John Michael Hawthorn was a British racing driver. He became the United Kingdom's first Formula One World Champion driver in 1958, whereupon he announced his retirement, having been profoundly affected by the death of his teammate and friend Peter Collins two months earlier in the 1958 German Grand Prix. Hawthorn also won the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, but was haunted by his involvement in the disastrous crash that marred the race. Hawthorn died in a road accident three months after retiring.
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of competition and has been described as "the greatest driver never to win the World Championship". In a seven-year span between 1955 and 1961 Moss finished as championship runner-up four times and in third place the other three times.
The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000.
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of sports 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.
Vittorio Jano was an Italian automobile designer of Hungarian descent from the 1920s through 1960s.
Peter John Collins was a British racing driver. He was killed in the 1958 German Grand Prix, just weeks after winning the RAC British Grand Prix. He started his career as a 17-year-old in 1949, impressing in Formula 3 races, finishing third in the 1951 Autosport National Formula 3 Championship.
Roy Francesco Salvadori was a British racing driver and team manager. He was born in Dovercourt, Essex, to parents of Italian descent. He graduated to Formula One by 1952 and competed regularly until 1962 for a succession of teams including Cooper, Vanwall, BRM, Aston Martin and Connaught. Also a competitor in other formulae, he won the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans in an Aston Martin with co-driver Carroll Shelby.
Vernon John Schuppan is a retired Australian motor racing driver. Schuppan drove in various categories, participating in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 and most successfully in sports car racing.
Kauhsen was a Formula One constructor from Germany, founded by former sportscar driver Willi Kauhsen. The team started in Formula Two in 1976, purchasing Renault cars, and raced with an assortment of drivers with limited success. Kauhsen then entered the 1979 Formula One season, spending 1978 designing their own chassis with Cosworth engines. They participated in two World Championship Grands Prix with Gianfranco Brancatelli, failing to qualify on both occasions, before the team was shut down.
Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club of America Formula Atlantic.
The Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 was a sports racing prototype raced by the Alfa Romeo factory-backed team between 1967 and 1977. These cars took part for Sport Cars World Championship, Nordic Challenge Cup, Interserie and CanAm series. A small number of road going cars were derived from it in 1967, called Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.
John Lee Paul Jr. was an American racing driver. He competed in CART and the Indy Racing League competitions, but primarily in IMSA GT Championship, winning the title in 1982.
Automobili Stanguellini is an Italian maker of small sports cars, based in Modena and founded by Vittorio Stanguellini; it was most active between 1946 and 1960. They continued to produce competition cars until 1981, when Vittorio Stanguellini died; thenceforth, the company devoted to vintage cars.
Colin Braun is an American racing driver. He is the 2015 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge Champion and currently drives the No. 54 Flex-Box/Composite Resources ORECA FLM09 for CORE autosport. He formerly competed in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the Xfinity Series. He lives in Harrisburg, North Carolina.
Vittorio Zoboli is an Italian racing driver. His career has spanned Formula One, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and sports car racing, in addition to two appearances in the Formula One Indoor Trophy.
Vittorio Marzotto was an Italian racing driver. He drove 16 sports car races between 1948 and 1955, mainly in Ferrari's, his best results being two victories and three second places. He also entered a Formula 1-race in 1952, the French Grand Prix, as reserve driver for Scuderia Ferrari. However, all Ferrari works drivers started the race, so Marzotto was unable to and he never entered Formula 1 again. Marzotto was the son of Count Gaetano Marzotto and he was the oldest of four brothers, who were all racing drivers too.
Vittorio Belmondo is a former Italian racing driver. He entered 23 races in Maseratis and Alfa Romeos between 1934 and 1938, his best results being one victory, one second place and three third places.
The 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship was the 47th season of the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) GT Championship that traces its lineage to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship. It was the fourth season of the United SportsCar Championship and second under the name as the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. It began on 28 January with the 24 Hours of Daytona, and ended on 7 October with the Petit Le Mans.
The following is an overview of the events of 2001 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.
The Ferrari 250 MM was a sports racing car produced by Ferrari in 1953. After the initial racing successes of the 3.0-litre Colombo V12 engine, introduced in the 250 S one-off, Ferrari produced a serial racing model. It is best recognisable for the distinctive closed berlinetta bodywork by Pinin Farina. The "MM" in its name stood for the Mille Miglia race.