Drayson Racing (known as Drayson Racing Technology) is a British motor racing team founded by Paul Drayson to compete in the British GT Championship. Since then the team has run in the American Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team and its technology development sister company Drayson Technologies has been developing hardware for the electric racing series, FIA Formula E Championship.
Year | Team | Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Drayson Racing | Jonny Cocker Paul Drayson Marino Franchitti | Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 | GT2 | 272 | DNF | DNF |
2010 | Drayson Racing | Jonny Cocker Paul Drayson Emanuele Pirro | Lola B09/60-Judd | LMP1 | 254 | NC | NC |
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.
Panoz is an American manufacturer of luxury sports automobiles founded in 1989 as Panoz Auto Development by Dan Panoz, son of Don Panoz. The company has also been extensively involved in professional racing, and designs, engineers and builds its own race cars. Panoz products have included the Panoz Roadster and AIV Roadster, the Panoz Esperante, and the Panoz Avezzano.
Emanuele Pirro is an Italian racing driver who has raced in Formula One, touring cars and in endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which he has won a total of five times. Two times Italian Karting Champion, Formula Fiat Abarth Champion (1980), two times Italian Touring Car Champion, two times Italian Overall Champion and German Touring Car Champion (1996), he also achieved records in endurance racing that place him amongst the best in the discipline, including; five wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, two times ALMS Champion, two times winner of the 12 Hours of Sebring, three times winner of Petit Le Mans, winner of the 24 Hours Nürburgring (1989), two times winner of the Macau Guia Race and two times winner of the Goodwood RAC Historic TT. He has taken part in over 500 official national and international races.
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The technical requirements for an LMP include bodywork covering all mechanical elements of the car. As of 2023, there are two classes within Le Mans Prototypes, designated LMP2 and LMP3.
Judd is a brand of racing car engines built by Engine Developments Ltd., a company founded in 1971 by John Judd and Jack Brabham in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Engine Developments was intended to build engines for Brabham's racing efforts, and became one of the first firms authorised by Cosworth to maintain and rebuild its DFV engines, but has since expanded into various areas of motorsport.
Gibson Technology is an automotive and motorsport company based at Repton, Derbyshire, England. It was founded by Bill Gibson as Zytek Engineering in 1981.
Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson,, is a British businessman, amateur racing driver and Labour politician. He was Minister of Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills until May 2010, where he replaced Ian Pearson. In June 2009 he was additionally appointed as Minister of State for Strategic Defence Acquisition Reform at the Ministry of Defence. After losing his ministerial positions in the General Election 2010 he decided to devote himself totally towards his motorsports company Drayson Racing Technology. He is chairman and CEO of Drayson Technologies Ltd.
Joest Racing is a German sports car racing team that was established in 1978 by former Porsche works racer Reinhold Joest. Their headquarters are in Wald-Michelbach, Germany.
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 IMSA SportsCar Championship, 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. They currently supply engines for the Indy Lights series.
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.
The Lola B08/60 is a Le Mans Prototype built by Lola Cars International. It is the first closed-cockpit sports prototype built by Lola since the 1992 T92/10. It started competition in 2008, with Aston Martin being among the first customers for their entry into the LMP1 category in Le Mans Series, albeit entering under Charouz Racing System banner.
Motorsport is a popular sport in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is a key player in the world of motorsport, hosting rounds of the Formula One World Championship and Grand Prix motorcycle racing, amongst others. It is also the home of many of the current teams in Formula One, such as McLaren, Williams and Aston Martin, while teams such as Red Bull Racing, Mercedes, Alpine and Haas are also based in England. There are also a range of popular national series held such as the British Touring Car Championship and the British GT Championship amongst others. The Motor Sports Association is the official governing body of motorsport in the United Kingdom.
The issue of environmentalism in motorsport surrounds the whole of auto racing to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions contributing to global warming.
The 2009 1000 km of Okayama was the inaugural event of Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) Asian Le Mans Series. It was held at the Okayama International Circuit, Japan and featured two 500 km races held on 30 October and 1 November 2009. The winning teams in each of the four categories earned an automatic invitation to the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans. A second Asian Le Mans Series event, scheduled for the Shanghai International Circuit, China, on 7 and 8 November was cancelled by the ACO due to economic circumstances. The race weekend is being shared with the World Touring Car Championship's Race of Japan.
Jonathan Cocker is a British racing driver. In 2012 he won the ELMS GTE Pro Championship. He competed in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) for Drayson Racing, a team run by Paul Drayson.
The 2010 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup was the inaugural running of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, an international auto racing championship for manufacturers and teams. The Cup featured endurance races from the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, and Asian Le Mans Series, as well as teams representing each of the three series. Winning teams were awarded with automatic invitations to the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans. As with the three racing series based on Le Mans, the Intercontinental Cup featured the ACO's four premiere classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2. Six manufacturers and eighteen teams vied for the Cup in each of the four classes utilized in Le Mans racing.
The Aston Martin Vantage GT2 is the most powerful racing variant of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage family. The Vantage GT2 is based on the V8 engined Aston Martin Vantage road car but is designed to run on both standard race fuel or E85 bio-ethanol.
The Spark-Renault SRT_01E, also known as the SRT01-e or the Spark Gen1, was an electric formula race car designed for the inaugural season of Formula E, in 2014–15. The car was the result of a 10-month collaboration between Spark Racing Technology, McLaren Electronic Systems, Williams Advanced Engineering, Dallara and Renault. The car was used until the end of Formula E's fourth season in 2018, after which it was replaced by the SRT05e.
Jota Sport is a British sports car racing team. Founded as Team Jota by Sam Hignett and John Stack, Jota Sport is part of the Jota Group which is owned by Sam Hignett and David Clark. The team is based in Tunbridge Wells in England. Jota Sport has finished on the overall podium of 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans with two Oreca in an alliance with Jackie Chan DC Racing. In 2018/2019 Jota competed, in partnership with Arden International, RP Motorsport, Jackie Chan DC Racing and Aston Martin in the FIA World Endurance Championship with two ORECA 07 LMP2 and in the GT World Challenge Europe with Mclaren 720S GT3 cars.
Lola B10/60 is a sports prototype race car, designed, developed, and produced by British manufacturer Lola, and built to LMP1 rules and regulations, in 2010. It was Lola's attempt to compete in the European Le Mans Series, American Le Mans Series, and Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. It was entered by the Rebellion Racing team for the 2010 Le Mans Series season, and Drayson Racing for the 2010 American Le Mans Series season.