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.
The Porsche 911 GT1 is a car designed and developed by German automobile manufacturer Porsche AG to compete in the GT1 class of sportscar racing, which also required a street-legal version for homologation purposes. The limited-production street-legal version developed as a result was named the 911 GT1 Straßenversion.
The Mercedes-Benz M119 is a V8 automobile petrol engine produced from 1989 through 1999. It was available in 4.2 L; 5.0 L; and 6.0 L displacements. It was a double overhead cam design with 4 valves per cylinder and variable valve timing on the intake side. It was replaced by the 3-valve M113 starting in 1997.
Bernd Robert Schneider is a German racing driver. He is a five-time Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion, and a Mercedes Brand Ambassador.
The Mercedes-Benz CLR is a sports car developed by Mercedes-Benz in collaboration with in-house tuning division AMG and motorsports specialists HWA GmbH. Designed to meet Le Mans Grand Touring Prototype (LMGTP) regulations, the CLRs were intended to compete in sports car events during 1999, most notably at the 24 Hours of Le Mans which Mercedes had last won in 1989. It was the third iteration in Mercedes' 1990s sports cars, succeeding the Mercedes-Benz CLK LM, which in turn was born of the CLK GTR. Similar to its predecessors, CLR retained elements of Mercedes-Benz's production cars, including a V8 engine loosely based on the Mercedes M119 as well as a front fascia, headlamps, and grille inspired by the then new Mercedes flagship CL Class
The C208/A208 Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class was introduced in 1997, and was based on the W202 Mercedes-Benz C-Class launched three years earlier. The C208 coupé was the first generation of the Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class and was subsequently replaced by the C209 CLK-Class in 2002, although the convertible remained in production till March 2003 when replaced by the A209 CLK. In total 233,367 units of the first generation CLK were manufactured in its coupé form, when production ceased in May 2002 and additional 115,161 cabriolets assembled at Karmann plant in Osnabrück.
The 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 67th 24 Hours of Le Mans, and took place on 12 and 13 June 1999. The race had a large number of entries in the fastest Le Mans Prototype classes, with Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lola Cars, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Panoz, Riley & Scott, and Toyota all represented.
The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR is a GT1 sports car built and produced by Mercedes-Benz in conjunction with their then motorsport partner AMG. Intended for racing in the new FIA GT Championship series in 1997, the CLK GTR was designed primarily as a race car. As such, the production of road cars necessary in order to meet homologation standards of GT1 was a secondary consideration in the car's design, i.e. the CLK GTR was a homologation special.
The Toyota GT-One is a racing car initially developed for Group GT1 rules, but later adapted into an LMGTP car. It raced in the 1998 and 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Marcel Tiemann is a former racing driver from Germany. He is best known for being a five-time winner of the 24 Hours Nürburgring race with Opel and Porsche.
The Nissan R390 GT1 was a racing car built in Atsugi, Japan. It was designed primarily to gain a suitable racing entry in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1997 and 1998. It was built to race under the grand touring style rules, requiring a homologated road version to be built. Therefore, the R390 was built originally as road car, then a racing version of the car was developed afterwards. Only one R390 road car was ever built and is stored at Nissan's Zama facility, although one of the race cars was later modified for road use. The road car was claimed to be capable of attaining a top speed of 354 km/h (220 mph). However, this claim has never been proven.
The McLaren F1 GTR is the 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 was powered by the naturally aspirated BMW S70/2 V12 engine. It is most famous for its overall victory at the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans where it won against faster purpose-built prototypes in very wet conditions. The F1 GTR raced internationally until 2005 when the final race chassis was retired.
The Lotus Elise GT1 is a race car developed for grand tourer-style sports car racing starting in 1997.
Throughout its long history, Mercedes-Benz has been involved in a range of successful motorsport activities, including sportscar racing, touring car racing, Grand Prix racing, and rallying. It is currently active in GT racing, and Formula One. Mercedes is also one of only three constructors to complete the Triple Crown of Motorsport, a feat that Mercedes achieved as both a chassis manufacturer and an engine manufacturer by winning the 1952 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Panoz Esperante GTR-1 was a race car developed by Panoz Auto Development and Reynard Motorsport for grand tourer endurance racing in 1997. Although named after the Panoz Esperante roadster, the GTR-1 actually bore no mechanical relation to the production Esperante, instead sharing only minor styling points. Only two road-legal GTR-1s were built to meet homologation requirements set forth by the ruling bodies which the racing cars ran under.
The BMW V12 LM was a racing car built for sports car racing in 1998. The car was built using a combination of WilliamsF1 chassis engineering and construction and a BMW powerplant. The car was a predecessor to the BMW V12 LMR, which debuted in 1999.
HWA Team, also known as HWA RACELAB, is the auto racing team of HWA AG, a German company based in Affalterbach, that also develops and builds vehicles and components for Mercedes-AMG race cars. It is named after founder Hans-Werner Aufrecht.
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.
The M297 is a V12 engine produced by Mercedes-Benz, from 1997 to 2016. Engine code was derived from the CLK GTR's C297 chassis code.
Group GT1, also known simply as GT1, was a set of regulations maintained formerly by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), for Grand Tourer racing. The category was first created in 1993, as the top class of the BPR Global GT Series, and was included in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It fell under FIA regulation from 1997, after the BPR series came under the control of the FIA, becoming known as the FIA GT Championship. The category was dissolved at the end of 2011. The category may be split into four distinctive eras, from its debut in 1993–1996, 1997–1998, 2000–2009, 2010–2011.
