European Formula 5000 Championship

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The European Formula 5000 Championship was a motor racing championship that was held annually from 1969 to 1975. The regulation was based on the original in the United States developed Formula 5000 . The name was derived from the maximum permitted displacement of the engines used - 5000 cm³. Regardless of the nominal reference to Europe, the vast majority of championship races took place on racetracks in Great Britain .

background

Origin in the USA

Most used engine in Formula 5000: the 5.0 liter eight-cylinder engine from Chevrolet

Formula 5000 goes back to the American Formula A racing class . The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) introduced this formula in 1965 as the North American counterpart to Formula 1. Its regulations therefore corresponded to Formula 1 at the time, so that open single-seater racing cars with engines of up to 3.0 liters displacement were permitted. Formula A could not establish itself in the USA. It was not until 1967 that a regular championship took place, although it was poorly manned and only lasted four runs. American manufacturers had no suitable engines, so that in many cases British and occasionally Italian engines had to be imported at great expense. That made the series unattractive.

In order to enlarge the starting field, the SCCA allowed engines with a displacement of up to 5.0 liters (5000 cm³) in Formula A from 1968. The expanded class should offer roughly the same engine performance as the Formula 1 with reduced costs at the same time. The American automobile manufacturer Chevrolet had a racing engine with a displacement of 302 cubic inches that was based on a large-scale series construction and which fit into these regulations. Occasionally, engines from Oldsmobile or Ford were also at the start.

Adaptation in Great Britain

The extended Formula A proved to be successful in the USA: as early as 1968, the SCCA Continental Championship , based on this formula, ran over eight runs and had more than 20 regular participants. As a result, efforts arose worldwide to adopt the concept of this series for other regions.

In Europe, these considerations were largely due to the racing car manufacturer Motor Racing Developments (MRD), who operated the Brabham Formula 1 racing team and at the time owned the British Brands Hatch circuit . MRD manager John Webb saw this as an opportunity to create an additional market for their own racing cars and also to better utilize the Brands Hatch circuit through additional racing events.

In 1969 the European Formula 5000 Championship was held for the first time. The series quickly established itself. After just a few years, however, there were problems with the procurement of engines. Due to the increasing weakness of the British pound , the American eight-cylinder engines became considerably more expensive in Europe and especially in Great Britain at the beginning of the 1970s, so that smaller teams in particular could no longer afford to import the engines. The organizers of the European Formula 5000 Championship reacted by loosening the rules, so that European engines with small cubic capacities were also permitted, the performance of which could in part be increased by means of turbochargers.

Decline

In addition to the unexpected increase in the cost of American engines, the increasing popularity of the Cosworth DFV engine in the early 1970s led to the teams and designers' interest in the Formula 5000 waning. The 3.0 liter DFV was the most cost-effective Formula 1 engine - at times it was no more expensive than a Chevrolet eight-cylinder - as a British design it did not have to be imported and was generally accessible. Many British designers therefore saw the internationally oriented Formula 1 as the better alternative and ultimately turned away from the Formula 5000.

In 1976 and 1977 the championship was held as a Formule Libre event; Cars of Formula 1, Formula 2 and Formula Atlantic were equally eligible to compete in it. From 1978 the Aurora AFX Formula 1 series took over the role of the European Formula 5000 Championship. This was a purely British Formula 1 championship, which was organized according to the Formula 1 regulations. Here young drivers competed with mostly outdated Formula 1 cars. The championship was held four times until 1982.

Regulations

chassis

With regard to the chassis, suspension, brakes and aerodynamic aids such as wings, the Formula 5000 regulations were based on those of contemporary Formula 1.

Engines

Initially, the series' regulations corresponded completely to those of the conventional Formula 5000: Open single-seaters with near-series naturally aspirated engines with a maximum displacement of 5.0 liters were permitted.

For the 1973 season, the organizers expanded the championship regulations. Engines with displacements from 2750 to 5000 cm³ were now permitted; Up to a displacement of 4.0 liters, the use of a turbocharger was allowed to increase performance. The smaller-displacement cars also received an advantage of 18 kg in terms of minimum weight.

Constructors

chassis

Lola T192

The chassis for the teams in the European Formula 5000 Championship were developed and built almost exclusively by British designers. In rare cases, US chassis competed; continental European designers, some of whom were participating in Formula 1 at the same time, almost never accepted Formula 5000. In addition to Brabham, whose parent company MRD played a key role in initiating the European Formula 5000 Championship, Chevron , Lola , March , McLaren and Surtees in particular produced chassis for the series on a large scale. Numerous smaller manufacturers were added later, each of which was only active temporarily. These included Trojan Racing and McRae , and the Formula 5000 championship also seemed attractive for hobby projects like Dywa .

The designers dealt differently with the proximity of the regulations to Formula 1. March Engineering derived its Formula 5000 cars directly from the contemporary Formula 1 cars, while Lola and Chevron mostly based their designs on Formula 2 and Formula Atlantic.

Engines

By far the most frequently used engine was the 5.0 liter eight-cylinder from Chevrolet; Similar, but rarely used, was a construction of the same size from Chevrolet's sister brand Oldsmobile. With the expansion of the regulations to include smaller engines, British designs were also used. The regulations that came into force in 1973 allowed the use of the Cosworth GA in particular. It was a V6 engine that was based on a design for Group 2 and had previously been used in this class in the Ford Capri , among others .

Relationship to Formula 1

Two-time European Formula 5000 champion: Peter Gethin

The European Formula 5000 Championship was initially designed as an inexpensive alternative to Formula 1.

However, this approach could not really be implemented. While established Formula 1 drivers repeatedly took part in the American Formula 5000 Championship , the European series attracted almost no Formula 1 drivers. Instead, the European Formula 5000 Championship was dominated by Formula 2 drivers who hoped to gain a cockpit in Formula 1, which is considered to be of higher quality, via this series. In fact, few drivers managed to do this, even if they had good results in Formula 5000 races. Drivers such as Tom Belsø , Bob Evans , Gijs van Lennep , Lella Lombardi and Teddy Pilette were so-called fixtures in Formula 5000, but regardless of this they only made sporadic appearances in Formula 1. Exceptions were Peter Gethin , who won the first two championship titles in 1969 and 1970 and, building on these successes, regularly received Formula 1 contracts with McLaren and BRM in the following years , as well as Andrea de Adamich , Howden Ganley and Brian Redman .

Practice also showed that the Formula 5000 racing cars lagged behind those of Formula 1 in terms of performance. In some races, Formula 1 and Formula 5000 racing cars competed against each other, in particular from 1970 to 1974 at the BRDC International Trophy on the British Silverstone Circuit . The Formula 1 drivers dominated all events; no Formula 5000 driver ever achieved a podium position here. The best result of a Formula 5000 driver at the International Trophy was Mike Hailwood's fifth place in 1971.

Racetracks

23 times the venue for a Formula 5000 race: Brands Hatch Circuit

Each season there were between 12 (1969) and 20 (1970) races. Most of the races were run on British courses. The Brands Hatch Circuit was by far the most frequently used race track: 23 races of the European Formula 5000 Championship were held here from 1969 to 1975. 14 races each took place in Oulton Park and Mallory Park . Other less frequented racetracks were Silverstone, Snetterton , Thruxton and Castle Combe . In addition, each season there were individual races in other continental European countries, the number of which varied greatly. There were four continental European races in 1969, five in 1973 and 1974 and six in 1970, but only two each in 1972 and 1975. The only permanent part of foreign courses was the Mondello Park Circuit in Ireland , which, with the exception of 1975, regularly hosted a Formula 5000 race; apart from that, the continental European routes varied greatly. In addition to Ireland, non-UK races took place in the following countries:

Sponsors

The championship has had different title sponsors over the years. In the first years, the cigarette manufacturer Carreras Tobacco Company supported the series and advertised here in 1969 and 1970 with the cigarette brand Guards . From 1971 to 1974 the Rothmans cigarette brand, which belongs to the same group, was the title sponsor. In 1975, the British subsidiary of the oil company Royal Dutch Shell took over the sponsorship. The sponsors influenced the official names of the championships to varying degrees. her name was

  • 1969: Guards Formula 5000 Championship
  • 1970: Guards European Formula 5000 Championship
  • 1971 to 1974: Rothmans F5000 European Championship
  • 1975: ShellSPORT 5000 European Championship .

The master

year driver chassis team Points
1969 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Peter Gethin McLaren - Chevrolet Church Farm Racing 2365
1970 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Peter Gethin McLaren - Chevrolet Sid Taylor 90
1971 AustraliaAustralia Frank Gardner Lola - Chevrolet Lola Cars Ltd. 95
1972 NetherlandsNetherlands Gijs van Lennep Surtees - Chevrolet
McLaren - Chevrolet 		Speed ​​International Racing 65
1973 BelgiumBelgium Teddy Pilette McLaren - Chevrolet
Chevron - Chevrolet 		Racing Team VDS 136
1974 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Bob Evans Lola - Chevrolet Alan McKechnie Racing 193
1975 BelgiumBelgium Teddy Pilette Lola - Chevrolet Racing Team VDS 174

literature

  • David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
  • Wolfgang Klopfer: Formula 5000 in Europe . Books on Demand 2004, ISBN 9783833405457
  • Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend , MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 .
  • Derek Lawson: Formula 5000 Motor Racing: Back Then ... And Back Now , Veloce Publishing 2010, ISBN 978-1845842161

Web links

Statistics on all races of the European Formula 5000 Championship on the website www.oldracingcars.com

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Derek Lawson: Formula 5000 Motor Racing: Back Then… And Back Now , Veloce Publishing 2010, ISBN 978-1845842161 , p. 8.
  2. ↑ a b David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 274.
  3. ^ Derek Lawson: Formula 5000 Motor Racing: Back Then ... And Back Now , Veloce Publishing 2010, ISBN 978-1845842161 , p. 79.
  4. ^ The March 75A for the Formula 5000 was a (Formula 1 -) "March 751 with a different name"; see. Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend, MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 , p. 97.
  5. ↑ Derek Lawson: Formula 5000 Motor Racing: Back Then… And Back Now , Veloce Publishing 2010, ISBN 978-1845842161 , p. 9.
  6. ^ Wolfgang Klopfer: Formula 5000 in Europe . Books on Demand 2004, ISBN 9783833405457 , p. 7.