Dallara SP1
The Dallara SP1 was a sports car prototype that was used in sports car races from 2000 to 2005.
The racing history of the Dallara SP1, also known as Chrysler LMP , dates back to 2000. The ORECA team, which was very successful with the Chrysler Viper GTS-R at the Le Mans 24-hour race , was looking for an alternative to the previous racing vehicle. On the one hand, this was due to the fact that Chrysler no longer supplied the evolutionary stages of the Viper and, on the other hand, ORECA wanted to enter the LMP classes and had already done this with the Reynard 2KQ 2000.
In close cooperation with Chrysler, ORECA was looking for a usable racing car. ORECA was a racing team and not a manufacturer and had not had good experiences with the Reynard. At that time, Dallara had started developing a sports car chassis, the SP1. This vehicle seemed suitable and ORECA and Dallara developed the racing vehicle together. The vehicles were given the designation Chrysler LMP and started in 2001 with a 6-liter V8 engine from the Chrysler subsidiary Mopar in Le Mans .
After only one year, Chrysler withdrew completely from motorsport and the SP1 received Judd V10 engines. In 2005, a Nissan turbo engine was used in the Rollcentre Racing SP1 .
The first race results, still as LMP from Chrysler, were not very promising. When the vehicles crossed the finish line, they were well behind the dominating Audi R8s . After a lot of testing, Olivier Beretta qualified the fastest LMP at Le Mans in sixth place, faster than both Bentley Speed 8s . Three LMP were at the start and despite many technical problems, the car from Beretta, Karl Wendlinger and Pedro Lamy crossed the finish line fourth in the overall standings. Despite this success, the board of directors of Chrysler decided against a continuation of the motorsport program for financial reasons.
ORECA continued the program without Chrysler and launched the racing cars in 2002 as Dallara-Oreca . In Le Mans, the teams Beretta / Comas / Lamy and Sarrazin / Montagny / Minassian finished fifth and sixth.
In 2003, when ORECA turned to other projects, the SP1s were sold to private teams in Europe and overseas. Dallara also produced additional chassis to meet the existing demand. The SP1 ran until the end of 2005 in the American Le Mans Series and the Le Mans Series .
Web links
- Information on SP1 (English)