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34-768: The Continental Challenge was the support series for Grand-Am's premier offering, the Rolex Sports Car Series . In 2014, the series became the support series for the United SportsCar Championship (now known as the IMSA SportsCar Championship) upon the merger of the Rolex Series and the American Le Mans Series . In traditional sports car racing format, the races are often run with both GS and ST classes on track simultaneously, which

68-405: A unibody or monocoque design, the body serves as part of the structure. Tube-frame chassis pre-date space frame chassis and are a development of the earlier ladder chassis . The advantage of using tubes rather than the previous open channel sections is that they resist torsional forces better. Some tube chassis were little more than a ladder chassis made with two large diameter tubes, or even

102-524: A complete phase out of the original Grand-Am GS class the next year. Also in 2018, IMSA introduced TCR Touring Cars as a third class, with the intention of it replacing the Street Tuners as the second class, which happened the following year. The original format was reminiscent of the original Trans-Am Series , combining conventional sports cars and touring cars, though the Trans-Am Series usually had

136-493: A racing car space frame was the Cisitalia D46 of 1946. This used two small diameter tubes along each side, but they were spaced apart by vertical smaller tubes, and so were not diagonalised in any plane. A year later, Porsche designed their Type 360 for Cisitalia . As this included diagonal tubes, it can be considered a true space frame and arguable the first mid-rear engined design. The Maserati Tipo 61 of 1959 (Birdcage)

170-646: A rigid space frame. An earlier contender for the first true space frame chassis is the one off Chamberlain 8 race "special" built by brothers Bob and Bill Chamberlain in Melbourne, Australia in 1929. Others attribute vehicles produced in the 1930s by designers such as Buckminster Fuller and William Bushnell Stout (the Dymaxion and the Stout Scarab ) who understood the theory of the true space frame from either architecture or aircraft design. A post WW2 attempt to build

204-797: A single driver per car, unlike the Continental Challenge, which has two drivers per car. Some vehicles in the Continental Challenge have actually been wrapped to resemble the original Trans Am cars, such as the Boss 302 Mustangs of George Follmer and Parnelli Jones or the original Sunoco Camaro. As the Pilot Challenge consists of longer races (2-4 hours), the cars are also eligible for the United States Auto Club 's Pirelli World Challenge GT4 or TCR classes, which are one-hour races. Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series

238-561: A single tube as a backbone chassis . Although many tubular chassis developed additional tubes and were even described as "space frames", their design was rarely correctly stressed as a space frame and they behaved mechanically as a tube ladder chassis, with additional brackets to support the attached components, suspension, engine etc. The distinction of the true space frame is that all the forces in each strut are either tensile or compression, never bending. Although these additional tubes did carry some extra load, they were rarely diagonalised into

272-464: A true space frame chassis until the Mark VIII , with the influence of other designers, with experience from the aircraft industry. A large number of kit cars use space frame construction, because manufacture in small quantity requires only simple and inexpensive jigs , and it is relatively easy for an amateur designer to achieve good stiffness with a space frame. A drawback of the space frame chassis

306-571: A unified road racing championship to be known as United SportsCar Racing , later retitled as the TUDOR United Sports Car Championship. The final Rolex Sports Car Series race was held on September 28, 2013 at Lime Rock Park. Following the failure of the United States Road Racing Championship in 1999, the new Grand American Road Racing Association announced their intentions to adopt a format similar to

340-470: Is composed of interlocking tetrahedra in which all the struts have unit length. More technically this is referred to as an isotropic vector matrix or in a single unit width an octet truss. More complex variations change the lengths of the struts to curve the overall structure or may incorporate other geometrical shapes. Within the meaning of space frame, we can find three systems clearly different between them: Curvature classification Classification by

374-455: Is known as a "combined" race. Occasionally the races will be run in "split classes", with separate races for both classes. This is especially common for shorter venues such as Lime Rock Park . Currently the races are 2 hours in length with a required driver change. The series uses two classes in each race. Originally, these were: From 2017, IMSA allowed cars built by "mainstream automotive manufacturers" to SRO GT4 regulations to compete, with

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408-602: Is often thought of as the first but in 1949 Robert Eberan von Eberhorst designed the Jowett Jupiter exhibited at that year's London Motor Show ; the Jowett went on to take a class win at the 1950 Le Mans 24hr. Later, TVR , the small British car manufacturers developed the concept and produced an alloy-bodied two seater on a multi tubular chassis, which appeared in 1949. Colin Chapman of Lotus introduced his first 'production' car,

442-410: Is that it encloses much of the working volume of the car and can make access for both the driver and to the engine difficult. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SL “Gullwing” received its iconic upward-opening doors when its tubular space frame made using regular doors impossible. Some space frames have been designed with removable sections, joined by bolted pin joints. Such a structure had already been used around

476-498: Is the same distance, as it would be if the two classes were running together. This did however make GT races slightly longer than combined events, since GT cars would likely finish several laps behind the winning prototype and thus not cover the full distance. When the GT and DP races were combined, the two classes would use a motorcycle racing-style "wave start," a concept from Roger Edmonson, who had been in motorcycle racing before organising

510-621: The FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting verdict in Geneva , Switzerland on June 24, 2010, Continental took over the official tire partner role until the series merged into WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2014. Speed Channel was the near-exclusive broadcaster of the Rolex Sports Car Series and included coverage of the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen and the 24 Hours of Daytona. On August 17, 2013, Fox Sports 1 became

544-507: The Mark VI , in 1952. This was influenced by the Jaguar C-Type chassis, another with four tubes of two different diameters, separated by narrower tubes. Chapman reduced the main tube diameter for the lighter Lotus, but did not reduce the minor tubes any further, possibly because he considered that this would appear flimsy to buyers. Although widely described as a space frame, Lotus did not build

578-574: The Six Hours of Watkins Glen , giving the league a second endurance race alongside the Rolex 24 at Daytona to compete with the ALMS' 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans . GTO and GTU would be renamed GTS and GT for 2001 to better match the classes used by the similar American Le Mans Series . 2003 would see the series go through a radical change, as Daytona Prototypes debuted for the first time to replace both of

612-581: The tetrahedral truss being one of his inventions. Max Mengeringhausen developed the space grid system called MERO (acronym of ME ngeringhausen RO hrbauweise ) in 1943 in Germany, thus initiating the use of space trusses in architecture. The commonly used method, still in use has individual tubular members connected at node joints (ball shaped) and variations such as the space deck system, octet truss system and cubic system. Stéphane de Chateau in France invented

646-425: The 24 Hours of Daytona. The tire manufacturers war in Rolex Sports Car Series began in the 2000 season with Michelin , Dunlop , Goodyear , Avon , Pirelli , Hoosier and Yokohama were tire suppliers until 2001 season. Starting in 2002 season, the tire manufacturers war were reduced to just two suppliers as Dunlop and Goodyear were only Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series tire manufacturers until 2004 season. As

680-591: The Daytona Prototypes. This meant that the GT class was now the top tier, being joined by the Super Grand Sport (SGS) class moved up from the Grand Am Cup series. This was further streamlined in 2005 with all Grand Touring-style cars being in a single GT class. This formula 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

714-559: The Grand American series with the France family. In this case, the DP cars would take the green flag first, followed, usually 20–30 seconds later (depending on track length) by the GT cars. By starting the cars separately, the organisers hoped for safer starts by having the two classes of cars race separately. Due to the series' affiliation with NASCAR , many Sprint Cup Series drivers occasionally participated in Rolex Series races, particularly

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748-501: The Sports Racing Prototype classes. Although SRPs would be allowed to continue until the end of 2003, few were seen while the Daytona Prototypes took over the series. The American GT class was also dissolved with the cars being placed into the similar GTS class. In 2004, the faster GTS class was abandoned in order to provide a larger gap between the Daytona Prototypes and GT cars. The GTS cars were as fast (if not faster) than

782-468: The Tridirectional SDC system (1957), Unibat system (1959), Pyramitec (1960). A method of tree supports was developed to replace the individual columns. Buckminster Fuller patented the octet truss ( U.S. patent 2,986,241 ) in 1961 while focusing on architectural structures. Gilman's Tetrahedral Truss of 1980 was developed by John J. Gilman ; a material scientist known for his work on

816-408: The angular factors. If the joints are sufficiently rigid, the angular deflections can be neglected, simplifying the calculations. The simplest form of space frame is a horizontal slab of interlocking square pyramids and tetrahedra built from Aluminium or tubular steel struts. In many ways this looks like the horizontal jib of a tower crane repeated many times to make it wider. A stronger form

850-617: The arrangement of its elements Other examples classifiable as space frames are these: Chief space frame applications include: Buildings Vehicles : Architectural design elements Space frames are a common feature in modern building construction; they are often found in large roof spans in modernist commercial and industrial buildings. Examples of buildings based on space frames include: Large portable stages and lighting gantries are also frequently built from space frames and octet trusses. The CAC CA-6 Wackett and Yeoman YA-1 Cropmaster 250R aircraft were built using roughly

884-498: The cars in either class while the Grand American Road Racing Association was able to keep the competition equalized. With such high car counts, Grand-Am has had to split GT and DP races at shorter tracks where it is not feasible to put 50 cars on the track at one instance. In each case, the GT cars race on Saturday, and the DP cars race on Sunday. This split format allows drivers to run both races. Each race

918-400: The molecular matrices of crystalline solids. Gilman was an admirer of Buckminster Fuller's architectural trusses, and developed a stronger matrix, in part by rotating an alignment of tetrahedral nodes in relation to each other. Space frames are typically designed using a rigidity matrix. The special characteristic of the stiffness matrix in an architectural space frame is the independence of

952-484: The new near-exclusive broadcaster for the Rolex Sports Car Series until 2014 when both Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series form United Sports Car Racing. Space frame In architecture and structural engineering , a space frame or space structure ( 3D truss ) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern . Space frames can be used to span large areas with few interior supports. Like

986-680: The one used in the USRRC, centering on the 24 Hours of Daytona . This series was seen as an alternative to the former IMSA GT Championship , which had since been replaced by the American Le Mans Series in 1999. The new series would run two classes of Sports Racing Prototypes identical to the rules used in the new FIA Sportscar Championship in Europe, while Grand Touring -style cars would consist of three classes: GTO for larger production-based race cars, GTU for smaller production-based race cars, and AGT for American tube frame cars. The league would also acquire

1020-505: The same welded steel tube fuselage frame. Many early “whirlybird”-style exposed-boom helicopters had tubular space frame booms, such as the Bell 47 series. Space frames are sometimes used in the chassis designs of automobiles and motorcycles . In both a space frame and a tube-frame chassis, the suspension, engine, and body panels are attached to a skeletal frame of tubes, and the body panels have little or no structural function. By contrast, in

1054-560: The series debuted their custom prototype chassis, known as Daytona Prototypes , named after their premiere event, the Rolex 24 at Daytona . The series staged the North American Endurance Championship , featuring three of its premier races at Daytona , Watkins Glen , and Indianapolis . On September 5, 2012, Grand-Am announced that it would be merging the Rolex Sports Car Series with the American Le Mans Series to form

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1088-461: The tire manufacturers war were ended after 2004 season, in 2005 Hoosier Racing Tire took over as official single tire partner of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series that lasted through 2007 season. Started in 2008, Pirelli took over the tire partner role of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series that lasted through 2010 season. As Pirelli confirmed of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series departure to Formula One , GP2 Asia Series and GP2 Series in 2011 after

1122-471: The truss, a space frame is strong because of the inherent rigidity of the triangle; flexing loads (bending moments ) are transmitted as tension and compression loads along the length of each strut. Chief applications include buildings and vehicles. Alexander Graham Bell from 1898 to 1908 developed space frames based on tetrahedral geometry. Bell's interest was primarily in using them to make rigid frames for nautical and aeronautical engineering, with

1156-484: Was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association . It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed United States Road Racing Championship . Rolex took over as series sponsor in 2002. It ran a mixture of classes of sports prototypes and Grand Touring -style cars. In 2003,

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