Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Formula Two is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name returned in 2017 when the former GP2 Series became known as the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers.
Lola Cars International Ltd. was a British race car engineering company in operation from 1958 to 2012. The company was founded by Eric Broadley in Bromley, England, before moving to new premises in Slough, Buckinghamshire and finally Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and endured for more than fifty years to become one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of racing cars in the world. Lola Cars started by building small front-engined sports cars, and branched out into Formula Junior cars before diversifying into a wider range of sporting vehicles.
Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. It sanctioned five auto racing series. The series announced in September 2012 that it would be merging with the American Le Mans Series, which had been Grand-Am's main US competitor since its inception. The two series fully merged in 2014 under the banner of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, with the International Motor Sports Association.
Throughout its history, BMW cars and motorcycles have been successful in a range of motorsport activities. Apart from the factory efforts, many privateer teams enter BMW road cars in touring car racing. BMW also entered cars or provided engines in Formula One, Formula Two and sportscar racing. BMW is currently active in IMSA, the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200, the Superbike World Championship and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.
Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula. The '5000' denomination comes from the maximum 5.0 litre engine capacity allowed in the cars, although many cars ran with smaller engines. Manufacturers included McLaren, Eagle, March, Lola, Lotus, Elfin, Matich and Chevron.
Formula racing is any of several forms of open-wheeled single-seater motorsport. The origin of the term lies in the nomenclature that was adopted by the FIA for all of its post-World War II single-seater regulations, or formulae. The best known of these formulae are Formula One, Formula E, Formula Two, Formula Three, regional Formula Three and Formula Four. Common usage of "formula racing" encompasses other single-seater series, including the GP2 Series, which replaced Formula 3000.
The Atlantic Championship is a formula race car series with races throughout North America. It has been called Champ Car Atlantics, Toyota Atlantics, or just Atlantics or Formula Atlantic, although the latter two terms risk confusion with the Sports Car Club of America's amateur Formula Atlantics division.
Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula Ford has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone into formula racing after karting. The series typically sees career-minded drivers enter alongside amateurs and enthusiasts. Success in Formula Ford can lead directly to other junior formula series such as a Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Three, or the W Series for female drivers.
ATS is a German company that manufactures alloy wheels for road and racing cars. It is based in Bad Dürkheim near the Hockenheimring race circuit. ATS had a Formula One racing team that was active from 1977 to 1984.
Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to higher formulas.
Formula BMW was a junior racing formula for single seater cars. It was positioned at the bottom of the motorsport career ladder alongside the longer established Formula Ford category. Like Formula Ford, it was intended to function as the young kart racing graduate's first experience of car racing.
Élan Motorsport Technologies is an American enterprise that serves as an umbrella company containing the race car engineering, development and manufacturing companies owned by American racing and automotive company conglomerate Panoz Motor Sports Group. Élan engineers, designs and builds Panoz-branded race cars and components, since its founding it has also acquired several manufacturers, including famous Formula Ford builders Van Diemen and IndyCar Series constructor G-Force. Élan-built cars have successfully competed in the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, IMSA Prototype Lites and various other championships, racing series and types of professional racing throughout the world. It designs, develops and manufactures full line race cars, i.e. chassis, bodies, components and engines for professional racing competition for a variety of segments and classes.
Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines.
The J29/DB Toyota Supra, also known as the Toyota GR Supra, is the fifth generation of the Supra, a sports car produced by Toyota since 2019. The GR Supra was sold under and developed by Toyota's Gazoo Racing (GR) brand, in collaboration with BMW, and replaces the A80 Supra, which stopped production in 2002. The GR Supra rides on a new jointly-developed sports car platform by Toyota and BMW, with a short wheelbase, wide track, and low center of gravity, that also underpins the G29 BMW Z4. Initially, BMW considered using a pre-existing platform of their own to underpin the new Supra, to which chief engineer Tada-san declined. Both cars are also manufactured at the Magna Steyr plant in Graz, Austria.
The Osella PA9 was a 2-liter, Group 6, sports car prototype, developed in 1981 by the Turin racing car manufacturer Osella and used by the factory in sports car and hill climb races until 1988.
The March 822 was an open-wheel, developed and built by British racing car manufacturer March Engineering in 1982, which was designed in accordance with Formula 2 regulations. In 1982 and 1983 numerous drivers took part in the Formula 2 European Championship and the Japanese Formula 2 Championship. In 1982, Corrado Fabi became European Formula 2 Champion on a March 822, and Satoru Nakajima won the Japanese championship in the same year. A derived version, called the 82A, was used in the Formula Atlantic series.
The March 782 was an open-wheel Formula 2 car, designed, developed and built by British manufacturer March Engineering in 1978. The 782 chassis was very competitive, and March dominated the season with their 782 chassis, and it was a clean-sweep; winning 11 out of the 12 races, and Bruno Giacomelli winning the championship, with 78 points. Marc Surer finished second-place in the championship as runner-up, with 48 points ; also driving a 782 chassis. It saw continued used through 1981, with Alberto Colombo winning at Hockenheim in 1980 with a two-year-old 782 chassis.
The Lola T850 is an open-wheel Formula 2 racing car from the British manufacturer Lola Cars, which was used in the European and Japanese Formula 2 Championships in the early 1980s. It is not Lola's own construction, but a car produced under a license that was developed by competing companies. A variant of the Lola T850 is the Docking Spitzley DS1. Lola also built a version destined for Formula Atlantic, sold as the Toleman TA860.
