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| Category | Formula racing (1963-1989) Touring car racing (1973-1989) |
|---|---|
| Region | Eastern Bloc |
| Inaugural season | 1963 |
| Folded | 1990 |
| Last Drivers' champion |  Alexandr Potekhin  Josef Michl |
The Cup of Peace and Friendship (also Friendship Cup of Socialist Countries) was an auto racing championship series dedicated to Eastern Bloc drivers between 1963 and 1990.
The Cup of Peace and Friendship was created in 1963 as an initiative of Lech Tulak and Jerzy Jankowski of the Polish Automobile and Motorcycle Federation. The main purpose of the cup was to promote standard regulations for auto racing in Eastern Bloc countries. [1] In its initial form it was a championship for open-wheel, single seaters and included both individual and national team awards. Heinz Melkus and East Germany were the first champions. [2]
For the first two seasons, cup races were held to Formula Junior, before its replacement by the new 1-litre Formula Three from 1965. 1972 saw the creation of Formula Easter, which would form the technical basis of the championship for the next seventeen years, before switching to Formula Mondial for the final two seasons in 1989 and 1990. From 1973 a touring car class was also introduced. [2]
After the revolutions of 1989, the championship was made open to western entrants, but mounting financial difficulties made 1990 the final season of the Cup of Peace and Friendship. [3]
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