[Erie Von Otto]

BLUF/TL;DR: I know very little about racing teams/rules/classes and would like to learn so I can teach my enthusiast son.

So over the years I have become more and more interested in watching racing. But, everytime I turn on the TV, I am overwhelmed with stats, specs, team names, classes, car types... Just a giant mishmash of information.

I realized I had to narrow it down to a few that really quipped my interest and I believe I have. DTM, GT Masters, WRC, and Formula 1.

So we have begun to watch more races, like today we did a WTCC @ Suzuka and it was cool to watch. But last weekend, we watched a DTM race and I was unable to explain to my son what the colors meant where to two fuel stop dots were. Why did some go from yellow to black?

This brought up the dilemma of my absolute ignorance to the topic of racing. Can someone help clarify or teach me a few things or at the very least point me to a racing for dummies site???

I really love watching it and sharing that time with my son. It has become something we look forward to on the weekends.

But what is the difference between the FIA GT Series, Blancpain GT, the ADAC GT Masters and the ALMS? Is it just the locations? One is European the other American for example? Or do they all race together? Why are some cars called GT3 cars? I thought that was a Porsche! So... You see my problem...

We're here in Germany right now and we have gone to several DTM races. We would like to go to GT Masters at Hockenheim next weekend with my son. Id really like to get a handle on all of this so I can relax and enjoy.

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

Whomever helps, Ill buy a beer at the next race we meet at.

[954Stealth]

DTM: Deutsche Touring Masters. Production-based (but i think purpose built) german autos. European series
FIA GT Series: It is a new series and only uses GT3 cars
Blancpain GT: Endurance series and different GT-spec cars are used
ADAC GT Masters: Similar to FIA series but sponsore by ADAC auto club.
ALMS: American Le Mans Series. Another Grand Touring series but this one runs 5 classes at once on the track: prototypes and the GT classes. The Rolex Grand-Am series and ALMS will be one and the same next season
WRC: Run by FIA like a lot of these but is a dirt track series. Actually most things except traditional pavement.

Formula 1: In my opinion, truly the gentlemen's series of autosport. This is the highest class with the best drivers in the world. The cars are purpose built for the series by a few manufacturers.

Let's confuse things:
GT/GT2/GT3/GT4- classes based upon modification and engine performance. GT4 is the closest to stock. You are correct about Porsche having a GT-spec car. but so do a lot of other marques. There are GTO, GTB (B = Berlinetta hence the F12 Berlinetta being the newest GT model from Ferrari), GTC, GTR and of course BMW's M3 GTS.
For GT4 look at this description: http://www.bmw-motorsport.com/en/cars/bmw-m3-gt4.html


Pro-Am: When an amateur shares the cockpit with a professional driver. Blancpain, for example is Pro-Am. Usually they have to stop and switch drivers at some point. It's series like this that enable show hosts to run a race for a show segment.



Alright, I'm not good at explaining things so that's the best I can do for you lol

[Erie Von Otto]

You did an excellent job! I am definitely wiser on the subject... I had no idea about Pro-Am. Thanks for putting me on the right path. Seems like there is so much more to learn. Damn sports.

[Billj747]

I will add:

DTM cars are loosely based on and don't share much of anything with production cars. I believe they are carbon-fiber chassis and are basically production-looking prototypes.

ALMS and Grand-Am are joining together for 2014 under the Tudor United Sports Car Championshipp (USCC) which will have 4 classes:

Prototype - P2 and Delta Wing from ALMS, Daytona Prototypes from Grand-Am
Prototype Challenge - PC cars from ALMS (Pro-Am Class)
GTLM - GT2/GTE cars from ALMS
GTD - Grand-Am GT cars, GTC Porsches from ALMS, and GTX cars from Grand-Am (Pro-Am Class)


The sub-series to USCC is the Continental Tire Sports Car Championship (CTSCC) which is basically production street cars with roll cages and minor modifications. Should be Pro-Am next year with 2 classes: GS and ST.