Autopolis 430 km race in 1991
The 430 km race at Autopolis 1991 , also known as the FIA Sportscar World Championship in Autopolis , took place on October 28th at the Autopolis racetrack . The race was the eighth and final round of the sports car world championship this year.
The race
The race in Autopolis marked the end of the racing activities of Sauber Motorsport and Mercedes-Benz in the sports car world championship. After a year of preparation, the Swiss team entered the Formula 1 World Championship in 1993 with the Sauber C12 and V10 - Ilmor engine and the drivers Karl Wendlinger and JJ Lehto . By working with Ilmor, Mercedes-Benz continued to support the Sauber team. 1991 was a difficult year, especially for Mercedes-Benz. The Mercedes-Benz C291 suffered from constant engine problems that repeatedly led to setbacks and failures. Overall success in the World Cup was not achievable in this way. Peter Sauber and Hermann Hiereth , those responsible for the Mercedes engines, were therefore pleased to note the overall victory of Michael Schumacher and Karl Wendlinger in the last outing of the C291.
The decision about the driver's title at Jaguar was made between the drivers Derek Warwick and Teo Fabi . While third place overall was enough for Fabi to achieve the drivers' world title, Derek Warwick had to win the race to have another chance at the title. Warwick had been through difficult weeks. The fatal accident of his younger brother Paul in July during a race for the British Formula 3000 Championship at Oulton Park had hit him hard. The Jaguar team leadership allowed the drivers an offensive racing strategy and let them start as individual drivers without teammates. However, Fabi trusted in the reliability of his racing partner David Brabham and decided not to go solo. Before the race, Warwick had to switch to the replacement car after a leak in the petrol tank of his car was discovered.
Teo Fabi started from pole position with the Jaguar XJR-14 , but Yannick Dalmas had to bend in the Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis in the first corner . Up to the 20th lap, Dalmas in a Peugeot, Fabi in a Jaguar and Michael Schumacher in a Mercedes-Benz fought a tough three-way battle for the top of the race, in which the lead changed several times. On the 21st lap the Dalmas Peugeot rolled out with an engine failure and Teo Fabi decided, after a few shifting difficulties, to drive slowly so as not to jeopardize his chances for the title.
After Fabi drove up to three seconds slower per lap than Schumacher at the front, Warwick was able to displace him from second place. Against the Mercedes from Schumacher and Wendlinger, the two Jaguars had no chance of victory this time. Derek Warwick finished second overall, 20 seconds back. A minute behind, David Brabham steered the second Jaguar to a safe third place across the finish line. This made Teo Fabi the world champion of sports car drivers.
Results
Final ranking
| Item | class | No. | team | driver | vehicle | Round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cat. 1 | 2 |
 Team Sauber Mercedes
|
 Michael Schumacher Karl Wendlinger
|
Mercedes-Benz C291 | 93 | ||
| 2 | Cat. 1 | 3T |
 Silk Cut Jaguar
|
Derek Warwick
|
Jaguar XJR-14 | 93 | ||
| 3 | Cat. 1 | 4th |
Silk Cut Jaguar
|
 Teo Fabi David Brabham
|
Jaguar XJR-14 | 93 | ||
| 4th | Cat. 1 | 5T |
 Peugeot Talbot Sport
|
Mauro Baldi Philippe Alliot
|
Peugeot 905 Evo 1 bis | 92 | ||
| 5 | Cat. 1 | 1T |
Team Sauber Mercedes
|
Jean-Louis Schlesser Jochen Mass
|
Mercedes-Benz C291 | 92 | ||
| 6th | Cat. 1 | 36 |
 Toyota Team Tom's
|
Geoff Lee's Andy Wallace
|
Toyota TS010 | 90 | ||
| 7th | Cat. 1 | 8th |
 Euro Racing
|
Cor Euser Charles Zwolsman senior
|
Spice SE90C | 87 | ||
| 8th | Cat. 2 | 12 |
Courage Compétition
|
 George Fouché Steven Andskär
|
Porsche 962C GTi | 85 | ||
| 9 | Cat. 2 | 18th |
Mazdaspeed
|
Yōjirō Terada Maurizio Sandro Sala
|
Mazda 787B | 85 | ||
| 10 | Cat. 2 | 58 |
Mazdaspeed
|
 Dave Kennedy Takashi Yorino
|
Mazda 787B | 84 | ||
| Failed | ||||||||
| 11 | Cat. 2 | 14th |
Team Salamin Primagaz
|
Roland Ratzenberger Eje Elgh
|
Porsche 962C | 78 | ||
| 12 | Cat. 2 | 11 |
Porsche Kremer Racing
|
Manuel Reuter Harri Toivonen
|
Porsche 962CK6 | 45 | ||
| 13 | Cat. 1 | 24 |
Konrad Motorsport
|
Stefan Johansson Franz Konrad
|
Konrad KM-011 | 21st | ||
| 14th | Cat. 1 | 6th |
Peugeot Talbot Sport
|
Yannick Dalmas Keke Rosberg
|
Peugeot 905 Evo 1 bis | 20th | ||
| 15th | Cat. 1 | 16 |
Brun Motorsport
|
 Oscar Larrauri
|
Brun C91 | 20th | ||
| 16 | Cat. 1 | 17th |
Brun Motorsport
|
 Jesús Pareja Bernard Santal
|
Porsche 962C | 12 | ||
| 17th | Cat. 1 | 61 |
Euro Racing
|
Wayne Taylor Hideshi Matsuda
|
Spice SE90C | 3 | ||
| Not started | ||||||||
| 18th | Cat. 1 | 1 |
Team Sauber Mercedes
|
Jean-Louis Schlesser Jochen Mass
|
Mercedes-Benz C291 | 1 | ||
| 19th | Cat. 1 | 3 |
Silk Cut Jaguar
|
Derek Warwick David Brabham
|
Jaguar XJR-14 | 2 | ||
| 20th | Cat. 1 | 5 |
Peugeot Talbot Sport
|
Mauro Baldi Philippe Alliot Keke Rosberg
|
Peugeot 905 Evo 1 bis | 3 | ||
| 21st | Cat. 2 | 13 |
Courage Compétition
|
Steven Andskär George Fouché
|
Porsche 962C | 4th | ||
1 misfiring in warm-up 2 tank leak in warm-up 3 original emergency vehicle 4 withdrawn
Only in the entry list
Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.
| Item | class | No. | team | driver | chassis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22nd | Cat. 1 | 7th |
Louis Descartes
|
Patrick Gonin Luigi Taverna
|
ALD C91 |
| 23 | Cat. 2 | 15th |
Veneto Equipe SRL
|
Almo Coppelli
|
Lancia LC2 |
Class winner
| class | driver | driver | vehicle | Placement in the overall ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat. 1 |
Michael sSchumacher
|
Karl Wendlinger
|
Mercedes-Benz C291 | Overall victory |
| Cat. 2 |
George Fouché
|
Steven Andskar
|
Porsche 962C GTi | Rank 8 |
Racing data
- Registered: 23
- Started: 17
- Valued: 10
- Race classes: 2
- Spectators: 38,300
- Race day weather: cold and foggy
- Route length: 4.674 km
- Driving time of the winning team: 2: 26: 36.699 hours
- Total laps of the winning team: 93
- Total distance of the winning team: 434.682 km
- Winner's average: 177.891 km / h
- Pole position: Teo Fabi - Jaguar XJR-14 (# 4) - 1: 27.188 = 192.990 km / h
- Fastest race lap: Yannick Dalmas - Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis (# 6) - 1: 30.615 = 185.691 km / h
- Racing series: Round 8 of the 1991 World Sports Car Championship
literature
- Peter Higham: The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing. A complete Reference from Formula 1 to Touring Car. Guinness Publishing Ltd., London 1995, ISBN 0-85112-642-1 .
Web links
|
Previous race 430 km Mexico City race in 1991 |
Sports car world championship |
Successor 500 km race from Monza 1992 |