History
Meant as a replacement for the dwindling Thundersports series, the C2 Championship would serve to bring international sports car racing seen in the World Sportscar Championship to Britain. By using the smaller C2 class only, the series was able to encourage more teams to enter not only due to the relatively low cost of the available cars, but also due to the lack of major automobile manufacturers to drive away competitors due to their dominance. This was also aided by the fact that there were already several British teams running C2 class cars on the international circuit.
Thundersports was a variety of sports car racing introduced by John Webb of Brands Hatch fame.
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
Although only seven cars would attend the opening race at Silverstone Circuit, the series was able to expand to sixteen competitors by the end of its first year. Tiga chassis dominated the season as Team Istel drivers Tim Harvey and Chris Hodgetts took the first drivers' championship.
Silverstone Circuit is a motor racing circuit in England located next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side. The Northamptonshire towns of Towcester and Brackley and Buckinghamshire town of Buckingham are close by, and the nearest large towns are Northampton and Milton Keynes.
Tim Harvey is a British racing driver, best known for being the 1992 British Touring Car Champion, and the 2008 and 2010 Porsche Carrera Cup Great Britain champion. A household name in the 1990s, Harvey won sixteen races in the British Touring Car Championship between 1987 and 1995, but competed in the series until 2002. He was also the winner of the invitational Guia Race of Macau touring car event, in 1989.
Chris Hodgetts is a British former racing driver. He began his racing career in 1979, driving in the Clubman Class A championship.
For 1989, the series unfortunately suffered from entries as a maximum of only twelve cars were seen in some races. Tim Harvey of Team Istel again took the Class A championship in a new Spice chassis while Canadian Robbie Stirling took the Class B championship for Inside Line Racing.
Spice Engineering was a British racing team founded by driver Gordon Spice with his brother Derek Spice in the early 1980s, later becoming a successful sports car constructor in 1986. They competed in the World Sportscar Championship in Europe as well as the IMSA GT Championship in North America, at times partnering with major manufacturers such as General Motors and Honda as well as race engine manufacturer Comptech.
1990 saw the series suffer even more as most races averaged nine competitors, some of which never even made it to the green flag. John Churchill would take the final championship for his own team as the series was cancelled soon after.
A national sports car series for Britain would not return until 1993 when the BRDC GT Championship was created. It would use production grand tourer-style sports cars instead of custom built Group C cars which had been phased out by 1992.
A grand tourer (GT) is a car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement.
Teodorico Fabi is an Italian former racing driver. He competed in Formula One and sports car racing, and claimed pole position in his rookie year at the 1983 Indianapolis 500. Teo is the older brother of former Formula One driver Corrado Fabi.
Reginald Harold Haslam Parnell was a racing driver and team manager from Derby, England. He participated in seven Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one podium, and scoring a total of nine championship points.
Formula Atlantic is a specification of open wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club of America Formula Atlantic.
Frank Williams Racing Cars was a British Formula One team and constructor.
EMKA Racing was a British racing team founded in 1980 by Steve O'Rourke, manager of the band Pink Floyd. The team occasionally ran under the name of EMKA Productions, the name of O'Rourke's management company. The team's name comes from O'Rourke's two daughters, Emma and Katheryne. O'Rourke and EMKA concentrated on sports car racing with brief interludes into British Formula One until 1985 when the team was broken up before returning again in 1991. The team was finally dissolved in early 2004 following O'Rourke's death. The team had won the drivers championship for O'Rourke and Tim Sugden in the British GT Championship in 1997 and 1998.
Ray Bellm is an auto racing driver from Britain.
Van Diemen International, Ltd. was a British race car manufacturer based in Snetterton, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The company had a reputation for high-volume production runs of its cars, the most well-known of which is its series of Formula Ford chassis, which have been at the forefront of that class of motorsport for over 20 years and led it to becoming the largest manufacturer of bespoke racing cars in the world.
The Chevrolet Corvette C5-R is a grand touring racing car built by Pratt & Miller and Chevrolet for competition in endurance racing. The car is based on the C5 generation of the Chevrolet Corvette sports car, yet is designed purely for motorsports use. It became one of the most successful cars in GT categories, with wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and 24 Hours of Le Mans, as well as championships in the American Le Mans Series. The Corvette C5-Rs debuted in 1999 and continues to be raced to this day, although the C5-R has effectively been replaced by the Corvette C6.R.
The McLaren F1 GTR was a racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It is most famous for its overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans where it won against faster purpose-built prototypes. The McLaren F1 GTR raced internationally until 2005 when the final race chassis was retired.
Stefan James Wilson is a British racing driver. He is the younger brother of the late Formula One and IndyCar Series driver Justin Wilson. He is also the winner of the 2007 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award for promising young British drivers.
The Acura ARX-01, later known as the HPD ARX-01 is a series of Le Mans Prototype built for sports car racing, specifically in the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is the first purpose-built race car by the Acura division of Honda Motor Company, part of their multi-year program to eventually compete in endurance race. The car debuted in 2007 in the American Le mans Series before expanding to customers in Europe. Over the years various specifications of the ARX-01 chassis have been developed, each signified by a letter suffix. In 2010 Acura withdrew their name from the program and Honda Performance Development which developed the car for Acura continued the program into 2011.
Pescarolo Sport was a motorsport team based in Le Mans, France and founded in February 2000 by French racing driver Henri Pescarolo and his friend and partner, French publisher François Granet. They raced in the Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In October 2007, Henri Pescarolo purchased Jacques Nicolet's Saulnier Racing and created Pescarolo Automobiles, with the racing team becoming a division of the new company. The Pescarolo Automobiles went into receivership on 15 June 2010. Following a liquidation sale, the company was resold back to Henri Pescarolo and rebranded as Pescarolo Team for the 2011 season. However, the team's financial situation did not improve, and was wound up in January 2013.
Richard Lloyd Racing (RLR), originally named GTi Engineering, was a British auto racing team created in 1977 by driver Richard Lloyd. Originally named for the Volkswagen Golf GTIs that Lloyd raced in the British Saloon Car Championship (BSCC), they went on to become a successful Porsche privateer in the World Sportscar Championship (WSC). Richard Lloyd Racing eventually folded at the end of the 1990 season due to the increased cost of the World Championship.
Embassy Racing was a British auto racing team founded by Jonathan France in 2003. Initially created as a conjunction with Xero Competition in the British GT Championship, the team expanded to become an independent team and began to win races in British GT before the team took a sabbatical year in 2006. Upon their return to motorsport, Embassy moved to the international Le Mans Series, running in a Le Mans Prototype class, as well as entering the British Superbike Championship's junior leagues, the Supersport and Superstock Championships, running with the support of Triumph Motorcycles under the MAP Embassy Triumph banner.
Michael Bentwood is a British auto racing driver. After starting racing in Karting, he entered the 1994 Formula First Winter Series, finishing the season in tenth. In 1995 he finished fifth in the Formula Vauxhall Junior Winter Series. He then spent four years between 1997-2000 in the British Formula 3 Class A Championship where he finished the highest placed British driver in the year 2000; winning the Raymond Mays Trophy and the BRDC Spencer Charrington Trophy. He was also awarded BRDC membership. He was proposed by Johnny Herbert and second by John Cardwell. The years of ultra competitive Formula 3 were followed in 2001 with a drive in the Euro Formula 3000 Series where he finished the season in twelfth place with a handful of top six finishes.
MotorSport Vision (MSV) is a motorsport organisations and an operator of six UK venues. MSV has a portfolio ranging from major two and four wheel championships to organising the PalmerSport corporate driving event.
Edward Ramsden "Eddie" Hall was an English racing driver. He was born in Milnsbridge into a wealthy Yorkshire family in 1900, the heir to a successful textiles business which funded his motor racing and other sporting exploits. He is famous for being the only driver to successfully complete the full 24 hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race solo, a feat he achieved in 1950. He lived at Kirkburton, near Huddersfield until leaving the United Kingdom on his retirement in the early 1950s to live in initially in South Africa, later in Canada and then Monte Carlo, where he had an apartment overlooking the harbour and part of the Grand Prix circuit. He was married twice, first to Evelyn Muriel and secondly in 1933 to divorcée Joan Evelyn Quarmby who survived him on his death in 1982.
Tatuus is an Italian chassis manufacturer for a series of formula racing series, being first founded in 1980. The company is known for its association with Renault Sport for its production of the Formula Renault chassis.
Royale Race Cars was a British constructor of race cars in the 20th century. The company produced single seaters as well as sports cars.
