David Purley
David Charles Purley, GM was a British racing driver born in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, who participated in 11 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting at Monaco in 1973. Purley is best known for his actions at the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix, where he abandoned his own race and attempted to save the life of fellow driver Roger Williamson, whose car was upside down and on fire following a serious accident. Purley was awarded the George Medal for his courage in trying to save Williamson, who suffocated in the blaze. During pre-qualifying for the 1977 British Grand Prix Purley sustained multiple bone fractures after his car's throttle stuck open and he crashed into a wall, his deceleration from 108 mph to 0 in a distance of 26 in is one of the highest G-loads survived in a crash. He scored no championship points during his Formula One career, he died in a plane crash, having retired from motorsport and taken up aerobatics, in 1985. Purley's father was the founder of LEC Refrigeration. Birth and death records show that his father's name was Puxley but he preferred the name Purley.
His mother was Welsh. David went to school at Seaford College and Dartington Hall School in Devon. Purley was an officer in the British Army, serving with the Parachute Regiment in Yemen, he raced in various series with an AC Cobra and a Chevron, before racing in Formula Three, winning three times at Chimay between 1970 and 1972. In 1972 Purley was one of two drivers to attempt to race the Connew Grand Prix car in its original Formula One configuration, he was entered at the end of season World Championship Victory Race at Brands Hatch but did not start. Purley had asked for an electrical "kill" switch to be fitted to the steering wheel, but this malfunctioned on the warm up lap, the engine stopped, the car was retired. In 1973 Purley hired a March and with backing from his family's refrigeration company he made an attempt at Formula One. At the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix, upon witnessing a crash which left fellow British driver Roger Williamson trapped in his overturned and burning car, Purley abandoned his own race and attempted to save Williamson, participating in only his second Formula One race.
Purley recalled that upon arriving at the scene, he heard Williamson crying for help as the fire began to take hold. Purley's efforts to right the car and extinguish the flames were in vain as he received no help from nearby track marshals or emergency workers, in spite of attempts to encourage them, other passing drivers, to come to his aid; the marshals were not wearing fire resistant clothing and the passing drivers assumed that Purley was attempting to extinguish his own car, having escaped a fiery crash unharmed. A sequence of pictures taken by photographer Cor Mooij of the accident won the Photo Sequences category of that year's World Press Photo. Purley was awarded the George Medal for his rescue attempt; the story, film footage of the rescue attempt, feature in a 2010 BBC documentary entitled Grand Prix: The Killer Years. Apart from a one-off participation with Token at his home Grand Prix in 1974, Purley stayed out of Formula One for a few years, preferring to compete in Formula Two driving Chevrons and Marches for Hong Kong-based millionaire Bob Harper, Formula 5000 where he won the British Championship in 1976 in a Chevron powered by the Cosworth GA 3.4-litre V6 engine.
In 1974 Purley won the Brighton Speed Trials driving a Trojan-Chevrolet T101, winning again the following year in a Chevron-GA B30. He returned to Formula One in 1977 with his own LEC chassis designed by Mike Pilbeam and run by Mike Earle, it was this car in which he suffered serious injuries in an accident during practice for that year's British Grand Prix. He survived an estimated 179.8 g when he decelerated from 108 mph to 0 in a distance of 26 inches after his throttle became stuck wide open and he hit a wall. This was the highest measured g-force survived by a human being. Purley suffered multiple fractures to his legs and ribs. Purley recovered to race again although he confined his activities to the minor Aurora AFX series of Formula One races in Britain. Following his decision to quit motorsport, Purley moved into competition aerobatics. Purley died on 2 July 1985 when his Pitts Special aerobatic biplane crashed into the English Channel off Bognor Regis, he is buried in the churchyard of West Itchenor, near Chichester.
The remains of Purley's crashed LEC CRP1 and its replacement were displayed at the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition until 2011. They have since been restored and now compete in historic Formula One racing. A David Purley memorial, in the form of a sculpture by the British artist Gordon Young, was erected in 2017 close to the site of the former LEC factory in Bognor Regis, it is inscribed with the words that appear on the headstone of his grave at Itchenor: "Gone now your eager smile, high held head and soldier's stride, etched were skies by your elegant style, this earth etched by your pride". Tremayne, David. Racers Apart: Memories of motorsport heroes. UK: Motor Racing Publications Ltd. p. 293. ISBN 0-947981-58-6. Anton Sukup. "David Purley". Retrieved 31 July 2006
Formula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship; the name returned in 2017. While Formula One has been regarded as the pinnacle of open-wheeled auto racing, the high-performance nature of the cars and the expense involved in the series has always meant a need for a path to reach this peak. For much of the history of Formula One, Formula Two has represented the penultimate step on the motorsport ladder. Prior to the Second World War, there existed a division of racing for cars smaller and less powerful than Grand Prix racers; this category was called voiturette racing and provided a means for amateur or less experienced drivers and smaller marques to prove themselves. By the outbreak of war, the rules for voiturette racing permitted 1.5 L supercharged engines. In 1946, the 3.0 L supercharged rules were abandoned and Formulae A and B introduced.
Formula A permitted the old 4.5 L aspirated cars, but as the 3.0 L supercharged cars were more than a match for these, the old 1.5 L voiturette formula replaced 3.0 L supercharged cars in an attempt to equalise performance. This left no category below Formula A/Formula One, so Formula Two was first formally codified in 1948 by FIA as a smaller and cheaper complement to the Grand Prix cars of the era. Among the races held in this first year of Formula Two was the 1948 Stockholm Grand Prix; the rules limited engines to two-litre aspirated or 750 cc supercharged. As a result, the cars were smaller and cheaper than those used in Formula One; this encouraged new marques such as Cooper to move up to Formula Two, before competing against the big manufacturers of Alfa Romeo and Maserati. In fact, Formula One in its early years attracted so few entrants that in 1952 and 1953 all World Championship Grand Prix races, except the unique Indianapolis 500, were run in Formula Two. F2 went into decline with the arrival of the 2.5 L F1 in 1954, but a new Formula Two was introduced for 1957, for 1.5 L cars.
This became dominated by rear-engined Coopers drawing on their Formula 3 and'Bobtail' sports car, with Porsches based on their RSK sports cars enjoying some success. Ferrari developed their'Sharknose' Dino 156 as a Formula Two car, while still racing front-engined Grand Prix cars; the dominant engine of this formula was the Coventry Climax FPF four-cylinder, with the rare Borgward sixteen-valve unit enjoying some success. A enlarged version of the F2 Cooper won the first two Formula One Grands Prix in 1958, marking the beginning of the rear-engined era in Formula One; the 1.5 L formula was short-lived, with Formula Junior replacing first Formula Three and Formula Two until 1963—but the 1961 1.5 L Formula One was a continuation of this Formula Two. Formula Junior was introduced in 1959, an attempt to be all things to all people, it was soon realised that there was a need to split it into two new formulae. Formula Two was the domain of Formula One stars on their days off. Engines were by Cosworth and Honda, though some other units appeared, including various Fiat based units and dedicated racing engines from BMC and BRM.
For 1967, the FIA increased the maximum engine capacity to 1600cc. With the "return to power" of Formula One the gap between Formula One and Formula Two was felt to be too wide, the introduction of new 1600cc production-based engine regulations for Formula Two restored the category to its intended role as a feeder series for Formula One; the FIA introduced the European Formula Two Championship in 1967. Ickx, driving a Matra MS5, won the inaugural championship by 11 points from the Australian, Frank Gardner; the most popular 1600cc engine was the Cosworth FVA, the sixteen-valve head on a four-cylinder Cortina block, the "proof of concept" for the legendary DFV. The 1967 FVA gave 220 bhp at 9000 rpm. Other units appeared, including a four-cylinder BMW and a V6 Dino Ferrari. Many Formula One drivers continued to drive the smaller and lighter cars on non-championship weekends, some Grand Prix grids would be a mix of Formula One and Formula Two cars. Jacky Ickx made his Grand Prix debut there in a Formula Two car, qualifying with the fifth fastest time overall.
Forced to start behind the slower Formula One cars, Ickx forced his way back into a points position, only to be forced to retire with broken suspension. Jim Clark, regarded as one of the greatest race drivers of all time, was killed in a Formula Two race early in 1968, at the Hockenheimring; the "invasion" of Formula One drivers in Formula Two ranks was permitted because of the unique grad
Spaniards
Spaniards, or the Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group that are indigenous to Spain. They share a common Spanish culture, history and language. Within Spain, there are a number of nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history and diverse culture. Although the official language of Spain is known as "Spanish", it is only one of the national languages of Spain, is less ambiguously known as Castilian, a standard language based on the medieval romance speech of the Kingdom of Castile in north and central Spain; the Spanish people's heritage includes the pre-Celts and Celts. There are several spoken regional languages, most notably Basque and Galician. There are many populations outside Spain with ancestors who emigrated from Spain and who share a Hispanic culture; the Roman Republic conquered Iberia during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. As a result of Roman colonization, the majority of local languages, with the exception of Basque, stem from the Vulgar Latin; the Germanic Vandals and Suebi, with part of the Iranian Alans under King Respendial conquered the peninsula in 409 AD.
In turn, the Visigoths established themselves in Spain. The Iberian Peninsula was conquered and brought under the rule of the Arab Umayyads in 711 and by the Berber North African dynasties the Almohads and the Almoravids in the 11th and 12th centuries. Following the eight century Christian Reconquista against the Moors, the modern Spanish state was formed with the union of the Kingdoms of Castille and Aragon, the conquest of the last Muslim Nasrid Kingdom of Granada and the Canary Islands in the late 15th century. In the early 16th century the Kingdom of Navarre was conquered; as Spain expanded its empire in the Americas, religious minorities in Spain such as Jews and Muslims were either converted or expelled and the Catholic church fiercely persecuted heresy during a period known as the Spanish Inquisition. A small number of Spaniards descend from converted Jewish and North Africans, as a result of the 800 years of Moorish occupation of the Iberian Peninsula. In parallel, a wave of emigration to the Americas began, with over 1.86 million Spaniards emigrating to the Spanish Americas during the colonial period and the population of the Spanish Empire had risen to 16.8 million by the end of the 18th century In the post-colonial period, a further 3.5 million Spanish left for the Americas Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Puerto Rico and Cuba.
Spain is home to one of the largest communities of Romani people. The Government's statistical agency CIS estimated in 2007 that the number of Gitanos present in Spain is around one million; the Spanish Roma, which belong to the Iberian Kale subgroup, are a formerly-nomadic community, which spread across Western Asia, North Africa, Europe, first reaching Spain in the 15th century. The population of Spain is becoming diverse due to recent immigration. From 2000 to 2010, Spain had among the highest per capita immigration rates in the world and the second highest absolute net migration in the World and immigrants now make up about 10% of the population; the prolonged economic crisis between 2008 and 2015 reduced both immigration rates and the total number of foreigners in the country, Spain becoming once more a net emigrant country. The earliest modern humans inhabiting Spain are believed to have been Neolithic peoples who may have arrived in the Iberian Peninsula as early as 35,000–40,000 years ago.
In more recent times the Iberians are believed to have arrived or developed in the region between the 4th millennium BC and the 3rd millennium BC settling along the Mediterranean coast. Celts settled in Spain during the Iron Age; some of those tribes in North-central Spain, which had cultural contact with the Iberians, are called Celtiberians. In addition, a group known as the Tartessians and Turdetanians inhabited southwestern Spain and who are believed to have developed a separate civilization of Phoenician influence; the seafaring Phoenicians and Carthaginians successively founded trading colonies along the Mediterranean coast over a period of several centuries. The Second Punic War between the Carthaginians and Romans was fought in what is now Spain and Portugal; the Roman Republic conquered Iberia during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC transformed most of the region into a series of Latin-speaking provinces. As a result of Roman colonization, the majority of local languages, with the exception of Basque, stem from the Vulgar Latin, spoken in Hispania, which evolved into the modern languages of the Iberian Peninsula, including Castilian, which became the main lingua franca of Spain, is now known in most countries as Spanish.
Hispania emerged as an important part of the Roman Empire and produced notable historical figures such as Trajan, Hadrian and Quintilian. The Germanic Vandals and Suebi, with part of the Iranian Alans under King Respendial, arrived in the peninsula in 409 AD. Part of the Vandals with the remaining Alans, now under Geiseric in personal union removed themselves to North Africa after a few conflicts with another Germanic tribe, the Visigoths, who established in Toulouse supported Roman campaigns against the Vandals and Alans in 415–19 AD and became the dominant power in Iberia for three centuries; the Visigoths were romanized in the eastern Empire and Christians, so their integration withi
Emanuele Pirro
Emanuele Pirro, is an Italian racing driver who has raced in Formula One, touring cars and in endurance races such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans which he has won a total of five times. Two times Italian Karting Champion, Formula Fiat Abarth Champion, two times Italian Touring Car Champion, two times Italian Overall Champion, German Touring Car Champion, he achieved records in endurance racing that place him amongst the best in the discipline, including, he has taken part in over 500 official international races. He was born in Rome, however he traces his roots to the small town of Latera near Viterbo through his mother's family, he is married to Marlene, with whom he has two sons, born in 1993 and Goffredo, born in 1996. He began racing cars in 1980 after having raced seven years in go-karts, where he was two time Italian Champion and runner up in both the European and the World Karting Championships, he went on to win races in all the feeder series he competed in including F3, F3000 and Formula Nippon.
Formula 1 In 1988 he was contracted by McLaren to become test driver to develop the new Honda powertrain for the MP4/4, staying on in that role for the following 3 seasons. His racing career in F1 started at the 1989 French Grand Prix for the Benetton-Ford team, replacing Johnny Herbert, still recovering from injuries sustained in a F3000 accident. For the 1990 and 1991 seasons, he raced for BMS Dallara. Touring Cars Together with his single seater commitments he raced as a factory driver for BMW in touring car racing up until 1993, he raced and won in ETCC, WTCC, Italian Supertouring and DTM. In DTM he became one of the only drivers to win in his debut in the series. Notably, he won the 24 Hours of the Nuerburgring, the Macau Guia Race twice, the Wellington 500 four times, with the legendary BMW M3 E30 and team Schnitzer. After leaving BMW in 1993 he joined Audi to win the 1994 and 1995 Italian Touring Car Championships followed by the German Touring Car Championship in 1996. Between the years of 1994 and 1996 racing in the Italian and German Supertouring championships, he contested a total of 70 races finishing only once outside of the top 10 after being taken out at the start in 1994 at the Salzburgring.
Sportscars After his debut in endurance races at the young age of 19 winning in his class with the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Gr.5 at the 24 Hours of Daytona, winning the Kyalami 9 Hours and a terrible experience at Le Mans the same year, he scarcely participated in these races except sporadic appearances in Japan, first with a Nissan Gr. C at the Fuji 1000 km and with a Porsche 962 Gr. C at the Suzuka 1000 km; that is until his return to Le Mans in 1998 with a McLaren F1 alongside Dindo Capello and Thomas Bscher ending with a retirement. In 1999 Audi unveiled the R8R with which he scored his first of a record breaking nine consecutive podiums at the French classic. In 2000 along with Tom Kristensen and Frank Biela he scored the first of three consecutive wins with the new Audi R8. In 2006 together with Frank Biela and Marco Werner he became the first driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a diesel car, repeating the win in the following year. In 2008 he announced the end of his racing career with Audi sportscars.
Between the years of 1999 and 2008 he won five 24 Hours of Le Mans, two ALMS championships, two 12 Hours of Sebring and three Petit Le Mans. After 2008 he competed in a number of additional races including a 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans with Drayson Racing in a Lola-Judd LMP1 car, the 24 hours of the Nuerburgring with an Audi R8 GT3, the 2011 Gold Coast 500 in the Australian V8 Supercars Championship. After Racing In 2010 he won the “X-Prize Competition 100mpg-e” with Edison2, he competes in historic racing. In roles still linked to motorsport, he serves as a Brand Ambassador for Audi, is a member of. In addition, he is the President of the Italian Karting Commission, Vice President of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Club and the Club des Pilotes des 24 Heures du Mans, he is a Steward for F1 races, TV pundit and is a frequent guest speaker at events hosted by multinational companies. He owns a 5-star hotel in Cortina D'Ampezzo, he has been a regular player for over 25 years in the Nazionale Piloti football team and the “Star Team for the Children” for Prince Albert of Monaco as well as taking part in other charity events.
1 -- A non-championship one-off race was held in 2004 at the streets of China. "Five-t
1989 Formula One World Championship
The 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 43rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1989 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1989 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a sixteen-race series that commenced on 26 March and ended on 5 November. Alain Prost won his third Drivers' Championship, McLaren won the Constructors' Championship; the Drivers' Championship was decided in controversial circumstances at the penultimate race of the season in Japan, when Prost and teammate Ayrton Senna, who needed to win the race, collided in the closing laps. Prost retired while Senna rejoined the track after a push start and crossed the line first, only to be disqualified for not rejoining the track correctly; this handed Prost the title, his last with McLaren before joining Ferrari for 1990. The season saw an unprecedented amount of entries with 21 constructors fielding a total of 40 cars, after FIRST Racing withdrew from the championship, 20 constructors fielding a total of 39 cars remained the highest entry in the modern era.
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1989 FIA Formula One World Championship. FIRST Racing failed a mandatory FIA pre-season crash test, FIRST withdrew before the opening Brazilian Grand Prix, folding thereafter when attempts to regroup and strengthen the chassis failed to come together. McLaren, having won fifteen of the sixteen races in 1988, kept their successful driver line-up of 1985 and 1986 World Champion Alain Prost and defending champion Ayrton Senna, they would drive the new MP4/5 powered by a Honda V10 engine. Ferrari completed the signing of British driver Nigel Mansell, taking the place of Michele Alboreto alongside Austrian Gerhard Berger; the new 640, designed by John Barnard, featured a semi-automatic electronic gearbox, the first of its kind, as well as the team's first 12-cylinder engine since 1980. Williams recruited Belgian driver Thierry Boutsen from Benetton as Mansell's replacement, alongside veteran Italian Riccardo Patrese; the team had done a deal with Renault, returning to F1 after a three-year break, that would see them have exclusive use of the French company's V10 engines.
For most of the season, Williams ran with the FW12C, an updated version of their 1988 car, before the new FW13 was introduced at the Portuguese Grand Prix. Lotus kept their 1988 line-up of triple World Champion Nelson Piquet and Satoru Nakajima, but lost their Honda engines; the new Lotus 101, designed by Frank Dernie, used the Judd V8 engine instead. Benetton signed British rookie Johnny Herbert to replace Boutsen. However, Herbert was still recovering from severe foot injuries sustained in a Formula 3000 crash at Brands Hatch, was replaced by McLaren test driver Emanuele Pirro. Benetton continued as the de facto works Ford team, but had to make do with the Cosworth DFR-powered 1988 car, the B188, until the new HB-powered B189 was introduced at the French Grand Prix. Tyrrell retained Jonathan Palmer and took back Alboreto, who had driven for the team between 1981 and 1983. After a sponsorship dispute, Alboreto was replaced by French newcomer Jean Alesi, who at the same time was on his way to winning the F3000 championship.
The Brabham team returned after missing 1988, with Stefano Modena and Martin Brundle driving the Judd-powered BT58. Both drivers were forced to pre-qualify for the first half of the season; the French Larrousse team continued running Lola chassis, but ditched the Ford Cosworth V8 engines in favour of the new Lamborghini V12, designed by Mauro Forghieri. The team started the year with their 1988 line-up of Yannick Dalmas and Philippe Alliot, but Dalmas was recovering from Legionnaires' disease and was replaced by Éric Bernard, who in turn made way for Alboreto. Zakspeed, having produced their own turbo engines since their debut in 1985, were forced to switch to an outside supplier in the form of Yamaha, the Japanese company appearing in F1 for the first time with its own V8 engine. West German Bernd Schneider, in his second year with the team, Japan's Aguri Suzuki were both forced to pre-qualify the new 891, designed by Gustav Brunner. Osella were one of several teams to expand from one car to two, with Nicola Larini being joined by veteran Piercarlo Ghinzani, returning for a third stint with the team.
The all-new FA1M was powered by the Ford Cosworth DFR. Ligier retained French veteran René Arnoux and signed newcomer Olivier Grouillard, who replaced experience Swede Stefan Johansson; the team switched from Judd engines to the Ford Cosworth DFR, powering the new JS33. AGS had retained Philippe Streiff for 1989, but the Frenchman crashed at Rio while testing prior to the Brazilian Grand Prix, suffering spinal injuries which left him as a quadriplegic and ended his racing career, his place was taken by Gabriele Tarquini, who had planned to drive for the Italian FIRST team that year before they pulled out. AGS expanded to two cars, the second being driven by Joachim Winkelhock, younger brother of the late Manfred Winkelhock; the only new team for 1989 was Onyx Grand Prix, who had enjoyed success as the semi-works March team in Formula Two and Formula 3000. The Onyx ORE-1, designed by Alan Jenkins and powered by the Ford Cosworth DFR, was driven by Johansson and Belgian rookie Bertrand Gachot, who would be replaced by Finnish newcomer JJ Lehto.
Turbocharged engines had been banned at the end of 1988, as the governing body felt them to be making the sport dangerous and expensive. The arrival of the Onyx team, the return of Brabham, the expansion of other teams from one car to two meant that there were now 39 cars, from 20 teams, competing f
Formula 5000
Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula. The'5000' denomination comes from the maximum 5.0 litre engine capacity allowed in the cars, although many cars ran with smaller engines. Manufacturers included McLaren, March, Lotus, Elfin and Chevron. In its declining years in North America Formula 5000 was modified into a closed wheel, but still single-seat sports car racing category. Formula 5000 was introduced in 1968 as a class within SCCA Formula A races, a series where single seaters from different origins were allowed to compete, but which came to be dominated by the cars equipped with production-based American V8s; the engines used were 5 litre, fuel injected Chevrolet engines with about 500 horsepower at 8000 rpm, although other makes were used. The concept was inspired by the success of the Can-Am Series, which featured unlimited formula sports cars fitted with powerful engines derived from American V8s.
F5000 enjoyed popularity in the early 1970s in the U. S. and featured drivers such as Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, James Hunt, Jody Scheckter, Brian Redman, David Hobbs, Tony Adamowicz, Sam Posey, Ian Ashley, John Cannon and Eppie Wietzes. Increasing costs and Lola domination meant the formula lost its appeal after 1975. Older cars continued to be used in the SCCA national races, but the most competitive teams reconverted their cars with sports car bodyworks, in the resurrected Can-Am championship, starting in 1977; the formula worked with a number of European drivers crossing the Atlantic to attend the SCCA-run championship, but when IMSA introduced the new GTP prototype regulations for the IMSA GT Championship in 1981, the old F5000 were now clumsy and slow compared to the new cars. In the UK, the arrival of the Cosworth DFV engine meant that many teams could now afford to build their own chassis around a good engine/transmission package, so Cooper and Brabham stopped the production of customer Formula 1 cars.
Smaller privateer teams and drivers that entered Britain's non-championship F1 events were left behind, the RAC adopted the American F5000 regulations. A European championship was first run in 1969 as the Guards Formula 5000 Championship; this was renamed to Guards European Formula 5000 Championship in 1970, to Rothmans European Formula 5000 Championship in 1971 and to ShellSport European Formula 5000 Championship in 1975. Unlike the American series, the European championship didn't attract many star names from Formula 1 and sports cars, was dominated by drivers that were seen in Formula 2 or at the back of F1's World Championship grids. Peter Gethin managed to launch his F1 career thanks to his F5000 championship titles. While it was based in the United Kingdom, the series managed to spread across Europe, with races held at many international circuits, including Monza and Zandvoort, attracted a significant number of continental drivers; the weak pound and the increasing cost of importing Chevrolet V8 engines caused some concern and engine regulations for European F5000 were revised to permit engines other than the 5.0 litre pushrod V8s - the DOHC Cosworth GA V6 (based on a unit used in Group 2 Capris was permitted to race at a capacity of 3500cc.
March 75A and Chevron B30 cars were successful with the V6, the March in particular being little more than a 751 Formula One car with minor modifications for the new engine. However, the same problem that befell US F5000 happened in Europe, in 1976 the European F5000 Championship evolved into the Shellsport Group 8 Championship; this was a British-based series for Formula 1, Formula 2, Formula 5000 and Formula Atlantic cars, forming the basis of what would become the Aurora F1 Championship in 1978. The F1 Championship was open to Formula 1 and Formula 2 cars only, with Formula 5000 cars no longer eligible. Older F5000 cars continued to be used in the British Sprint Championship and were common in Formula Libre races well into the 1980s. In Australia and New Zealand, the Tasman Formula, defining cars eligible for the annual Tasman Series, was extended in 1970 to include Formula 5000 cars as well as the existing 2.5 litre cars. The Tasman Series ran during the Formula One off season in the European winter, in the 1960s it had attracted the attention of the greatest names in Grand Prix racing, from locals Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme, Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon, to foreigners like Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart, Phil Hill, Piers Courage and Jochen Rindt.
However, by the 1970s Formula One had become more commercial and the Grand Prix stars no longer took part. The Tasman Series had become a competitive Australian/New Zealand local championship leaving the field to be dominated by the cream of "Down Under" drivers such as Frank Matich, Frank Gardner, Kevin Bartlett, Vern Schuppan, Graeme McRae, Graeme Lawrence, Warwick Brown, Johnnie Walker, John McCormack, Alan Jones, John Goss, Larry Perkins, John Bowe and Garrie Cooper racing against European and American drivers such as David Hobbs, Teddy Pilette, Mike Hailwood, Sam Posey, Richard Attwood and Peter Gethin; the four Australian Formula 5000 Tasman races continued as the Rothmans International Series from 1976 until 1979. Formula 5000 was the main component of Australian Formula 1 from 1971 to 1981 and this formula was the primary category contesting the Australian Drivers' Championship during those years a
JJ Lehto
Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto, better known as "JJ Lehto", is a Finnish racing driver. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 1995 and 2005, he is a former Formula One driver. He was a protégé of Finnish 1982 Formula One World Champion Keke Rosberg, who first suggested that Jyrki Järvilehto should abbreviate his name to the more manageable JJ Lehto, much as Rosberg had done before him. Like many racing drivers Lehto began in karts at age 8, winning numerous events, before graduating to Formula Ford at the early age of 15. A switch to single seaters saw, he won the British and European Formula 2000 championship in 1987 and went on to win the coveted British Formula 3 title in 1988, driving for Pacific Racing. In 1989 Lehto drove in Formula 3000, again for Pacific Racing; the season was not successful and he failed to score any podium finishes. He did not participate in the last race, held in Dijon-Prenois. In 1989 Lehto tested for Ferrari before making his Formula One debut for the Onyx team as a late-season replacement for Bertrand Gachot.
Though he failed to prequalify for his first race at Estoril he impressed with his speed in the tough sessions and made his first start in the following meeting. In the wet season finale at Adelaide he ran as high as 5th before retiring with waterlogged electrics. Over the summer Onyx were sold to Swiss racer turned businessman Peter Monteverdi. Lehto, marked by many as a star of the future, was paired with Gregor Foitek but financial difficulties hampered his season, leading to the team's withdrawal after the Hungarian Grand Prix. For 1991 he was signed by the ambitious Scuderia Italia team, financed by Beppe Lucchini with a Dallara chassis, Judd V10 engines and Emanuele Pirro in the second car. Due to poor results in 1990 the cars had to prequalify but soon established themselves as decent midfield runners. In the wet San Marino Grand Prix Lehto impressed by lasting in a race of attrition to finish 3rd, scoring his first F1 points, he did not score again through poor reliability and bad luck.
He stayed with the team in 1992, now paired with Pierluigi Martini and using Ferrari V12 engines but the new Dallara B192 chassis had severe handling problems. Lehto's best result was 7th at his worst a failure to qualify at the Hungaroring, he landed the second seat at the much-anticipated Sauber team for 1993, running Ilmor engines. The season started well as Lehto survived a late downpour at Kyalami to score 5th place on the team's debut finished 4th at Imola despite a late engine failure. However, after a collision with Wendlinger at Monaco his relationship with both his teammate and Sauber became frosty and his season tailed off with no more points scored. For 1994 he saw off competition from Michele Alboreto and Luca Badoer to land the second seat at Benetton alongside Michael Schumacher. However, he injured his neck testing the new B194 in pre-season with test driver Jos Verstappen taking his place for the first two rounds of the championship. Lehto returned to the cockpit for the ill-fated San Marino Grand Prix despite some question marks over his fitness.
He qualified 5th but stalled on his car being struck from behind by Pedro Lamy's Lotus. This led to the safety car period which may have contributed to the death of three-times world champion Ayrton Senna. Despite running 3rd in Spain before an engine failure and scoring a point in Canada it was clear his injuries had not healed and he was replaced once again by Verstappen for the French Grand Prix, he returned to the cockpit for the Italian and Portuguese rounds in place of the suspended Schumacher but did not impress and was released soon afterwards when the team signed Johnny Herbert. This freed him up to drive in the last two rounds for Sauber – Wendlinger's injuries from an accident in practice before the 1994 Monaco GP had failed to heal and his previous replacement Andrea de Cesaris was unreachable. After his Formula One career stalled, advised by his manager Keke Rosberg, Lehto joined the German Touring Car Championship, DTM, in 1995 and 1996. Though rated victories eluded him, but this loss was made up by his successes in GT and sports car racing.
He was a late addition to the 1995 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a McLaren F1 GTR, but he won the race outright, at his third attempt, sharing the car with Yannick Dalmas and Masanori Sekiya. Lehto was an integral part of the win, gaining the lead for the team by driving a few stints during the rainy night. While others were driving cautiously, Lehto was seen to be sliding the car, lapping at times 30sec faster than everyone else, he had three more guest appearances in the same car the next year, winning another race, before he got picked up by BMW to join the factory squad in the inaugural FIA GT season, partnering Steve Soper. Though success came easily, including a win in front of his home crowd at the Thunder In Helsinki event, the might of Mercedes-Benz caught up with the McLarens and left Lehto conceding the title to former DTM rival Bernd Schneider. After an unsuccessful 1998 campaign as a Mercedes-Benz factory driver in the American-based single-seater CART series with Team Hogan, Lehto stayed Stateside but returned to the BMW camp, which entered the
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