{, class="infobox" , - style="background:#f3f3f3;" , style="text-align:center;",

1980s File:1980s replacement montage02.PNG, 420px, From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, ''Columbia'', lifts off in 1981; US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev ease tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the ...

^. 1990s in motorsport ^.

2000s File:2000s decade montage3.png, From top left, clockwise: The World Trade Center on fire and the Statue of Liberty during the 9/11 attacks in 2001; the euro enters into European currency in 2002; a statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled durin ...

, - , style="text-align:center;", Other topics: N/A This page documents some of the events that happened in motorsport in the 1990s.

United States

*The

World Sports Car A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were create ...

replaces the IMSA GT Prototype, creating the basis for the modern Le Mans Prototype *The American Le Mans Series is established as the successor to the IMSA GT Championship. Its premier event is the ten-hour Petit Le Mans. The

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

and Six Hours of Watkins Glen go to a revived United States Road Racing Championship, shortly later to become the Rolex Sports Car Series. *After having several Formula One races held in the United States in the eighties, the United States Grand Prix is dropped in 1992. It is not held again until 2000. *Chrysler introduces the Dodge Viper, which goes on to become a successful grand tourer *The Winston Cup Series is reduced to

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

, Pontiac, and Ford by mid-decade after the

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

, Oldsmobile, and

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

brands are dropped. *The IndyCar Series is split into the Indy Racing League and the Champ Car World Series in 1995. This remains the status until they merge in 2008. The IRL is oval-oriented while Champ Car is road course oriented. *The Grand Am Cup Series is established in 1997 following the demise of the IMSA Firehawk Series. It will undergo numerous changes over the decades before becoming the modern

Michelin Pilot Challenge The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cup ...

. *The Ford Thunderbird is discontinued after over forty years. It will return in 2002 as a luxury convertible, but due to poor sales the model is discontinued after only four years. *Racing legend Peter Cunningham makes his debut *IMSA severs ties with Camel Cigarettes *NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon begins his career *NASCAR superstar Bobby Labonte begins his career

Central America

The Mexican Grand Prix is dropped from The F1 calendar in 1992. It is not held again until 2015.

Europe

*The Luxembourg Grand Prix is held from 1997 to 1998 in order to have two F1 races in Germany. *From 1995 to 1996 and again beginning in 1999 the European Grand Prix is moved to the

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...

in order to have two races in Germany. This will become the standard until 2008 when it is moved to Spain, a place it had been held at a few times during the nineties in order to have two races there. *The

Austrian Grand Prix The Austrian Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Österreich) is a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile sanctioned motor racing event that was held in , –, –, and then returned to the Formula One calendar in . History The A ...

returns in 1997 after a ten-year hiatus. It is held until 2003. *The Portuguese Grand Prix is dropped from the calendar in 1996 after over ten years on the calendar. It does not return until 2020. *The debut of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher *

Lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

leaves F1 after four decades. It is not seen again until 2010.

Asia

*The Pacific Grand Prix is held from 1994 to 1995 in order to have two F1 races in Japan. *The IndyCar Series introduces the Indy Japan 300. It is held until 2011. *The F1 Malaysian Grand Prix is first held. It will last until 2017.

Australia

*The IndyCar Series introduces the Surfers Paradise Grand Prix. It is held until 2008. * V8 Supercars debuts as a high performance racing series in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Africa

*The South African Grand Prix is held in 1992, the first time since 1985. It is held again the following year and then dropped after that.

South America

*The Argentine Grand Prix is held in 1995, the first time in about fifteen years. It is held again for two more years and then dropped after that.