EUROPEAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP

1972-1976
By Carlos De Paula

Today GT racing is in a healthy state the world over. We do live in more affluent times, with quite a few dream cars eligible to run in the category and a lot of sponsorship money, which was not the case in the early 70’s. However, the world of sports car racing has always been a struggle between bona fide, purebred racers, mostly called prototypes, and GTs, which are basically racy, production based cars. Plus, there have been categories in between, such as the Group 5 of the mid 70’s/early 80’s, and the 5 liter sports cars of the late 60’s, which required a minimum production run of 25 units.

Rad more about it here https://www.amazon.com/dp/1732674426

Comments

INTERNATIONAL RACING CHAMPIONSHIPS OF THE 70S

Many international championships were added to the International calendar during the 70s, which spike interest on the sport globally. These, plus the existing championships were: Formula 1 – World Championship, South Africa (also included F5000 and F2), Aurora Championship + British Group 8 (which also included Formula 5000, Formula 2, even Atlantic early on) Formula 2 – European and Japanese Championships Formula 3 – British, European, German, French, Italian, Swedish championships Formula 5000 – American, European, Australian, New Zealand Sports cars: World Championship of Makes, World Sports Car Championship, DRM (also ran Touring Cars), European GT Championship, European 2 Liter Championship, IMSA, Trans-Am, Can Am, Interserie, PROCAR, Le Mans Touring cars: NASCAR, European Touring Car championship, Avenir Cup, USAC Stockcars Formula Atlantic: Canada, South Africa, Britain Formula Indy: USAC Championship Trail + CART Formula S...

CASERTA'S HELL

Racing history enthusiasts will readily remember some of the darkest days of the sport, when multiple drivers and spectators died on a same race. Le Mans 1955, Monza 1933, Rouen 1970, Indy 1973, Imola 1994, are just some of those sad days that remind us how thousands of people lost their lives at race tracks or places where races were held since the late 19 th century, in spite of today’s false sense of security. The earliest races took place on open roads, generally from one city to another. With increasing number of vehicles and the inconvenience of closing roads for racing events, soon closed circuits emerged, while the “stradale” Targa Florio insisted in remaining open for business until the 70s. Now such racing is restricted to rallies and hill climbs. It is not surprising that it was in Italy, in spite of the veteran Monza circuit, that there was some resistance to building of purpose made tracks with a semblances of safety. Very dangerous race...

Who invented one make championships?

I know some people who would certainly kick the butt of the inventor of one make championships, truly believing they destroyed car racing. I dare not say what was the first international one make race or tournament ever held. For sure, there were races in the 20s or 30s, in which only Bugattis competed, albeit unintentionally. However, the race discussed in this post was probably one of the first intentional attempts to hold a one make championship and race in the world. The location and timing could not be more exquisite. Nowadays we are used to racing events in Indonesia, Malaysia, China, even Saudi Arabia. However, in the aftermath of World War II, international races in places other that Western Europe or the USA could rate as madness. How about Africa? There was racing in the continent in the Pre-War period, I know. One of the most famous GP of the 30s was the Tripoli event, in Lybia, and even South Africa was visited by the Auto Union team in th...

Auto Racing Commentary

Search This Blog