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 FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout the years has visited other continents including Asia and South America. At the end of 2009, the championship was replaced by the FIA GT1 World Championship, which morphed into the FIA GT Series for 2013.
The Nürburgring 24 Hours is a 24-hour annual touring car and GT endurance racing event that takes place on a combination of the Nordschleife and the GP-Strecke circuits of the Nürburgring in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Held since 1970, the over 25.3 km (15.7 mi) lap length allows more than 200 cars and over 700 drivers to participate.
Stéphane Ortelli is a Monégasque professional racing driver with three world championship titles. He has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1998 with Allan McNish and Laurent Aïello and the Spa 24 Hours in 2003 with Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb. He's also won the GT1 Class at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2005 with David Brabham and Darren Turner. Currently, he is an Emil Frey Racing driver competing and developing the Jaguar and Lexus GT racing cars in the Blancpain Endurance Series and the VLN series.
The GT4 European Series is a sports car championship created and organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It is a pro/am championship which followed a formula similar to the FIA GT3 European Championship, which was itself derived from the FIA GT Championship which utilized the GT1 and GT2 classes. The GT4 class cars are the least powerful of the four classes, yet are equalised in order to allow driving skill to become key.
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 2009 Total 24 Hours of Spa was the 62nd running of the Spa 24 Hours and the fourth round of the 2009 FIA GT Championship season. The final race before the summer break race took place at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps between 25 and 26 July 2009. Joining the FIA GT Championship competitors were cars from numerous national GT series as well as competitors from the FIA GT3 European Championship. This was the last time GT1 machinery was eligible for the race, as well as the last Spa 24 Hours that was part of the FIA GT Championship.
The 2010 FIA GT3 European Championship season was the fifth season of the FIA GT3 European Championship. The season commenced on 1 May at Silverstone and ended on 10 October at Circuit Zolder. The season featured six double-header rounds, with each race lasting for a duration of 60 minutes. Most of the events were support races to the newly formed FIA GT1 World Championship.
The 2010 Avon Tyres British GT season was the 18th season of the British GT Championship. The season began on 5 April at Oulton Park and finished on 16 October at Donington Park after thirteen races, twelve held in the United Kingdom as well as a single overseas event at Spa-Francorchamps.
The 2011 Avon Tyres British GT season was the 19th season of the British GT Championship. The season began on 25 April at Oulton Park and finished on 8 October at Silverstone, after ten races at seven meetings.
The 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship was the third and final season of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship, an auto racing series for grand tourer cars. The 2012 championship, which opened to GT3 Series Grand Touring cars, featured two titles awarded to the highest scoring competitors over the course of the season: the GT1 World Championship for Drivers and the GT1 World Championship for Teams. The series underwent regulation changes in 2012 with GT3 cars replacing the GT1 category vehicles used in the previous two seasons of the World Championship. Hexis AMR, now under the title Hexis Racing, returned as the defending Teams' World Champions, while German drivers Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr didn't return to the series to defend their Drivers' World Championships.
The 2012 Avon Tyres British GT season was the 20th season of the British GT Championship. The season began on 9 April at Oulton Park and finished on 30 September at Donington Park, after ten rounds held over seven meetings. Motorbase Performance drivers Michael Caine and Daniele Perfetti won the GT3 category in a Porsche 997 GT3-R, Team WFR's Jody Fanin and Warren Hughes won the GT4 championship driving a Ginetta G50, while Ryan Hooker and Gary Eastwood took the GTC title in a Ferrari 458 Challenge driving for FF Corse.
The 2012 Campeonato Brasileiro de GT season was the sixth season of Campeonato Brasileiro de GT, the first with this name. The season began on April 21 at Santa Cruz do Sul and ended on December 15 at the Interlagos after eight weekends totalling sixteen races.
IMSA LS Group Performance is a French auto racing team founded by Raymond Narac. The team is based in Saint-Jean-du-Cardonnay, Upper Normandy. IMSA stands for Innovation Mécanique Service Automobile. They currently operate a Porsche 911 GT3-RSR sports car in the European Le Mans Series and International GT Open. They are currently a Porsche Factory Team
The 2016 British GT Championship was the 24th British GT Championship. The season began on 17 April at Brands Hatch and finished on 11 September at Donington Park, after nine rounds held over seven meetings. After using Avon Tires since 2006, the championship switched to Pirelli tires this season, in order to mirror that of other GT3 and GT4 categories promoted by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation.
Assetto Corsa Competizione is a racing simulation video game developed by Italian video game developer Kunos Simulazioni. The game focuses on GT3 and GT4 cars and is an officially licensed simulation of the 2018 and 2019 Blancpain GT Series season Sprint and Endurance Cups and the Total 24 Hours of Spa, and is set to serve as a platform for esports.
The 2019 California 8 Hours was the third edition of the California 8 Hours race held on WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on March 30, 2019. The race was contested with GT3-spec cars, "GT Cup" for one-make spec cars, and GT4-spec cars. The race was organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO).
SRO GT2 is a class of Grand tourer racing cars aimed at gentleman drivers and maintained by the SRO Motorsports Group. Despite the name, this class slots between Group GT4 and Group GT3 in terms of performance. The class also shouldn’t be confused with the Group GT2 from the early 2000s. The class uses a Balance of performance to allow for close competition between competitors.
The 2022 24 Hours of Spa was the 74th running of the 24 Hours of Spa. It took place from 28 July–31 July 2022. The race was a part of both the 2022 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and the 2022 Intercontinental GT Challenge.
The 2023 24 Hours of Spa was the 75th running of the 24 Hours of Spa. The race will take place from June 29 to July 2, 2023. The race will be a part of both the 2023 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and the 2023 Intercontinental GT Challenge.
