races in Europe and the Middle eastEast, but has also gone to the United States.

*[[American Le Mans Series]]&nbsp;– Based on the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Run in the United States and Canada, although held events elsewhere, as far away as Australia. Emerged from the IMSA GT split, and essentially replaced IMSA GT. LastedIt lasted from 1999 to 2013 and merged into the United SportCar Championship.

*[[WeatherTech SportsCar Championship]] - {{dash}}the current top-level North American sports car and GT series, founded following the merger of the [[Rolex Sports Car Series]] and the [[American Le Mans Series]], with the first season held in 2014.

*[[GT World Challenge Asia]]&nbsp;– Asian GT3 Championship founded in 2009, that replaced the [[Asia GT Challenge]] and [[GT Asia]].

* [[Denis Jenkinson]], "Automobile Year Book of Sports Car Racing" (photographic history of sports car racing from the early 1950s to the 1970s).

* [[John Wyer]], "The Certain Sound"&nbsp;– memoirs of Aston Martin and Ford GT40 team manager.

* Brooklands Books, "Le Mans"&nbsp;– 5 volumes of contemporary race reports.

* Brooklands Books, "Mille Miglia"&nbsp;– 2 volumes of contemporary race reports.

* Brooklands Books, "Targa Florio"&nbsp;– 5 volumes of contemporary race reports.

* Brooklands Books, "Carrera Panamericana"&nbsp;– 1 volume of contemporary race reports.

* [[Chris Nixon]]&nbsp;– "Sports Car Heaven"&nbsp;– Aston Martin vs Ferrari.

* [[Karl Ludvigsen]]&nbsp;– "Quicksilver Century"&nbsp;– competition history of Mercedes-Benz.

* [[Karl Ludvigsen]]&nbsp;– "Porsche: Excellence Was Expected" (3 vols)&nbsp;– extensive history of Porsche.

* [[Norbert Singer]], "24:16"&nbsp;– his role in Porsche's Le Mans wins.

* Curami/Vergnano, {{"'}}La Sport' e i suoi artigiani"&nbsp;– Italian domestic sports car competition from the 1930s–1960s and the 'specials' that competed in it.

* [[Mike Fuller]] & [[J. A. Martin]], "Inside IMSA's Legendary GTP Race Cars: The Prototype Experience", {{ISBN|0-7603-3069-7}}, Motorbooks International, 25 April 2008. Technical and historical overview of IMSA GTP racers.