Formula 2 European Championship 1981

Formula 2 European Championship 1981

European champion
Driver:	Geoff Lees
Season dates
Number of races:	12
<1980 season	1982 season>

The Formula 2 European Championship in 1981 was the 15th edition of the Formula 2 European Championship . It comprised 12 races, starting with a run in Silverstone on March 29th and ending with the race in Mantorp, Sweden on September 20th of this year. The championship title went to Geoff Lees , who competed for the Ralt factory team. Lees won three runs and finished second three times.

Overview

Constructors

This year vehicles from ten different chassis manufacturers drove. Established manufacturers were AGS , Chevron , Lola , March , Maurer , Merzario , Minardi , Ralt and Toleman . GRS Motorsport from Germany was added as a new manufacturer ; However, its GRS TC001 only made four reports and one race.

AGS, March, Maurer and Minardi designed new vehicles for the 1981 season. Ralt revised its RH6 model, which appeared in the previous year; The same applied to the Merzario team, which started a slightly revised version of the Merzario M1 for individual races . Toleman no longer made new vehicles; seven of the nine cars built in 1980 were sold to customer teams. However, Lola offered a licensed replica of the Toleman TG280, which was called the Lola T850 . A total of seven copies were made of this model. The Australian designer Cheetah Racing Cars also registered with a works team for the opening race at Silverstone ; the team did not show up for the race.

Teams

AGS, GRS, March, Maurer, Merzario, Minardi and Ralt had their own factory teams that used the latest chassis. In addition to the March factory team, the March Onyx Racing customer team , which operated formally independently and fielded a car for Riccardo Paletti, was equipped with factory-identical material. March and Lola Cars, which were not involved in the European championship with a works team, also sold their current models to customer teams. The March customer teams mainly included Merzario, which this year mainly used the March 812 and only entered its own, self-constructed Merzario M1 as the third car in individual races. In addition, older models from Chevron, March, Ralt and Minardi appeared repeatedly. The oldest cars were two copies of the March 782 that Roberto Del Castello brought to the start for Sanremo Racing and Paul Smith for his own Birmingham-based team BMTR .

The Toleman team, which had won the championship with Brian Henton the previous year , rose to Formula 1 in 1981 and no longer entered the Formula 2 European Championship at the factory. Toleman's Formula 2 works team was taken over by Docking Spitzley Racing in early 1981 , which reported several Lola T850s. The Project Four Racing team, led by Ron Dennis , also stopped taking part in Formula 2. Project Four merged with McLaren Racing at the end of 1980 and has been exclusively involved in Formula 1 since then.

The most successful team of the 1981 season was the Ralt factory team, which exclusively used an RH6 and a Honda engine. Drivers were Geoff Lees, who won the championship, and Mike Thackwell. Both already had Formula 1 experience.

Engines

BMW M12 engine for Formula 2

The most powerful engine was the Honda six-cylinder engine, which was supplied exclusively to the Ralt factory team.

The most common powerplant used was the four-cylinder engine from Hart Racing Engines engines, based on a Ford and Cosworth design that was more than ten years old . It was found in all Toleman and Lola chassis with the exception of Jo Gartner's car .

In addition, various teams use the BMW M12 motors that have been tried and tested for years. The March works team exclusively received engines that had been prepared at the BMW factory; based on their designer Paul Rosche , these versions were called BMW-Rosche. Onyx received identical motors. Most of the other BMW teams had their engines serviced by Heini Mader Racing Components in Switzerland or Max Heidegger in Liechtenstein.

Minardi used six-cylinder engines from Scuderia Ferrari in two races . However, they could not prevail.

driver

The three most successful drivers of the previous season no longer competed in Formula 2 in 1981. Brian Henton and Derek Warwick , champions and runner-up of the previous year, switched to Formula 1 together with their Toleman team. Last year's third-placed Teo Fabi initially couldn't find a cockpit and finally made his Formula 1 debut in 1982.

There were also numerous Formula 2 premieres in 1981. Kenny Acheson , Michele Alboreto , Paolo Barilla , Thierry Boutsen , Marco Brand , Harald and Bernd Brutschin , Pierre Chauvet , Christian Danner , Stanley Dickens , Roberto Guerrero , Sewi Hopfer , Jürg Lienhard , Keiji Matsumoto , Piero Nappi , John Nielsen and Hervé Regout made their debut 1981 in the Formula 2 European Championship. Alboreto, who won the Italian Formula 3 championship the previous year, drove a full season for Tyrrell in Formula 1 in 1981 in addition to his Formula 2 involvement at Minardi .

run

The 1981 season consisted of 12 races. The final championship run was the Zandvoort Grand Prix in the Netherlands; it was to take place on September 20, 1981. However, the race was canceled in the summer. Instead, the Mantorp Park F2 Trofén in the Swedish Mantorp Park formed the season finale.

Teams and drivers

team	chassis	engine	No.	driver	run
Docking Spitzley Team Toleman	Lola T850	Hard	1	Stefan Johansson	1-12
			2	Kenny Acheson	1-10, 12
			44	Ricardo Londoño Bridge	7-11
March Racing	March 812	BMW -Rosche	3	Corrado Fabi	1-12
			4th	Thierry Boutsen	1-12
			5	Christian Danner	1-12
			6th	Michael Korten	1-2
March Onyx Racing Team	March 812	BMW -Rosche	7th	Riccardo Paletti	1-12
Team AGS Motul GPA	AGS JH15	BMW - Mader	8th	Richard Dallest	8th
	AGS JH17				1-3
				Patrick Gaillard	4th
	AGS JH18			Richard Dallest	5-7, 11-12
				Tiff Needell	10
Minardi team	Minardi fly 281	Ferrari Dino	9	Miguel Ángel Guerra	11
				Paolo Barilla	8-9
		BMW - Mader			10
				Johnny Cecotto	1-5
			10	Michele Alboreto	1-9, 11-12
			25th	Roberto Farnetti	11
Sanremo Racing	Toleman TG280	Hard	11	Guido Pardini	1
	Lola T850	BMW - Heidegger			2-12
	Toleman TG280	Hard	12	Carlo Rossi	1-12
	March 782	BMW - Heidegger	57	Roberto Del Castello	5-6, 8, 11
Ralt Racing	Ralt RH6 / 81	Honda	14th	Geoff Lees	1-12
			15th	Mike Thackwell	1-3.5-12
Maurer Motorsport	Mason MM81	BMW - Mader	16	Eje Elgh	1-12
			17th	Roberto Guerrero	1-12
			60	Manfred Winkelhock	9-10, 12
Formula racing club	Lola T850	Hard	18th	Fredy Schnarwiler	1-12
Astra Team Merzario	March 821	BMW	19th	Piero Necchi	1-12
				Jo Gartner	11
			20th	Gianfranco Trombetti	1-12
				Arturo Merzario	4th
				Lori's cauldron	10
	Merzario M1		21st	Arturo Merzario	1-3, 12
				Marco Brand	5-6, 9-12
				Lori's cauldron	7th
				Guido Daccò	8th
Horag Hotz Racing	March 812	BMW	22nd	Marc Surer	1-3
				Lori's cauldron	4, 6, 8-9
				Johnny Cecotto	7, 10-12
	March 802		23		6th
	March 812				8-9
				Keiji Matsumoto	10
				Stanley Dickens	12
Lista Racing Team Rotaracing Foundation	March 802B	BMW - Heidegger	24	Juerg Lienhard	1-2, 4-7
				Huub Rothengatter	8-12
Sewi Hopfer Racing	Toleman TG280	Hard	27	Sewi Hopfer	1-6, 8-12
Dacsport Racing	Minardi GM75	BMW	28	Guido Daccò	1-6, 9-12
Colin Bennett Racing	Chevron B48	Hard	29	Warren Booth	1, 3-4, 7, 10
Jo Gartner Racing Racing Team Albatross	Toleman TG280	Hard	30th	Jo Gartner	1
		BMW - Heidegger			2, 4-6, 8-10, 12
				Pierre Chauvet	11
Kim Mather Aycliffe Newton Racing	March 792	Hard	31	Kim Mather	1, 10
Wyatt Stanley	Toleman TG280	Hard	32	Wyatt Stanley	1-4, 6
Roy Baker	Chevron B48	Hard	33	Roy Baker	1
	March 802				3, 6-12
Bertram Schäfer Racing	Ralt RT2	BMW - Mader	34	Manfred Winkelhock	1-4
				Oscar Pedersoli	5-7, 11-12
				Hervé Regout	9
GRS Motorsport	GRS TC001	BMW	35	Jochen duration	1-4
Cliff Smith Racing	Ralt RT4	Hard	36	Ray Mallock	1, 7, 9-12
Weigel racing technology	March 802	BMW - Weigel	37	Patrick Gaillard	9
			38	Harald Brutschin	1-7, 9-10
			39	John Nielsen	4, 9-10
				Bernd Brutschin	4-7
BMTR	March 782	Hard	40	Paul Smith	1-2
	March 802				3-12
Bob Salisbury Racing	Toleman TG280	Hard	44	Rob Wilson	1
Bob Howlings	Chevron B42	Hard	46	Bob Howlings	1
Eddie Jordan Racing	March 802	Hard	47	Eddie Jordan	1
Grange Performance Cars	Chevron B42	Hard	48	Brian Robinson	1, 3
	Chevron B48				10
Scuderia Vesuvio Flammini	Ralt RT2	Hard	56	Piero Nappi	5-6
Plygrange Racing	Toleman TG280	Hard	77	Jim Crawford	1-12
Escuderia RT Baktar	March 752	BMW	78	Helmut Kalenborn	4th
Not so Olofsson	March 792	Hard	78	Not so Olofsson	1, 11-12
Scuderia Teutonia	March 802	BMW	80	Franz Konrad	4th

Racing calendar

No	date	Race (track)	Distance (km)	First	Second	Third	Pole position	Fastest lap	Overall leading driver
01	March 29	BRDC International Trophy ( Silverstone )	221.746	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Riccardo Paletti ( March Onyx Racing )	Corrado Fabi ( March )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )
02	April 5th	Germany Trophy ( Hockenheim )	203.7	Stefan Johansson ( Docking Spitzley )	Manfred Winkelhock ( Bertram Schäfer Racing )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )	Riccardo Paletti ( March Onyx Racing )
03	20th of April	British Automobile Drivers Club "200" ( Thruxton )	208.45	Roberto Guerrero ( bricklayer )	Eje Elgh ( Maurer Motorsport )	Riccardo Paletti ( March Onyx Racing )	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Marc Surer ( Horag Racing )
04th	26th of April	Eifel race ( Nürburgring-Nordschleife )	205.51	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Eje Elgh ( bricklayer )	Corrado Fabi ( March )	Corrado Fabi ( March )	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Eje Elgh ( bricklayer )
05	10th of May	Gran Premio di Roma ( Vallelunga )	208	Eje Elgh ( bricklayer )	Stefan Johansson ( Docking Spitzley )	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Eje Elgh ( bricklayer )	Corrado Fabi ( March )
06th	May 24th	Gran Premio del Mugello ( Mugello )	220.290	Corrado Fabi ( March )	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )	Piero Necchi ( Merzario )	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Piero Necchi ( Merzario )
07th	8th June	Grand Prix de Pau ( Pau )	201.45	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Piero Necchi ( Merzario )	Michele Alboreto ( Minardi )	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )
08th	July 26th	Gran Premio del Mediterraneo ( Enna-Pergusa )	206.55	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Huub Rothengatter ( Lista )	Michele Alboreto ( Minardi )	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Thierry Boutsen ( March )
09	August 9	Grand Prix de Formule 2 Belgique ( Spa-Francorchamps )	208.5	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Eje Elgh ( bricklayer )	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )
010	August 16	Donington "50,000" ( Donington )	220.5	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )	Corrado Fabi ( March )	Manfred Winkelhock ( bricklayer )	Manfred Winkelhock ( bricklayer )	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )
011	September 6th	Gran Premio dell'Adriatico ( Misano )	209.28	Michele Alboreto ( Minardi )	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Thierry Boutsen ( March )	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )
012	September 20th	Mantorp Park F2 Trofén ( Mantorp )	203.125	Stefan Johansson ( Docking Spitzley )	Geoff Lees ( Ralt )	Kenny Acheson ( Docking Spitzley )	Corrado Fabi ( March )	Johnny Cecotto ( Horag )

Race reports

BRDC International Trophy

space	driver	team	time
1	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 11: 44.67
2	Riccardo Paletti	March Onyx Racing	1: 12: 20.86
3	Teo Fabi	March	+1 lap
PP	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 18.59
SR	Geoff Lees	Ralt	1: 23.82

The 33rd BRDC International Trophy was the season opener. It took place on March 29th at the Silverstone Circuit . The International Trophy went over 47 laps of 4.718 km each and had a total distance of 221.46 km.
The entry list included 29 teams and 40 drivers, but ultimately only 22 teams and 31 drivers competed. The event took place when there was heavy rain at times. The race was from Rold - factory team dominated. Mike Thackwell took pole position and won the race; his team-mate Geoff Lees set the fastest lap .

Driver ranking

The awarding of points was based on the following scheme:

Distribution of points
space	1	2	3	4th	5	6th
Points	9	6th	4th	3	2	1

Only the best nine results were evaluated (so-called deletion results). Then the following driving ranking resulted at the end of the season:

Item	driver	team													Points
01	G. Lees	Ralt	7th	5	14th	5	5	2	1	DNF	1	1	2	2	51
02	T. Boutsen	March Racing	DNF	DNF	DNF	1	3	DNF	2	1	2	12	8th	4th	37
03	E. Elgh	Maurer Motorsport	18th	4th	2	2	1	4th	5	5	3	7th	DNF	17th	35
04th	S. Johansson	Docking Spitzley	9	1	7th	4th	2	DNF	8th	DNF	14th	4th	9	1	30th
05	C. Fabi	March Racing	3	DNF	DNF	3	4th	1	DNF	DNF	4th	2	DNF	7th	29
06th	M. Thackwell	Ralt	1	3	DNA		DNA	5	6th	DSQ	DNF	5	3	15th	22nd
07th	R. Guerrero	Maurer Motorsport	DNF	10	1	DNF	DNF	6th	DNF	4th	DNF	DNF	4th	DNF	16
08th	M. Alboreto	Minardi team	11	8th	DNF	8th	DNF	14th	DNF	3	8th		1	DNA	13
09	M. Winkelhock	Bertram Schäfer Racing	DNA	2	DNF	DSQ									12
		Maurer Motorsport									5	3		DNA
10	R. Paletti	March Onyx Racing Team	2	DNF	3	DNF	6th	10	DNF	DNF	15th	DNF	DNF	DNF	11
11	P. Necchi	Astra Team Merzario	DNF	DNS	6th	DNF	DNF	3	3	11	9	DNF	DNA	DNA	9
12	H. Rothengatter	Lista Racing Team								2	13	8th	11	DNF	6th
13	C. Rossi	Sanremo Racing	5	6th	DNF	DNF	8th	8th	4th	DNF	DNF	DNF	10	DNA	6th
14th	J. Cecotto	Minardi	14th	DNF	4th	DNS	DNF								6th
		Horag Hotz Racing						13	7th	DNF	DNF	6th	6th	6th
15th	K. Acheson	Docking Spitzley	19th	DNF	DNF	6th	10	15th	DNF	DNA	DNA		DNA	3	5
16	J. Crawford	Plygrange Racing	4th	7th	DNF	DNF	9	11	10	DNA	6th	9	7th	10	4th
17th	R. Dallest	Team AGS Motul GPA	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNA	DNF	7th	DNF	9		14th	5	5	4th
18th	C. Danner	March Racing	10	9	5	10	DNF	16	DNF	DNF	DNF	14th	DNF	11	2
19th	B. Robinson	Grange Performance Cars	6th		DNS							DNQ			1
19th	J. Gartner	Jo Gartner Racing	DNA	DNA		7th	DNA	9		6th	DNF	DNF	DNQ	8th	1
	R. Baker	R. Baker	DNQ		DNS			DNQ	DNPQ	DNA	DNQ	DNQ	DNA	DNA	0
	P. Barilla	Minardi team								DNF	DNA	8th			0
	W. Booth	Colin Bennett Racing	16		11	DNA			DNA			DNA			0
	M. Brand	Astra Team Merzario					DNQ	DNA			DNF	DNA	DNA	DNA	0
	B. Brutschin	Weigel racing technology				13	DNQ	DNA	DNQ						0
	H. Brutschin	Weigel racing technology	DNA	DNF	8th	DNF	DNF	DNA	DNQ		16	DNA			0
	R. Del Castello	Sanremo Racing					DNA	18th		10			DNF		0
	G. Daccò	Dacsport	17th	11	DNA	DNF	12	20th			17th	DNF	DNQ	12	0
		Astra Team Merzario								DNF
	J. Duration	GRS Motorsport	DNS	DNF	DNA	DNA									0
	S. Dickens	Horag Racing												12	0
	R. Farnetti	Team Minardi											DNF		0
	P. Gaillard	Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives				DNF									0
		Weigel racing technology									DNF
	M. Guerra	Team Minardi											13		0
	S. Hopfer	Sewi Hopfer Racing	13	13	DNF	14th	11	DNF		DNA	11	DNF	DNQ	DNA	0
	B. Howlings	Bob Howlings	DNQ												0
	E. Jordan	Eddie Jordan Racing	DNA												0
	H. Kalenborn	Escuderia RT Baktar				DNF									0
	L. boiler	Horag Hotz Racing				12		DNF		DNF	DNA				0
		Astra Team Merzario							DNPQ			19th			0
	F. Konrad	Scuderia Teutonia				11									0
	M. Korten	March Racing	DNA	DNA											0
	J. Lienhard	Lista Racing Team	12	DNF		DNF	DNF	17th	DNPQ						0
	R. Londoño Bridge	Docking Spitzley							9	DNF	DNF	DNS	DNA		0
	R. Mallock	Cliff Smith Racing	8th						DNQ		9	DNF	DNA	DNA	0
	K. Mather	Kim Mather	DNF									18th			0
	K. Matsumoto	Horag Hotz Racing										15th			0
	P. Nappi	Scuderia Vesuvio Flammini					DNQ	DNF							0
	T. Needell	Team AGS Motul GPA										11			0
	J. Nielsen	Weigel racing technology				DNF					DNS	DNA			0
	A. Olofsson	Not so Olofsson	DNA										DNF	9	0
	G. Pardini	Sanremo Racing	DNF	DNF	DNF	9	7th	12	DNS	DNF	DNF	13	DNF	DNA	0
	O. Pedersoli	Bertram Schäfer Racing					DNQ	DNF	DNF				DNF	DNA	0
	H. Regout	Bertram Schäfer Racing									DNF				0
	F. Schnarwiler	Formula racing club	15th	12	9	DNA	DNF	DNF		7th	DNF	16	DNA	DNA	0
	P. Smith	BMTR	DNF	DNA	10	DNA	DNF	19th	DNQ	8th	10	17th	DNQ	14th	0
	W. Stanley	Wyatt Stanley	DNA	DNA	DNA	DNA									0
	M. Surer	Horag Hotz Racing	DNA	DNF	12										0
	G. Trombetti	Astra Team Merzario	20th	DNF	DNF	DNA	DNQ	DNF	DNF	12	12	DNA	12	13	0
	R. Wilson	Bob Salisbury Racing	DNA												0

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Web links

• Results at formula2.net

Individual evidence

1. ^ David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 140.
2. ↑ Statistics of the International Trophy 1981 on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on March 17, 2015).
3. ↑ ^{a b c} For the 10th race of the season, the “Donington 50,000”, the Lista Racing Team registered once under the name Stichting Rotaracing.
4. ↑ ^{a b} For the 10th race of the season, the "Donington 50,000", Jo Gartner Racing registered once under the name Racing Team Albatross.
5. ↑ ^{a b} For the 10th race of the season, the "Donington 50,000", Kim Mathers team registered under the name Aycliffe Newton Racing.