Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel racing, touring car racing and stock car racing. Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over particularly long distances or large amounts of time, resulting in a larger emphasis on the reliability and 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.
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layout, a 3.56-mile (5.73 km) combined road course that uses most of the tri-oval plus an infield road course. Held on the last weekend of January or first weekend of February as part of Speedweeks, it is the first major automobile race of the year in North America. The race is sanctioned by IMSA and is the first race of the season for the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the 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 the world's largest automakers spent millions of dollars per year.
The 1982 World Sportscar Championship was the 30th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing. It featured the 1982 World Endurance Championship for Drivers, which was contested over an eight-round series, and the 1982 World Endurance Championship for Manufacturers, which was contested over five rounds held concurrently with the first five rounds of the Drivers Championship. The Drivers’ title was open to Group C Sports Cars, Group B GT Cars, Group 6 Two-Seater Racing Cars, Group 5 Special Production Cars, Group 4 GT Cars, Group 3 GT Cars, Group 2 Touring Cars and IMSA GTX, GTO and GTU cars. The Manufacturers title was limited to Group C Sports Cars and Group B GT Cars only. The series ran from 18 April 1982 to 17 October 1982.
The 1980 World Sportscar Championship season was the 28th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship for Makes which was contested as a series running under both Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) regulations. It ran from 2 February 1980 to 28 September 1980, and comprised 11 races, including races run with Camel GT Championship.
The 1978 World Sportscar Championship season was the 26th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1978 World Championship for Makes, which was contested from 4 February to 3 September 1978 over an eight race series. The 24 Hours of Daytona and the 1000 km Nürburgring were part of the inaugural FIA World Challenge for Endurance Drivers.
The 1954 World Sportscar Championship season was the second season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured a series of six endurance races for sportscars, contested from 24 January to 23 November 1954. The championship was won by Ferrari.
The 1955 World Sportscar Championship season was the third season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured a series of six endurance races for sportscars, contested from 23 January to 16 October 1955.
The 1959 World Sportscar Championship was the seventh FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was a series for sportscars that ran in many worldwide endurance events. It ran from 21 March 1959 to 5 September 1959, and comprised five races, following the 1000 km Buenos Aires being removed from the calendar, although the race did return in 1960.
The 1964 World Sportscar Championship season was the 12th season of FIA 'World Sportscar Championship' motor racing. It featured the 1964 International Championship for GT Manufacturers which was open to Group 3 GT cars and was contested from 16 February 1964 to 11 October 1964 over a twenty race series. Titles were awarded in three engine capacity divisions:
The 1966 World Sportscar Championship season was the 14th season of the FIA "World Sportscar Championship" motor racing. It featured the 1966 International Manufacturers' Championship and the 1966 International Sports Car Championship, which were contested between 5 February 1966 and September 11, 1966, over a total of thirteen races. The International Manufacturers' Championship was open to Group 6 Sports-Prototypes and was contested in two engine capacity divisions, P1 and P2. The International Sports Car Championship was open to Group 4 Sports Cars and was contested in three engine capacity divisions, S1, S2 and S3.
The 1967 World Sportscar Championship season was the 15th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing. It featured the International Championship for Sports-Prototypes and the International Championship for Sports Cars. The former was open to Group 6 Sports-Prototypes and the latter to Group 4 Sports Cars. The season ran from 4 February 1967 to 3 September 1967 and comprised 14 races in total.
The 1968 World Sportscar Championship season was the 16th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing and featured the 1968 International Championship for Makes and the 1968 International Cup for GT Cars. The former was contested by Group 6 Sports Prototypes, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring Cars and the later by Group 3 Grand Touring Cars only. The two titles were decided over a ten race series which ran from 3 February 1968 to 29 September 1968, but one race was only worth half points, and only the five best results were counted.
The 1969 World Sportscar Championship season was the 17th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1969 International Championship for Makes, which was a series for FIA Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring Cars and the 1969 International Cup for GT Cars, which was restricted to Group 3 Grand Touring Cars. The season ran from 1 February 1969 to 10 August 1969 and comprised 10 races.
The 1970 World Sportscar Championship season was the 18th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1970 International Championship for Makes and the 1970 International Cup for GT Cars, which were contested concurrently from 31 January to 11 October over a ten race series. The International Championship for Makes, which was open to Group 6 Sports-Prototypes, Group 5 Sports Cars and Group 4 Special GT Cars, was won by German manufacturer Porsche. The International Cup for GT Cars was also won by Porsche.
The 1971 International Championship for Makes season was the 19th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It was open to Group 6 Sports Prototypes, Group 5 Sportscars, and Group 4 Special GT Cars and was contested over an eleven race series which ran from 10 January to 24 July 1971. Porsche won the championship, and the German manufacturer also won the International Cup for GT Cars.
The 1973 World Sportscar Championship season was the 21st season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1973 World Championship for Makes and the 1973 Cup for GT Cars which were contested concurrently over a ten race series. The World Championship for Makes, which was open to Group 5 Sports Cars and Group 4 GT Cars, was won by Matra and the Cup for GT Cars, which was open only to Group 4 GT Cars, was won by Porsche.
The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and got the approval of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 2001. It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating on two classes of open-cockpit sports prototypes in endurance races mostly around Europe. The series was folded after the 2003 season.
The 1977 World Championship for Makes season featured the sixth FIA World Championship for Makes. This was a motor racing series for Group 5 Special Production Cars, Group 3 & 4 Grand Touring Cars and Group 1 & 2 Touring Cars which ran from 5 February to 23 October 1977 and comprised nine races.
Johnny Mowlem is a professional British racing driver. During his career Mowlem was ranked amongst the best sports car/GT drivers in the world. Mowlem famously fell off his chair whilst commentating at the 2023 Le Mans 24hr race, having competed in every class of world championship sports car racing.
