An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fenders. Open-wheel cars are built both for road racing and oval track racing. Street-legal open-wheel cars, such as the Ariel Atom, are scarce as they are often impractical for everyday use.
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. Lola was acquired by Martin Birrane in 1998 after the unsuccessful MasterCard Lola attempt at Formula One.
The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional major motorsports of Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and managed by Japan Race Promotion (JRP).
Dallara is an Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Gian Paolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, Dallara wanted to fulfill his dream of working in the world of racing cars. In 1972 in his native village of Varano de' Melegari (Parma), Italy he created "Dallara Automobili". The successes in Formula 3 first in Italy then all over the world, its affirmation in the United States with the Indycar, the consultancies for important manufacturers and the constant attention to technology and innovation have all led Dallara to being recognized as one of the most important realities specialized in the designing, developing and production of racing cars.
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 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 F 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.
Formula Mazda is a class of relatively affordable open wheel formula racing.
Satoshi Motoyama is a Japanese professional racing driver and team manager. He is best known for racing in the Super GT Series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) as a factory driver for Nissan, and for racing in the Formula Nippon Championship. He is a three-time champion of the GT500 class of Super GT, and a four-time Formula Nippon/Super Formula champion, making him one of the most successful Japanese racing drivers of all-time.
Swift Engineering Inc. is an American spacecraft engineering firm that builds autonomous systems, helicopters, submarines, spacecraft, ground vehicles, robotics, and composite parts. Swift used to produce racing cars for open-wheel racing series, including Formula Ford, Formula Atlantic, the Champ Car World Series and Formula Nippon, having designed and fabricated over 500 race cars.
The McLaren M23 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Coppuck, with input from John Barnard, and built by the McLaren team. It was a development of the McLaren M16 Indianapolis 500 car. A Ford Cosworth DFV engine was used, which was prepared by specialist tuning company Nicholson-McLaren Engines. This helped push the DFV's horsepower output to around 490 bhp.
The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 over a series of races in New Zealand and Australia. It was named after the Tasman Sea which lies between the two countries. The Tasman Series races were held in January through to late February or early March of each year, during the Formula One off season, taking advantage of winter in the Northern Hemisphere to attract many top drivers to summer in the south. The Tasman Cup was the permanent trophy awarded to the winning driver.
The 2008 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirty-sixth season of the premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing series. The series for Formula Nippon racing cars was contested over eight rounds. All teams were required to use Lola chassis and have the choice between utilising Mugen Honda or Toyota engines.
The 2009 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirty-seventh season of the premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing series. The series for Formula Nippon racing cars was contested over eight rounds. Nakajima Racing's Loïc Duval claimed four victories en route to the championship, ending a six-year streak of championships by the Impul team.
The Dome F105 was an unraced Formula One car designed and built by the Japanese motorsport constructor, Dome.
Reynard Motorsport was the world's largest racing car manufacturer in the 1980s. Initially based at Bicester and latterly at Reynard Park, Brackley, England the company built successful cars in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Ford 2000, Formula Vauxhall Lotus, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and CART.
The 2013 Japanese Championship Super Formula season was the forty-first season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the first under the new name of Super Formula. The series was contested over six rounds and a non-championship final round at Fuji Speedway as part of the JAF Grand Prix. 2013 was also the last season using the original chassis by Swift Engineering as for 2014 Dallara would supply a new chassis, the SF14, to the series.
Forsgrini Engineering is a former American racecar constructor based in Issaquah, Washington. The company produced various racing cars for Formula C, Tasman Series and other classes.
Spark Racing Technology (SRT) is a motorsport manufacturer specialized in the development and engineering of high-performance e-mobility cars and modules. The company was founded by Frédéric Vasseur to become the sole chassis supplier for the FIA Formula E Championship but is now involved in other projects as well.
The VHT S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship is a current open-wheel road racing series in Australia. The series was created by a merger between two proposed series, Formula Thunder 5000 and Super5000. The series is promoted by the Australian Racing Group.
The Toyota RV8 engine family is a series of race car engines designed, developed and produced by Toyota Racing Development. They come in 2.65-liter, 3.0-liter and 3.4-liter, turbocharged and naturally-aspirated, V8 racing engine versions. They are used in the CART series, IRL IndyCar Series, Formula Nippon, Super GT, and Le Mans Prototype sports car racing, from 1996 to 2015. The naturally-aspirated engine, formerly used in Formula Nippon and Super GT, is itself derived from the Toyota Indy V8 Indy car racing V8 engine.
