NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race explained

NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race
Category:Stock cars
Country/Region:Brazil
Inaugural:2012
Constructors:Chevrolet, Ford
Engines:Action Power
Region:South America
Current Season: NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race

The NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race (formerly known as GT Sprint Race), commonly referred to as NASCAR Brasil or Sprint Race, is a NASCAR stock car series based in Brazil.[1] It is one of NASCAR's four international series alongside the NASCAR Canada Series, NASCAR Mexico Series, and the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and is the only one to be based in South America.

History

Early history

NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race's roots can be traced to 2011, when rumors of a Super Cup championship first circulated in the Brazilian racing scene. Super Cup is a category that promised a low cost championship hosted in tracks outside of the traditional Brazilian venues.[2] Super Cup ultimately failed to establish themselves, but on January 18, 2012 a spiritual successor series named Sprint Race was founded by Thiago Marques, a former competitor in the Stock Car Pro Series and the younger brother of ex-Formula One driver Tarso Marques.[3] [4] Sprint Race was formed as an entry-level competition series designed to facilitate a beginner driver's transition to the higher racing categories in Brazil.[5]

The inaugural season was held on the same year and a total of 25 drivers entered the 2012 season. It featured a total of 18 races across 9 rounds, with double points being awarded in the final round. The driver pairing of Guilherme Sperafico and Fabio Brecailo were credited as Sprint Race's inaugural race winners on the series' first ever race at Autódromo José Carlos Pace, while Gustavo Martins was crowned as the series' inaugural champion after scoring four race wins.[6]

The 2013 season featured 16 races across 8 rounds and saw the driver pairing of Gaetano di Mauro and Guilherme Salas took the title after winning five races.[7] [8] In 2014, the series was split into two classes: Pro and GP class, with titles being awarded separately towards the drivers that scored the most points in their respective classes. Despite this, both classes continued to ran their races together. Flávio Lisboa was crowned as the overall champion in the now-rebranded Pro class, while Adriano Amaral became the first driver to win the title in the GP class.[9]

In the 2018 season, the series hosted their first races outside of Brazil when they hosted a race at Uruguay's Autódromo Eduardo Prudêncio Cabrera. The series returned to Uruguay in 2019 and on the same year, the series made its first races outside of South America as the series hosted the Sprint Race International Cup in tracks such as Homestead–Miami Speedway and Sebring International Raceway.[10]

GT Sprint Race and NASCAR

In 2020, the series rebranded itself into the GT Sprint Race and numerous changes was made to the series. The GP class was discontinued and in its place, two new divisions were formed: The AM and Pro AM classes. A new car generation, inspired from the cars raced in NASCAR, was also introduced and the series switched their tire suppliers from Pirelli to Yokohama.[11] Thiago Camilo was crowned as the overall champion in the Pro class that year, while Weldes Campos and Luiz Arruda were crowned as the inaugural champions of the Pro AM and AM classes respectively.[12]

The series was later rebranded to the NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race on November 16, 2022 after the series signed an agreement with NASCAR to give the series an official NASCAR-sanctioning status starting from the 2023 season.[13] [14] [15] In 2023, NASCAR intends on adding oval race tracks to the schedule.[15]

Cars

NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race's cars featured a peripheral tubular space frame chassis reinforced with aluminum plates. In its original guise, the car used an unbranded hatchback body model based on the Renault Clio. The driver is positioned in the middle of the car for better weight distribution. It uses a six-speed sequential gearbox, independent suspension, and engines supplied by Action Power. For the first two seasons, the cars used a 220 hp, inline-four turbo engines sourced from Renault before it was upgraded to a 270 hp, 3.6 liter V6 engine sourced from Chevrolet in 2014.[5]

A new generation of car was introduced by the series in 2020. The new car featured a brand new body model inspired from the American NASCAR series, with composite body styles based on the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang being available to be chosen for the teams participating; the NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race is one of two NASCAR series where Toyota does not participate, the other being the NASCAR Canada Series. The new generation of cars featured an improved aerodynamic package and was claimed to have a 20% increase in corner speed, despite the removal of the detached rear wing in favor of integrated rear spoiler.[11]

The new generation car received several changes in the 2022 season. New racing seats, inspired from the seats used in NASCAR, was introduced to increase driver's protection from head and neck injuries due to lateral movement during crashes. A rear stabilizer bar was added, with drivers being able to choose between three settings: Soft, hard, and off. The engine also received an updated electronic injection unit to improve its acceleration.[10]

NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race featured Pirelli as the exclusive tire supplier of the series. Pirelli is the exclusive tire supplier starting from the inaugural season in 2012, with the exception of the 2020 season where the series ran Yokohama tires instead.[11]

Specifications

Tracks

The following are the tracks which have been used, currently are in use, and/or are scheduled to be used in the NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race. Tracks marked in bold are tracks used in the 2024 NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race season.[17]

YearsTrackLocationType
2018–2019Autódromo Eduardo Prudêncio CabreraRivera, UruguayRoad course
2020–presentAutódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna (Goiânia)Goiânia, BrazilRoad course
2012–presentAutódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna (Londrina)Londrina, BrazilRoad course
2012–2018, 2020–2021Autódromo Internacional de CuritibaCuritiba, BrazilRoad course
2013–2021, 2023–presentAutódromo Internacional de CascavelCascavel, BrazilRoad course
2014, 2022Autódromo Internacional de Santa Cruz do SulSanta Cruz do Sul, BrazilRoad course
2013, 2015, 2021–presentAutódromo Internacional de TarumãTarumã, BrazilRoad course
2024Autódromo Internacional Orlando MouraCampo Grande, BrazilRoad course
2021, 2024Autódromo Internacional PotenzaLima Duarte, BrazilRoad course
2017–2023Autódromo Velo CittàMogi Guaçu, BrazilRoad course
2024Circuito dos CristaisCurvelo, BrazilOval track
2019Homestead–Miami SpeedwayHomestead, United StatesRoad course
2012–presentInterlagos CircuitSão Paulo, BrazilRoad course
2019Sebring International RacewaySebring, United StatesRoad course

Champions

Brazilian Championship

SeasonProPro AMAMGP
2012 Gustavo MartinsNot held
2013 Gaetano di Mauro
Guilhermo Salas
2014 Flávio LisboaNot held Adriano Amaral
2015 Pietro Rimbano Fábio Brecailo
2016 Juninho Berlanda
Eduardo Berlanda
Vinícius Margiota
2017 Juninho Berlanda Kau Machado
Jorge Martelli
2018 Gerson Campos Cassio Cortes
2019 João Rosate
Bruno Smielevski
Daniel Coutinho
Josimar Jr
2020 Ricardo Sperafico Alex Seid
Marcelo Henriques
Luiz ArrudaNot held
2021 Júlio Campos
Léo Torres
Pedro Aizza Luis Debes
2022 Luciano Zangirolami
Sérgio Ramalho
Arthur Gama Giovani Girotto
2023 Júlio Campos
Léo Torres
Leonardo Reis
Rafael Reis
Henry Couto

Special Edition

SeasonProProAMAMGP
2019 João Rosate
Bruno Smielevski
Not held Daniel Coutinho
Dudu Trindade
2020 Pedro Lopes
Gabriel Silva
Weldes Campos
Ricardo Sperafico
Raphael TeixeiraNot held
2021 Thiago Camilo Pedro Aizza Giovani Girotto
2022 Thiago Camilo
Raphael Teixeira
Diogo Moscato Giovanni Girotto
2023 Vitor Genz
Rafael Dias
Guilherme Backes
Gabriel Casagrande
MC Gui

Overall

SeasonProProAMAMGP
2019 João Rosate
Bruno Smielevski
Not held Daniel Coutinho
2020 Thiago Camilo Weldes Campos Luiz ArrudaNot held
2021 Thiago Camilo Pedro Aizza Walter Lester
2022 Raphael Teixeira Arthur Gama Giovani Girotto
2023 Léo Torres Guilherme Backes Brendon Zonta

Cups

SeasonRookie of the yearWinter CupFinal Cup
2014 Yago Cesário
Yuri Cesário
Flavio Lisboa Flavio Lisboa
2015 Enzo Bortoleto Caito Vianna
Flávio Lisboa
Caito Vianna
Flávio Lisboa
2016 Eduardo Berlanda Juninho Berlanda
Eduardo Berlanda
Luca Milani
2017 João Rossate Juninho Berlanda João Rossate
2018 Diego Ramos Gerson Campos Vinicius Kwong
2019 Dante Fibra Daniel CoutinhoNot held
2020 Weldes CamposNot held
2021 Nathan Brito
2022 Arthur Gama
2023 Diogo Moscato

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Marson. Leonardo. 2019-10-24. Sprint Race anuncia mudanças para a temporada 2020 . 2023-02-23. Racing Online . pt-BR.
  2. Web site: Sprint Race: Agora vai!. curitibaracing.com.br. Curitiba Racing. pt-BR. Sprint Race: Now it's on!. January 18, 2012. March 20, 2023.
  3. Web site: NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race to debut in 2023. The Checkered Flag. Justin Nguyen. November 17, 2022. March 18, 2023.
  4. Web site: Redação. 2021-05-13. GT Sprint Race completa dez anos de história nesta quinta-feira. 2023-02-23. Racing Online. pt-BR.
  5. Web site: SPRINT RACE. lexicarbrasil.com.br. LEXICAR Brasil. pt-BR. March 18, 2023.
  6. Web site: TABELA DE CLASSIFICAÇÃO 2012. sprintrace.com.br. NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race. March 18, 2023.
  7. Web site: TABELA DE CLASSIFICAÇÃO 2013. sprintrace.com.br. NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race. March 18, 2023.
  8. Web site: Sprint Race Brasil 2013 standings. driverdb.com. DriverDB. March 18, 2023.
  9. Web site: TABELA DE CLASSIFICAÇÃO 2014. sprintrace.com.br. NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race. March 18, 2023.
  10. Web site: GT Sprint Race: conheça todas as inovações da categoria para 2022. motorsport.uol.com.br. Motorsport.com. GT Sprint Race: Get to know all the innovations of the category for 2022. March 11, 2022. 2023-02-23. pt-BR.
  11. Web site: GT Sprint Race e suas novas máquinas em 2020. automania.com.br. AutomaniaNet. pt-BR. GT Sprint Race and its new machines in 2020. April 2, 2020. March 18, 2023.
  12. Web site: TABELA DE CLASSIFICAÇÃO 2020. sprintrace.com.br. NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race. March 18, 2023.
  13. Web site: grandepremio . Nascar firma parceria com GT Sprint Race e anuncia criação de categoria no Brasil em 2023 . 2023-02-23 . Terra . pt-BR.
  14. Web site: Poindexter . Owen . 2022-11-17 . NASCAR Heading to South America . 2023-02-23 . Front Office Sports . en.
  15. Web site: NASCAR announces launch of NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race . NASCAR.com . NASCAR Digital Media, LLC . November 16, 2022 . November 23, 2022.
  16. Web site: DADOS TÉCNICOS – Sprint Race . 2023-02-23 . pt-BR.
  17. Web site: CALENDÁRIO 2024 – NASCAR Brasil Sprint Race . pt-BR . 3 April 2024.