2017 in motorsport

Last updated

The following is an overview of the events of 2017 in motorsport, including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.

Contents

Annual events

The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.

DateEventRef
2–14 January 39th Dakar Rally [1]
21–22 January 28th Race of Champions [2]
28–29 January 55th 24 Hours of Daytona [3]
26 February 59th Daytona 500 [4]
18 March 65th 12 Hours of Sebring [5]
22–23 April 40th 24 Hours of Le Mans Moto [6]
27–28 May 45th 24 Hours of Nürburgring [7]
28 May 75th Monaco Grand Prix [8]
101st Indianapolis 500 [9]
3–9 June 99th Isle of Man TT [10]
17–18 June 85th 24 Hours of Le Mans [11]
25 June 95th Pikes Peak International Hill Climb [12]
29–30 July 69th 24 Hours of Spa [13]
30 July 40th Suzuka 8 Hours [14]
16–17 September 81st Bol d'Or [15]
8 October 60th Bathurst 1000 [16]
14–18 November 50th Baja 1000 [17]
19 November 64th Macau Grand Prix [18]

Established championships/events

First raceChampionshipRef
10–11 January 24H Proto Series [19]
13 January TCR Middle East Series [20]
8 April Blancpain GT Series Asia [21]
15 April FIA Formula 2 Championship [22]
GT4 European Series Southern Cup [23]
29 April TCR Iberico Touring Car Series [24]
17 June TCR China Touring Car Championship [25]
1 October FIA Intercontinental Drifting Cup [26]

Disestablished championships/events

Last raceChampionshipRef
18 November TCR International Series [27]
World Series Formula V8 3.5 [28]
1 December World Touring Car Championship [27]

Opened motorsport venues

DateVenueFirst eventRef
15 July Brooklyn Street Circuit New York ePrix [29]
29 July Montreal Street Circuit Montreal ePrix [29]

Deaths

DateMonthNameAgeNationalityOccupationNoteRef
24 January Chuck Weyant 93AmericanRacing driver [30]
10 March John Surtees 83BritishMotorcycle racer
Racing driver
World champion in MotoGP (1956, 1958, 1959, 1960) and Formula One (1964) [31]
12 Patrick Nève 67BelgianRacing driver [32]
2 April Sam Ard 78AmericanRacing driverNASCAR Late Model champion [33]
5 Tim Parnell 84BritishRacing driver [34]
27 Joe Leonard 84AmericanMotorcycle racer
Racing driver
1954, 1956 and 1967 AMA Grand National champion
1971 and 1972 USAC champion
[35]
28 Billy Scott 68AmericanRacing driver [36]
30 Preston Henn 86AmericanRacing driverAlso known as entrepreneur (Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop) [37]
4 May Timo Mäkinen 79FinnishRally driverOne of the Flying Finns [38]
18 Jim McElreath 89AmericanRacing driver 1966 USAC runner-up [39]
22 Nicky Hayden 35AmericanMotorcycle racer 2006 MotoGP champion [40]
18 July Erich Waxenberger 86GermanEngineer and racing driverCreator of the Rote Sau. [41]
26 July Leo Kinnunen 73FinnishRacing driverFirst Finnish Formula One driver. [42]
1 August Bud Moore 75AmericanRacing driverRaced in NASCAR. [43]
3 Ángel Nieto 70SpanishMotorcycle racerWinner of 13 Grand Prix World Championships. [44]
19 Shane Sieg 34AmericanRacing driverRaced in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. [45]
21Don Nichols92AmericanTeam ownerFounded Shadow Racing Cars. [46]
15 September Bruce Leven 79AmericanRacing driver/team ownerTriple 12 Hours of Sebring winner (1981, 1987 and 1988) [47]
19 John Nicholson 75New ZealanderRacing driverFounded Nicholson-McLaren engines, classified in 1975 British Grand Prix. [48]
9 October Bill Puterbaugh 81AmericanRacing driver 1975 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year. [49]
25 October Gaspar Ronda 91AmericanDrag racer and restaurateur [50]
17 December Bob Glidden 73American Drag racer

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GT World Challenge America</span> Racing series

The GT World Challenge America is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the Sports Car Club of America. It has been managed by the SRO Motorsports Group since 2018, and has been sanctioned by the United States Auto Club since 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FIA GT Championship</span> Auto racing championship in Europe

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SRO Motorsports Group</span> International sporting organisation

SRO Motorsports Group is an international sporting organisation best known for promoting and running a variety of racing events and series, including the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, Intercontinental GT Challenge and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Will Stevens</span> British racing driver (born 1991)

William Jonathan Richard Stevens is a British racing driver, currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Jota. Stevens competed in Formula One from 2014 to 2015. In endurance racing, Stevens won the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class with Jota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automotodróm Slovakia Ring</span> Motor racing circuit in Orechová Potôň, Dunajská Streda District, Slovakia

Automotodróm Slovakia Ring is a 5.935 km (3.688 mi) motor racing circuit in Orechová Potôň, Dunajská Streda District in Slovakia, approximately 30 km (19 mi) away from Bratislava Airport. It was built between 2008 and 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Group GT3</span> Regulation for grand tourer racing cars

Group GT3, known technically as Cup Grand Touring Cars and commonly referred to as simply GT3, is a set of regulations maintained by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for grand tourer racing cars designed for use in various auto racing series throughout the world. The GT3 category was initially created in 2005 by the SRO Motorsports Group as a third rung in the ladder of grand touring motorsport, below the Group GT1 and Group GT2 categories which were utilized in the SRO's FIA GT Championship, and launched its own series in 2006 called the FIA GT3 European Championship. Since then, Group GT3 has expanded to become the de facto category for many national and international grand touring series, although some series modify the ruleset from the FIA standard. By 2013, nearly 20 automobile manufacturers have built or been represented with GT3 machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Bend Motorsport Park</span> Motorsport track in South Australia

The Bend Motorsport Park, currently known as Shell V-Power Motorsport Park for naming rights reasons, is a 7.770 km (4.828 mi) bitumen motor racing circuit at Tailem Bend, South Australia, Australia, about 100 km (62 mi) south-east of the state capital, Adelaide.

The 2016 GT Series Sprint Cup was the fourth season following on from the demise of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship, the third with the designation of Blancpain Sprint Series or Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup. After developing their partnership, Blancpain and the SRO decided that 2016 would see both the Sprint and Endurance Series further integrated into the Blancpain GT Series, putting the emphasis on the prestigious overall drivers' and manufacturers' titles causing the Sprint Series name to change from Blancpain Sprint Series to Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup.

The 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup was the sixth season of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. The season started on 24 April at Monza and ended on 18 September at the Nürburgring. The season featured five rounds, with each race lasting for a duration of three hours besides the 24 Hours of Spa and the 1000 km Paul Ricard events. After developing their partnership, Blancpain and the SRO decided that 2016 would see both the Sprint and Endurance Series further integrated into the Blancpain GT Series, putting the emphasis on the prestigious overall drivers' and manufacturers' titles causing the Endurance Series name to change from Blancpain Endurance Series to Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.

The 2017 Blancpain GT Series was the fourth season of the Blancpain GT Series. The season started on 2 April in Misano and ended on 1 October in Barcelona. The season featured ten rounds, five Endurance Cup rounds and five Sprint Cup rounds.

The 2017 GT Series Sprint Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2017 Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup, was the fifth season of the GT Series Sprint Cup following on from the demise of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship, the fourth with the designation of Blancpain Sprint Series or Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup.

The 2017 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup was the seventh season of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. The season began on 23 April at Monza and ended on 1 October in Barcelona. The season featured five rounds, with each race lasting for a duration of three hours besides the 24 Hours of Spa and the 1000 km Paul Ricard events.

The 2017 Blancpain GT Series Asia was the inaugural season of SRO Motorsports Group and Team Asia One GT Management's Blancpain GT Series Asia, an auto racing series for grand tourer cars in Asia. The races were contested with GT3-spec and GT4-spec cars.

The 2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup was the eighth season of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. The season began on 22 April at Monza and ended on 30 September in Barcelona. The season featured five rounds, with each race lasting for a duration of three hours besides the 24 Hours of Spa and the 1000 km Paul Ricard events.

The 2018 Blancpain GT Series Asia was the second season of the Blancpain GT Series Asia, an auto racing series for grand tourer cars in Asia co-promoted by the SRO Motorsports Group and Team Asia One GT Management. The races were contested with GT3-spec and GT4-spec cars. The season began on 14 April at Sepang and ended on 14 October at Ningbo.

The GT2 European Series, organized by SRO Motorsports Group, is an auto racing series for the SRO GT2 class of grand tourer cars, designed for amateur pay drivers in the FIA Bronze category. This target audience is also known in sportscar as "gentleman drivers".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maximilian Buhk</span> German racing driver

Maximilian Buhk is a retired German racing driver. He experienced considerable success racing for Mercedes-AMG in the GT3 scene, winning the 2012 FIA GT3 European Championship and 2013 Blancpain Endurance Series, before taking the 2015 Blancpain GT Sprint Series title as part of the Bentley factory lineup.

The 2019 GT Series Endurance Cup was the ninth season of the GT Series Endurance Cup. The season began on 14 April at Monza and ended on 29 September in Barcelona. The season featured five rounds, with each race lasting for a duration of three hours besides the 24 Hours of Spa and the 1000 km Paul Ricard events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 in motorsport</span> Overview of the events of 2019 in motorsport

The following is an overview of the events of 2019 in motorsport, including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.

Ian Loggie is a Scottish businessman and racing driver. After starting racing in 2013, he won the Britcar championship in the same year. He then won the Am Cup category of the Blancpain Endurance Series in 2015. In 2022, he won the Asian Le Mans Series GT Am championship and the British GT Championship in the GT3 category. He also won the bronze medal at the 2022 FIA Motorsport Games GT Cup.

References

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