The 1971 Rothmans F5000 European Championship [1] [2] [3] was a motor racing series for Formula 5000 cars. [4] The series was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Car Club but also included European rounds. [5] It was the third of seven annual European Formula 5000 Championships to be contested between 1969 and 1975, [6] and the first to carry the Rothmans F5000 European Championship name. The championship was won by Frank Gardner, driving a Lola T192 and a Lola T300. [4]
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The championship was contested over seventeen rounds. [4]
Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the first six places at each round. [4] Final championship positions were determined from the best six results from the longer rounds (i.e. those contested over a distance of 100 to 150 miles) and the best six results from the shorter rounds. [4]
The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000.
Graham Peter McRae was a racing driver from New Zealand.
Connew Racing Team, commonly known as Connew, was a short lived British Formula One constructor. Founded in 1971 by Peter Connew, the team constructed a single car, the PC1. The first monococque had to be aborted due to a change in regulations and the second tub was known as PC2. However, record books show the car driven by Migault and others as PC1. The intent was to compete in the Formula One World Championship in 1972, but a lack of financial and technical resources meant that the car only managed to start in one championship race, the 1972 Austrian Grand Prix, with French driver François Migault at the wheel. Following the Austrian race, the car competed in a handful of non-championship races before being converted to meet Formula 5000 specifications for the 1973 season. The chassis was damaged beyond repair during the season finale at Brands Hatch and the team closed.
John Cannon was a sports car racer, who competed under the banner of Canada, though he was born in London, U.K. He raced in the USRRC series, the CanAm Series and the L&M Continental Series.
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 originally 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, Eagle, March, Lola, Lotus, Elfin, Matich and Chevron.
The 1975 Tasman Series,, was a motor racing competition open to Racing Cars complying with the Tasman Formula. Contested over eight rounds in New Zealand and Australia beginning on 5 January and ending on 23 February, it was the twelfth and final Tasman Series. The series was organised jointly by the Motorsport Association of New Zealand and the Confederation of Australian Motorsport and was promoted as the Peter Stuyvesant International Series for the 1975 Tasman Championship.
Alfredo Costanzo is a retired Italian born Australian racing driver. From 1980 to 1983 Costanzo won four Australian Drivers' Championships in a row, equalling the record set by Bib Stillwell from 1962 to 1965.
The 1968 SCCA Grand Prix Championship was the second annual running of the Sports Car Club of America's open wheel automobile racing series later to become known as the SCCA Continental Championship. The championship was open to SCCA Formula A, Formula B and Formula C cars, with Formula A expanded to include vehicles powered by 5 liter production-based engines, with the Formula A category later being renamed to Formula 5000.
The European Formula 5000 Championship was a motor racing series for Formula 5000 cars held annually from 1969 to 1975. It was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Car Club with each championship also including rounds held at European circuits.
The 1977 Shellsport International Series was a Formula Libre motor racing championship held in the United Kingdom, the series ran F1, F2, F5000 and Formula Atlantic cars in the same race. The second Shellsport International Series was contested over 14 rounds. The season started on 13 March and ended on 16 October. The Drivers' Championship was won by Englishman Tony Trimmer. The season was marred by the death of Brian McGuire during a practice session for round 11 at Brands Hatch. It was the last season of the Shellsport International Series. For 1978, the series would become the British Formula One series.
The 1969 Guards Formula 5000 Championship was a motor racing competition for Formula 5000 cars and cars with unrestricted racing engines of up to 2000cc capacity. The championship was organized in the United Kingdom but also included European rounds. It was the first and only series to carry the Guards Formula 5000 Championship name and the first in a sequence of seven annual European Formula 5000 Championships to be contested between 1969 and 1975. The championship was won by Peter Gethin, driving a McLaren M10A.
The 1970 Guards European Formula 5000 Championship was a motor racing competition for Formula 5000 cars. The series was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Car Club but also included European rounds. It was the first and only series to carry the Guards European Formula 5000 Championship name and the second of seven annual European Formula 5000 Championships to be contested between 1969 and 1975. The title was won by Peter Gethin, driving a McLaren M10B.
The 1972 Rothmans F5000 European Championship was a motor racing series for Formula 5000 cars. The series was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Car Club but also included rounds in Belgium and Ireland. It was the fourth European Formula 5000 Championship, and the second to be contested under the Rothmans F5000 European Championship name. The championship was won by Gijs van Lennep, driving a Surtees TS11 and a McLaren M18.
The 1973 Rothmans 5000 European Championship was a motor racing series for Formula 5000 cars. The series was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Car Club but also incorporated European rounds. It was the fifth in an annual sequence of European Formula 5000 Championships, and the first to be contested as the Rothmans 5000 European Championship. The 1973 championship was won by Teddy Pilette, driving a McLaren M18 and a Chevron B24.
The 1974 Rothmans 5000 European Championship was a motor racing series for Formula 5000 cars. The series was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Car Club, but also incorporated European rounds. It was the sixth in a sequence of annual European Formula 5000 Championships, and the second to be contested as the Rothmans 5000 European Championship. The 1974 championship was won by Bob Evans, driving a Lola T332.
The 1975 ShellSPORT 5000 European Championship was a motor racing series for Formula 5000 cars. The series was organized in the United Kingdom by the British Racing and Sports Car Club, but also incorporated European rounds. It was the seventh and last in a sequence of annual European Formula 5000 Championships, and the first to be contested as the ShellSPORT 5000 European Championship. The 1975 championship was won by Teddy Pilette, driving a Lola T400.
The Brabham BT43 was the only Formula 5000 racing car built by Motor Racing Developments (MRD). Initiated by Ron Tauranac, designed by Geoff Ferris, and built by a team including Nick Goozee (monocoque) and Bob Paton (construction), it was one of the last cars produced by MRD before MRD was closed by the then new Brabham owner Bernie Ecclestone. Based on the Formula Two Brabham BT40 the BT43 featured a modified monocoque that incorporated the triangular cross section pioneered by the Brabham BT42 Formula One car which was designed by Gordon Murray. This distinctive pyramid shape not only kept the aerodynamic "stagnation point" low but also neatly allowed the incorporation of a "crushable structure" as required by the 1973 regulations which specified that all fuel tanks were to be protected by deformable structures. Engine and gearbox were the then de facto F5000 standard combination of a Chevrolet 302 cubic inch engine in an unstressed mounting and a Hewland DG300 gearbox. The fitment of these into what was a relatively small Formula Two sized car presented some design challenges. Front suspension components were BT40 while rear suspension components were a combination of Formula One and BT40.
Anthony Gordon Dean was a British racing driver from England who competed in sports car racing, touring car racing, the Can-Am series and various single seat formulae, including non-championship Formula One, in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. He is known for winning a round of the Can-Am championship in 1970 as a privateer entrant.
Keith Holland is a British former racing driver from England who competed in various classes of racing in the 1960s and 1970s. He is known for winning the 1969 Madrid Grand Prix in a Formula 5000 car in a field which contained several Formula One entries. He was also a regular competitor in the European Formula 5000 Championship finishing third in the title standings on two occasions.
The Surtees TS5 was a Formula 5000 racing car, designed, developed, and built by Surtees between 1969 and 1970.
