# 1981 World Endurance Championship

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Racing tournament

1981 [World Sportscar Championship](/source/World_Sportscar_Championship)

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[1982](/source/1982_World_Sportscar_Championship)

The **1981 World Sportscar Championship season** was the 29th season of [FIA](/source/FIA) [World Sportscar Championship](/source/World_Sportscar_Championship) motor racing. It featured the 1981 FIA World Endurance Championship which was contested over a fifteen race series which ran from 31 January to 27 September.[1] The former World Challenge for Endurance Drivers was renamed to the World Endurance Championship of Drivers for 1981 and the World Championship of Makes was renamed to the World Endurance Championship of Makes. [Bob Garretson](/source/Bob_Garretson) won the World Endurance Championship of Drivers and [Lancia](/source/Lancia) was awarded the World Endurance Championship of Makes.[1]

Some races, such as the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and Riverside, also counted towards the IMSA championship. However, from the 1982 season onwards, there would no longer be races in the United States counting towards the World Sport Car Championship. In turn, some European races, such as the 24 Hours of Spa-Fancorchamps and the 1,000 Kilometers of Nurburgring, attracted only teams more focused on the touring car category, not strictly sports cars. Partly as a result of this, teams and drivers could not commit to competing in all 15 rounds of the championship.

For the Drivers Championship, this season displayed one of the most complex points scoring system ever devised by a FIA sanctioned championship.

862 drivers started at least one round of the 1981 World Endurance Championship.

## Schedule

[Lancia](/source/Lancia) won the 1981 World Endurance Championship of Makes with its [Beta Montecarlos](/source/Lancia_Montecarlo)

World Endurance Championship of Drivers was contested over all fifteen races however only six of the races counted towards the World Endurance Championship of Makes.[1]

Drivers Rd. Makes Rd. Race Circuit Date 1 1 24 Hours Pepsi Challenge Daytona International Speedway 31 January 1 February 2 - Coca-Cola 12 Hours of Sebring Sebring International Raceway 21 March 3 - Mugello 6 Hours Mugello Circuit 12 April 4 2 1000km Monza Autodromo Nazionale Monza 26 April 5 - Los Angeles Times Toyota Grand Prix (6 Hours) Riverside International Raceway 26 April 6 3 Silverstone 6 Hours Silverstone Circuit 10 May 7 4 1000km Nürburgring Nürburgring 24 May 8 5 24 Hours of Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe 13 June 14 June 9 - Coppa Florio (6 Hours) Autodromo di Pergusa 28 June 10 - 6 Hours of Daytona Champion Spark Plug Challenge Daytona International Speedway 2 July 11 6 6 Hours of Watkins Glen Watkins Glen International 12 July 12 - 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps 26 July 27 July 13 - Molson 1000 Kilometres (6 Hours) Mosport Park 16 August 14 - Pabst 500 Miles Road America 23 August 15 - Flying Tigers 1000 Kilometres Brands Hatch 27 September

## Season results

Although various classes of cars contested the championship races, only the overall race winners are listed in the table below.

Rnd Circuit Overall Winning Team Results Overall Winning Drivers Overall Winning Car 1 Daytona #9 Garretson Racing Results Bob Garretson Bobby Rahal Brian Redman Porsche 935 2 Sebring #86 Bayside Disposal Racing Results Al Holbert Hurley Haywood Bruce Leven Porsche 935 3 Mugello #14 Osella Squadra Corse Results Giorgio Francia Lella Lombardi Osella PA9 BMW 4 Monza #3 Weralit Racing Team Results Edgar Dören Jürgen Lässig Gerhard Holup Porsche 935 5 Riverside #1 John Fitzpatrick Racing Results John Fitzpatrick Jim Busby Porsche 935 K3 6 Silverstone #22 Vegla Racing Team Results Harald Grohs Walter Röhrl Dieter Schornstein Porsche 935 7 Nürburgring #12 GS Tuning Results Hans-Joachim Stuck Nelson Piquet BMW M1 8 La Sarthe #11 Porsche System Results Jacky Ickx Derek Bell Porsche 936/81 9 Pergusa #3 Grid Team Lola Results Guy Edwards Emilio de Villota Lola T600 Ford Cosworth DFV 10 Daytona #38 Mandeville Racing Results Roger Mandeville Amos Johnson Mazda RX-7 11 Watkins Glen #1 Martini Racing Results Riccardo Patrese Michele Alboreto Lancia Beta Montecarlo 12 Spa #40 Tom Walkinshaw Racing Results Tom Walkinshaw Pierre Dieudonné Mazda RX-7 13 Mosport #3 Andial Meister Racing Results Harald Grohs Rolf Stommelen Porsche 935 14 Road America #3 Andial Meister Racing Results Harald Grohs Rolf Stommelen Porsche 935 15 Brands Hatch #3 Banco Occidental Ultramar Lola Results Guy Edwards Emilio de Villota Lola T600 Ford Cosworth DFL

- The 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Los Angeles Times Grand Prix and the Road America 500 were also rounds of the [1981 IMSA GT Championship](/source/1981_IMSA_GT_Championship).

- The 6 Hours of Daytona was restricted to Racing Stock class cars [2] (i.e. IMSA RS).[3]

- The 24 Hours of Spa was restricted to Belgian Touring Cars [4] (i.e. Group 1).[3]

## World Endurance Championship of Drivers

The World Endurance Championship of Drivers was open to FIA [Group 1](/source/Group_1_(racing)), [Group 2](/source/Group_2_(racing)), [Group 3](/source/Group_3_(racing)), [Group 4](/source/Group_4_(racing)), [Group 5](/source/Group_5_(racing)), [Group 6](/source/Group_6_(racing)), [Group C](/source/Group_C) and GTP cars and to [IMSA](/source/International_Motor_Sports_Association) GTX, IMSA GTP, IMSA AAGT, IMSA GTO, IMSA GTU and IMSA RS cars.[3]

Drivers Championship points were awarded on a 20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first twenty overall finishers at each round.[3] Bonus points were also awarded as follows:[3]

- 0 points for Category 1 (Group 6 over 2 litres)

- 1 point for Category 2 (Group 5 over 2 litres, GTP over 2 litres, Group C over 2 litres, IMSA GTX over 2 litres, IMSA GTP over 2 litres, IMSA AAGT)

- 2 points for Category 3 (Group 6 under 2 litres, Group 5 under 2 litres, Group 4 under 2 litres, IMSA GTO, IMSA GTX under 2 litres)

- 3 points for Category 4 (GTP under 2 litres, Group 2 over 2 litres, IMSA GTU, Group C under 2 litres)

- 4 points for Category 5 (Group 4 under 2 litres, Group 1 over 2 litres)

- 5 points for Category 6 (Group 2 under 2 litres, Group 1 under 2 litres, IMSA RS)

Only half points were awarded at the shortened [Nürburgring](/source/N%C3%BCrburgring) round.[3] All points scored were retained towards the championship totals.[3]

### Results

Position [5] Driver [5] Car [6] Points [5] 1 Bob Garretson Porsche 935 K3 & 935 127 2 Harald Grohs Porsche 935 & 935 K3 116.5 3 Bobby Rahal Porsche 935 K3 & 935/78-81 109 4 Edgar Dören Porsche 935 K3 & Porsche 935 107.5 5 Giorgio Francia Osella PA9 BMW 101 = Lella Lombardi Osella PA9 BMW 101 7 Derek Bell BMW M1 & Porsche 935 96 8 Bob Akin Porsche 935 K3 & 935 84 9 Jim Busby Porsche 935 K3 & 935 81 10 Brian Redman Porsche 935 K3 & Lola T600 80 11 John C Cooper Porsche 935 K3 & Chevrolet Camaro 73.5 12 John Fitzpatrick Porsche 935 K3 & 935 71 13 Dudley Wood Porsche 935 K3 67 14 Hurley Haywood Porsche 935 & Mazda RX-3 65 15 Lee Mueller Mazda RX-7 63 16 Rolf Stommelen Porsche 935 K3 60 = Walt Bohren Mazda RX-7 60 18 Jürgen Lässig Porsche 935 K3 & BMW M1 56.5 = Dieter Schornstein Porsche 935 56.5 20 Ralph Kent Cooke Porsche 935 K3 & 935 54 21 Marion L Speer Mazda RX-7 & Porsche 914/6 53 = Emilio de Villota Lola T600 Ford 53 = Bill Whittington Porsche 935 K3 & 935 53 = Guy Edwards Lola T600 Ford 53 25 Roger Mandeville Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-3 52 = Amos Johnson Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-3 52 27 Jacques Guerin Porsche 935 & BMW 530i 50 28 Luigi Moreschi Osella PA9 BMW 49 = Gimax Osella PA9 BMW 49 30 Jim Downing Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-3 46 31 Richard Lloyd Porsche 924 Carrera GTR 45 = Frank Carney Datsun ZX & Datsun 280ZX 45 = Dick Davenport Datsun ZX & Datsun 280ZX 45 34 Siegfried Brunn Porsche 908/3 & Porsche Carrera 44 = Eddie Jordan Porsche 908/3 & BMW M1 44 36 Pete Smith Porsche Carrera & BMW M1 43 = Chuck Kendall Porsche Carrera & BMW M1 43 38 David Hobbs BMW M1 & March 81P 42 39 Jean-Claude Andruet Ferrari 512 BB/LM & BMW 530i 41 = Gianpiero Moretti Porsche 935/78-81 41 = Tom Walkinshaw Mazda RX-7 41 42 Ray Ratcliff Porsche 914/6 & Mazda RX-7 40.5 43 Tony Garcia BMW M1 & Porsche Carrera 40 = Hiram Cruz BMW M1 & Porsche Carrera 40 = Albert Naon BMW M1 & Porsche Carrera 40 46 Dirk Vermeersch Mazda RX-7 & BMW 530i 39 = Eddy Joosen Mazda RX-7 & BMW 530i 39 48 Pierre Dieudonné Mazda RX-7 & Ferrari 512 BB/LM 38 = Roy Woods Porsche 935 K3 & 935 38 = Bruce Leven Porsche 935 38

A total of 371 drivers scored points in the 1981 World Endurance Championship of Drivers.[5]

## World Endurance Championship of Makes

The World Endurance Championship of Makes was open FIA [Group 1](/source/Group_1_(racing)), [Group 2](/source/Group_2_(racing)), [Group 3](/source/Group_3_(racing)), [Group 4](/source/Group_4_(racing)) and [Group 5](/source/Group_5_(racing)) cars and to [IMSA GTX](/source/IMSA_GTX) cars.[3]

Cars from all eligible groups were combined, and then divided into two Divisions based on engine capacity.[3] Points were awarded on a 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the top ten places in each Division at each race.[7] Only the best placed car of each make in each division at each race was eligible to score points.[3] Cars from groups not included in the championship (e.g. FIA Group 6 cars) were disregarded when assessing divisional positions for championship purposes. Only half points were awarded for the shortened Nurburgring race.[3] The best five round results could be retained by each make.[3]

### Results

The overall World Endurance Championship of Makes title was won by [Lancia](/source/Lancia).[1] Although both Lancia and Porsche scored 100 points from their best five class results, Lancia was awarded the title based on its six divisional victories against the five scored by [Porsche](/source/Porsche) .[1]

#### Over 2000 cc

Pos Manufacturer Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Total 1 Porsche 20 20 20 (7.5) 20 20 100 2 BMW 8 15 15 10 4 52 3 Ferrari 3 15 15 4 Lancia 6 6 5 Morgan 2 2

#### Under 2000 cc

Pos Manufacturer Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Total 1 Lancia 20 20 20 (10) 20 20 100 2 BMW 15 7.5 22.5 3 Opel 5 5 4 Ford 4 4 5 Toyota 2 2 6 Alfa Romeo 0.5 0.5

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Autocourse_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Autocourse_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Autocourse_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Autocourse_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Autocourse_1-4) Results, World Endurance Championship of Drivers / World Endurance Championship of Makes, Autocourse, 1981/82, pages 247 & 248

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** János L Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999, page 1325

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-6) [***h***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-7) [***i***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-8) [***j***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-9) [***k***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-10) [***l***](#cite_ref-Autosport_3-11) Endurance Racing Supplement, page 8, Autosport, December 1981

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** János L Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999, page 1330

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Wimpffen1342_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Wimpffen1342_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Wimpffen1342_5-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Wimpffen1342_5-3) János L Wimpffen, Time and Two Seats, 1999, page 1342

1. **[^](#cite_ref-wspr_6-0)** [World Championship - final positions and tables, www.classicscars.com](http://www.classicscars.com/wspr/results/wscc/tablems.html) Retrieved on 27 January 2013

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Higham_7-0)** Peter Higham, The Guinness Guide to International Motor Racing, 1995, page 260

## Further reading

- *Automobile Year, 1981/1982*. 1982.

## External links

- [1981 World Endurance Championship Race Results](http://wspr-racing.com/wspr/results/wscc/ms1981.html)

- [Racing Sports Cars](http://www.racingsportscars.com)

v t e World Sportscar Championship seasons 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 for Makes 1977 for Makes 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [1981 World Endurance Championship](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_World_Endurance_Championship) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981_World_Endurance_Championship?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.