The 1997 International Sports Racing Series season was the first season of International Sports Racing Series (later known as the FIA Sportscar Championship). It was a series for sportscar style prototypes broken into two classes based on power and weight, called SR1 and SR2. It began on July 6, 1997, and ended November 9, 1997, after 4 races.
As a new series, and with only 4 races, no championships were awarded for teams or drivers.
Rnd | Race | Circuit | Date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Donington 2 Hours | Donington Park | July 6 |
2 | Zolder 1 Hour 15 Minutes | Zolder Circuit | August 3 |
3 | Masaryk Grand Prix (30 Minutes) | Autodrom Brno Masaryk | September 14 |
4 | Gran Premio Repsol Sport Prototipos (2 Hours) | Circuito Permanente Del Jarama | November 9 |
Rnd | Circuit | SR1 Winning Team | SR2 Winning Team | Results |
---|---|---|---|---|
SR1 Winning Drivers | SR2 Winning Drivers | |||
1 | Donington | #7 Joest Racing | #20 Centenari | Results |
Stefan Johansson Pierluigi Martini | Arturo Merzario Giovanni Li Calzi | |||
2 | Zolder | #6 Horag Hotz Racing | None | Results |
Fredy Lienhard Didier Theys | ||||
3† | Brno | None | #20 Symbol Team | Results |
Arturo Merzario | ||||
4 | Jarama | #4 Courage Compétition | #20 Symbol Team | Results |
Didier Cottaz Jérôme Policand | Arturo Merzario Robin Donovan |
† - Round 3 was included in the championship, but only 1 SR2-class car participated. The race was instead made up of CN and S2000 based hillclimb cars.
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 (Prototype) or related to road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel single-seater racing, touring car racing and stock car racing. Sports car races are often endurance races that are run over relatively large distances, and there is usually a larger emphasis placed on the reliability and efficiency of the car than in some of the other types of auto racing. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of a sports car racing series.
The European Le Mans Series (ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and run by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the former American Le Mans Series (ALMS) based in the United States and Canada that was running with ACO and IMSA between 1999 and 2013. ELMS team champions and runners-up receive an automatic entry to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Originally titled the Le Mans Endurance Series before becoming simply the Le Mans Series in 2006, the series was renamed once more in 2012, reusing a name previously utilized by IMSA in 2001.
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
Radical Sportscars is a British manufacturer and constructor of racing cars. The company was founded in January 1997 by amateur drivers and engineers Mick Hyde and Phil Abbott, who built open cockpit sportscars which could be registered for road use and run on a track without modification. Radical produce a mix of purpose built race cars as well as road legal sports cars in varying specifications. The most popular racecar produced to date is the Radical SR3 with the V6 RXC being their most numerous road legal sportcar.
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 2001 European Le Mans Series season was the only season for the IMSA European Le Mans Series. It is a series for Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and Grand Touring (GT) race cars divided into 4 classes: LMP900, LMP675, GTS, and GT. It began 17 March 2001 and ended 6 October 2001 after 7 races.
The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and was eventually taken control of by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). 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 2003 FIA Sportscar Championship was the third season of FIA Sportscar Championship, an auto racing series regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and organized by the International Racing Series Ltd. It was the seventh and final season of the series dating back to the International Sports Racing Series of 1997. The series featured sports prototypes divided into two categories, SR1 and SR2, and awarded championships for drivers, constructors, and teams in both classes. The series began on 13 April 2003 and ended on 21 September 2003 after seven races in Europe.
The 2002 FIA Sportscar Championship was the second season of the FIA Sportscar Championship, an auto racing series regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and organized by the International Racing Series Ltd. It was the sixth season of the series dating back to the International Sports Racing Series of 1997. The series featured sports prototypes in two categories, SR1 and SR2, and awarded championships for drivers, teams, and manufacturers in each respective category. The series began on 7 April and ended on 22 September after six races held in Europe.
The 2001 FIA Sportscar Championship was the inaugural season of FIA Sportscar Championship, an auto racing series regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and organized by International Racing Series Ltd. The series was a continuation of the previous SportsRacing World Cup dating back to 1997. It was open to two categories of sports prototypes, SR1 and SR2, and awarded championships to drivers and teams in each category. A championship for constructors was also established for this season. It began on 8 April and ended on 16 September after eight races.
The 1999 Sports Racing World Cup was the third season of Sports Racing World Cup. It was a series for sportscar style prototypes broken into two classes based on power and weight, called SR1 and SR2. It began on March 28, 1999, and ended November 28, 1999, after 9 races.
The 1998 International Sports Racing Series was the second season of International Sportscar Racing Series. It was a series for sportscar-style prototypes broken into two classes based on power and weight, called SR1 and SR2, as well as a class of hillclimb-style sportscars, called CN. It began on April 13, 1998, and ended December 6, 1998, after 8 races.
The BPR Global GT Series was a grand tourer-based sports car racing series which ran from 1994 to 1996 before becoming the FIA GT Championship in 1997. The series was founded by Jürgen Barth, Patrick Peter, and Stéphane Ratel as an international endurance racing series to replace the World Sportscar Championship which had ended in 1992.
Advanced Engine Research, Ltd. is an auto racing engine manufacturer based in Basildon, Essex, England. Established in 1997, AER has developed winning engines for a number of high-profile international race series in sports car, prototype racing, rallying, touring car, and open wheel racing. They have designed engines derived from road car platforms, but their emphasis is on clean sheet designed engines with a focus on electronics and turbochargers. Their engines have raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the World Endurance Championship (WEC), the European Le Mans Series (ELMS), the United SportsCar Championship (TUSC), GP3, British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), Nissan/Renault World Series, Grand-Am, Paris Dakar and FIA Sportscar Championship. They have worked with a number of manufacturers including Mazda, Ford, Hyundai, MG/Rover, Nissan, and Toyota. In 2012, AER developed and built Formula One turbo test engines to current rules and in July 2012, AER was chosen as engine partner and supplier to the new GP3 racing series.
The Lola B2K/40 was a Le Mans Prototype developed in 2000 by Lola Cars International as a cheaper, smaller, and lighter alternative to the similar Lola B2K/10. Although specifically designed to compete in the SR2 class of the Sports Racing World Cup and Grand American Road Racing Championship, it would later be adapted to the LMP675 and LMP2 classes for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and American Le Mans Series. This design was replaced in 2005 by the Lola B05/40 and would last be used in competition in 2006.
Johnny Mowlem is a professional British racing driver. Mowlem is considered to be among the world's elite sports car drivers, having competed in every class of world championship sports car racing.
The 2014 IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship (TUSC) was the inaugural season of the International Motor Sports Association's new series created out of a merger of the Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series and the first to be held under the name as the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. It began with the 24 Hours of Daytona, the first time since the 1997 IMSA GT Championship season that IMSA sanctioned an event at Daytona International Speedway on 25 January and ended on 4 October at Petit Le Mans. It was the 44th overall season of IMSA GT championship racing tracing its lineage to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship.
The Debora LMP296 was a Le Mans Prototype, built by Debora Automobiles in 1996 for use in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car was originally entered with a 2-litre turbocharged Cosworth straight-four engine, but several other engines were used in the car's three-year career. Two cars are known to have been built. In conjunction with the LMP297, the car helped Waterair Sport to the International Sports Racing Series SR2 Team's Championship in 1998. The LMP296 was updated into the LMP299 for 2000.
The GMS Durango LMP1 was a Le Mans Prototype built for Durango by GMS in 2000. Initially fitted with a 4-litre BMW V8 engine, which was prepared by Mader, a Judd GV4 V10 was fitted in its place for the 2002 season. Durango replaced the car with their own PM 02 for the 2003 season. The GMS Durango LMP1 was not particularly successful, and had a weak gearbox; but it was able to win one race, the 2002 6 Hours of Vallelunga.
Redman Bright Engineering was a British auto racing team founded in 1997 by racing driver turned engineer John Bright in partnership with former Formula One and sportscar driver Brian Redman. The team was initially set up to participate in two tiers of open wheel racing with Formula 3000 and Formula Renault efforts, including the International Formula 3000 series, before the team moved to sports car racing in association with Pilbeam Racing Designs, winning the 2000 Sports Racing World Cup for drivers and teams in their category. The team faded out after their 2001 campaign, eventually selling their equipment and being liquidated by the end of the year.