2012 FIA World Endurance Championship Season
The 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship was the inaugural running of the World Endurance Championship. It was co-organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The series replaced the former Intercontinental Le Mans Cup held by the ACO from 2010 to 2011. The series was open to Le Mans Prototypes and grand tourer-based racing cars meeting four ACO categories. Several championships, cups, and trophies were awarded in the series' four categories following an eight race season, with a World Championship available to the top scoring drivers and LMP1 category manufacturer. Following a partial-season match-up against newcomers Toyota, Audi won the Manufacturers' World Championship, while the company's driver line-up of André Lotterer of Germany, Benoît Tréluyer of France, and Marcel Fässler of Switzerland earned the Drivers' World Championship ahead of their teammates Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen. Toyota's Ale ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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André Lotterer
André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German professional racing driver currently racing for Avalanche Andretti Formula E in the FIA Formula E Championship. He is best known for his success in endurance racing with the works Audi team, including three victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the drivers' title of the FIA World Endurance Championship. He has also competed in the Japanese Super Formula series for over a decade, winning the title in 2011. Lotterer was a test driver for the Jaguar Formula One team in , but this did not lead to a race seat. Twelve years later, he joined Caterham, replacing Kamui Kobayashi at the 2014 Belgian Grand Prix. Racing career Early life Lotterer was born in Duisburg to a German-Peruvian father, Henri Lotterer, and a Belgian mother. He was raised by his Belgian mother in Nivelles. He competes with a Belgian racing licence, yet opts to represent Germany. Single-seaters Lotterer succeeded in both German and British Formula 3 Champio ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Tom Kristensen (racing Driver)
Tom Kristensen (born 7 July 1967) is a Danish former racing driver. He holds the record for the most wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with nine, six of which were consecutive (from 2000 to 2005). In 1997, he won the race with the Joest Racing team, driving a Tom Walkinshaw Racing-designed and Porsche-powered WSC95, after being a late inclusion in the team following Davy Jones' accident that eventually ruled him out of the race. All of his subsequent wins came driving an Audi prototype, except in 2003, when he drove a Bentley prototype. In both 1999 and 2007 Kristensen's team crashed out of comfortable leads in the closing hours of the race. He is considered by many to be the greatest driver ever to have raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Elsewhere Kristensen also holds the record for most wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring with a total of six. In August 2014, Kristensen was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog by the Queen of Denmark. In January 2018 he was inducted into t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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AutoWeek
''Autoweek'' is a car culture publication based in Detroit, Michigan. It was first published in 1958 and in 1977 the publication was purchased by Crain Communications Inc, its current parent company. The magazine was published weekly and focused on motor sports, new car reviews, and old cars, events and DIY. Autoweek now publishes Autoweek.com. Autoweek is owned by Crain Communications Inc., publisher of leading industry trade publications Advertising Age and Automotive News, among others, and is based in Detroit, Michigan. The Autoweek also includes an ''Autoweek'' iPhone and iPad app. As of November 2019 the publication went digital and was no longer available in printed format. Hearst Magazines entered a multi-year licensing deal with Crain Communications to operate the digital and experiential businesses of ''Autoweek''. History ''Autoweek'' began publication in 1958 as a bi-weekly motorsports newsletter, titled ''Competition Press''. One of the editors involved with the c ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Petit Le Mans
The Petit Le Mans ( French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which are slightly modified if necessary, mainly to allow additional cars to compete. The race was founded by Road Atlanta owner Don Panoz and first run on October 10, 1998 as part of the IMSA season. The 1999 edition was one of the original events of the American Le Mans Series. The 2010 and 2011 editions were also part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, but the 2012 race for the brand-new World Endurance Championship was controversially dropped in favour of Bahrain. Since 2014 the race has been a crown jewel event of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship From 1998 until 2013, Petit Le Mans covered a maximum of (which is approximately 394 laps) or a maximum of 10 hours, whichever came first; only once, in the rain-stopped 2009 race, had th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fuji Speedway
is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing. Originally managed by Mitsubishi Estate Co., Fuji Speedway was acquired by Toyota Motor Corporation in 2000. The circuit hosted the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix in 2007 after an absence of nearly 30 years, replacing the Suzuka Circuit owned by Honda. After Fuji Speedway hosted the 2008 race, the Japanese Grand Prix returned to Suzuka for races from 2009 onward. The Super GT Fuji 500 km race is held at the racetrack on Golden Week. Fuji Speedway has one of the longest straights in motorsport tracks, at in length. The circuit has an FIA Grade 1 license. History 1963–79: F1 launches in Japan Fuji Speedway Corporation was established in 1963 as Japan NASCAR Corporation. At first, the circuit was planned to hold ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bahrain International Circuit
The Bahrain International Circuit ( ar, حلبة البحرين الدولية, Ḥalba al-Baḥrayn ad-Dawliyya) is a motorsport venue opened in 2004 and used for drag racing, GP2 Series (now FIA Formula 2), and the annual Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix. The 2004 Grand Prix was the first held in the Middle East. Beginning in 2006, Australian V8 Supercars raced at the BIC, with the event known as the Desert 400. However, the V8 Supercars did not return for the 2011 V8 Supercar season. 24 Hour endurance races are also hosted at BIC. The circuit has a FIA Grade 1 license. The circuit also has multiple layouts. History The construction of the Bahrain circuit was a national objective for Bahrain, initiated by the Crown Prince, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The Crown Prince is the Honorary President of the Bahrain Motor Federation. TRL was asked to build the circuit, headed by Patrick Brogan. Race organizers were worried that the circuit would not be complete in time for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Autódromo José Carlos Pace
The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Interlagos, is a motorsport circuit located in the city of São Paulo, in the neighborhood of Interlagos. It was inaugurated on 12 May 1940, by the federal intervener Adhemar de Barros. The traditional name of the circuit and of the neighborhood itself comes from the fact that it is located in a region between two large artificial lakes, Guarapiranga and Billings, which were built in the beginning of the 20th century to supply the city with water and electricity. In 1985 the circuit was renamed to honor the Formula 1 driver José Carlos Pace, who died in a plane crash in 1977. Attached to its facilities there is a Kart circuit named after Ayrton Senna. The circuit runs counterclockwise. It is internationally known for hosting the Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix stage and the Lollapalooza music festival. It has hosted the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix since 1973. It also hosted the Brazilian motorcycle Grand Prix in 1992, ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Shanghai International Circuit
The Shanghai International Circuit () is a motorsport race track, situated in the Jiading District, Shanghai. The circuit is best known as the venue for the annual Chinese Grand Prix which was hosted from 2004 to 2019 and was scheduled again from 2024 onwards, but its race was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic. History Shanghai International Circuit was conceived by the Shanghai authorities as a way to showcase the city to the world. A 5.3 sq km site was chosen in the Jiading District in the north west of the city, close to major car parts manufacturing facilities and a budget of 2.6 billion yuan ($450 million) raised through a government-funded joint-venture company, the Shanghai Jiushi Group. Herman Tilke was chosen to design the track and associated buildings, and between April and May 2003, engineers visited the site to draw up their plans. The site was actually a swampland, previously used as rice paddy fields, and extensive groundworks had to be completed to construct th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Zhuhai International Circuit
Zhuhai International Circuit (ZIC) (simplified Chinese: 珠海国际赛车场; traditional Chinese: ) is located at Jin Ding town in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, China. Motorsport started in Zhuhai when it hosted a race on its street circuit in 1993. Racing continued there until 1996 when the motor racing circuit was constructed and became China's first permanent motor race track with Formula One in mind. The circuit was designed by Australian company Kinhill Engineers Pty Ltd, the same group which created the Formula One circuit in Adelaide. The project manager for the project was Michael McDonough. The first international race held at the circuit was the BPR Global GT Series. The circuit soon became the hotbed of local motorsports with teams from Hong Kong and Macau setting up their bases inside the circuit garages. Track layout The original circuit contained 16 corners. But corners 7, 8 and 9 were eliminated and made into one corner, after a track change request fr ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup
The 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup was the second and final Season running of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's (ACO) Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, an international auto racing championship for manufacturers and teams. The Cup featured endurance races from the American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, and a stand-alone event in Zhuhai, China. Championships were held for Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance – Professional (LMGTE Pro) and Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance – Amateur (LMGTE Am) category cars. Schedule On 29 November 2010, the ACO announced an initial 2011 calendar with seven events, expanding from just three in 2010. The most notable new addition was the 24 Hours of Le Mans which returned as a round of a championship series for the first time since the final World Sportscar Championship season in 1992. Double points were awarded for the event at Le Mans. The Sebring and Road Atlanta rounds were held in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Audi R18 E-tron Quattro 2012
Audi AG () is a German automotive manufacturer of luxury vehicles headquartered in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, Germany. As a subsidiary of its parent company, the Volkswagen Group, Audi produces vehicles in nine production facilities worldwide. The origins of the company are complex, going back to the early 20th century and the initial enterprises (Horch and the ''Audiwerke'') founded by engineer August Horch (1868–1951); and two other manufacturers ( DKW and Wanderer), leading to the foundation of Auto Union in 1932. The modern Audi era began in the 1960s, when Auto Union was acquired by Volkswagen from Daimler-Benz. After relaunching the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series, Volkswagen merged Auto Union with NSU Motorenwerke in 1969, thus creating the present-day form of the company. The company name is based on the Latin translation of the surname of the founder, August Horch. , meaning "listen", becomes in Latin. The four rings of the Audi logo each r ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctive fiberglass or composite panels. It was front-engined through 2019 and mid-engined since. The Corvette is currently the only two-seat sports car produced by a major United States auto manufacturer and it serves as Chevrolet's halo vehicle. In 1953, GM executives accepted a suggestion by Myron Scott, then the assistant director of the Public Relations department, to name the company's new sports car after the corvette, a small maneuverable warship. The first model, a convertible, was introduced at the 1953 GM Motorama as a concept car; production models went on sale later that year. In 1963, the second generation was introduced in coupe and convertible styles. Originally manufactured in Flint, Michigan, and St. Louis, Missouri, the C ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |