Formula 2 European Championship 1984

Formula 2 European Championship 1984

European champion
Driver:	Mike Thackwell
Season dates
Number of races:	11
<1983 season

The 1984 Formula 2 European Championship was the 18th and final season of this 1967 established motorsport series . The championship consisted of eleven races held in Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy. The championship title went to Mike Thackwell , last year's runner-up who won seven races in 1984. With two exceptions, all wins went to Thackwell's Team Ralt , which dominated the championship. In the following year , the series was replaced by the international Formula 3000 championship .

overview

Regulations

There were no changes in the regulations compared to the previous year. Since 1972 naturally aspirated engines with a maximum displacement of 2.0 liters have been permitted, which since 1976 no longer had to be based on series engines. Analogous to the rules of Formula 1 , subfloors that were designed to achieve a ground effect were now prohibited; the ground clearance had to be at least 4 cm since 1983.

Teams

With a view to the foreseeable end of the racing series, the number of teams involved had decreased significantly compared to the previous year.

With AGS , Merzario , Minardi and Ralt, there were four more works teams in 1984 , plus Onyx , which received works support from March , and Oreca as a quasi works team from Martini . They each competed with self-constructed cars. The team of ARTURO MERZARIO withdrew after the first half of the season and turned the Formula 3 to. The German team Maurer Motorsport , which had been successful in the past few years , no longer competed; after the team boss Willy Maurer had given up attempts to establish himself in Formula 1 in the early stages, the racing team was dissolved at the end of 1983. These works teams were joined by various private teams who mainly used older customer vehicles from March and, with the exception of BS Automotive and Emco Sports, only registered for individual, selected races. From the start, only the works teams had a realistic chance of winning the championship.

Engines

BMW M12 engine for Formula 2

Ralt used a Honda engine exclusively , the development and maintenance of which was factory supported. All other teams used BMW four-cylinder engines . At the end of the 1983 season, BMW had stopped the factory maintenance of the Formula 2 engines; they were also no longer developed. The preparation and maintenance of the engines was therefore the responsibility of independent tuners in 1984, of whom the Swiss company Heini Mader Racing Components looked after the vast majority of the engines in circulation. Max Heidegger only looked after individual engines in Liechtenstein. In order to reduce the costs for the teams and the drivers, but also for capacity reasons, Mader had extended the maintenance intervals for the BMW engines. Associated with it were u. a. Requirements for a reduction in engine speed to increase durability. In practice, only a few drivers adhered to it, which resulted in numerous engine damage over the course of the season. In 1984 onyx alone had nine defects.

Teams and drivers

team	chassis	engine	No.	driver	run
Ralt Racing Ltd.	Ralt RH6	Honda
			1	Mike Thackwell	1-11
			2	Roberto Moreno	1-11
Onyx Race Engineering	March 842	BMW - Mader
			3	Thierry Tassin	1-8, 10-11
				Beppe Gabbiani	9
			4th	Emanuele Pirro	1-11
			5	Pierre Petit	1-11
			7th	Derek Bell	11
AGS Elf	AGS JH19C	BMW - Mader
			6th	Philippe Streiff	1-6, 8-11
	AGS JH19		21st	Stefano Livio	8th
Emco Sports	Spirit 201B	BMW - Mader
			7th	Jo Gartner	1-2
	Minardi M283		8th	Lamberto Leoni	1-2
	March 842			"Pierre Chauvet"	6-8, 10-11
	Minardi M283		11		1-2
	Spirit 201B				4-5
Minardi team	Minardi M283	BMW - Mader
			9	Roberto Del Castello	1-11
			10	Alessandro Nannini	1-11
			11	Lamberto Leoni	3, 8-10
San Remo Racing	March 832	BMW - Heidegger
			15th	Guido Daccò	1-11
Oreca	Martini 001	BMW - Mader	17th	Michel Ferté	1-11
	Martini 002		18th	Didier Theys	1-5, 8, 10
				Alain Ferté	6th
			34	Hans-Peter Pandur	7th
Swiss Automobile Racing Club	March 832	BMW - Mader	19th	Rolf Biland	1-2
				Roland Minder	3-5, 11
			20th	Beat Jans	1-2
Team Merzario	Merzario M84	BMW - Mader	21st	Stefano Livio	1-6
			22nd	Aldo Bertuzzi	1-3
				Max Busslinger	6th
Team JPC	AGS JH19	BMW - Mader	24	Hans-Peter Pandur	2
Manfred Anspann	Mason MM83	BMW	30th	Manfred Anspann	2
Marcel Tarrès	Martini Mk. 43	BMW - Mader	30th	Marcel Tarrès	6th
Pedrazza Motorsport	March 802	BMW	31	Gino Bollinger	7th
	March 812		32	Walter Pedrazza	2, 7
BS Fabrications	March 842	BMW - Mader	33	Pascal Fabre	1-7
			44	Tomas Kaiser	1-5, 8-11
				Beat Jans	6-7
			66	Christian Danner	1-11
Sachs Sporting	March 842	BMW - Mader	34	Udo Wagenhäuser	7th

Racing calendar

In 1984 eleven Formula 2 races took place: four each in Great Britain and Italy , two in Germany and one in France . All had championship status. Unlike in previous years, no further races without championship status were held in 1984.

No.	date	Race (track)	Distance (km)	winner	Second	Third	Pole position	Fastest race lap	Overall leading driver
01	April 1st	BRDC International Trophy ( Silverstone )	221.746	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Michel Ferté ( Oreca )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )
02	April 8th	Germany Trophy (Jim Clark Memorial Race) ( Hockenheim )	203.7	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Michel Ferté ( Oreca )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Michel Ferté ( Oreca )
03	April 23	British Automobile Drivers Club "200" (Jochen Rindt Memorial Trophy) ( Andover )	208.56	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Christian Danner ( BS Automotive )	Philippe Streiff ( AGS )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )
04th	May 13th	Gran Premio di Roma ( Vallelunga )	208	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Christian Danner ( BS Automotive )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )
05	May 19th	Gran Premio del Mugello ( Mugello )	220.290	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Michel Ferté ( Oreca )	Christian Danner ( BS Automotive )	Christian Danner ( BS Automotive )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )
06th	June 11th	Grand Prix de Pau ( Pau )	220.290	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Philippe Streiff ( AGS )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )
07th	June 24th	Rhine Cup Race ( Hockenheim )	205.10	Pascal Fabre ( BS Automotive )	Thierry Tassin ( Onyx )	Michel Ferté ( Oreca )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )
08th	22nd of July	Gran Premio dell'Adriatico ( Misano )	205.10	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Philippe Streiff ( AGS )	Pierre Petit ( onyx )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )
09	29th of July	Gran Premio del Mediterraneo ( Enna-Pergusa )	222.750	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Alessandro Nannini ( Minardi )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )
010	August 27	Donington "50,000" ( Donington )	220.5	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Emanuele Pirro ( Onyx )	Christian Danner ( BS Automotive )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )	Mike Thackwell ( Ralt )
011	September 23rd	Daily Mail Trophy ( Brands Hatch )	220.5	Philippe Streiff ( AGS )	Michel Ferté ( Oreca )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )	Roberto Moreno ( Ralt )

Race reports

International Trophy

space	driver	team	time
1	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 01: 04.11
2	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 01: 38.25
3	Michel Ferté	Oreca	+ 1 lap
PP	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 14.82
SR	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 16.00

The 36th Marlboro Daily Express International Trophy was the opening race of the last Formula 2 season. It took place on April 1st at the Silverstone Circuit . The race went over 47 laps of 4.718 km each and had a total distance of 221.46 km. Nine teams with 22 drivers registered for the race. The Argentine Enrique Mansilla , who was registered as the fourth driver of the BS Fabrications team, did not show up for the race, so that ultimately 21 drivers started. Pole position was achieved by Roberto Moreno ( Ralt factory team). Mike Thackwell won the race with a lead of 34 seconds over his team-mate Moreno, who finished second, and Michel Ferté , who was one lap behind , who drove a factory-supported Martini 001 for the French Oreca team.

Germany trophy

space	driver	team	time
1	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 01: 43.63
2	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 01: 44.16
3	Michel Ferté	Oreca	1: 02: 16.49
PP	Michel Ferté	Oreca	2: 00.19
SR	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	2: 01.21

The 18th Germany Trophy , for which the sub-title Jim Clark Memorial Race was used, took place on April 8th at the Hockenheimring . The race went over 30 laps of 6.790 km each and had a total distance of 203.7 km. In addition to the factory and established private teams, Walter Pedrazza and Manfred Anspann registered for the race. Both used older customer cars and failed to qualify. Pole position was achieved by Michel Ferté ( Oreca ). The race was won by Roberto Moreno ( Ralt ) in front of his teammate Mike Thackwell .

BARC "200"

space	driver	team	time
1	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 03: 11.78
2	Christian Danner	BS Fabrications	1: 03: 33.05
3	Philippe Streiff	AGS	1: 04: 22.51
PP	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 05.68
SR	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 07.38

The XIII. BARC "200" (200-kilometer race of the British Automobile Racing Club ), also known as the Jochen Rindt Memorial Race , took place on April 23rd at the Thruxton Circuit in Andover . It went over 55 laps of 3.792 km each and had a total distance of 208.56 km. A total of eight teams with 17 drivers started. Mike Thackwell ( Ralt ) dominated the race. He got the polo position, drove the fastest lap and won the race with a lead of 22 seconds over Christian Danner in the customer march of the BS Fabrications team. Tackwell's team-mate Roberto Moreno, the runner-up in the drivers' championship, retired after 43 laps due to a suspension damage.

Gran Premio di Roma

space	driver	team	time
1	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 15: 59.41
2	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 16: 17.87
3	Christian Danner	BS Fabrications	1: 16: 37.94
PP	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 05.69
SR	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 07.38

The 36th Gran Premio di Roma took place on May 13th at the Autodromo Vallelunga . He went over 65 laps of 3.2 km each and had a total distance of 208 km. 10 teams with a total of 17 drivers competed for the race. Seven other drivers initially reported did not show up. Again, Mike Thackwell was the dominant driver. He took pole position, set the fastest lap and won the race. 12 drivers crossed the finish line, whereby Thackwell had lapped every other driver at least once with the exception of the second and third placed.

Gran Premio del Mugello

space	driver	team	time
1	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 13: 38.89
2	Michel Ferté	Oreca	1: 14: 58.89
3	Christian Danner	BS Fabrications	1: 15: 00.93
PP	Christian Danner	BS Fabrications	1: 39.45
SR	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 43.92

The 11th Gran Premio del Mugello took place on May 19th at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello . He went over 45 laps of 5.245 km each and had a total distance of 220.290 km. The starting field corresponded to that of the previous race. Again only 17 drivers took part in the event. Christian Danner took pole position in the customer march of the BS Fabrications team. Mike Thackwell ( Ralt ) won the race ahead of Michel Ferté in the Oreca team's Martini . Thackwell's lead on Ferté was almost a minute and a half. Third was Danner, who crossed the finish line two seconds behind Ferté.

Grand Prix de Pau

space	driver	team	time
1	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 29: 39.73
2	Philippe Streiff	AGS	1: 30: 20.59
3	Roberto Moreno	Oreca	1: 30: 23.45
PP	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 10.51
SR	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 12.65

The 44th Grand Prix Automobile de Pau was the only Formula 2 race of the season that took place in France. It was held on July 11th on the Pau street circuit . The race went over 73 laps of 2.834 km each and had a total distance of 206.882 km. It was the longest race of the season. The winner only crossed the finish line after an hour and a half.
Ten teams with 18 drivers were registered. For this race, the French Oreca team replaced its regular Belgian driver Didier Theys with the French Alain Ferté , who drove for Oreca in Pau alongside his brother Michel . The Italian team Merzario competed here for the last time in a Formula 2 race; In the week after the Pau Grand Prix, Merzario initially ceased operations. In addition, Marcel Tarrès answered with an older martini .
Pole position, fastest race lap and victory went to Mike Thackwell ( Ralt ). Philippe Streiff ( AGS ) crossed the finish line in second , ahead of Thackwell's team-mate Roberto Moreno . With Alain Ferté (fifth) and Pierre Petit ( Onyx ; sixth), two more Frenchmen came into the points.

Rhine Cup race

space	driver	team	time
1	Pascal Fabre	BS Fabrications	1: 02: 20.2
2	Thierry Tassin	onyx	1: 02: 27.14
3	Michel Ferté	Oreca	1: 02: 28.63
PP	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	2: 00.33
SR	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	2: 01.73

The 23rd Rhine Cup race took place on June 24th at the Hockenheimring ; it was the second Formula 2 race that was held this year on the Palatinate circuit. It went over 30 laps of 6.837 km each and had a total distance of 205.10 km.
Ten teams with 18 drivers registered for the race. The team Merzario was no longer at the start, and Minardi appeared only instead of two as before with three cars. At Oreca , Hans-Peter Pandur drove instead of Didier Theys . The Austrian team Pedrazza Motorsport appeared for this race and registered two old March racing cars for team boss Walter Pedrazza and Swiss racing driver Gino Bollinger . Jochen Dauer registered a three-year-old March, but ultimately did not start.
The Rhein-Pokalrennen was the only championship run of the year in which not at least one Ralt driver finished on the podium. Mike Thackwell started again from pole position and also drove the fastest race lap. In the end, however, due to technical problems, he only finished ninth. The victory went to Pascal Fabre , who drove a customer march for the BS Fabrications team . Thierry Tassin came second on a works-supported March 842 of the Onyx team, third was Michel Ferté (Oreca).

Gran Premio dell'Adriatico

space	driver	team	time
1	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 08: 15.71
2	Philippe Streiff	AGS	+1 lap
3	Pierre Petit	onyx	+ 1 lap
PP	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 08.72
SR	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 08.50

The 8th Gran Premio dell'Adriatico took place on July 22nd at the Autodromo Santamonica in the Italian municipality of Misano Adriatico . The race went over 58 laps of 3.487 km each and had a total distance of 202.246 km.
Eight racing teams with a total of 16 drivers registered for the race. Pole position was achieved by Roberto Moreno ( Ralt ); he also drove the fastest race lap. However, Moreno only covered 46 laps in the race, so he was not classified. Victory again went to Moreno's team-mate Mike Thackwell , who had lapped every competitor at least once at the end of the race. Philippe Streiff AGS and Pierre Petit ( Onyx ) took second and third place. A total of eleven drivers crossed the finish line; four had previously failed due to engine defects.

Gran Premio del Mediterraneo

space	driver	team	time
1	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 08: 55.21
2	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 08: 57.71
3	Alessandro Nannini	Minardi
PP	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 29.48
SR	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 30.09

The 23rd Gran Premio del Mediterraneo took place on July 29th at the Autodromo di Pergusa in the Sicilian city ​​of Enna . He went over 45 laps of 4.950 km each and had a total distance of 222.750 km.
Eight teams with 14 drivers registered for the race. Before the start of qualification training, however, the Austrian driver Pierre Chauvet ( Emco Sports ) withdrew his report on the grounds that it was too hot to race.
Mike Thackwell ( Ralt ) again dominated the race: he took pole position, drove the fastest lap and won the race ahead of his teammate Roberto Moreno . Michel Ferté ( Oreca ) and Emanuele Pirro (Onyx) follow on the other places. After the end of the race, Nannini and Ferté were disqualified for allegedly underweight their cars. In response to a complaint from their team bosses, the disqualification was later lifted.
After his victory in Enna, Mike Thackwell was the new Formula 2 European Champion.

Donington 50,000

space	driver	team	time
1	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 16: 32.37
2	Emanuele Pirro	onyx	1: 16: 46.50
3	Christian Danner	BS Fabrications	1: 16: 47.73
PP	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 01.06
SR	Mike Thackwell	Ralt	1: 04.37

The 6th Donington 50,000 race took place on August 27th on the Donington Park track . It went over 70 laps of 3.150 m each and had a total distance of 220.5 km. Eight teams with 15 drivers competed in the race. The new European champion Mike Thackwell ( Ralt ) took pole position and drove the fastest lap. He finished fourth in the race. The winner was his team-mate Roberto Moreno , who was now runner-up. Emanuele Pirro in the factory-supported March 842 of the Onyx team and Christian Danner in the customer march of BS Fabrications took the other podium places. Pierre Chauvet finished sixth; with this result he scored his only point in the Formula 2 European Championship.

Daily Mail Trophy

space	driver	team	time
1	Philippe Streiff	AGS	1: 09: 11.39
2	Michel Ferté	Oreca	1: 10: 21.48
3	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 10: 38.32
PP	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 16.36
SR	Roberto Moreno	Ralt	1: 18.57

The 3rd Daily Mail Trophy was the last race of the Formula 2 European Championship. It took place on September 23rd at the Brands Hatch Circuit in Kent , UK . It went over 47 laps of 4.206 km each and had a total distance of 210.3 km.
Nine teams with 15 drivers were registered. Onyx started four cars; In addition to the three regular drivers, another car was made available for former Formula 1 driver Derek Bell . Roberto Moreno ( Ralt ) took pole position and set the fastest race lap. The race took place in heavy rain; it was interrupted twice due to the weather. European champion Mike Thackwell (Ralt) dropped out after seven laps, and Guido Daccò ( San Remo Racing ) and Roberto Del Castello ( Minardi ) did not finish the race either. All the other drivers crossed the finish line. The race was won by Philippe Streiff , who achieved the second Formula 2 victory in the team's history for AGS . Michel Ferté ( Oreca ) and Roberto Moreno took second and third place.

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 counted. Then the following driving ranking resulted at the end of the season:

Item	driver	team												Points
01	M. Thackwell	Ralt	1	2	1	1	1	1	9	1	1	4th	NC	72
02	R. Moreno	Ralt	2	1	DNF	2	DNF	3	DNF	NC	2	1	3	44
03	M. Ferté	Oreca	3	3	DNF	4th	2	DNF	3	DNF	5	DNF	2	29
04th	P. Streiff	AGS	DNF	5	3	DNF	11	2	DNF	2	DNF	7th	1	27
05	C. Danner	BS Fabrications	7th	6th	2	3	3	4th	DNF	6th	DNF	3	10	23
06th	E. Pirro	onyx	6th	4th	4th	11	4th	DNF	DNF	DNF	6th	2	6th	18th
07th	T. Tassin	onyx	4th	7th	5	10	5	DNF	2	4th		5	7th	18th
08th	P. Fabre	BS Fabrications	5	DNF	DNF	5	9	7th	1					13
09	P. Petit	onyx	11	DNF	DNF	DNF	7th	6th	5	3	4th	DNF	8th	10
010	A. Nannini	Minardi	9	DNF	7th	DNF	DNF	DNF	4th	DNF	3	10	5	9
011	T. Kaiser	BS Fabrications	DNF	9	DNF	7th	DNF			8th	7th	8th	4th	3
012	D. Theys	Oreca	8th	DNF	6th	6th	6th			12		DNF		3
013	A. Ferté	Oreca						5						2
013	G. Daccò	Sanremo Racing	DNF	10	8th	10	8th	8th	11	5	8th	9	NC	2
0 15th	P. Chauvet	Emco Sports	DNF	DNF		DNF	DNF	DNF	7th	9		6th	11	1
0 15th	R. Del Castello	Minardi	DNF	8th	10	9	12	DNF	6th	7th	DNF	12	NC	1
	R. Minder	Swiss Automobile Racing Club			11	8th	10						12	0
	H.-P. Pandur	Oreca		DNF					8th					0
	L. Leoni	Emco Sports	DNF	DNF										0
		Minardi			9					10	11	9		0
	M. Tarrès	Marcel Tarrès						9						0
	D. Bell	onyx											9	0
	B. Jans	Swiss Automobile Racing Club	DNF	11										0
		BS Fabrications						DNF	10					0
	S. Livio	Team Merzario	10	13	12	DNF	13	DNF		11				0
		AGS								11				0
	A. Bertuzzi	Team Merzario	DNF	12	DNS									0
	U. carriage houses	Sachs Sporting							12					0
	R. Biland	Swiss Automobile Racing Club	DNF	DNF										0
	J. Gartner	Emco Sports	DNF	DNF										0
	W. Pedrazza	Pedrazza Motorsport		DNQ					DNF					0
	G. Bollinger	Pedrazza Motorsport							DNF					0
	B. Gabbiani	onyx									DNF			0
	M. tension	Manfred Anspann		DNQ										0

literature

• David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
• Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend , MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7
• Eberhard Reuß, Ferdi Kräling: Formula 2. The story from 1964 to 1984 , Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-7688-3865-8 .

Web links

• Statistics of the Formula 2 races 1984 on the website www.formula2.net

Individual evidence

1. ^ David Hodges: Rennwagen from A – Z after 1945, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 273.
2. ↑ Maurer took care of the management of the German racing driver Stefan Bellof from 1984.
3. ↑ Eberhard Reuß, Ferdi Kräling: Formula 2. The story from 1964 to 1984 , Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-7688-3865-8 , p. 193.
4. ↑ Mike Lawrence: March, The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend , MRP, Orpington 2001, ISBN 1-899870-54-7 , S: 169.