1981 in motorsport

The following is an overview of the events of 1981 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.

Annual events

The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.

Date	Event	Ref
1–20 January	3rd Dakar Rally	[1]
31 January-1 February	19th 24 Hours of Daytona	[2]
15 February	23rd Daytona 500	[3]
24 May	65th Indianapolis 500	[4]
31 May	39th Monaco Grand Prix	[5]
6–11 June	64th Isle of Man TT	[6]
13–14 June	49th 24 Hours of Le Mans	[7]
3–4 October	10th 24 Hours of Nurburgring	[8]
25–26 July	33rd 24 Hours of Spa	[9]
26 July	4th Suzuka 8 Hours	[10]
5 October	22nd James Hardie 1000	[11]
15 November	28th Macau Grand Prix	[12]

Births

Date	Month	Name	Nationality	Occupation	Note	Ref
1	January	Zsolt Baumgartner	Hungarian	Racing driver	The first Hungarian Formula One driver.	[13]
24	February	Timo Bernhard	German	Racing driver	24 Hours of Le Mans winner (2010, 2017). FIA World Endurance champion (2015, 2017).	[14]
1	March	Will Power	Australian	Racing driver	Winner of the Indianapolis 500 (2018).	[15]
29	July	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Racing driver	Formula One World Champion (2005-2006). FIA World Endurance champion (2018-19).	[16]
30		Nicky Hayden	American	Motorcycle racer	MotoGP World champion (2006).	[17]
19	October	Heikki Kovalainen	Finnish	Racing driver	2008 Hungarian Grand Prix winner.	[18]
31		Mike Rockenfeller	German	Racing driver	24 Hours of Le Mans winner (2010). Le Mans Series champion (2008).	[19]
19	November	André Lotterer	German	Racing driver	24 Hours of Le Mans winner (2011-2012, 2014). FIA World Endurance champion (2012).	[20]

Deaths

Date	Month	Name	Age	Nationality	Occupation	Note	Ref
1	January	Mauri Rose	84	American	Racing driver	Indianapolis 500 winner (1941, 1947-1948).	[21]
9		Sammy Davis	93	British	Racing driver	24 Hours of Le Mans winner (1927).	[22]
21		Cuth Harrison	74	British	Racing driver	One of the first British Formula One drivers.	[23]
23	March	Mike Hailwood	40	British	Motorcycle racer	500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing World champion (1962-1965).	[24]
13	October	Philippe Étancelin	84	French	Racing driver	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1934)	[25]

See also

• List of 1981 motorsport champions

References

1. "1981 Dakar Rally" (PDF). rssp.eu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
2. "Daytona 24 Hours 1981 - Racing Sports Cars". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
3. "1981 Daytona 500". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
4. "1981 Indianapolis 500". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
5. "1981 Grand Prix of Monaco". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
6. "TT 1981". iomtt.com. Isle of Man TT. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
7. "Le Mans Register - 1981". formula2.net. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
8. "Nurburgring 24 hours". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
9. "24 h Spa-Francorchamps". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
10. "Suzuka 8 Hours 1981 results". Moto Racing JAPAN. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
11. "1981 Bathurst 1000". Unique Cars & Parts. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
12. "1981 Macau Grand Prix". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
13. "Zsolt Baumgartner". en.espn.co.uk. ESPN . Retrieved 15 April 2018.
14. "Timo Bernhard". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
15. "Will Power". espn.com. ESPN . Retrieved 27 May 2018.
16. "Fernando Alonso — Biography". Grand Prix History. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
17. "Nicky Hayden". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
18. "Heikki Kovalainen". en.espn.co.uk. ESPN . Retrieved 16 April 2018.
19. "Mike Rockenfeller". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
20. "André Lotterer". en.espn.co.uk. ESPN . Retrieved 17 April 2018.
21. "Mauri Rose". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
22. "Sammy Davis". f1grandprixdriversclub.com. F1 Grand Prix Drivers Club. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
23. "Cuth Harrison". en.espn.co.uk. ESPN . Retrieved 15 April 2018.
24. "Mike Hailwood". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
25. "Philippe Entancelin". ESPN . Retrieved 15 April 2018.