Paul Ricard

Paul Louis Marius Ricard (July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and the developer of two Mediterranean islands.

Early life

Ricard was born in Sainte-Marthe, then a small hill village in Provence, to a family of wine merchants. Sainte-Marthe is now part of the 14th arrondissement of the city of Marseille. Ricard married Marie-Therese Thiers in 1937, with whom he had two sons and three daughters.

Pastis

After studying at the Lycée Thiers in Marseille, Ricard was discouraged from an early passion for painting by his father, who made him join the family wine business.

As a young man Ricard was introduced to the alcoholic beverage pastis by an old shepherd. Pastis, an anise flavored liqueur and apéritif, had been banned with other aniseed based spirits during the First World War, accused of undermining the French war effort. In a still in his bedroom Ricard experimented with creating a more refined version, using, among other things, star anisee, fennel seeds, liquorice and Provençal herbs. Ricard's precise pastis recipe has never been disclosed and remains a secret.

Blancpain GT Series

The Blancpain GT Series is a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) with the approval of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's GT3 regulations. The series is divided into two separate championships, the Blancpain Sprint Series and the Blancpain Endurance Series. Although the Blancpain Endurance Series is organised since 2011, the inaugural season of the Blancpain GT Series is 2014, because in that year the FIA GT Series became the Blancpain Sprint Series. The series is primarily sponsored by Swiss watchmaker Blancpain.

Champions

Drivers

Teams

See also

External links

Nismo

Nismo (abbreviated from Nissan Motorsport International Limited (ニッサン・モータースポーツ・インターナショナル株式会社, Nissan Mōtā Supōtsu Intānashonaru Kabushiki-gaisha)) is the motorsports and performance division of Nissan. Formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departments, Nismo cars have participated in JSPC, JTCC, 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona. They currently participate in the Super GT and FIA GT Championship, and in 2015 will compete alongside Audi, Toyota and Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP1 class, with the new Nissan GT-R LM NISMO.

History

In 1984, Nissan decided that it wanted to merge its two motorsport divisions, founded in the late 1960s, they were Publication Division 3, based in its Oppama factory, responsible for the needs of privateer teams and Special Car Testing Division, within its Ōmori plant, responsible for its factory operations. The company's intention following the merger was to specialize in sportscar racing, but it also provided support for teams competing in the domestic F3 series.

Blancpain Endurance Series

The Blancpain Endurance Series is a sports car racing series developed by the SRO Group and the Royal Automobile Club of Belgium (RACB) with approval from the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's GT3 regulations. The series's goal is to be an endurance racing championship for GT3 cars, similar to the European Le Mans Series which uses GTE cars and Le Mans Prototypes. The series is primarily sponsored by Swiss watchmaker Blancpain, and the company's Lamborghini Super Trofeo series serves as support races.

Format

The Blancpain Endurance Series reestablishes several elements of the former FIA GT Championship, with three hour endurance races held on European circuits such as Monza and Silverstone, as well as a continuation of the Spa 24 Hours. The races feature five classes derived from the FIA's GT3, GT4, and Supersport regulations, with the GT3 cars divided into a class for professional driver line-ups (GT3 Pro), a class for a mixed team of professional and amateurs (GT3 Pro-Am), and a class for gentleman drivers who use cars at least one year old (Gentlemen). The FIA's ranking system for drivers is utilized in determining what class each entry is eligible for. The GT4 category remained its own class.

Nissan GT-R

The Nissan GT-R is a 2-door 2+2 sports car produced by Nissan and unveiled in 2007. It is the successor to the Nissan Skyline GT-R although no longer part of the Skyline range itself.

History

Between 1969 and 1974, and again between 1989 and 2002, Nissan produced a high performance version of its Skyline sedan called the Nissan Skyline GT-R. This car proved to be iconic for Nissan and achieved much fame and success on both road and track. The Nissan GT-R, although no longer carrying the "Skyline" badge, has heritage in the Nissan Skyline GT-R, which was only available in the United States as a grey market car.

Similar to the later generations of the Skyline GT-Rs, the Nissan GT-R is four-wheel drive with a twin-turbo 6 cylinder engine and has the signature four round tail lights. However, the GT-R is an entirely new model sharing little with its Skyline siblings and is a complete redesign from previous Skylines rather than an incremental evolution; the four-wheel-steering HICAS system has been removed and the former straight-6 RB26DETT engine has been replaced with a new V6 VR38DETT. Because of the GT-R's heritage, the chassis code for the all-new version has been called CBA-R35, or 'R35' for short (where CBA is the prefix for emission standard), carrying on the naming trend from previous Skyline GT-R generations. The GT-R has also retained its Skyline predecessor's nickname Godzilla, given to it by the Australian motoring publication Wheels in its July 1989 edition.