NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race

Last updated
NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race
NascarBrasil Primary-main.png
Category Stock cars
Country Brazil
Region South America
Inaugural season2012
Constructors Chevrolet, Ford
Engine suppliers Action Power
Tire suppliers Pirelli
Drivers' champion
  • Pro:
  • Flag of Brazil.svg Léo Torres
  • Pro AM:
  • Flag of Brazil.svg Guilherme Backes
  • AM:
  • Flag of Brazil.svg Brendon Zonta
Official website NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race
Motorsport current event.svg Current season

The NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race (formerly known as GT Sprint Race), commonly referred to as NASCAR Brasil or Sprint Race, is a NASCAR stock car series based in Brazil. [1] It is one of NASCAR's four international series alongside the NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Mexico Series, and the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and is the only one to be based in South America.

Contents

History

Early history

NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race's roots can be traced to 2011, when rumors of a Super Cup championship first circulated in the Brazilian racing scene. Super Cup is a category that promised a low cost championship hosted in tracks outside of the traditional Brazilian venues. [2] Super Cup ultimately failed to establish themselves, but on January 18, 2012 a spiritual successor series named Sprint Race was founded by Thiago Marques, a former competitor in the Stock Car Pro Series and the younger brother of ex-Formula One driver Tarso Marques. [3] [4] Sprint Race was formed as an entry-level competition series designed to facilitate a beginner driver's transition to the higher racing categories in Brazil. [5]

The inaugural season was held on the same year and a total of 25 drivers entered the 2012 season. It featured a total of 18 races across 9 rounds, with double points being awarded in the final round. The driver pairing of Guilherme Sperafico and Fabio Brecailo were credited as Sprint Race's inaugural race winners on the series' first ever race at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, while Gustavo Martins was crowned as the series' inaugural champion after scoring four race wins. [6]

The 2013 season featured 16 races across 8 rounds and saw the driver pairing of Gaetano di Mauro and Guilherme Salas took the title after winning five races. [7] [8] In 2014, the series was split into two classes: Pro and GP class, with titles being awarded separately towards the drivers that scored the most points in their respective classes. Despite this, both classes continued to ran their races together. Flávio Lisboa was crowned as the overall champion in the now-rebranded Pro class, while Adriano Amaral became the first driver to win the title in the GP class. [9]

In the 2018 season, the series hosted their first races outside of Brazil when they hosted a race at Uruguay's Autódromo Eduardo Prudêncio Cabrera. The series returned to Uruguay in 2019 and on the same year, the series made its first races outside of South America as the series hosted the Sprint Race International Cup in tracks such as Homestead–Miami Speedway and Sebring International Raceway. [10]

GT Sprint Race and NASCAR

In 2020, the series rebranded itself into the GT Sprint Race and numerous changes was made to the series. The GP class was discontinued and in its place, two new divisions were formed: The AM and Pro AM classes. A new car generation, inspired from the cars raced in NASCAR, was also introduced and the series switched their tire suppliers from Pirelli to Yokohama. [11] Thiago Camilo was crowned as the overall champion in the Pro class that year, while Weldes Campos and Luiz Arruda were crowned as the inaugural champions of the Pro AM and AM classes respectively. [12]

The series was later rebranded to the NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race on November 16, 2022 after the series signed an agreement with NASCAR to give the series an official NASCAR-sanctioning status starting from the 2023 season. [13] [14] [15] In 2023, NASCAR intends on adding oval race tracks to the schedule. [15]

Cars

The current generation of Chevrolet Camaro bodied NASCAR Brasil race cars racing at Autodromo Velo Citta in 2020. Marcelo Henriques durante a segunda etapa de 2020 da GT Sprint Race, no Autodromo Velo Citta..jpg
The current generation of Chevrolet Camaro bodied NASCAR Brasil race cars racing at Autódromo Velo Città in 2020.

NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race's cars featured a peripheral tubular space frame chassis reinforced with aluminum plates. In its original guise, the car used an unbranded hatchback body model based on the Renault Clio. The driver is positioned in the middle of the car for better weight distribution. It uses a six-speed sequential gearbox, independent suspension, and engines supplied by Action Power. For the first two seasons, the cars used a 220 hp, inline-four turbo engines sourced from Renault before it was upgraded to a 270 hp, 3.6 liter V6 engine sourced from Chevrolet in 2014. [5]

A new generation of car was introduced by the series in 2020. The new car featured a brand new body model inspired from the American NASCAR series, with composite body styles based on the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang being available to be chosen for the teams participating; the NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race is one of two NASCAR series where Toyota does not participate, the other being the NASCAR Canada Series. The new generation of cars featured an improved aerodynamic package and was claimed to have a 20% increase in corner speed, despite the removal of the detached rear wing in favor of integrated rear spoiler. [11]

The new generation car received several changes in the 2022 season. New racing seats, inspired from the seats used in NASCAR, was introduced to increase driver's protection from head and neck injuries due to lateral movement during crashes. A rear stabilizer bar was added, with drivers being able to choose between three settings: Soft, hard, and off. The engine also received an updated electronic injection unit to improve its acceleration. [10]

NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race featured Pirelli as the exclusive tire supplier of the series. Pirelli is the exclusive tire supplier starting from the inaugural season in 2012, with the exception of the 2020 season where the series ran Yokohama tires instead. [11]

Specifications

Tracks

Brazil location map.svg
Locations of the tracks that have hosted a Sprint Race/GT Sprint Race/NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race race. Green dots represent current tracks, red dots represent former tracks, and purple dots represent future tracks.
Usa edcp location map.svg
Locations of the tracks outside of South America that have hosted a Sprint Race/GT Sprint Race/NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race race. Green dots represent current tracks, purple dots represent future tracks, red dots represent former tracks.

The following are the tracks which have been used, currently are in use, and/or are scheduled to be used in the NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race. Tracks marked in bold are tracks used in the 2024 NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race season. [17]

YearsTrackLocationType
2018–2019 Autódromo Eduardo Prudêncio Cabrera Rivera, Uruguay Road course
2020–present Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna (Goiânia) Goiânia, Brazil Road course
2012–present Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna (Londrina) Londrina, Brazil Road course
2012–2018, 2020–2021 Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba Curitiba, Brazil Road course
2013–2021, 2023–present Autódromo Internacional de Cascavel Cascavel, Brazil Road course
2014, 2022 Autódromo Internacional de Santa Cruz do Sul Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil Road course
2013, 2015, 2021–present Autódromo Internacional de Tarumã Tarumã, Brazil Road course
2024 Autódromo Internacional Orlando Moura Campo Grande, Brazil Road course
2021, 2024 Autódromo Internacional Potenza Lima Duarte, Brazil Road course
2017–2023 Autódromo Velo Città Mogi Guaçu, Brazil Road course
2024 Circuito dos Cristais Curvelo, Brazil Oval track
2019 Homestead–Miami Speedway Homestead, United States Road course
2012–present Interlagos Circuit São Paulo, Brazil Road course
2019 Sebring International Raceway Sebring, United States Road course

Champions

Brazilian Championship

SeasonProPro AMAMGP
2012 Flag of Brazil.svg Gustavo Martins Not held
2013 Flag of Brazil.svg Gaetano di Mauro
Flag of Brazil.svg Guilhermo Salas
2014 Flag of Brazil.svg Flávio Lisboa Not held Flag of Brazil.svg Adriano Amaral
2015 Flag of Brazil.svg Pietro Rimbano Flag of Brazil.svg Fábio Brecailo
2016 Flag of Brazil.svg Juninho Berlanda
Flag of Brazil.svg Eduardo Berlanda
Flag of Brazil.svg Vinícius Margiota
2017 Flag of Brazil.svg Juninho Berlanda Flag of Brazil.svg Kau Machado
Flag of Brazil.svg Jorge Martelli
2018 Flag of Brazil.svg Gerson Campos Flag of Brazil.svg Cassio Cortes
2019 Flag of Brazil.svg João Rosate
Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Smielevski
Flag of Brazil.svg Daniel Coutinho
Flag of Brazil.svg Josimar Jr
2020 Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Sperafico Flag of Brazil.svg Alex Seid
Flag of Brazil.svg Marcelo Henriques
Flag of Brazil.svg Luiz Arruda Not held
2021 Flag of Brazil.svg Júlio Campos
Flag of Brazil.svg Léo Torres
Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Aizza Flag of Brazil.svg Luis Debes
2022 Flag of Brazil.svg Luciano Zangirolami
Flag of Brazil.svg Sérgio Ramalho
Flag of Brazil.svg Arthur Gama Flag of Brazil.svg Giovani Girotto
2023 Flag of Brazil.svg Júlio Campos
Flag of Brazil.svg Léo Torres
Flag of Brazil.svg Leonardo Reis
Flag of Brazil.svg Rafael Reis
Flag of Brazil.svg Henry Couto

Special Edition

SeasonProProAMAMGP
2019 [a] Flag of Brazil.svg João Rosate
Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Smielevski
Not held Flag of Brazil.svg Daniel Coutinho
Flag of Brazil.svg Dudu Trindade
2020 Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Lopes
Flag of Brazil.svg Gabriel Silva
Flag of Brazil.svg Weldes Campos
Flag of Brazil.svg Ricardo Sperafico
Flag of Brazil.svg Raphael Teixeira Not held
2021 Flag of Brazil.svg Thiago Camilo Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Aizza Flag of Brazil.svg Giovani Girotto
2022 Flag of Brazil.svg Thiago Camilo
Flag of Brazil.svg Raphael Teixeira
Flag of Brazil.svg Diogo Moscato Flag of Brazil.svg Giovanni Girotto
2023 Flag of Brazil.svg Vitor Genz
Flag of Brazil.svg Rafael Dias
Flag of Brazil.svg Guilherme Backes
Flag of Brazil.svg Gabriel Casagrande
Flag of Brazil.svg MC Gui

Overall

SeasonProProAMAMGP
2019 Flag of Brazil.svg João Rosate
Flag of Brazil.svg Bruno Smielevski
Not held Flag of Brazil.svg Daniel Coutinho
2020 Flag of Brazil.svg Thiago Camilo Flag of Brazil.svg Weldes Campos Flag of Brazil.svg Luiz Arruda Not held
2021 Flag of Brazil.svg Thiago Camilo Flag of Brazil.svg Pedro Aizza Flag of Brazil.svg Walter Lester
2022 Flag of Brazil.svg Raphael Teixeira Flag of Brazil.svg Arthur Gama Flag of Brazil.svg Giovani Girotto
2023 Flag of Brazil.svg Léo Torres Flag of Brazil.svg Guilherme Backes Flag of Brazil.svg Brendon Zonta

Cups

SeasonRookie of the yearWinter CupFinal Cup
2014 Flag of Brazil.svg Yago Cesário
Flag of Brazil.svg Yuri Cesário
Flag of Brazil.svg Flavio Lisboa Flag of Brazil.svg Flavio Lisboa
2015 Flag of Brazil.svg Enzo Bortoleto Flag of Brazil.svg Caito Vianna
Flag of Brazil.svg Flávio Lisboa
Flag of Brazil.svg Caito Vianna
Flag of Brazil.svg Flávio Lisboa
2016 Flag of Brazil.svg Eduardo Berlanda Flag of Brazil.svg Juninho Berlanda
Flag of Brazil.svg Eduardo Berlanda
Flag of Brazil.svg Luca Milani
2017 Flag of Brazil.svg João Rossate Flag of Brazil.svg Juninho Berlanda Flag of Brazil.svg João Rossate
2018 Flag of Brazil.svg Diego Ramos Flag of Brazil.svg Gerson Campos Flag of Brazil.svg Vinicius Kwong
2019 Flag of Brazil.svg Dante Fibra Flag of Brazil.svg Daniel Coutinho Not held
2020 Flag of Brazil.svg Weldes Campos Not held
2021 Flag of Brazil.svg Nathan Brito
2022 Flag of Brazil.svg Arthur Gama
2023 Flag of Brazil.svg Diogo Moscato

Notes

    1. The 2019 Sprint Race Special Edition had International Cup as official name. The series hosted the championship in Autódromo Eduardo Prudêncio Cabrera, Homestead–Miami Speedway and Sebring International Raceway.

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