Sports car world championship 1979

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The 1979 World Sports Car Championship was the 27th season of this championship. It started on February 3rd and ended on November 18th.

championship

For the second time since 1978 , the World Challenge for long-distance drivers was held alongside the Manufacturers' World Championship . Ten of the 17 races were included in this classification, which was won by the American Don Whittington ahead of his compatriots Dick Barbour and Tony Garzia . The best non-American in this ranking was the German Rolf Stommelen in fifth. With five wins this season, the two Whittington brothers Don and Bill were the most successful drivers of the year. In addition to their successes in the 6 Hours of Riverside , the 6 Hours of Daytona , the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen and the 6 Hours of El Salvador , they also won the prestigious 24-hour race from Le Mans . Third driver in the Kremer - Porsche 935 was Klaus Ludwig .

The makes world championship ended with a superior overall victory for Porsche . It was the seventh world title for the German sports car manufacturer.

Racing calendar

No. date
Race name / circuit
team Overall winner vehicle championship
1 February 3-4 United StatesUnited States Daytona 24 Hours
( Daytona International Speedway )
United StatesUnited States Interscope Racing United StatesUnited States Ted Field Danny Ongais Hurley Haywood
United StatesUnited States
United StatesUnited States
Porsche 935/79 Brands and drivers
2 17. March United StatesUnited States Sebring 12-hour race
( Sebring International Raceway )
United StatesUnited States Dick Barbour Racing United StatesUnited States Bob Akin Rob McFarlin Roy Woods
United StatesUnited States
United StatesUnited States
Porsche 935 driver
3 March 18th ItalyItaly 6-hour race of Mugello
( Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello )
GermanyGermany Gelo Racing Team United KingdomUnited Kingdom John Fitzpatrick Manfred Schurti Bob Wollek
LiechtensteinLiechtenstein
FranceFrance
Porsche 935 / 77A Brands
4th April 1st United StatesUnited States Talladega 6 Hours
( Talladega Superspeedway )
United StatesUnited States Brant Doell United StatesUnited States Tom Waugh Rick Knoop
United StatesUnited States
AMC Concord driver
5 April 22 FranceFrance 6-hour race of Dijon
( Circuit de Dijon-Prenois )
GermanyGermany LM Joest Racing GermanyGermany Reinhold Joest Volkert Merl Mario Ketterer
GermanyGermany
GermanyGermany
Porsche 908/3 Turbo Brands
6th April 22 United StatesUnited States 6 Hours of Riverside
( Riverside International Raceway )
United StatesUnited States Whittington Brothers Racing United StatesUnited States Don Whittington Bill Whittington
United StatesUnited States
Porsche 935/79 driver
7th May 6th United KingdomUnited Kingdom Silverstone 6 Hours
( Silverstone Circuit )
GermanyGermany Gelo Sportswear Team United KingdomUnited KingdomJohn Fitzpatrick Hans Heyer Bob Wollek
GermanyGermany
FranceFrance
Porsche 935 / 77A Brands
8th 3rd of June GermanyGermany 1000 km race on the Nürburgring
( Nürburgring )
GermanyGermany Gelo Racing United KingdomUnited KingdomJohn Fitzpatrick Manfred Schurti Bob Wollek
LiechtensteinLiechtenstein
FranceFrance
Porsche 935 / 77A Brands and drivers
9 June 9-10 FranceFrance 24 Hours of Le Mans
( Circuit des 24 Heures )
GermanyGermany Porsche Kremer Racing United StatesUnited StatesDon Whittington Bill Whittington Klaus Ludwig
United StatesUnited States
GermanyGermany
Porsche 935K3 driver
10 June 24th ItalyItaly 6 hour race of Pergusa
( Autodromo di Pergusa )
ItalyItaly Scuderia Torino Corse ItalyItaly Lella Lombardi Enrico Grimaldi
ItalyItaly
Osella PA7 Brands
11 July 1 United StatesUnited States Daytona 6 Hours
(Daytona International Speedway)
United StatesUnited States Amos Johnson United StatesUnited StatesDon Whittington Bill Whittington Dennis Shaw
United StatesUnited States
United StatesUnited States
AMC spirit driver
12 7th of July United StatesUnited States 6 Hours of Watkins Glen
( Watkins Glen International )
GermanyGermany Whittington Brothers Kremer Racing United StatesUnited StatesDon Whittington Bill Whittington Klaus Ludwig
United StatesUnited States
GermanyGermany
Porsche 935 / 77A Brands
13 July 21-22 BelgiumBelgium Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race
( Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps )
United KingdomUnited Kingdom Gordon Spice Racing BelgiumBelgium Jean-Michel Martin Philippe Martin
BelgiumBelgium
Ford Capri III 3.0S driver
14th 5th of August United KingdomUnited Kingdom Brands Hatch 6 Hours
( Brands Hatch )
GermanyGermany Joest Racing GermanyGermanyReinhold Joest Volkert Merl
GermanyGermany
Porsche 908/3 Turbo Brands
15th September 2nd United StatesUnited States 500-mile race at Road America
( Road America )
United StatesUnited States McLaren North America United KingdomUnited Kingdom David Hobbs Derek Bell
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
BMW 320i Turbo driver
16 16th September ItalyItaly 6-hour race of Vallelunga
( Autodromo Vallelunga )
ItalyItaly Enzo Osella ItalyItalyLella Lombardi Giorgio Francia
ItalyItaly
Osella PA7 Brands
17th November 18 El SalvadorEl Salvador 6 Hours of El Salvador
( Autódromo Internacional El Jabali )
United StatesUnited States Scorpio Racing United StatesUnited StatesDon Whittington Bill Whittington Enrique Molins
United StatesUnited States
El SalvadorEl Salvador
Porsche 935 driver

Mastery of the constructors

Brand world championship overall ranking over 2 liter displacement

position constructor 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 total
1 GermanyGermany Porsche 20th 20th 20th 20th 20th 20th 20th (20) (20) 140
2 ItalyItaly Ferrari 15th 15th 30th
3 ItalyItaly De Tomaso 6th 6th
4th United KingdomUnited Kingdom triumph 4th 4th
5 GermanyGermany BMW 1 1

Overall brand world championship ranking under 2 liters

position constructor 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 total
1 ItalyItaly Lancia 10 20th 20th 50
2 GermanyGermany BMW 20th 12 32
3 = United StatesUnited States ford 15th 15th 30th
3 = GermanyGermany Porsche 15th 15th 30th
5 ItalyItaly Fiat 20th 20th
6th GermanyGermany Volkswagen 6th 6th
7th GermanyGermany Audi 2 2

World challenge for long-distance drivers

The table includes the ten races of the drivers' championship, as noted in the race calendar.

Overall rating

position driver constructor 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 10 total
1 United StatesUnited States Don Whittington Porsche , AMC 21st 20th 24 22nd 20th 147
2 United StatesUnited States Dick Barbour Porsche , AMC 19th 8th 15th 23 18th 98
3 United StatesUnited States Tony Garcia Porsche 18th 16 14th 15th 15th 16 94
4th United StatesUnited States Roger Mandeville Mazda 21st 11 18th 9 20th 12 92
5 GermanyGermany Rolf Stommelen Porsche 19th 15th 16 23 88
6th United StatesUnited States Bill Whittington Porsche , Mazda , AMC 21st 20th 24 20th 85
7th GermanyGermany Klaus Ludwig Porsche 20th 16 19th 24 85
8th United StatesUnited States Charles Mendez Porsche , Datsun 10 21st 10 8th 19th 68
9 United StatesUnited States Bob Akin Porsche , Ford 22nd 10 17th 16 63
10 Puerto RicoPuerto Rico Diego Febles Porsche , Mazda 12 18th 20th 12 62

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