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42-546: A teasing race was to be held in Shanghai , China on November 1–2, 2008 but was later cancelled. The inaugural season's race, the 2009 1000 km of Okayama , was held on 30 October and 1 November 2009 at Okayama , Japan with one 500 km race per day. It was the only event of the inaugural season. A second Asian Le Mans Series event, scheduled for the Shanghai International Circuit , China , on 7 and 8 November

84-469: A deal with SAIC Motor . The track layout was inspired from the Chinese character shang (上), the first character in the name of the city Shanghai , meaning "above" or "ascend". There’s a unique start to the lap as the drivers fly into the ever-tightening Turns 1 and 2, before they dart left through 3 and 4. The super-high g force Turns 7 and 8 are loved by the drivers, while the circuit also features one of

126-735: A double header at the Sepang International Circuit. With motorsport in the South East Asia region reigniting after the effects of traveling and freight during the COVID-19 Pandemic, now is the time to bring the Asian Le Mans Series back to its traditional home to countries across throughout Asia. The return of Sepang to the calendar saw the season expanded to five races, with the hugely popular races at Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit also as well featured. Throughout

168-500: A government-funded joint-venture company, the Shanghai Jiushi Group . Herman Tilke was chosen to design the track and associated buildings, and between April and May 2003, engineers visited the site to draw up their plans. The site was actually a swampland, previously used as rice paddy fields, and extensive groundworks had to be completed to construct the circuit. For 18 months some 3,000 workers were on site daily to complete

210-510: A grand total of £358 and 11 shillings, to assist with the rehabilitation of the facilities at the Le Mans circuit. Rebuilding of the circuit started on February 7, 1949, and the first post-war event at Le Mans was held on 25–26 June of that year. Pineau, standing beside Charles Faroux, gave the starting signal. Two new spectator stands were named for racing drivers and resistance fighters Robert Benoist and Jean-Pierre Wimille . During

252-640: A lake to resemble the ancient Yu Garden in Shanghai. The Shanghai International Circuit is the first in China to be purpose-built for Formula One and it hosts FIA Formula One World Championship Chinese Grand Prix every year since 2004 . The circuit also holds a number of global high-profile series, including the FIA World Endurance Championship and the Blancpain GT Series Asia . In

294-502: A nationally recognized 4A-rated tourist attraction, the circuit features tourism, shopping, dining, entertainment, and sports. Shanghai International Circuit was conceived by the Shanghai authorities as a way to showcase the city to the world. A 5.3 sq km site was chosen in the Jiading District in the north west of the city, close to major car parts manufacturing facilities and a budget of 2.6 billion yuan ($ 450 million) raised through

336-551: A single GT class. Driver requirements to include one driver from Asia were expanded to include any nationality from the Australasia region. In 2015 the season format was changed to a winter one spanning two calendar years. The LMP3 class was added and the GT class was split in GT and GT Am. In the 2016–17 season the GT Cup class replaced GT Am. In the 2017–18 season CN was dropped and GT Am

378-594: A time of 1:31.095, a new unofficial track record. As of September 2024, the fastest official race lap records at the Shanghai International Circuit are listed as: Automobile Club de l%27Ouest The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of the West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO , is the largest automotive group in France . It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and

420-415: A very good exit is important as DRS is available down the following straight. At 1.170 km (0.727 mi), it is the equivalent to 11 football pitches laid end to end, or the same length as three and a half of the world's biggest aircraft carriers Turn 14 is a hairpin at the end of the straight – the second gear corner is a prime overtaking spot as DRS is available in the run up to the corner. Turn 16

462-574: Is a combined classification for GT3 teams, where the winner will get an invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In January 2020, the Asian Le Mans Series hosted its first race outside the continent of Asia at Tailem Bend Motorsport Park , Australia known as the 4 Hours of The Bend. In the 2021 season from February 13–20, the series marked its first venture to the Middle East racing in the United Arab Emirates for two 4 Hours of Dubai races at

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504-409: Is most famous for being the organising entity behind the annual Le Mans 24 Hours race. The ACO also lobbies on behalf of French drivers on such issues as road building and maintenance, the availability of driving schools and road safety classes, and the incorporation of technical innovations into new vehicles. It also runs a roadside assistance service for its members. The ACO's history begins with

546-495: Is the last corner – a fourth-gear left-hander which requires a quick tap on the brakes – braking early can be more effective as you can then carry more speed through the corner and then down the pit straight. The total length of the circuit is 5.451 km (3.387 mi), which is about average for a Formula One circuit. Michael Schumacher 's official race lap record of 1:32.238 has stood since 2004. In Q3 of 2018 Chinese Grand Prix , Sebastian Vettel qualified on pole position with

588-523: Is the sole tire supplier for the series. In the 2013 season the SGT class was opened exclusively for all teams in GT300 class of Super GT. It used the same vehicle regulation of Super GT and counted towards the GT300 championship. This class only participated at the 2013 3 Hours of Fuji . On 20 April 2013, changes were made to the class structure for grand touring. GTC remained open to FIA GT3 category cars while GTC Am

630-509: The Automobile Club de la Sarthe , the ancestor of today's ACO, which was founded in the town of Le Mans . In 1906 that group included Amédée Bollée and Paul Jamin, winner of the 1897 Paris-Dieppe race in a Léon Bollée tricar. With the help of the larger Automobile Club de France they organised a race on local public roads, on a 65-mile triangular course connecting Le Mans with Saint-Calais and La Ferté-Bernard . The 12-lap race, titled

672-613: The Dubai Autodrome followed by two 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi races at the Yas Marina Circuit . Since then during that year's season until the end of the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series season, the championship has been run entirely within the country. The relaunched Asian Le Mans series has very similar rules to the European Le Mans Series with a total of four classes: LMP2, LMPC, GTC, and GTC Am. Compared to its running in 2009

714-862: The Fuji Speedway in Japan combined Le Mans cars with JGTC machines for automatic entries to the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans . This idea was followed by the American Le Mans Series with the 2000 Race of a Thousand Years race at the Adelaide Street Circuit in Australia . These two events served as a precursor to the planned APLMS series, and at the time of the creation of ELMS, Don Panoz announced his intention to hold an exhibition APLMS race at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia in late 2001. However,

756-725: The SAIC Shanghai International Circuit ( simplified Chinese : 上海上汽国际赛车场 ; traditional Chinese : 上海上汽國際賽車場 ; pinyin : Shànghǎi Shàngqì Guójì Sàichēchǎng ) for sponsorship purposes, is a motorsport race track , situated in the Jiading District , Shanghai , China . The circuit is best known as the venue for the annual Chinese Grand Prix which was hosted from 2004 to 2019, and from 2024. The Shanghai International Circuit features over 10 top-tier domestic car racing events annually. It also boasts Shanghai's only world-class outdoor go-karting track. As

798-530: The 24 Hours of Le Mans for the following years, as well as applying a fuel-consumption formula. The 1967 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on the Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans, on July 2, 1967. Motor Sport called it "The Grand Prix of the Car Parks." It was an innovation not repeated. The ACO is responsible as a ruling body for race series, specifically sportscar series. The ACO has run or backed

840-457: The ACO announced the revival of the Asian Le Mans Series for the 2013 series. The format will be run very similarly to the European Le Mans Series , with the ACO expecting around 16-18 cars for the first relaunched season. However, only 8 cars showed up for the first race of the season, making it the smallest ever grid in ACO sanctioned racing. This record was broken a year later when only six cars started

882-404: The ACO's 24 Hours of Le Mans event in 1955, an accident occurred which killed 84 people, regarded as the worst accident in motorsport history. It led to many actions by the ACO to subsequently change buildings and the procedures used at the circuit, as well as to redesign the pit lane and front stretch where the accident occurred. It also led to a change of ACO rules for the type of cars permitted in

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924-620: The European Le Mans Series suffered from a lack of entrants during its debut season and was eventually canceled. Don Panoz decided that the APLMS would likely have even less interest. Thus the APLMS exhibition race and all plans for an Asian series were scrapped. The ACO attempted to develop their own championship modeled on their own Le Mans Endurance Series in 2006 with the development of the Japan Le Mans Challenge , overseen by

966-595: The Grand Prix de l'ACF, was held over two days and won by Ferenc Szisz driving a Renault , This race, the first Grand Prix , would eventually become the French Grand Prix . After World War I , the ACO turned its attention to designing a shorter circuit on public roads to the south of the city. The organisation's chief secretary Georges Durand , together with magazine editor Charles Faroux of La Vie Automobile and tyre manufacturer Emile Coquille , came up with

1008-467: The LMP1 and LMGT1 categories are dropped. The GTC class is opened to GT3 category cars in addition to Super GT series GT300 teams. All classes follow a "Pro-Am" categorization with each car requiring at least one amateur-rated driver, and each car must have at least one driver of Asian nationality. The season champions of LMP2 and GTC receive an invitation to the following year's 24 Hours of Le Mans . Michelin

1050-667: The Sports Car Endurance Race Operation (SERO). It too lacked competitors and was canceled after its second season. In 2009, a reborn Asian Le Mans Series held an inaugural event in Okayama , Japan with two 500 km races. A 1000 km race in Zhuhai , China , was held as part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in 2010, and it was also part of the Asian Le Mans Series. At the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans

1092-436: The category as well for the first time venturing in the Middle East starting in the 2021 Asian Le Mans Series season with the 4 Hours of Dubai at Dubai Autodrome and 4 Hours of Abu Dhabi at Yas Marina Circuit . Shanghai International Circuit The Shanghai International Circuit ( simplified Chinese : 上海国际赛车场 ; traditional Chinese : 上海國際賽車場 ; pinyin : Shànghǎi Guójì Sàichēchǎng ), also called

1134-498: The course of the category of the Asian Le Mans Series since it was inaugurated in the 2009 1000 km of Okayama race event and after it was revived in 2013, it has held races on 10 different circuit venues across 7 countries. The Series would hold its first race outside the continent of Asia with the 4 Hours of The Bend race at The Bend Motorsport Park in Australia during the 2019-20 Asian Le Mans Series season. It would also hold races in

1176-504: The facility – a remarkable feat of both engineering and logistics. When it opened, visitors found a vast complex, dominated by the main grandstand and pit complex, which featured wing-like viewing platforms crossing the circuit at either end. This can hold 30,000 spectators alone, and others around the circuit take the total capacity to 200,000. Paddock facilities were also unique – each of the F1 teams had its own building, arranged like pavilions in

1218-571: The first race of the 2014 season at Inje . The ACO further announced that cars running under the GT300 regulations in the Japanese Super GT series would be eligible to enter in the Asian Le Mans Series' GTC class , with organisers from both series working together to create calendars that would allow GT300 teams to compete in both championships. Following the end of the 2014 season, the ACO took over as

1260-566: The grounds of the ACO and the circuit were in ruins, bombed by the Allies and further destroyed by the Germans. The ACO set about the task of reconstruction, aided by Government Minister and Sarthe députée Christian Pineau who provided the first millions. In addition the ACO launched a loan. In 1946 the British Racing Drivers' Club opened a "Le Mans Fund" for the benefit of the ACO, raising

1302-507: The idea for a 24-hour race. The first Le Mans 24 Hours was held on 26 May 1923. The very first entry was lodged with the ACO by John Duff on a Bentley. The Le Mans circuit was occupied by the Royal Air Force in 1940 and then by the Germans at the end of that year. Le Mans was liberated in August, 1944, but it was almost five years before the 24 Hours took place again. Following the war,

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1344-429: The left-right complex sees a constant G-force of 3 and a minimum speed of about 160 km/h (99 mph). Turns 9 and 10 immediately follow – two slow left-handers which require a good exit to gain speed down the next straight. Turns 11 and 12 effectively make up a slow left-right chicane where the use of kerbs are important but traction is low. Turn 13 is a very long right-hander which becomes less and less tight, and

1386-452: The longest straights on the calendar, the 1.2 km (0.7 mi) stretch that separates turns 13 and 14. The first two bends make a 185 km/h (115 mph) right-hand curve which leads immediately into turns 3 and 4 taken at 105 km/h (65 mph). One and two are far more difficult – a lift on entry followed by various taps of the throttle and brakes are needed so the car maintains balance throughout. It also becomes blind towards

1428-418: The middle of the corner. Three and four are less complicated, with three being a simple hairpin, but a good exit is needed from four to gain speed down the following straight and through turn 5. The complex of turns 1–4 makes up the first of two "snails" on the circuit, the other being turns 11–13. Turn 6 is a second gear, right-handed hairpin with plentiful run-off. Turns 7 and 8 make up a high speed chicane –

1470-508: The organizer for the series from the S2M Group. A primary issue that supported the takeover included low car counts for the season which prompted the cancellation of a scheduled round in Thailand and limited the series to grow while only in its second year. Plans for 2015 include a three-race calendar to begin later in the year around September then expand to five rounds in 2016 with the first race in

1512-751: The past, the circuit has hosted the MotoGP world championship, and a one-off V8 Supercars China Round of the Australian-based V8 Supercar championship in 2005 , and also the final round of the A1 Grand Prix in 2006/2007 . In 2011, the Shanghai International Circuit signed a sponsorship deal with Audi and was subsequently named the Shanghai Audi International Circuit and the SAIC International Circuit following

1554-508: The series starting in the 2021 season. The calendar would also return to an annual format instead of spanning two calendar years since back in the 2015-16 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic . In the 2023 season of the Asian Le Mans Series, a bronze pro-am rated driver would be mandatory in each class for the first time. Therefore the LMP2 Am & GT Am Classes would officially be dropped. The 2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series season began with

1596-596: The spring. One round will be held on the same weekend as the FIA World Endurance Championship , similar to the double-headers it shares with the European Le Mans Series and the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship . Class structure will remain unchanged. In October 2016, the Asian Le Mans Series announced a partnership with the GT Asia Series . It includes a new Michelin Asia GT Challenge, which

1638-542: Was a grand tourer championship in the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the predecessor to today's Super GT series. Plans for a new endurance championship were initially conceived by Don Panoz and backed by the ACO in 2000 with plans for an Asian-Pacific Le Mans Series, modeled after his American Le Mans Series and planned European Le Mans Series for 2001. Two previews of this event were held. The 1999 Le Mans Fuji 1000km at

1680-464: Was back. In the 2018–19 season the new LMP2 cars homologated after the ACO's 2017 regulations were eligible for the LMP2 class and the earlier LMP2 cars were eligible for the new LMP2 Am class. The GT Cup class would be dropped in the 2019–20 season. ACO 's Generation II 2020 Regulation Built LMP3 Cars from manufacturers such as Ligier , ADESS , Ginetta & Duqueine Engineering were now eligible in

1722-602: Was cancelled by the ACO due to economic circumstances. The winning teams in each of the four categories ( LMP1, LMP2 , GT1 and GT2 ) earned automatic invitations to the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans . The series was relaunched for the 2013 season with an announcement at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans . Following the end of the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship (JSPC) in 1992 there was no major endurance series involving sports prototypes in Asia, although there

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1764-453: Was introduced as a trophy to gentleman drivers and teams that competed from Lamborghini Super Trofeo , Porsche Carrera Cup Asia , Ferrari Challenge Asia-Pacific , Audi R8 LMS Cup Asia , and Lotus Cup Asia. The class was renamed GT Am the following season. For the 2014 season, Group CN was admitted into the series replacing the entry-less LMPC class from 2013. The grand tourer classes including LM GTE , GTC, and Super GT300 were merged into

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