The 1980 British Formula One Championship (formally the 1980 Aurora AFX F1 Championship) was the third season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on 4 April 1980 and ended on 5 October after twelve races. The Drivers' Championship was won by the Spaniard Emilio de Villota who drove a Williams FW07 entered by RAM Racing. [1]
Entry List [2] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | No. | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Rounds |
Formula 1 | |||||
C. W. Clowes Racing | 1 | Guy Edwards | Arrows A1 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | All |
2 | Vivian Candy | 4-5 | |||
Leon Walger | 6-9, 11-12 | ||||
3 | Renzo Zorzi | 6 | |||
Theodore Racing | 3 | Desiré Wilson | Wolf WR4 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1-5 |
Wolf WR3 | 7 | ||||
4 | Geoff Lees | 1-2 | |||
Kevin Cogan | 3-4, 6, 8-9 | ||||
Wolf WR4 | 7 | ||||
Graham Eden Racing | 3 | Mike Wilds | Chevron B41 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 12 |
RAM Racing | 7 | Emilio de Villota | Williams FW07 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1-4, 6-12 |
Fittipaldi F5A | 5 | ||||
8 | Eliseo Salazar | Williams FW07 | 1-6 | ||
Williams FW07B | 7-12 | ||||
Team Agostini | 9 | Giacomo Agostini | Williams FW06 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 2-3, 5-6, 8-10, 12 |
22 | Gimax | 5-6 | |||
Colin Bennett Racing | 10 | Norman Dickson | Lotus 78 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1-5 |
Gianfranco Brancatelli | 6 | ||||
Desiré Wilson | 9 | ||||
Ricardo Londoño | 12 | ||||
15 | Valentino Musetti | Fittipaldi F5A | 5-9 | ||
Fittipaldi F5B | 10-12 | ||||
Scotcircuits Ltd | 12 | Robin Smith | Surtees TS19/TS20S | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 6-7, 9 |
Richard Jones | 11 | ||||
Cliff Smith Racing | 16 | Ray Mallock | Surtees TS20+ | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 1, 3, 5 |
Wolf WR6 | 9-10, 12 | ||||
Dywa Cars | 21 | Piercarlo Ghinzani | Dywa 01 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 6 |
Jordan BRM | 30 | Tony Trimmer | BRM P207 | BRM P202 3.0 V12 | 4-5, 8-10 |
Dennis Leech | 34 | Dennis Leech | McLaren M23 | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | 12 |
Formula 2 | |||||
Theodore Racing | 11 | Kim Mather | March 802 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1, 3-5, 7-12 |
Sanremo Racing | 11 | Alberto Colombo | March 782 | BMW M12 2.0 L4 | 6 |
17 | Guido Daccò | March 792 | 6 | ||
35 | Gianfranco | March 782 | 6 | ||
Divina Galica | 13 | Divina Galica | March 792 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 11-12 |
Docking Spitzley Racing | 14 | John Lewis | Toleman TG280 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 12 |
A. G. Dean Racing | 18 | Tony Dean | Chevron B42 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1-4 |
Grange Performance Cars | 19 | Brian Robinson | Chevron B48 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1-2, 7-11 |
Chevron B42 | 3-6, 12 | ||||
Bob Howlings Racing Cars | 20 | Bob Howlings | Chevron B42 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1-5, 11-12 |
Roy Baker | 24 | Roy Baker | Chevron B48 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 4-12 |
Warren Booth | 29 | Warren Booth | Chevron B48 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 1, 3-8, 10-12 |
Harper High Performance Racing | 33 | Ron Harper | Chevron B40 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 4, 6, 12 |
BMTR | 35 | Paul Smith | March 782 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 7, 9-10, 12 |
Terry Fisher | 35 | Terry Fisher | Chevron B42 | Ford BDG 2.0 L4 | 8 |
John Gibson Ltd. | 44 | Paul Gibson | March 792 | Hart 420R 2.0 L4 | 5-6 |
Plygrange Racing | 77 | Jim Crawford | Chevron B45 | Ford BDX 2.0 L4 | 1, 3-12 |
Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers using the following structure:
Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | PP | FL |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Points | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
|
Bold – Pole |
Robert Neville Anthony Evans is a British former racing driver from England. He participated in 12 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 1 March 1975. He scored no championship points. He also competed in numerous non-Championship Formula One races.
Emilio de Villota Ruíz is a former racing driver from Spain, born in Madrid. He entered 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix between 1976 and 1982, qualifying twice. He entered most Spanish Grand Prix between 1976 and 1982 and became a major force in the short-lived Aurora AFX Formula One Championship for F1 cars, winning the title in 1980.
Guy Richard Goronwy Edwards, QGM is a former racing driver from England. Best known for his sportscar and British Formula One career, as well as for brokering sponsorship deals, Edwards participated in 17 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 13 January 1974. He scored no championship points.
Michael Christopher Thackwell is a former racing driver from New Zealand, who participated in a number of prominent racing categories, including Formula 1. The fifth youngest driver ever to qualify for a Grand Prix, he participated in five of them, making his first start on 28 September 1980 at the Canadian Grand Prix. He scored no championship points. He had previously attempted unsuccessfully to qualify for the Dutch Grand Prix which was held on 31 August 1980.
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Theodore "Teddy" Pilette is a former racing driver from Belgium. He participated in 4 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, the first on 12 May 1974 with Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team.
Fittipaldi Automotive, sometimes called Copersucar after its first major sponsor, was a Formula One racing team and constructor that competed from 1975 to 1982. It was the only Formula One team to have been based in Brazil. The team was formed during 1974 by racing driver Wilson Fittipaldi and his younger brother, double world champion Emerson, with money from the Brazilian sugar and alcohol cooperative Copersucar. The team raced under a Brazilian licence. Emerson Fittipaldi became a driver for the team in 1976 after leaving McLaren, but was unable to replicate his earlier success with the family-owned team. Future world champion Keke Rosberg took his first podium finish in Formula One with the team.
Desiré Randall Wilson is a former racing driver from South Africa and one of only five women to have competed in Formula One. Born in Brakpan, she entered one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix in 1980 with a non-works RAM Racing-prepared Williams FW07, but failed to qualify. She also raced in the 1981 non-world championship South African Grand Prix in a one off deal with Tyrrell Racing. This race was not part of the 1981 world championship due, in part, to the FISA–FOCA war. She qualified 16th and, after a disastrous start where the car stalled, she moved up through the field in wet conditions; as conditions dried she fell back and damaged the car when it touched a wall while she was letting the race leader through.
Anthony Hugh Leigh Trimmer is a British former racing driver from England, who won the Shell British Formula Three Championship and E.R. Hall Trophy in 1970. He was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
The British Formula One Championship, often abbreviated to British F1, was a Formula One motor racing championship held in the United Kingdom. It was often referred to as the Aurora AFX Formula One series due to the Aurora company's sponsorship of the series for three of the four seasons.
The 1978 British Formula One Championship was the first season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on 24 March 1978 and ended on 24 September after twelve races.
The 1979 British Formula One Championship was the second season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on 1 April 1979 and ended on 7 October after fifteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Englishman Rupert Keegan who drove an Arrows A1 entered by Charles Clowes.
The 1982 British Formula One Championship was the fourth and final season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on 9 April 1982 and ended on 30 August after five races.
The Hesketh 308E is a Formula One racing car model built by the Hesketh Racing team in 1977. The car was designed by Frank Dernie and Nigel Stroud and was the last car built by the Hesketh team before it folded at the end of 1978. The 308E was a relatively conservative design, with an aluminium monocoque chassis built around the common Cosworth DFV engine and Hewland gearbox combination. However, the 308E gained particular notoriety owing to Hesketh's team sponsors in 1977 – Penthouse and Rizla – and the resultant livery which incorporated a large rendering of a scantily clad Penthouse Pet embracing a Rizla packet. During this year, driver Rupert Keegan managed to qualify the car at every race entered although its best finish was only seventh place at the Austrian Grand Prix. For 1978 the team reverted to rather less controversial sponsorship from the Olympus Corporation, although results were less dependable. Following Hesketh's withdrawal from the F1 World Championship the remaining 308Es were run for various competitors in the British Aurora AFX championship.
The Arrows A1 was the car with which Arrows Grand Prix International competed in the 1978 and 1979 Formula One seasons. It replaced the Arrows FA1, which was banned by the London High Court on 31 July 1978 after a legal protest from the Shadow team on the grounds that it was a carbon-copy of the Shadow DN9. Arrows anticipated that they would lose against Shadow and designed and built the A1 in under 60 days whilst the court case was being heard. Hence Arrows were able to present the Arrows A1 to the press just three days after the court case ended and did not miss any races.
The Evening News Trophy, was the second round of the 1980 Aurora AFX F1 Championship, at Brands Hatch, the race held on 7 April 1980. The race is notable for the victory of Desiré Wilson, who became the first female driver to win a Formula One race.
The Aurora Plastics Corporation introduced the A/FX line of slot cars, slot car track sets, and related accessories in 1971. The AFX brand continued production until the company was forced into receivership in 1983. Aurora designed the AFX cars with interchangeable car body shells usually compatible with each chassis they released during these years. The original 1971 A/FX chassis utilized an updated version of the existing pancake motor design of Aurora's "Thunderjet 500" line, popular in the 1960s. Aurora then released a longer version of the A/FX chassis in 1973, known as the "Specialty" chassis, which incorporated a longer wheelbase and gearplate with bodies unique to that chassis. The car bodies designed to fit the shorter original chassis featured a clever snap-on design while the bodies for the Specialty chassis were affixed with a small screw. In 1974, Aurora redesigned both the original and Specialty chassis and exposed the bottom of the motor magnets. The exposed magnets were attracted to the metal rails in the track during racing, creating downforce to help hold the car on the track while cornering. AFX "Magna-Traction" cars remained popular from their release in 1974 throughout 1983, even after faster chassis designs were introduced in house and by Tyco.
The March 811 is a Formula One car built by March Engineering and used by RAM Racing in the 1981 Formula One World Championship. Designed by Robin Herd, Gordon Coppuck, and Adrian Reynard, it was powered by the traditional 3.0 L (180 cu in) Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine. It initially used Michelin tyres, but eventually switched to Avon tyres at the 1981 French Grand Prix. It was March's first Formula One car since 1977.
The BRM P230 was an open-wheel Formula One racing car, designed and developed by Aubrey Woods, and built by British constructor BRM, for the 1979 Aurora AFX F1 1979 British Formula One Championship, but never raced. It was due to be driven by Neil Bettridge, and like its predecessor was going to be powered by a nearly 500 hp (370 kW) BRM V12 engine, and run on Goodyear tyres. It later became the basis for the unraced BRM Hepworth GB-1 Can-Am car.