1992 World Sportscar Championship

Racing tournament 1992 World Sportscar Championship 1991 none thumb|right|250px|Derek Warwick (pictured in 2014) and Yannick Dalmas won the Drivers' World Championship for 1992 thumb|right|250px|Peugeot Talbot Sport won the Teams' World Championship with the Peugeot 905 The 1992 Sportscar World Championship season was the 40th and final season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1992 FIA Sportscar World Championship, which was contested over a six race series which ran from 26 April to 18 October 1992.Season: 1992 FIA Sportscar World Championship, www.racingsportscars.com Retrieved on 29 December 2012 The championship was open to Group C Sportscars. The Drivers Championship was won jointly by Yannick Dalmas and Derek Warwick and the Teams Championship by Peugeot Talbot Sport.1992 Sportscar World Championship, www.teamdan.com, as archived at web.archive.org The FIA Cup for Drivers was awarded to Ferdinand de Lesseps and the FIA Cup for Teams to Chamberlain Engineering. Pre-season From the start, the 1992 season was in doubt. The FIA planned to cancel the season due to a lack of entrants, as was announced by Max Mosley, new President of the FIA, at a meeting held in London on 11 November 1991, but pressure from Peugeot, who had poured a large sum of money into the design and build of their 905 model and did not wish to see that money wasted after only a year of competition, convinced the FIA that there would be enough entries to make the season worthwhile. The "rebirth" of the championship was announced at the FIA World council on 5 December 1991. With this, the FIA allowed the season to move forward, though with few participants. The FIA's vision of a single unified formula for the Sportscar World Championship that would truly equal that of Formula One was finally into place following the development of 3500 cc sportscars in the previous seasons. This formula of engine equalisation took over the series, eliminating any previous engine that did not fit into the 3.5 L category. Thus every car had similar engines, and new subclasses were born: C1 for works supported teams with engines of 10 or 12 cylinders and usually backed by factory teams, and FIA Cup for privateer teams, usually running the Ford Cosworth DFR V8. FIA Cup cars were required to conform with Group C regulations with the exceptions of a lower prescribed minimum weight (700 kg v 750 kg), a limitation on engine revolutions and the prohibition of carbon disc brakes.FIA Cup Regulations, 1992 FIA Yearbook of Automobile Sport, page 215 With the elimination of the previous C2 class, it required manufacturers such as Mazda and Porsche to build entirely new engines, and due to the large change in engine dimensions compared to what they had used in 1991, all new chassis as well. Porsche already had an F1 engine in their 3512 unit used by Footwork, but the engine design was found to be lacking. Porsche, suffering financially at the time, decided that it was no longer worth not only improving the 3512, but also replacing the 962 chassis, and decided not to return. Mazda, having accomplished their goal of winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1991 with their famed rotary engine, were left without the ability to use their rotary engine anymore in 1992. Since Mazda entered sportscar racing mostly to push their rotary designs, Mazda decided to continue on into 1992 for advancement of the overall brand, but with a less ambitious development programme. Mazdaspeed bought customer versions of the Jaguar XJR-14 and slightly modified them into the Mazda MXR-01 while the engines were customer Judd GV V10s. This effort saved large amounts of money for the company while keeping their name involved in the sport. Of the teams that already had compliant 3.5 L cars racing in 1991, their continuation into 1992 varied. Mercedes-Benz, alongside partner Sauber, pushed ahead with plans for a car in 1992. Development of the C292 was underway, as was construction of a new set of Flat-12s. However, after various faults in the construction of the engines in 1991, further problems led to large monetary losses for the company, forcing them not to return for 1992. Jaguar, who had been in sportscar racing with the XJR project since 1985, and were not completely happy with the performance of the XJR-14 during the 1991 season, had already announced their departure from the series. Customer XJR-14s were promised for 1992 from newcomers RMR racing as well as Gee Pee Cars. Of the smaller privateer teams, Brun Motorsport's development of the lacking C91 chassis cost them a great deal, and with the loss of cheap customer cars like the Porsche 962, they decided not to return. Other teams which had previously used the 962 also failed to return, including Kremer Racing and Team Salamin Primagaz. Courage Compétition was unable to find the money to continue development of their own chassis, and decided to instead concentrate solely on the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Konrad Motorsport, whose KM-011 chassis was also lackluster in 1991, claimed they were attempting to push on with Lamborghini backing into 1992. Euro Racing found enough cash to replace their ageing Spice chassis with the new Lola T92/10s with Judd powerplants, and promised to be on the grid immediately for 1992. Chamberlain Engineering also planned to continue as the factory backed Spice Engineering squad. Peugeot and Toyota, who had campaigned their 905 and TS010s respectively, remained in the sport mostly unchanged. Both cars underwent evolutionary changes in preparation for 1992, while the basic chassis and engines remained the same. A revival of the BRM name was also announced for 1992, using their own newly built P351 chassis and V12 engine. Unfortunately, even with the apparent addition of BRM, the grid in comparison between 1991 and 1992 was looking bleak, with the loss of a large number of privateer teams, as well as the loss of two major manufacturers (with a third being downgraded to privateer status) with only one possible new replacement. Schedule When the 1992 season was provisionally approved in December 1991, the FIA published a ten race calendar for the season, composed of 1000 km and 500 km races, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Initial schedule Rnd Race Circuit Date 1 JPN 500 km of Autopolis Autopolis 5 April 2 ITA 1000 km of Monza Autodromo Nazionale Monza 26 April 3 GBR 500 km of Silverstone Silverstone Circuit 10 May 4 ESP 500 km of Jarama Circuito Permanente Del Jarama 26 May 5 FRA 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe 20 June21 June 6 GBR 1000 km of Donington Donington Park 19 July 7 DEU 1000 km of Nürburgring Nürburgring 2 August 8 JPN 1000 km of Suzuka Suzuka Circuit 30 August 9 MEX 1000 km of Mexico City Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez 13 September 10 ESP 1000 km of Jerez Circuito Permanente de Jerez 4 October By January 1992, the FIA shortened the calendar to eight events, with the Monza and Donington events being cut down to 500 km. Magny-Cours was also brought in to replace some fly-away events. The Jerez round remained on the final calendar, but was cancelled during the middle of the season when track officials failed to update the track to the FIA's standards. Final schedule Rnd Race Circuit Date 1 ITA Trofeo F. Caracciolo (500 km) Autodromo Nazionale Monza 26 April 2 GBR BRDC Empire Trophy (500 km) Silverstone Circuit 10 May 3 FRA 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe 20 June21 June 4 GBR Triton Showers Trophy (500 km) Donington Park 19 July 5 JPN Suzuka 1000km Suzuka Circuit 30 August 6 FRA Championnat du Monde de Voitures de Sport (500 km) Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours 18 October Prior to the BRDC Empire Trophy at Silverstone, race organisers attempted to convince teams to shorten the race distance to approximately 250 km in order to boost ticket sales. However, Toyota vetoed the decision and the race remained at its original distance. Entries Group C1 thumb|right|250px|Mazda's MXR-01 with driver Yojiro Terada (right) Entrant Car Engine Tyre No. Car number Drivers Rounds FRA Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis Peugeot SA35-A2 3.5 L V10 Michelin 1 GBR Derek Warwick All FRA Yannick Dalmas All GBR Mark Blundell 3 2 FRA Philippe Alliot All ITA Mauro Baldi All FRA Jean-Pierre Jabouille 3 31 FRA Alain Ferté 3 AUT Karl Wendlinger 3 BEL Eric van de Poele 3 71 FRA Éric Hélary 6 FRA Christophe Bouchut 6 NLD Euro Racing Lola T92/10 Judd GV10 3.5 L V10 Michelin 3 NLD Cor Euser 1–4 NLD Charles Zwolsman 1–3 ESP Jésus Pareja 3–5 JPN Hideshi Matsuda 5 4 SWE Stefan Johansson 1–2 ESP Jésus Pareja 1–2 DEU Heinz-Harald Frentzen 3–5 NLD Charles Zwolsman 3 JPN Syunji Kasuya 3 GBR Phil Andrews 4 NLD Cor Euser 5 CAN David Tennyson 5 JPN Mazdaspeed Mazda MXR-01 Mazda MV10 3.5 L V10 Michelin 5 BRA Maurizio Sandro Sala All DEU Volker Weidler 1, 3 GBR Johnny Herbert 2–3 BEL Bertrand Gachot 3 ITA Alex Caffi 4–6 JPN Takashi Yorino 5 6 JPN Yojiro Terada 3 JPN Takashi Yorino 3 BRA Maurizio Sandro Sala 3 JPN Toyota Team Tom's Toyota TS010 Toyota RV10 3.5 L V10 Goodyear 7 GBR Geoff Lees All JPN Hitoshi Ogawa 1–2 AUS David Brabham 3–5 JPN Ukyo Katayama 3 NLD Jan Lammers 5–6 8 GBR Andy Wallace All NLD Jan Lammers 1–4 ITA Teo Fabi 3 GBR Kenny Acheson 5 JPN Masanori Sekiya 5 AUS David Brabham 6 33 FRA Pierre-Henri Raphanel 3 GBR Kenny Acheson 3 JPN Masanori Sekiya 3 GBR BRM BRM P351 BRM 3.5 L V12 Goodyear 9 RSA 1928 Wayne Taylor 2–3 FIN Harri Toivonen 2–3 GBR Richard Jones 3 FIA Cup Entrant Car Engine Tyre No. Car number Drivers Rounds ITA Bernard de Dryver with Action Formula Spice SE90C Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 L V8 Goodyear 21 ITA Luigi Taverna 1–4 ITA Alessandro Gini 1–4 GBR John Sheldon 3 BEL Bernard de Dryver 3 GBR Chamberlain Engineering Spice SE89C Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 L V8 Goodyear 22 FRA Ferdinand de Lesseps All CHE Bernard Thuner 1 GBR Will Hoy 2, 4 USA Olindo Iacobelli 3 GBR Richard Piper 3 GBR Nick Adams 5–6 JPN Masahiro Kimoto 5 3641 JPN Jun Harada 3, 6 JPN Tomiko Yoshikawa 3, 6 JPN Kenta Shimamura 3 GBR Divina Galica 6 GBR GeePee Argo Racing Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 L V8 Goodyear 23 GBR David Coyne 1 CHE Georg Paulin 1 DEU GSR Gebhardt C91 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 L V8 Goodyear 25 ITA Almo Coppelli 1–2 DEU Frank Krämer 1–2 ITA Team SCI Spice SE90C Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 L V8 Goodyear 29 ITA Ranieri Randaccio 1–4, 6 ITA Stefano Sebastiani 1–4, 6 ITA Vito Veninata 3 GBR TDR Limited Spice SE90C Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 L V8 Michelin 30 GBR Chris Hodgetts 3 FRA François Migault 3 FRA Thierry Lecerf 3 Results and standings Race results thumb|right|250px|Toyota Team Tom's won one race with the Toyota TS010 Rnd Circuit Outright Winning Team FIA Cup Winning Team Reports Outright Winning Drivers FIA Cup Winning Drivers 1 Monza JPN No. 7 Toyota Team Tom's GBR No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report GBR Geoff LeesJPN Hitoshi Ogawa CHE Bernard ThunerFRA Ferdinand de Lesseps 2 Silverstone FRA No. 1 Peugeot Talbot Sport GBR No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report GBR Derek WarwickFRA Yannick Dalmas FRA Ferdinand de LessepsGBR Will Hoy 3 Le Mans FRA No. 1 Peugeot Talbot Sport GBR No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report GBR Derek WarwickFRA Yannick DalmasGBR Mark Blundell FRA Ferdinand de LessepsGBR Richard PiperFRA Olindo Iacobelli 4 Donington FRA No. 2 Peugeot Talbot Sport GBR No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report ITA Mauro BaldiFRA Philippe Alliot FRA Ferdinand de LessepsGBR Will Hoy 5 Suzuka FRA No. 1 Peugeot Talbot Sport GBR No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report GBR Derek WarwickFRA Yannick Dalmas FRA Ferdinand de LessepsGBR Nick AdamsJPN Masahiro Kimoto 6 Magny-Cours FRA No. 2 Peugeot Talbot Sport GBR No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report ITA Mauro BaldiFRA Philippe Alliot FRA Ferdinand de LessepsGBR Nick Adams Points system Points were awarded on the following basis:Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, page 261 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 In order to be classified for points, a car had to complete 90% of the winner's distance. Further, drivers were required to complete at least 30% of their car's total race distance to qualify for championship points. Drivers' World Championship Pos Driver Team ITAMON GBRSIL FRA LMS GBRDON JPNSUZ FRAMAG Points 1FRA Yannick Dalmas FRA Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 1 1 2 1 5 98 1GBR Derek Warwick FRA Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 1 1 2 1 5 98 2FRA Philippe Alliot FRA Peugeot Talbot Sport Ret Ret 3 1 3 1 64 2 ITA Mauro Baldi FRA Peugeot Talbot Sport Ret Ret 3 1 3 1 64 3GBR Geoff Lees JPN Toyota Team Tom's 1 Ret Ret 3 2 3 59 4 NLD Jan Lammers JPN Toyota Team Tom's Ret Ret 5 Ret 2 3 35 5FRA Ferdinand de Lesseps GBR Chamberlain Engineering NC 3 7 6 5 7 34 6 BRA Maurizio Sandro SalaJPN Mazdaspeed Ret 2 Ret 5 Ret 6 29 7 GBR Johnny Herbert JPN Mazdaspeed 2 4 25 8AUS David BrabhamJPN Toyota Team Tom's Ret 3 2 4 22 9 JPN Hitoshi OgawaJPN Toyota Team Tom's 1 Ret 20 10GBR Will Hoy GBR Chamberlain Engineering 3 6 18 11 GBR Andy WallaceJPN Toyota Team Tom's Ret Ret 5 Ret Ret 4 18 12ITA Stefano SebastianiITA Team SCI Ret 4 Ret 7 8 17 12ITA Ranieri RandaccioITA Team SCI Ret 4 Ret 7 8 17 13 DEU Heinz-Harald FrentzenNLD Euro Racing 6 4 Ret 16 14GBR Kenny Acheson JPN Toyota Team Tom's 2 Ret 15 14FRA Pierre-Henri RaphanelJPN Toyota Team Tom's 2 15 14 FRA Éric Hélary FRA Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 15 14 FRA Christophe BouchutFRA Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 15 15 ITA Alex Caffi JPN Mazdaspeed 5 Ret 6 14 16 GBR Nick Adams GBR Chamberlain Engineering 5 7 12 17 DEU Volker Weidler JPN Mazdaspeed Ret 4 10 17 GBR Phil AndrewsNLD Euro Racing 4 10 17 ESP Jésus ParejaNLD Euro Racing DNS DSQ Ret 4 10 17 JPN Hideshi Matsuda NLD Euro Racing 4 10 18 ITA Teo Fabi JPN Toyota Team Tom's 5 8 19 JPN Shunji Kasuya NLD Euro Racing 6 6 19 JPN Jun Harada GBR Chamberlain Engineering NC 6 6 19GBR Divina Galica GBR Chamberlain Engineering 6 6 20 GBR Richard Piper GBR Chamberlain Engineering 7 4 20 USA Olindo IacobelliGBR Chamberlain Engineering 7 4 FIA Cup for Drivers For the Suzuka round Chamberlain Engineering were the only team to enter the race so no points were awarded in the category. Pos Driver Team ITAMON GBRSIL FRA LMS GBRDON JPNSUZ FRAMAG Points 1 FRA Ferdinand de Lesseps GBR Chamberlain Engineering 1 1 1 1 1 1 100 2 ITA Ranieri Randaccio ITA Team SCI Ret 2 Ret 2 2 45 2 ITA Stefano Sebastiani ITA Team SCI Ret 2 Ret 2 2 45 3 GBR Will Hoy GBR Chamberlain Engineering 1 1 40 4 CHE Bernard Thuner GBR Chamberlain Engineering 1 20 4 USA Olindo Iacobelli GBR Chamberlain Engineering 1 20 4 GBR Richard Piper GBR Chamberlain Engineering 1 20 4 GBR Nick Adams GBR Chamberlain Engineering 1 1 20 5 DEU Frank Krämer DEU GSR 2 Ret 15 5 ITA Almo Coppelli DEU GSR 2 Ret 15 Teams' World Championship Pos Team ITAMON GBRSIL FRA LMS GBRDON JPNSUZ FRAMAG Points 1 FRA Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 1 1 1 1 1 115 2 JPN Toyota Team Tom's 1 Ret 2 3 2 3 74 3 JPN Mazdaspeed Ret 2 4 5 Ret 6 39 4 GBR Chamberlain Engineering NC 3 7 6 5 7 34 5 NLD Euro Racing Ret Ret 6 4 4 26 6 ITA Team SCI Ret 4 Ret 7 8 17 FIA Cup for Teams For the Suzuka round Chamberlain Engineering were the only team to enter the race so no points were awarded in the category. Pos Team ITAMON GBRSIL FRA LMS GBRDON JPNSUZ FRAMAG Points 1 GBR Chamberlain Engineering 1 1 1 1 1 1 100 2 ITA Team SCI Ret 2 Ret 2 2 45 3 DEU GSR 2 Ret 15 Post-season thumb|right|Peugeot's 905 Evo 1 Bis which won their sole event of 1993, the 24 Hours of Le Mans Although in preparation for the 1992 season there showed some potential of allowing the championship to survive through to future seasons, especially with promises from Peugeot, as the season went on it became apparent that some of this potential was merely false hope. The customer Jaguars never showed, even though they continued to be promised even as the season went on. Konrad's Lamborghini powered sportscar was also never raced after promises of continued development. BRM's effort only resulted in them racing once, at Le Mans, where they finished last after completing only 20 laps. After Le Mans, they simply stopped showing up. The season thus became simply a showing of Peugeot dominance due to the large amount of money they had poured into the 905 project. Thus hope for 1993 was slim. Resting on the promises of Peugeot as well as Nissan who claimed they were returning to the series with their P35, the FIA tentatively announced that the 1993 season would occur. However, following Nissan's decision to cancel the P35 due to economic difficulties, and with a lack of entries announcing their participation, the FIA cancelled the 1993 season. This marked the end of 40 continuous years of the World Sportscar Championship, albeit in different guises. Sportscar racing was left without a single unified championship in which to complete, leading to a large number of smaller breakaway series across the world. The All Japan Sports Prototype Championship series in Japan was also unable to continue after 1992 as well, although Group C cars continued to participate as guests in other series. IMSA's championships in North America continued on but also suffering from dwindling fields until it was replaced by the American Le Mans Series in 1999. The FIA took over the European Sports Racing World Cup in 1999 to create the FIA Sportscar Championship in a fashion similar to the World Sportscar Championship, but it failed by 2003. Following many rough years, by 2004 sportscar racing had become stable with the ACO's two main sportscar series, the European Le Mans Series and American Le Mans Series, with the Japan Le Mans Challenge to follow in 2006. However, the Japan Le Mans Challenge was dissolved the same year. Then, in 2009 the ACO formed the Asian Le Mans Series. Finally, in 2010 ACO formed the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup a global championship, which was renamed FIA World Endurance Championship for 2012, the de facto successor to the former world sportscar championship. References External links 1992 Sportscar World Championship race results at www.classicscars.com 1992 World Sportscar Championship Programmes, www.progcovers.com Appendix J for the International Sporting Code (including Sport Car technical regulations (Group C)), 1992 FIA Yearbook of Automobile Sport, historicdb.fia.com, as archived at web.archive.org Category:World Sportscar Championship seasons Sports