1992 World Sportscar Championship

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.[1] The championship was open to Group C Sportscars.

Derek Warwick (pictured) and Yannick Dalmas won the Drivers' World Championship for 1992
Peugeot Talbot Sport won the Teams' World Championship with the Peugeot 905

The Drivers Championship was won jointly by Yannick Dalmas and Derek Warwick and the Teams Championship by Peugeot Talbot Sport.[2] The FIA Cup for Drivers was awarded to Ferdinand de Lesseps and the FIA Cup for Teams to Chamberlain Engineering.[2]

Pre-season

From the start, the 1992 season was in doubt. The FIA planned to cancel the season due to a lack of entrants, but pressure from Peugeot, who had poured a large sum of money into the sport 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. With this, the FIA allowed the season to move forward.

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.[3]

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 1984, 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 Japan 500 km of Autopolis Autopolis 5 April
2 Italy 1000 km of Monza Autodromo Nazionale Monza 26 April
3 United Kingdom 500 km of Silverstone Silverstone Circuit 10 May
4 Spain 500 km of Jarama Circuito Permanente Del Jarama 26 May
5 France 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe 20 June
21 June
6 United Kingdom 1000 km of Donington Donington Park 19 July
7 Germany 1000 km of Nürburgring Nürburgring 2 August
8 Japan 1000 km of Suzuka Suzuka Circuit 30 August
9 Mexico 1000 km of Mexico City Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez 13 September
10 Spain 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 Italy Trofeo F. Caracciolo (500 km) Autodromo Nazionale Monza 26 April
2 United Kingdom BRDC Empire Trophy (500 km) Silverstone Circuit 10 May
3 France 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe 20 June
21 June
4 United Kingdom Triton Showers Trophy (500 km) Donington Park 19 July
5 Japan Suzuka 1000km Suzuka Circuit 30 August
6 France 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

Mazda's MXR-01 with driver Yojiro Terada (right)
Entrant Car Engine Tyre No. Drivers Rounds
France Peugeot Talbot Sport Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis Peugeot SA35-A2 3.5 L V10 M 1 United Kingdom Derek Warwick All
France Yannick Dalmas All
United Kingdom Mark Blundell 3
2 France Philippe Alliot All
Italy Mauro Baldi All
France Jean-Pierre Jabouille 3
31 France Alain Ferté 3
Austria Karl Wendlinger 3
Belgium Eric van de Poele 3
71 France Éric Hélary 6
France Christophe Bouchut 6
Netherlands Euro Racing Lola T92/10 Judd GV10 3.5 L V10 M 3 Netherlands Cor Euser 1–4
Netherlands Charles Zwolsman 1–3
Spain Jésus Pareja 3–5
Japan Hideshi Matsuda 5
4 Sweden Stefan Johansson 1–2
Spain Jésus Pareja 1–2
Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen 3–5
Netherlands Charles Zwolsman 3
Japan Syunji Kasuya 3
United Kingdom Phil Andrews 4
Netherlands Cor Euser 5
Canada David Tennyson 5
Japan Mazdaspeed Mazda MXR-01 Mazda MV10 3.5 L V10 M 5 Brazil Maurizio Sandro Sala All
Germany Volker Weidler 1, 3
United Kingdom Johnny Herbert 2–3
Belgium Bertrand Gachot 3
Italy Alex Caffi 4–6
Japan Takashi Yorino 5
6 Japan Yojiro Terada 3
Japan Takashi Yorino 3
Brazil Maurizio Sandro Sala 3
Japan Toyota Team Tom's Toyota TS010 Toyota RV10 3.5 L V10 G 7 United Kingdom Geoff Lees All
Japan Hitoshi Ogawa 1–2
Australia David Brabham 3–5
Japan Ukyo Katayama 3
Netherlands Jan Lammers 5–6
8 United Kingdom Andy Wallace All
Netherlands Jan Lammers 1–4
Italy Teo Fabi 3
United Kingdom Kenny Acheson 5
Japan Masanori Sekiya 5
Australia David Brabham 6
33 France Pierre-Henri Raphanel 3
United Kingdom Kenny Acheson 3
Japan Masanori Sekiya 3
United Kingdom BRM BRM P351 BRM 3.5 L V12 G 9 South Africa Wayne Taylor 2–3
Finland Harri Toivonen 2–3
United Kingdom Richard Jones 3

FIA Cup

Entrant Car Engine Tyre No. Drivers Rounds
Italy Bernard de Dryver with Action Formula Spice SE90C Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 L V8 G 21 Italy Luigi Taverna 1–4
Italy Alessandro Gini 1–4
United Kingdom John Sheldon 3
Belgium Bernard de Dryver 3
United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering Spice SE89C Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 L V8 G 22 France Ferdinand de Lesseps All
Switzerland Bernard Thuner 1
United Kingdom Will Hoy 2, 4
United States Olindo Iacobelli 3
United Kingdom Richard Piper 3
United Kingdom Nick Adams 5–6
Japan Masahiro Kimoto 5
36
41
Japan Jun Harada 3, 6
Japan Tomiko Yoshikawa 3, 6
Japan Kenta Shimamura 3
United Kingdom Divina Galica 6
United Kingdom GeePee Argo Racing Argo JM19C Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 L V8 G 23 United Kingdom David Coyne 1
Switzerland Georg Paulin 1
Germany GSR Gebhardt C91 Ford Cosworth DFR 3.5 L V8 G 25 Italy Almo Coppelli 1–2
Germany Frank Krämer 1–2
Italy Team SCI Spice SE90C Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 L V8 G 29 Italy Ranieri Randaccio 1–4, 6
Italy Stefano Sebastiani 1–4, 6
Italy Vito Veninata 3
United Kingdom TDR Limited Spice SE90C Ford Cosworth DFZ 3.5 L V8 M 30 United Kingdom Chris Hodgetts 3
France François Migault 3
France Thierry Lecerf 3

Results and standings

Race results

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 Japan No. 7 Toyota Team Tom's United Kingdom No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report
United Kingdom Geoff Lees
Japan Hitoshi Ogawa
Switzerland Bernard Thuner
France Ferdinand de Lesseps
2 Silverstone France No. 1 Peugeot Talbot Sport United Kingdom No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report
United Kingdom Derek Warwick
France Yannick Dalmas
France Ferdinand de Lesseps
United Kingdom Will Hoy
3 Le Mans France No. 1 Peugeot Talbot Sport United Kingdom No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report
United Kingdom Derek Warwick
France Yannick Dalmas
United Kingdom Mark Blundell
France Ferdinand de Lesseps
United Kingdom Richard Piper
France Olindo Iacobelli
4 Donington France No. 2 Peugeot Talbot Sport United Kingdom No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report
Italy Mauro Baldi
France Philippe Alliot
France Ferdinand de Lesseps
United Kingdom Will Hoy
5 Suzuka France No. 1 Peugeot Talbot Sport United Kingdom No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report
United Kingdom Derek Warwick
France Yannick Dalmas
France Ferdinand de Lesseps
United Kingdom Nick Adams
Japan Masahiro Kimoto
6 Magny-Cours France No. 2 Peugeot Talbot Sport United Kingdom No. 22 Chamberlain Engineering Report
Italy Mauro Baldi
France Philippe Alliot
France Ferdinand de Lesseps
United Kingdom Nick Adams

Points system

Points were awarded on the following basis: [4]

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.[4]

Drivers' World Championship

Pos Driver Team Italy
MON
United Kingdom
SIL
France
LMS
United Kingdom
DON
Japan
SUZ
France
MAG
Points
1 France Yannick Dalmas France Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 1 1 2 1 5 98
1 United Kingdom Derek Warwick France Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 1 1 2 1 5 98
2 France Philippe Alliot France Peugeot Talbot Sport Ret Ret 3 1 3 1 64
2 Italy Mauro Baldi France Peugeot Talbot Sport Ret Ret 3 1 3 1 64
3 United Kingdom Geoff Lees Japan Toyota Team Tom's 1 Ret Ret 3 2 3 59
4 Netherlands Jan Lammers Japan Toyota Team Tom's Ret Ret 5 Ret 2 3 35
5 France Ferdinand de Lesseps United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering NC 3 7 6 5 7 34
6 Brazil Maurizio Sandro Sala Japan Mazdaspeed Ret 2 Ret 5 Ret 6 29
7 United Kingdom Johnny Herbert Japan Mazdaspeed 2 4 25
8 Australia David Brabham Japan Toyota Team Tom's Ret 3 2 4 22
9 Japan Hitoshi Ogawa Japan Toyota Team Tom's 1 Ret 20
10 United Kingdom Will Hoy United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 3 6 18
11 United Kingdom Andy Wallace Japan Toyota Team Tom's Ret Ret 5 Ret Ret 4 18
12 Italy Stefano Sebastiani Italy Team SCI Ret 4 Ret 7 8 17
12 Italy Ranieri Randaccio Italy Team SCI Ret 4 Ret 7 8 17
13 Germany Heinz-Harald Frentzen Netherlands Euro Racing 6 4 Ret 16
14 United Kingdom Kenny Acheson Japan Toyota Team Tom's 2 Ret 15
14 France Pierre-Henri Raphanel Japan Toyota Team Tom's 2 15
14 France Éric Hélary France Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 15
14 France Christophe Bouchut France Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 15
15 Italy Alex Caffi Japan Mazdaspeed 5 Ret 6 14
16 United Kingdom Nick Adams United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 5 7 12
17 Germany Volker Weidler Japan Mazdaspeed Ret 4 10
17 United Kingdom Phil Andrews Netherlands Euro Racing 4 10
17 Spain Jésus Pareja Netherlands Euro Racing DNS DSQ Ret 4 10
17 Japan Hideshi Matsuda Netherlands Euro Racing 4 10
18 Italy Teo Fabi Japan Toyota Team Tom's 5 8
19 Japan Shunji Kasuya Netherlands Euro Racing 6 6
19 Japan Jun Harada United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering NC 6 6
19 United Kingdom Divina Galica United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 6 6
20 United Kingdom Richard Piper United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 7 4
20 United States Olindo Iacobelli United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 7 4
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

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 Italy
MON
United Kingdom
SIL
France
LMS
United Kingdom
DON
Japan
SUZ
France
MAG
Points
1 France Ferdinand de Lesseps United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 1 1 1 1 1 1 100
2 Italy Ranieri Randaccio Italy Team SCI Ret 2 Ret 2 2 45
2 Italy Stefano Sebastiani Italy Team SCI Ret 2 Ret 2 2 45
3 United Kingdom Will Hoy United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 1 1 40
4 Switzerland Bernard Thuner United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 1 20
4 United States Olindo Iacobelli United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 1 20
4 United Kingdom Richard Piper United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 1 20
4 United Kingdom Nick Adams United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 1 1 20
5 Germany Frank Krämer Germany GSR 2 Ret 15
5 Italy Almo Coppelli Germany GSR 2 Ret 15

Teams' World Championship

Pos Team Italy
MON
United Kingdom
SIL
France
LMS
United Kingdom
DON
Japan
SUZ
France
MAG
Points
1 France Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 1 1 1 1 1 115
2 Japan Toyota Team Tom's 1 Ret 2 3 2 3 74
3 Japan Mazdaspeed Ret 2 4 5 Ret 6 39
4 United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering NC 3 7 6 5 7 34
5 Netherlands Euro Racing Ret Ret 6 4 4 26
6 Italy 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 Italy
MON
United Kingdom
SIL
France
LMS
United Kingdom
DON
Japan
SUZ
France
MAG
Points
1 United Kingdom Chamberlain Engineering 1 1 1 1 1 1 100
2 Italy Team SCI Ret 2 Ret 2 2 45
3 Germany GSR 2 Ret 15

Post-season

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

  1. Season: 1992 FIA Sportscar World Championship, www.racingsportscars.com Retrieved on 29 December 2012
  2. 1992 Sportscar World Championship, www.teamdan.com, as archived at web.archive.org
  3. FIA Cup Regulations, 1992 FIA Yearbook of Automobile Sport, page 215
  4. Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, page 261
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