History
From 1965 to 1973, the race was the centerpiece of the South African Springbok Trophy Series. In 1974, the event was part of the World Championship of Makes, switching to a 6 hour/1000 kilometre format. From 1975 until 1979, the race was held for touring cars. The race returned to sports cars and its 9-hour duration in 1981 and 1982, before being shortened to 1000 km and becoming part of the World Endurance Championship in 1983 and 1984. After not being held in 1985 due to circuit construction, a 500 km event was contested from 1986 to 1988. After a ten-year hiatus, it was revived as a 2-hour, 30 minute, race as part of the SportsRacing World Cup from 1998 to 2000.
On 27 July 2018, circuit officials announced the nine-hour distance event would return to the calendar starting in 2019 as part of a revamped Intercontinental GT Challenge series from the Stéphane Ratel Organisation. The event will be the final event of a global series of GT3-focused events alongside the Bathurst 12 Hour, California 8 Hours, Spa 24 Hours and Suzuka 10 Hours. The race was originally scheduled for 3 November, but moved to 23 November to avoid a date clash with the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Endurance racing is a form of motorsport racing which is meant to test the durability of equipment and endurance of participants. Teams of multiple drivers attempt to cover a large distance in a single event, with participants given a break with the ability to change during the race. Endurance races can be run either to cover a set distance in laps as quickly as possible, or to cover as much distance as possible over a preset amount of time.
Basil van Rooyen was a South African racing driver, race car developer, inventor, and engineer. His career comprised racing a motorcycle, Anglia, Lotus Cortina, Mustang, Alfa Romeo, Capri Perana Chevy Can-am, Fiat/Ferrari saloon cars, sports cars, single seaters and Formula 1.
The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by CrowdStrike.
Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit is a 4.529 km (2.814 mi) motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has hosted the South African Grand Prix twenty times. Among the Formula One races held at the track the 1977 South African Grand Prix stands out, as it is principally remembered for the fatal accident that claimed the lives of race marshal Frederick Jansen van Vuuren and driver Tom Pryce. In recent years, the area surrounding the circuit has developed into a residential and commercial suburb of Johannesburg. More recently, Kyalami has played host to five rounds of the Superbike World Championship from 1998 to 2002 and later in 2009 and 2010, the season finale of the Superstars Series in 2009 and 2010, and the South African round of the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix season. International racing returned to the circuit in November 2019, when it hosted the 2019 Kyalami 9 Hours, serving as the season finale of the 2019 Intercontinental GT Challenge.
Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC) is located at Jin Ding town in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, China.
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The 6 Hours of Monza is an endurance race, mainly for sports cars, which is held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy.
The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is an endurance race for sports cars held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
The Suzuka Summer Endurance Race is an annual sports car endurance race that was last held at the Suzuka International Racing Course, Mie Prefecture, Japan in 2019. The race was first held in 1966 as the Suzuka 1000km. In 2018, the event was reformatted and renamed to the Suzuka 10 Hours and became part of the SRO Intercontinental GT Challenge.
SRO Motorsports Group is an international sporting organisation best known for promoting and running a variety of racing events and series, including the Total 24 Hours of Spa, Intercontinental GT Challenge and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe.
The Asian Le Mans Series (AsLMS) is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and based in Asia. It is the successor to the defunct Japan Le Mans Challenge which folded in 2007 after its second season. The ACO aims to attract teams and drivers from Asian countries.
The Lone Star Le Mans is an endurance race for Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-style cars held at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Its first running was on 22 September 2013 as the fifth round of the 2013 FIA World Endurance Championship season.
The Intercontinental GT Challenge is a sports car racing series developed by the SRO Group in 2016. It consists of international endurance races for grand tourer racing cars complying with the FIA's GT3 regulations.
The 2019 Intercontinental GT Challenge was the fourth season of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. The season featured five rounds, starting with the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on 3 February and concluding with the Kyalami 9 Hours on 23 November. Tristan Vautier was the defending Drivers' champion and Audi was the defending Manufacturers' champion.
The 2020 Intercontinental GT Challenge was the fifth season of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. The season again features five rounds, starting with the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour on 2 February and concluding with the Kyalami 9 Hours on 12 December. Dennis Olsen is the defending Drivers' champion and Porsche is the defending Manufacturers' champion.
The 2019 Kyalami 9 Hours was an endurance event that took place on 23 November 2019 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand, South Africa. This event served as a revival to the Kyalami 9 Hours event which was last held in 2000, and also served as the final round of the 2019 Intercontinental GT Challenge.
The 2021 Intercontinental GT Challenge was the sixth season of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. Normally a five round season, the races in the Pacific Rim were eliminated because of pandemic-related restrictions, reducing the season to three rounds, one in Europe, one in North America, and one in Africa. Nicky Catsburg and Augusto Farfus were the defending drivers' champions and Porsche was the defending Manufacturers' champion.
The 2020 Kyalami 9 Hours was an endurance event that took place on 12 December 2020 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand, South Africa. The event was the fourth and final race of the 2020 Intercontinental GT Challenge, a season curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2021 Kyalami 9 Hours was an endurance event that took place on 5 February 2022 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand, South Africa. The event was the third and final round of the 2021 Intercontinental GT Challenge. Initially it was to be held on 2-4 December, but it was postponed due to SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant cases in South Africa and rescheduled to 3-5 February 2022.
The 2023 Kyalami 9 Hours was an endurance event that took place on 25 February 2023 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand, South Africa. The event was the second round of five in the 2023 Intercontinental GT Challenge.
