![2006 Camaro Cup 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/2006_Camaro_Cup_01.jpg)
Camaro Cup, officially the Camaro Cup 2000, is a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
-based
stock car racing
Stock car racing is a form of automobile racing run on oval tracks and road courses measuring approximately . It originally used production-model cars, hence the name "stock car", but is now run using cars specifically built for racing. It ori ...
series using
Chevrolet Camaro Z28s.
History
![Bosse Brasta's Camaro racer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/Bosse_Brasta%27s_Camaro_racer.jpg)
The idea about an American class in Swedish racing was born by the SSK acting director Robin Shorter in 1974. He spread his idea to active racers and to dealers selling American car brands. Work was begun by a group of people, including Shorter, Sven Hjansons, Picko Troberg and Göran Boström, to start a series called the ''Woodhead Super Star Cup''. The first season was held in 1975 and was won by Bo "Emma" Emanuelsson, who also won the first ever race of the championship, held at the SSK premiere at Kinnekulle Ring. The series continued for several more seasons and had a couple of famous drivers including Swedish
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
driver
Reine Wisell
Reine Wisell (30 September 1941 – 20 March 2022) was a Swedish racing driver. He participated in 23 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 4 October 1970. He achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 13 championship points.
C ...
. 1982 saw the class being changed into the Swedish Super Saloon championship and it was opened for other manufacturers.
Super Saloon was a somewhat extreme championship concerning the cars participating - e.g. Volkswagens and Porsches with double turbos. Some of the old Camaro Cup drivers stayed, including two-times champion Peter Norlander who won the premiere in a
space frame
In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure ( 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with ...
Camaro. In 1988 Camaro Cup was resumed, with Boström being one of the driving forces behind the series' resumption. Between 1994-1998 the series was dominated by
Thomas Engström, winning five driver's titles.
The first cars of the current generation of Camaro Cup cars took to the track in 1999. The old cars were phased out during 2000, when two classes (one with the new cars and one with the old cars) was run. Some of the old cup cars later found a new home in the
V8 Challenge championship organized by the Swedish Long-distance Championship (SLC). During 2000 the series was called Super Stock Racing.
Camaro Cup had for several years run as a support series to the
Swedish Touring Car Championship
Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) was a touring car racing series based in Sweden, but also with rounds in Norway. They began operating in 1996, heavily influenced by the British Touring Car Championship and the success of BTCC racing on Sw ...
, but in 2004 it was axed and was forced to return to its SSK roots. The 2005 season was a miserable one, with an average of six cars per weekend, and the grid never made it over seven cars. To bolster the number of starters other SSK classes were added, including old
Super Touring
Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created ...
cars such as the Audi A4 Quattro and BMW 320i.
2006 saw the series somewhat return to its former glory. It returned as a part of the STCC program, and grid sizes increased to around 20 cars again. Several notable drivers made guest appearances, including ex-F1 test driver and current Formula Nippon driver
Björn Wirdheim
Björn Karl Michael Wirdheim (born 4 April 1980) is a Swedish professional racing driver. He is the son of Örnulf Wirdheim, also a racing driver. Björn began racing karts, competing in his first race, at the age of 10. His main achievement to ...
, OMV Kronos
Citroën
Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired ...
WRC
WRC may refer to:
Broadcasting stations
* WRC-TV, a television station (virtual channel 4, digital channel 34) licensed to Washington, D.C., United States
* Several radio stations in the Washington, D.C. area:
** WTEM, a radio station (980 AM) l ...
driver
Daniel Carlsson, Junior WRC champion
Per-Gunner Andersson and STCC driver Edward Sandström. As of February 2006, 24 cars have confirmed their entry for the full 2007 season.
Games
Camaro Cup is one of the two available championships (along with STCC) in the
Digital Illusions, CE PC game
A personal computer game, also known as a PC game or computer game, is a type of video game played on a personal computer (PC) rather than a video game console or arcade machine. Its defining characteristics include: more diverse and user-deter ...
''STCC 2''. It is also included in
SimBin Studios
Sector3 Studios (formerly SimBin Studios) is a Swedish video game developer and publisher founded in 2003 that develops racing simulators for Windows PC. The company has its headquarters in Lidköping. The company originally started as a modding ...
's game ''
STCC – The Game'' (2008 season) and its sequel ''STCC – The Game 2'' (2010 season).
Champions
References
External links
*
{{Chevrolet Camaro
Chevrolet Camaro
Auto racing series in Sweden
Stock car racing series
One-make series
Stock car racing