BEFORE THE CALAMITY KNOWN AS 'THE SPLIT' IN Indy racing circles, the CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) IndyCar series was America's premier single-seater racing category and a genuine rival to Formula 1. Indeed, as the series spread to Australasia and South America, and eventually even Europe, the power brokers of Grand Prix racing became increasingly nervous, a fear fed by Nigel Mansell's defection after his F1 title year to IndyCar for 1993 and Ayrton Senna's test of Brazilian countryman Emerson Fittipaldi's Penske-Chevrolet in 1992 (also sponsored by Marlboro, like Senna's McLaren-Honda). It seemed that IndyCar truly could become a world series.
CART had been formed after team and car owners became dissatisfied with USAC, the sanctioning body that ran the US's top-flight single-seater racing championship. USAC was the baby of Indianapolis Speedway owner Tony Hulman, and increasingly throughout the 1970s the teams felt the series was being poorly run and with too much emphasis on the Indy 500 race and not the overall championship. CART was formed in 1978 and by 1982 was in overall charge, with only the Indy 500 running under USAC but now forming part of the CART series, which in time would be named 'IndyCar'. Nevertheless, this complex political arrangement between Indianapolis and everyone else was fraught with hazards that in time would lead to the downfall not only of CART, but also see a tremendous decline in the standing and popularity of single-seater racing in the US; it was an open goal for NASCAR.
The IRL (Indy Racing League), the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's own single-seater championship, began in 1996, and although CART enjoyed some classic seasons from that point onwards, it eventually went into decline, going bankrupt in 2003. The series limped on, rebranded as Champ Cars and effectively became a one-make 'spec series' until the two championships were 'combined' once again in 2008.
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Denne historien er fra May 2024-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
