 | A request that this article title be changed to Group 6 (FIA) is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed. |
Group 6 was the official designation applied by the FIA to two motor racing classifications, the Prototype-Sports Car category from 1966 to 1971 and the Two-Seater Racing Cars class from 1976 to 1982.
The original Group 6 was introduced for the 1966 racing season, at the same time as a new Group 4 Sports Car category. Whilst Group 4 specified that competing cars must be one of at least fifty examples built, Group 6 had no minimum production requirement. Nor did it have a maximum engine capacity limit although there were weight, dimensional and other restrictions placed on the Group 6 cars. [1] The Prototypes and Sports Cars categories each had their own international championships to fight for but many of the major international endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans would count as qualifying rounds for both championships.
1968 saw a three-litre engine capacity limit imposed on the Group 6 category and the dual championship format was replaced by a single International Championship for Makes open to both Group 6 and Group 4 cars. The Le Mans 24 Hour retained its place as a championship round. For 1969 the FIA relaxed a number of Group 6 regulations relating to weight, spare wheel, windscreen height and luggage space requirements. [1]
For 1972 the Group 6 Prototype-Sports Car class was redesignated and renamed to become the Group 5 Sports Car category. [2] The International Championship of Makes became the World Championship of Makes and the first chapter of Group 6 history was brought to a close by the FIA.
Group 6 cars had been eligible to compete in 24 Hours of Le Mans each year from 1966 to 1971; however, the category had produced the outright winning car only in 1966 and 1967.
In 1976, the FIA reintroduced the Group 6 classification, now officially called “Two- Seater Racing Cars”. [3]
Various production-based categories, spearheaded by a new Group 5 for “Special Production Cars”, were now to contest the World Championship of Makes whilst the Group 6 cars were awarded their own title, the World Championship for Sports Cars. Three engine capacity limits were applied to Group 6 cars for the 1976 and 1977 championships: [4]
After two years of small fields and little in the way of manufacturer support the championship was downgraded to become the European Sports Car Championship for 1978 but even that title was to be abandoned after the first year. [5] From 1979 the FIA decreed that Group 6 cars could compete in the World Championship of Makes qualifying rounds but continued to allow only production-based cars to score championship points for their manufacturer. [6]
1981 saw the series expanded with an official Drivers’ title awarded by the FIA for the first time and drivers of Group 6 cars were eligible to compete for this. [7] Group 6 was then effectively replaced by the new Group C Sports Car class for 1982 but the FIA granted a concession which allowed the Group 6 cars to compete in the 1982 World Endurance Championship alongside the new cars. As in 1981, drivers of Group 6 cars were eligible to score points in the Drivers’ championship but the relevant manufacturers could not score points towards the Makes title. [8] For the 1982 World Endurance Championship, the engine capacity maximum for Group 6 cars was set at 3000cc. [9]
Throughout the seven years of the second era of Group 6 racing the cars had been eligible to compete in 24 Hours of Le Mans and the category had produced the outright winning car in all years except 1979 & 1982.
| Categories | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I. Touring | A. Touring | |||||||||||
| II. Sports | II. Grand Touring | B. Grand Touring | ||||||||||
| - | C. Sports | |||||||||||
| Group | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 | 1958 | 1959 | 1960 | 1961 | 1962 | 1963 | 1964 | 1965 |
| Group 1 | Normal series production | |||||||||||
| Group 2 | "Grand Touring" series prod | Modified series prod | Modified series prod | |||||||||
| Group 3 | Special series production | Grand Touring Cars | ||||||||||
| Group 4 | Series production | Normal GT series prod | Sports Car | |||||||||
| Group 5 | International | Modified GT series prod | - | |||||||||
| Group 6 | - | GT specials | - | |||||||||
| Source: [10] [11] | ||||||||||||
| Categories | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. Production | ||||||||||||||||
| B. Special | B. Experimental Competition | B. Racing Cars | ||||||||||||||
| C. Racing Cars | - | |||||||||||||||
| Group | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 |
| Group 1 | Series Touring (5000) | |||||||||||||||
| Group 2 | Touring (1000) | Special Touring (1000) | ||||||||||||||
| Group 3 | Grand Touring (500) | Series Grand Touring (1000) | ||||||||||||||
| Group 4 | Sportscars (50/25) | Special Grand Touring (500) | Grand Touring (400) | |||||||||||||
| Group 5 | Special Touring Cars | Sports cars (50) | Sports cars | Special cars derived from Groups 1-4 | ||||||||||||
| Group 6 | Prototype sportscars | - | Two-seater racecars | |||||||||||||
| Group 7 | Two-seater racecars | International formula | ||||||||||||||
| Group 8 | Formula racing cars | International formula | Formula libre racing cars | |||||||||||||
| Group 9 | Formula libre racing cars | - | ||||||||||||||
| Source: [10] [11] Note: Special may be replaced with Competition in some official documents. | ||||||||||||||||
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.
Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs.
In relation to international motorsport governed by the FIA, Group N refers to regulations providing "standard" large-scale series production vehicles for competition. They are limited in terms of modifications permitted to the standard specification by the manufacturer making them a cost effective method of production vehicle motorsport. Often referred to as the "showroom class", Group N contrasts with Group A which has greater freedom to modify and tune the cars to be more suitable to racing. Both groups may have the same or similar models homologated by a manufacturer.
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The 1982 World Sportscar Championship was the 30th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing. It featured the 1982 World Endurance Championship for Drivers, which was contested over an eight-round series, and the 1982 World Endurance Championship for Manufacturers, which was contested over five rounds held concurrently with the first five rounds of the Drivers Championship. The Drivers’ title was open to Group C Sports Cars, Group B GT Cars, Group 6 Two-Seater Racing Cars, Group 5 Special Production Cars, Group 4 GT Cars, Group 3 GT Cars, Group 2 Touring Cars and IMSA GTX, GTO and GTU cars. The Manufacturers title was limited to Group C Sports Cars and Group B GT Cars only. The series ran from 18 April 1982 to 17 October 1982.
The 1981 World Sportscar Championship season was the 29th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1981 FIA World Endurance Championship which was contested over a fifteen race series which ran from 31 January to 27 September. The former World Challenge for Endurance Drivers was renamed to the World Endurance Championship of Drivers for 1981 and the World Championship of Makes was renamed to the World Endurance Championship of Makes. Bob Garretson won the World Endurance Championship of Drivers and Lancia was awarded the World Endurance Championship of Makes.
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 1979 World Sportscar Championship season was the 27th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing. It featured the 1979 World Championship for Makes which was open to Group 1 and 2 Touring Cars, Group 3 and 4 Grand Touring cars, and Group 5 Special Production Cars. The championship ran from 3 February to 16 September 1979 and consisted of nine rounds. It was contested in two engine capacity divisions, Over 2 Litres and Under 2 Litres.
The 1978 World Sportscar Championship season was the 26th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1978 World Championship for Makes, which was contested from 4 February to 3 September 1978 over an eight race series. The 24 Hours of Daytona and the 1000 km Nürburgring were part of the inaugural FIA World Challenge for Endurance Drivers.
The 1963 World Sportscar Championship season was the 11th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1963 International Championship for GT Manufacturers, which was contested in three engine capacity divisions and the 1963 International Trophy for GT Prototypes, which was contested in two engine capacity divisions. The season ran from 17 February 1963 to 14 September 1963 over 22 events.
The 1964 World Sportscar Championship season was the 12th season of FIA 'World Sportscar Championship' motor racing. It featured the 1964 International Championship for GT Manufacturers which was open to Group 3 GT cars and was contested from 16 February 1964 to 11 October 1964 over a twenty race series. Titles were awarded in three engine capacity divisions:
The 1965 World Sportscar Championship season was the 13th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing. It featured the 1965 International Championship for GT Manufacturers and the 1965 International Trophy for GT Prototypes. The season ran from 28 February 1965 to 19 September 1965 and comprised 20 races.
The 1967 World Sportscar Championship season was the 15th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing. It featured the International Championship for Sports-Prototypes and the International Championship for Sports Cars. The former was open to Group 6 Sports-Prototypes and the latter to Group 4 Sports Cars. The season ran from 4 February 1967 to 3 September 1967 and comprised 14 races in total.
The 1969 World Sportscar Championship season was the 17th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1969 International Championship for Makes, which was a series for FIA Group 6 Prototype Sports Cars, Group 4 Sports Cars and Group 3 Grand Touring Cars and the 1969 International Cup for GT Cars, which was restricted to Group 3 Grand Touring Cars. The season ran from 1 February 1969 to 10 August 1969 and comprised 10 races.
The 1976 World Sports Car Championship was a motor racing series open to Group 6 cars,. The championship was contested over a seven race series which ran from 4 April to 19 September and included a secondary award, the 1976 FIA Cup for Cars up to 2 Litres. 1976 was the 24th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing.
The Group 4 racing class referred to regulations for cars in sportscar racing, GT racing and rallying, as regulated by the FIA. The Group 4 class was replaced by Group B for the 1983 season.
The Group 3 racing class referred to a set of regulations for Grand Touring Cars competing in sportscar racing and rallying events regulated by the FIA. These regulations were active, in various forms, from 1957 to 1981.
In relation to Australian motorsport, Group C refers to either of two sets of regulations devised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) for use in Australian Touring Car Racing from 1965 to 1984. These are not to be confused with the FIA's Group C sports car regulations, used from 1982 to 1992 for the World Endurance Championship / World Sports-Prototype Championship / World Sportscar Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The 1976 World Championship for Makes was part of the 24th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It was a series for production based cars from the following FIA categories
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 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.