The was a Japanese endurance championship which took place mainly at
Fuji International Speedway
is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, SuntÅ 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 n ...
.
The series began in 1977 and until 1984 was an independent championship with three rounds, all held at Fuji.
In the first two seasons the series was contested by
Group 6 Group 6 may refer to:
*Group 6 element, chemical element classification
*Group 6 (racing)
Group 6 was the official designation applied by the FIA to two motor racing classifications, the Prototype-Sports Car category from 1966 to 1971 and the Two ...
two-seater racing cars, with some
touring cars
Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.
While the cars do not mo ...
filling the grid. The Group 6 sportscars were soon replaced by
Group 5 Group 5 may refer to:
*Group 5 element, chemical element classification
*Group 5 (racing)
Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations def ...
silhouettes and 1983 saw the introduction of
Group C
Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs.
It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...
and
IMSA GTP
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada.
History
The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill ...
sports prototype
A sports prototype, sometimes referred to as simply a prototype, is a type of race car that is used in the highest-level categories of sports car racing. These purpose-built racing cars, unlike street-legal and production-based racing cars, are n ...
s cars.
In 1985 the three Fuji races were incorporated into
All Japan Endurance Championship[ ] who already had a Fuji round known as ''WEC in Japan''. As a result, between 1985 and 1990 the Fuji Long Distance Series title was awarded counting the four Fuji rounds from the merged championship.
By 1991 the series was renamed Long Distance Series and counted all races from the All Japan championship,
however the series ended after the 1992 season, when the JAF dissolved the
All Japan Sports Prototype Championship
The , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japan Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier y ...
, ending Group C racing in Japan.
The Fuji Long Distance Series was sanctioned by ''FISCO Club'' (currently known as ''Fuji Motorsports Club'') and, as a championship of entrants, the titles were awarded to teams.
Champions
See also
*
Fuji Grand Champion Series
The ran from 1971 to 1989. It was a drivers' championship in Japan and was originally for 2 litre Group B6 cars. The series was started in 1971, and all races were held at the Fuji Speedway circuit.
History
In its formative years, cars elig ...
*
1999 Le Mans Fuji 1000 km
The 1999 Le Mans Fuji 1000 km was an endurance race backed by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), who ran the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF), who ran the JGTC race series. It was run on November 7, 1999.
Pre ...
*
Japan Le Mans Challenge
References
External links
Pictures from 1977-80 seasons
{{Fuji Long Distance Series Seasons
Sports car racing series
Auto racing series in Japan
Group C