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.
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of 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. Grand tourers are most often the coupé derivative of luxury saloons or sedans. Many iconic car models, such as the Ferrari 250 GT, Jaguar E-Type, and Aston Martin DB5, are considered classic examples of gran turismo cars.
The Imola Circuit, officially called the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, is a 4.909 km (3.050 mi) motor racing circuit. It is located in the town of Imola, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, 40-kilometre (25 mi) east of Bologna. It is one of the few major international circuits to run in an anti-clockwise direction. Initially used for motorcycle racing, the first race at Imola was held in 1953. The circuit has an FIA Grade One licence. The circuit is named after the founder of the Ferrari car company, Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), and his son Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari (1932–1956). It was called the Autodromo di Imola from 1953 to 1956 and the Autodromo Dino Ferrari from 1957 to 1988.
The Monza Circuit is a 5.793 km (3.600 mi) race track near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it was the world's third purpose-built motor racing circuit after Brooklands and Indianapolis and the oldest in mainland Europe. The circuit's biggest event is the Italian Grand Prix. With the exception of the 1980 running when the track was closed while undergoing refurbishment, the race has been hosted there since 1949.
BMS Scuderia Italia SpA is an auto racing team founded in 1983 in Brescia by Italian businessman and motorsports enthusiast Giuseppe Lucchini. Originally named Brixia Motor Sport (BMS), the team initially competed in the World Touring Car Championship. The team's name was altered to BMS Scuderia Italia upon their entrance into Formula One in 1988. After departing Formula One in 1993, BMS Scuderia Italia has continued to be involved in other categories such as touring car racing and sports car racing.
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.
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.
Jörg Bergmeister is a former racing driver from Germany and an ambassador of Porsche.
Mugello Circuit is a motorsport race track in Scarperia e San Piero, Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The circuit length is 5.245 km (3.259 mi). It has 15 turns and a 1.141 km (0.709 mi) long straight. The circuit stadium stands have a capacity of 50,000.
The Misano World Circuit is a race track located next to the town of Misano Adriatico in the frazione of Santa Monica-Cella. Originally designed in 1969 as a length of 3.488 km (2.167 mi), it hosted its first event in 1972. In 1993, the track length was increased to 4.064 km (2.525 mi).
The Autodromo di Pergusa is an automobile and motorcycle circuit that encircles the only Sicilian natural lake, Pergusa Lake. The circuit is also known as Enna-Pergusa, as the lake is located near the city of Enna.
The GTR Euroseries was a short-lived auto racing series which ran in 1998. It was created as an alternative to the international FIA GT Championship, while combining elements of the former BPR Global GT Series. The GTR Euroseries was created by Patrick Peter and the GTR Organisation, who had also been a founder of the BPR.
The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec cars modified from production road cars.
Larbre Compétition is a French auto racing team founded in 1988 by Jack Leconte. Based at the Circuit du Val de Vienne in Le Vigeant, Larbre has had considerable success in the Porsche Carrera Cup, French GT Championship, and international FIA GT Championship. Previously working with major automobile manufacturers like Porsche, Ferrari, and Chrysler, Larbre ran one of the factory Aston Martin squads in the Le Mans Series where they won the 2006 GT1 class championship.
JMB Racing is a racing team from Monaco that competes in sports car racing. It was founded in Nice, France, in 1995 as JB Racing by Jean-Michel Bouresche and Jean-Pierre Jabouille. It was renamed JMB in 2000 after Jabouille left the partnership. JMB relocated its headquarters to Monaco in 2004, racing with a Monegasque license since then.
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 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.
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.
Alessandro Giardelli is an Italian professional racing driver he is vice champion of the 2021 Porsche Carrera Cup Italy and champion of the Porsche Young Driver Programme in his first season as a rookie. And also competed in the Porsche Supercup, which takes place on the same weekends as Formula 1. He was champion of the Karting Italian Championship, Giardelli is the Youngest driver ever to race in the KZ1 top karting category in Karting World Championship in 2017 at only 14 years old.
The 2024 Italian GT Championship is the 33rd season of the Italian GT Championship, the grand tourer-style sports car racing founded by the Italian Automobile Club. The season started on 4 May at Misano and ends on 27 October at Monza. Similar to the GT World Challenge Europe the Italian GT Championship is split into an Sprint and Endurance Championship. New for 2024 is the separation of the GT Cup field into two different divisions, Division 1 for Ferrari Challenge and Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars and Division 2 for Porsche Cup Cars.
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