Endurance racing (motorsport)

Rolling start of the 2008 Le Mans 24 Hours

Endurance racing is a form of motorsport racing which is meant to test the durability of equipment and endurance of participants. Teams of multiple drivers attempt to cover a large distance in a single event, with participants given a break with the ability to change during the race. Endurance races can be run either to cover a set distance in laps as quickly as possible, or to cover as much distance as possible over a preset amount of time.

One of the more common lengths of endurance races has been running for 1,000 kilometres (620 mi), or roughly six hours. Longer races can run for 1,000 miles (1,600 km), 12 hours, or even 24 hours. Teams can consist of anywhere from two to four participants per event, which is dependent on the driver's endurance abilities, length of the race, or even the rules for each event.

At club level racing, a race taking either 30 minutes or 1 hour could be considered as an endurance race.

Origins of endurance racing

Coppa Florio was an Italian car race started in 1900, and renamed in 1905 when Vincenzo Florio offered the initial 50 000 Lira and a cup designed by Polak of Paris. The Brescia race visited the route Brescia-Cremona-Mantova-Brescia. In 1908, the race used the Circuito di Bologna: Bologna-Castelfranco Emilia-Sant'Agata Bolognese-San Giovanni in Persiceto-Bologna. Since 1914 most of the Coppa Florio was co-organized with the Targa Florio near Palermo, Sicilia, running four or five laps, 108 km each.

The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race founded in 1906- the track length of the last decades was limited to the 72 kilometres of the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, which was lapped 11 times.

The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy 24 times from 1927 to 1957.

The first 24 hour race to take place on a closed course was at Brooklands, eleven days after its opening in 1907. This incurred the wrath of local residents and would lead to the Double Twelve race. This format meant the race took place for 12 hours each between 8am to 8pm and between it, the cars were locked up overnight to prevent maintenance work from being performed on them.

Automobile endurance racing

The inaugural Willhire 24 Hour, Snetterton, 1980

Driving under safety car in 2007 Mil Milhas Brasil

In the beginning of formalised endurance racing, the races tended to be for sports cars while the Grand Prix cars of the era began to evolve into the open wheel racing cars of today and ran over shorter distances. Over time sports cars began to evolve away from their roots as a production based alternative to pure-bred racing machines of Grand Prix cars, which led to the creation of GT and touring car racing classes, and these classes continued to embrace the endurance format. Multiple drivers per car was an early adaptation as the rigors of endurance racing quickly overcome the abilities of most racing drivers to compete solo, although solo attempts on 24 hour races like Le Mans would continue into the 1950s.

The various endurance formats were appealing to manufacturers, not only as alternatives to the expense of Grand Prix racing, but also because of its increased relevance to road going models.

Triple Crown

In automobile endurance racing, three events have come to form a Triple Crown. They are considered three of the most challenging endurance races over the decades: the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and 24 Hours of Le Mans. Hans Herrmann was the first in 1970 to win the three races, and Timo Bernhard the most recent (2010). No driver has won the three events in the same year, although Hurley Haywood and Al Holbert has won the three races at least twice each.

Driver	Total Wins	Year Completed	24 Hours of Daytona	12 Hours of Sebring	24 Hours of Le Mans
Hans Herrmann	4	1970	1968	1960, 1968	1970
Jackie Oliver	3	1971	1971	1969	1969
Jacky Ickx	9	1972	1972	1969, 1972	1969, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1982
Hurley Haywood	10	1977	1973, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1991	1973, 1981	1977, 1983, 1994
A. J. Foyt	4	1985	1983, 1985	1985	1967
Al Holbert	9	1986	1986, 1987	1976, 1981	1983, 1986, 1987
Andy Wallace	6	1992	1990, 1997, 1999	1992, 1993	1988
Mauro Baldi	4	1998	1998, 2002	1998	1994
Marco Werner	7	2005	1995	2003, 2005, 2007	2005, 2006, 2007
Timo Bernhard	3	2010	2003	2008	2010

The last car to win all three events in the same year was the Porsche 962 in 1987. However, since 2003, Daytona has fallen under different rules from those used at Sebring and Le Mans, meaning that car regulations make it impossible for any racing car to win all three events.

Maker	Total Wins	Year Completed	24 Hours of Daytona	12 Hours of Sebring	24 Hours of Le Mans	Same Year
Ferrari	26	1963	5	12	9	1963, 1964
Ford	9	1966	2	3	4	1966
Porsche	55	1970	22	18	15	1971, 1977, 1979, 1981—1983, 1985—1987
Jaguar	10	1988	2	1	7	-
BMW	5	1999	2	2	1	-

Due to the regulations, the American Le Mans Series' Petit Le Mans has become a third endurance event to match the regulations of Sebring and Le Mans. Audi R8 won all three races in the same year for 5 times (2000,2001,2002, 2004, 2005). Wallace and Werner are the only two drivers who have completed the original Triple Crown races of Daytona, Sebring and Le Mans, as well as the Petit Le Mans in Road Atlanta.

Endurance Racing Series

Strong spectator figures, media interest and television coverage of endurance racing's Triple Crown events (24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and 24 Hours of Le Mans) has led to the establishment of several endurance racing series - thereby giving teams the opportunity of running their cars in Championship events throughout the year.

The Rolex Sports Car Series, organised by the Grand American Road Racing Association is a championship for Daytona Prototype and GT cars. The season begins with the 24 Hours of Daytona, traditionally held in the last weekend of January or the first weekend of February. There then follows a further 11 races, typically of 250 miles distance. This formula has led to the Rolex Sports Car Series having a large number of competitors at most events, mostly due to the ease of use and low cost of the cars in either class - while the Grand American Road Racing Association has been able to keep the competition equalized.

The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada that has been running with Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) backing since 1999, but is run by IMSA. It consists of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Teams compete in one of five classes: LMP1, LMP2, and LMPC for Le Mans Prototypes, and GT2 and GTC for Grand Tourer-style cars. Race lengths vary from 1 hour, 40 minutes to 12 hours.

The Le Mans Series (LMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series based around the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and run by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). It is similar to the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). The LMS is seen as a rebirth of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) which was created by IMSA and the ACO, but only ran in 2001. LMS champions and runners-up in all four categories receive an automatic entry to the following year's Le Mans 24 Hour Race.

The Japan Le Mans Challenge was an endurance sportscar series based in Japan, which ran from 2006 to 2007, and featured the Fuji 1000 km, which was eventually replaced by the Asian Le Mans Series which started with the 2009 1000 km of Okayama. The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup is a endurance sports car racing tournament, organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, which started in 2010.

A further series was the Super Taikyu ST1 class, which has featured a 24-hour race at the Tokachi International Speedway since 1996. Toyota took the win for the first time in a hybrid car in 2007.

In popular culture

Endurance motor racing has proven a popular subject for depiction in videogames, and on film. The Lee H. Katzin film Le Mans, starring Steve McQueen, used real race footage, and enjoys cult status. The 1986 arcade game WEC Le Mans was the first to portray endurance racing in a videogame, while Gran Turismo 4 extended this to a real-time simulation of 24 hour events.

Motorcycle endurance racing

In the early days of endurance racing cars and motorcycles raced side by side, but the two were soon separated.

The most famous motorcycle endurance race, the Bol d'Or, was first run on the circuit of Vaujours, near Paris in 1922. Only one rider was permitted per bike and there was no stopping other than for refuelling.

Motorcycle endurance racing began to expand after the second World War as new races began to emerge, among them the 24 Hour Race in Warsage, Belgium in 1951, the 24 Hours of Montjuïc in Barcelona in 1957, 24 hours in Monza, Italy in 1959, and the Thruxton 500 mile endurance race at Thruxton in 1960.

1960 also saw the inaugural FIM Endurance Cup. Initially made up of four races, the Thruxton 500, Montjuich, Warsage and the Bol d'Or.

The popularity of motorcycle endurance racing increased in the 1970s with the arrival of four-cylinder machines from Japan. In 1976 the FIM Endurance Cup became the European Championship and in 1980 a World Championship.

Notable motorcycle endurance races

Motorcycle endurance classics:

• 24 Hours of Le Mans
• 24 Hours of Liège
• Thruxton 500
• Suzuka 8 Hours
• Bol d'Or
• Albacete 8 Hours

Motorboat endurance racing

Notable motorboat endurance races

• Six Hours of Paris (defunct)
• 24 Heures Motonautiques de Rouen

Note: both of these take place on the Seine River

Other forms

In addition to the annual car and motorcycle race, the Circuit de la Sarthe also holds 24 hour races in cycling, karting, trucks and road skating.

Lawnmower endurance racing

• BLMRA 12 Hour Race

See also

• Gran Turismo (racing)
• Sports car racing
• Endurance World Championship
• 24 hour mountain bike races