The 1981 World Sportscar Championship season was the 29th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1981 FIA World Endurance Championship which was contested over a fifteen race series which ran from 31 January to 27 September.[1] The former World Challenge for Endurance Drivers was renamed to the World Endurance Championship of Drivers for 1981 and the World Championship of Makes was renamed to the World Endurance Championship of Makes. Bob Garretson won the World Endurance Championship of Drivers and Lancia was awarded the World Endurance Championship of Makes.[1]

Schedule

Lancia won the 1981 World Endurance Championship of Makes with its Beta Montecarlos

World Endurance Championship of Drivers was contested over all fifteen races however only six of the races counted towards the World Endurance Championship of Makes.[1]

Drivers Rd. Makes Rd. Race Circuit Date
1 1 United States 24 Hours Pepsi Challenge Daytona International Speedway 31 January
1 February
2 - United States Coca-Cola 12 Hours of Sebring Sebring International Raceway 21 March
3 - Italy Mugello 6 Hours Mugello Circuit 12 April
4 2 Italy 1000km Monza Autodromo Nazionale Monza 26 April
5 - United States Los Angeles Times Toyota Grand Prix (6 Hours) Riverside International Raceway 26 April
6 3 United Kingdom Silverstone 6 Hours Silverstone Circuit 10 May
7 4 Germany 1000km Nürburgring Nürburgring 24 May
8 5 France 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe 13 June
14 June
9 - Italy Coppa Florio (6 Hours) Autodromo di Pergusa 28 June
10 - United States 6 Hours of Daytona Champion Spark Plug Challenge Daytona International Speedway 2 July
11 6 United States 6 Hours of Watkins Glen Watkins Glen International 12 July
12 - Belgium 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 26 July
27 July
13 - Canada Molson 1000 Kilometres (6 Hours) Mosport Park 16 August
14 - United States Pabst 500 Miles Road America 23 August
15 - United Kingdom Flying Tigers 1000 Kilometres Brands Hatch 27 September

Season results

Although various classes of cars contested the championship races, only the overall race winners are listed in the table below.

Rnd Circuit Overall Winning Team Results
Overall Winning Drivers
Overall Winning Car
1 Daytona United States #9 Garretson Racing Results
United States Bob Garretson
United States Bobby Rahal
United Kingdom Brian Redman
Porsche 935
2 Sebring United States #86 Bayside Disposal Racing Results
United States Al Holbert
United States Hurley Haywood
United States Bruce Leven
Porsche 935
3 Mugello Italy #14 Osella Squadra Corse Results
Italy Giorgio Francia
Italy Lella Lombardi
Osella PA9 BMW
4 Monza Germany #3 Weralit Racing Team Results
Germany Edgar Dören
Germany Jürgen Lässig
Germany Gerhard Holup
Porsche 935
5 Riverside United Kingdom #1 John Fitzpatrick Racing Results
United Kingdom John Fitzpatrick
United States Jim Busby
Porsche 935 K3
6 Silverstone Germany #22 Vegla Racing Team Results
Germany Harald Grohs
Germany Walter Röhrl
Germany Dieter Schornstein
Porsche 935
7 Nürburgring Germany #12 GS Tuning Results
Germany Hans-Joachim Stuck
Brazil Nelson Piquet
BMW M1
8 La Sarthe Germany #11 Porsche System Results
Belgium Jacky Ickx
United Kingdom Derek Bell
Porsche 936/81
9 Pergusa United Kingdom #3 Grid Team Lola Results
United Kingdom Guy Edwards
Spain Emilio de Villota
Lola T600 Ford Cosworth DFV
10 Daytona United States #38 Mandeville Racing Results
United States Roger Mandeville
United States Amos Johnson
Mazda RX-7
11 Watkins Glen Italy #1 Martini Racing Results
Italy Riccardo Patrese
Italy Michele Alboreto
Lancia Beta Montecarlo
12 Spa United Kingdom #40 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Results
United Kingdom Tom Walkinshaw
Belgium Pierre Dieudonné
Mazda RX-7
13 Mosport Germany #3 Andial Meister Racing Results
Germany Harald Grohs
Germany Rolf Stommelen
Porsche 935
14 Road America Germany #3 Andial Meister Racing Results
Germany Harald Grohs
Germany Rolf Stommelen
Porsche 935
15 Brands Hatch United Kingdom #3 Banco Occidental Ultramar Lola Results
United Kingdom Guy Edwards
Spain Emilio de Villota
Lola T600 Ford Cosworth DFL
  • The 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix and the Road America 500 were also rounds of the 1981 IMSA GT Championship.
  • The 6 Hours of Daytona was restricted to Racing Stock class cars [2] (i.e. IMSA RS).[3]
  • The 24 Hours of Spa was restricted to Belgian Touring Cars [4] (i.e. Group 1).[3]

World Endurance Championship of Drivers

The World Endurance Championship of Drivers was open to FIA Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4, Group 5, Group 6, Group C and GTP cars and to IMSA GTX, IMSA GTP, IMSA AAGT, IMSA GTO, IMSA GTU and IMSA RS cars.[3]

Drivers Championship points were awarded on a 20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first twenty overall finishers at each round.[3] Bonus points were also awarded as follows:[3]

  • 0 points for Category 1 (Group 6 over 2 litres)
  • 1 point for Category 2 (Group 5 over 2 litres, GTP over 2 litres, Group C over 2 litres, IMSA GTX over 2 litres, IMSA GTP over 2 litres, IMSA AAGT)
  • 2 points for Category 3 (Group 6 under 2 litres, Group 5 under 2 litres, Group 4 under 2 litres, IMSA GTO, IMSA GTX under 2 litres)
  • 3 points for Category 4 (GTP under 2 litres, Group 2 over 2 litres, IMSA GTU, Group C under 2 litres)
  • 4 points for Category 5 (Group 4 under 2 litres, Group 1 over 2 litres)
  • 5 points for Category 6 (Group 2 under 2 litres, Group 1 under 2 litres, IMSA RS)

Only half points were awarded at the shortened Nürburgring round.[3] All points scored were retained towards the championship totals.[3]

Results

Position [5] Driver [5] Car [6] Points [5]
1 Bob Garretson Porsche 935 K3 & 935 127
2 Harald Grohs Porsche 935 & 935 K3 116.5
3 Bobby Rahal Porsche 935 K3 & 935/78-81 109
4 Edgar Dören Porsche 935 K3 & Porsche 935 107.5
5 Giorgio Francia Osella PA9 BMW 101
= Lella Lombardi Osella PA9 BMW 101
7 Derek Bell BMW M1 & Porsche 935 96
8 Bob Akin Porsche 935 K3 & 935 84
9 Jim Busby Porsche 935 K3 & 935 81
10 Brian Redman Porsche 935 K3 & Lola T600 80
11 John C Cooper Porsche 935 K3 & Chevrolet Camaro 73.5
12 John Fitzpatrick Porsche 935 K3 & 935 71
13 Dudley Wood Porsche 935 K3 67
14 Hurley Haywood Porsche 935 & Mazda RX-3 65
15 Lee Mueller Mazda RX-7 63
16 Rolf Stommelen Porsche 935 K3 60
= Walt Bohren Mazda RX-7 60
18 Jürgen Lässig Porsche 935 K3 & BMW M1 56.5
= Dieter Schornstein Porsche 935 56.5
20 Ralph Kent Cooke Porsche 935 K3 & 935 54
21 Marion L Speer Mazda RX-7 & Porsche 914/6 53
= Emilio de Villota Lola T600 Ford 53
= Bill Whittington Porsche 935 K3 & 935 53
= Guy Edwards Lola T600 Ford 53
25 Roger Mandeville Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-3 52
= Amos Johnson Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-3 52
27 Jacques Guerin Porsche 935 & BMW 530i 50
28 Luigi Moreschi Osella PA9 BMW 49
= Carlo Franchi Osella PA9 BMW 49
30 Jim Downing Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-3 46
31 Richard Lloyd Porsche 924 Carrera GTR 45
= Frank Carney Datsun ZX & Datsun 280ZX 45
= Dick Davenport Datsun ZX & Datsun 280ZX 45
34 Siegfried Brunn Porsche 908/3 & Porsche Carrera 44
= Eddie Jordan Porsche 908/3 & BMW M1 44
36 Pete Smith Porsche Carrera & BMW M1 43
= Chuck Kendall Porsche Carrera & BMW M1 43
38 David Hobbs BMW M1 & March 81P 42
39 Jean-Claude Andruet Ferrari 512 BB/LM & BMW 530i 41
= Gianpiero Moretti Porsche 935/78-81 41
= Tom Walkinshaw Mazda RX-7 41
42 Ray Ratcliff Porsche 914/6 & Mazda RX-7 40.5
43 Tony Garcia BMW M1 & Porsche Carrera 40
= Hiram Cruz BMW M1 & Porsche Carrera 40
= Albert Naon BMW M1 & Porsche Carrera 40
46 Dirk Vermeersch Mazda RX-7 & BMW 530i 39
= Eddy Joosen Mazda RX-7 & BMW 530i 39
48 Pierre Dieudonné Mazda RX-7 & Ferrari 512 BB/LM 38
= Roy Woods Porsche 935 K3 & 935 38
= Bruce Leven Porsche 935 38

A total of 371 drivers scored points in the 1981 World Endurance Championship of Drivers.[5]

World Endurance Championship of Makes

The World Endurance Championship of Makes was open FIA Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4 and Group 5 cars and to IMSA GTX cars.[3]

Cars from all eligible groups were combined, and then divided into two Divisions based on engine capacity.[3] Points were awarded on a 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the top ten places in each Division at each race.[7] Only the best placed car of each make in each division at each race was eligible to score points.[3] Cars from groups not included in the championship (e.g. FIA Group 6 cars) were disregarded when assessing divisional positions for championship purposes. Only half points were awarded for the shortened Nurburgring race.[3] The best five round results could be retained by each make.[3]

Results

The overall World Endurance Championship of Makes title was won by Lancia.[1] Although both Lancia and Porsche scored 100 points from their best five class results, Lancia was awarded the title based on its six divisional victories against the five scored by Porsche .[1]

Over 2000 cc

Pos Manufacturer Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Total
1 Germany Porsche 20 20 20 (7.5) 20 20 100
2 Germany BMW 8 15 15 10 4 52
3 Italy Ferrari 3 15 15
4 Italy Lancia 6 6
5 United Kingdom Morgan 2 2

Under 2000 cc

Pos Manufacturer Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Total
1 Italy Lancia 20 20 20 (10) 20 20 100
2 Germany BMW 15 7.5 22.5
3 Germany Opel 5 5
4 United States Ford 4 4
5 Japan Toyota 2 2
6 Italy Alfa Romeo 0.5 0.5

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Results, World Endurance Championship of Drivers / World Endurance Championship of Makes, Autocourse, 1981/82, pages 247 & 248
  2. ↑ János L Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999, page 1325
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Endurance Racing Supplement, page 8, Autosport, December 1981
  4. ↑ János L Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999, page 1330
  5. 1 2 3 4 János L Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999, page 1342
  6. ↑ World Championship - final positions and tables, www.classicscars.com Retrieved on 27 January 2013
  7. ↑ Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, page 260

Further reading

  • Automobile Year, 1981/1982. 1982.
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