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 Lola T70 is a sports prototype developed by British manufacturer Lola Cars in 1965. Lola built the aluminium monocoque chassis, which were typically powered by large American V8s.
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.
Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5 litre engine capacity. The Group 5 Sports Car category was redefined in 1972 to exclude the minimum production requirement and limit engine capacity to 3 litres. From 1976 to 1982 Group 5 was for Special Production Cars, a liberal silhouette formula based on homologated production vehicles.
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 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 1974 World Sportscar Championship season was the 22nd season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1974 World Championship for Makes and FIA Cup for GT Cars which were contested concurrently over a ten race series from 25 April to 9 November 1974. The World Championship for Makes, which was open to Group 5 Sports Cars and Group 4 GT Cars, was won by Matra and the FIA Cup for GT Cars by Porsche.
The 1976 World Sports Car Championship was a motor racing series open to Group 6 cars,. The championship was contested over a seven race series which ran from 4 April to 19 September and included a secondary award, the 1976 FIA Cup for Cars up to 2 Litres. 1976 was the 24th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing.
Group 4 referred to regulations for sportscars and grand touring (GT) cars used in racing and rallying, as regulated by the FIA. The group was introduced in 1954 and was replaced by Group B for the 1982 season.
The Group 3 racing class referred to a set of regulations for Grand Touring Cars competing in sportscar racing and rallying events regulated by the FIA. These regulations were active, in various forms, from 1957 to 1981.
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.
The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) is an American automobile club and sanctioning body that supports vintage racing in the United States. The organization was founded in 1981, and is regarded as the premier vintage racing organization in the U.S.
24 Hours of Daytona 
BOAC 500 (6 Hours)†
1000km Monza 
1000km Spa 
ADAC 1000 Kilometres Nürburgring 
24 Hours of Le Mans 
1000km of Zeltweg 