Category Lineage

[WiisardNic]

So, I'm trying to compile a list of circuit layouts used across history in a range of major categories (and their predecessors) and have hit a bit of a stumbling point:

For example, Formula 2 lineage would be

• European Formula 2 (1960-1984)
• International Formula 3000 (1985-2004)
• GP2 (2005-2016)
• Formula 2 (2016-)

Issue I'm having now is trying to put together all the Sportscar championships:

• IMSA is pretty easy (basically all versions of IMSA Sportscar, ALMS, Grand-AM and IMSA GT)
• Asian Le Mans Series is also easy (All Japan Endurance Championship -> Japan Le Mans Series -> Asian Le Mans Series)
• Europe and World championships is where it gets hard since there are a few variations:
  • ELMS <- Le Mans Series <- Le Mans Endurance Series <- FIA Sportscar Championship <- International Sports Racing Series
  • WEC <- Intercontinental Le Mans Series <- Le Mans Series <- Le Mans Endurance Series <- FIA Sportscar Championship <- International Sports Racing Series <- World Sportscar Championship
  • WEC <- Intercontinental Le Mans Series <- FIA GT Championship <- BPR Global GT Series <- World Sportscar Championship

Effectively, what I'm asking is, what is considered the premier World Championship to fill in between WEC and WSC for 1993-2009? And, if that's considered the GT/GT1 Championship, would the old FIA Sportscar Championship from the late 90s-early 00s be considered the predecessor to the ELMS (considering every race except Kyalami, and the one season of two races in USA, was in Europe?)

 

[SU_Tempest]

The post-WSC period is a bit messy, this was a period where many manufacturers realized they had a shot at F1 or concentrated on GT. There wasn't really a single premier endurance championship until they revived WSC into WEC; you had all sorts of series like IMSA GT, BPR GT then FIA GT, or the short-lived FIA Sportscar Championship. To put it somewhat poetically, "gran turismo" really were the words of the era. This period also saw the foundation of the American Le Mans Series and the European Le Mans Series.

If I absolutely had to pick a premiere European endurance series for the era, I'd say ELMS for 2004 onward but ehh. It's arguable.

 

[WiisardNic]

Yes it is very very messy trying to pick the premier World Championship though.

Essentially there's 3 different series, one of which became the ELMS in 2004 (which is the year after the FIA Sportscar Championship wound up - that's the second).

 

[WiisardNic]

bit of a bump - but now doing the same sort of thing for the regulations themselves, if that makes sense.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1x95fEGBT6ZjmyHdurBnE4hRPE4y5EOIZHzCXVsKxJo0/edit?usp=sharing

I'd like to get everyone's / anyone's thoughts on any gaps or how this can be improved.

I know the timeline is much, much, much more convoluted than this, but I am basically trying to simplify it as best as possible.

At the moment, I have only gone from the introduction of FIA's Groups in 1966 (for Europe/WSC/WEC) and from both the Can-Am series and introduction of the IMSA GT Championship in 1971 on the stateside.


Essentially, for top tier prototypes:

Europe / WEC : Group 6 > Group 5 > Group 6 > Group C > LMP > LMP900 > LMP1 > Hypercar

IMSA : Group 7 > Group C > LMP > LMP900 > LMP1 > Daytona Prototype > DPi > Hypercar

GT racing is the tough one to crack for me. So many iterations and differations between Groups 4, 3 and 2 in the 60s (and then Group 5 again in the 70s), and then GT1, GT2, GT3, GTE/GTLM, N-GT for Europe and GTO, GTS, GTU, GTX, GTD, GTC, GT3, GTE in America.