FIA GT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
1983 SEASON REVIEW
SECOND HALF: ROUNDS 9-16
after a strong first half of the season, Porsche entered the second half as the leader of the inaugural manufacturers's championship.
MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP
STANDINGS AFTER 8 ROUNDS
1. Porsche 208 pts
2. ferrari 150 pts
3. Lamborghini 100 pts
4. Lotus 65 pts
5. ford 42 pts
6. Toyota 41 pts
7. BMW 36 PTS
8. mazda 31 pts
9. Jaguar 21 pts
10. Chevrolet 18 pts
ROUND 9: 7 HEURES DE PAUL RICARD
heading into France in the penultimate round before le mans, ferrari and Lamborghini needed some good results in order to catch up with the Porsche teams. it started well enough, with ecurie francorchamps #1 and the Marlboro lambo #2 of Wilson and depailler locking up the front row, with the BMS scuderia italia cars starting in 3rd and 5th alongside the gulf joest Porsche #1 and the John player lotus #1 respectively.
however, in a surprising twist, the ecurie francorchamps ferrari #1 spun at the start, prompting the John player lotus #1 to collide with it, creating a big one involving, most notably, the martini porsches, the #2 motul Toyota celica and the #1 Zakspeed ford mustang! subsequently, the race was red flagged for a while.
the second start went much better, the Marlboro Lamborghini taking advantage of the chaos in the previous start to pull away from the field. at around the 4 Hours Mark, however, a miscues in the pits forced the #2 Marlboro lambo to take a 10-second penalty for speeding through the pitlane, giving the lead to the Tom walkinshaw Jaguar #1!
the jaguar fought against the martini Porsche of bellof and barth and the John player lotus #2 of Raul boesel and Alan jones for the lead for the remainder of the race. however, bellof went too fast into a corner trying to overtake the jaguar driven by young Martin brundle and spun off into the barrier in a rare mistake by the martini Porsche team!
sensing victory approaching, brundle pressed on the accelerator and tried pulling away from Jones's lotus, who pitted for fresher hard compound tires a couple of minutes ago. this strategy would pay off, as brundle burned his rubber too quickly, conceding the won to Jones who calmly brings the John player lotus team it's first win in the championship, the tram finally delivering a race-winning strategy late in the race! on the podium, Jones made sure to congratulate brundle for his efforts, even telling him that he sees the young Brit going to F1 one day!
the Marlboro lambo #2 of Wilson and depailler managed to overcome their penalty-induced deficit to finish on the podium, with their teammates jabouille and schlesser finishing 4th in front of the racing beat RX-7 #1 of hoshino and jochen mass. the French crowd warmly welcomed the motul Celica #1 home in 6th place, while the three remaining Ferraris of BMS scuderia italia and ecurie francorchamps finished 7th, 8th and 9th, leaving the BMW M1 of regazzoni and lammers with the final point available...which meant that, for the first time this season, no Porsche has scored a single point!
ROUND 9: PAUL RICARDO RESULTS
1. John players lotus #2 20 pts
2. TWR Jaguar #1 16 pts
3. Marlboro spice Lamborghini #2 14 pts
4. Marlboro spice Lamborghini #1 12 pts
5. Racing beat Mazda #1 10 pts
6. team motul celica #1 6 pts
7. BMS scuderia italia ferrari #1 4 pts
8. BMS scuderia italia ferrari #2 3 pts
9. Ecurie francorchamps ferrari #2 2 pts
10. Eurobrun BMW #1 1pt
ROUND 10: 24 HOURS OF LE MANS
with that awful performance at Paul ricard in mind, many experts wondered if Porsche will recover for the 24 Hours of le mans. it didn't help matters when the marlboro spice Lamborghini #2 got the pole by almost 1 second over the martini Porsche of bellof and Barth, Patrick depailler delivering a blistering lap around the circuit De la sarthe, clocking over 200 MPH at the mulsanne straight!
the race proved to be a competitive affair in the GT class, as the lambos were being tailed all day long by the porsches, Ferraris and the Tom walkinshaw jaguars. after a couple of well-timed pitstops and some misfortune to some of the smaller Porsche and ferrari teams, the motul Celica, racing beat RX-7s, Zakspeed mustangs and Eurobrun BMWs caught up with the leaders, with the racing beat RX-7 #1 of Jochen mass, kazuyoshi hoshino and Hector rebaque even overtaking the BMS scuderia italia ferrari #1 of emmanuele pirro, Mario and Michael andretti for 3rd place at the 14 hour Mark!
however, once again, as it has always been at le mans, survival and reliability is the name of the game, and the porsches were simply way more reliable than anybody else, taking advantage of long pitstops from the lambos, Ferraris and RX-7s to gain back the lead, the two martini Porsches up in front woth the gulf joest #1 of Palmer, bell and Henri toivonen in a distant third, battling with the eurobrun BMW of regazzoni, lammers and Roberto Moreno and the racing beat RX-7 #1 for the last spot on the podium.
finally, the two martini Porsche completed a stellar one-two finish, shutting up the naysayers for good, while a major upset happened, meanwhile, further back, as Jonathan Palmer overshooted and crashed at the end of the Dunlop curve, allowing the eurobrun BMW and racing beat RX-7 to fight alone for the podium. after a long a grueling battle at the mulsanne straight, Jochen mass finally passed clay regazzoni with 5 corners to go to claim a heroic third place finish! the Marlboro Lamborghini #2 of Wilson and depailler finished 5th, the BMS scuderia italia ferrari #1 beat the second joest Porsche for 6th, the Zakspeed mustang of Ludwig, ribbs and Didier theys in 8th and, finally, the tom walkinshaw jaguar #1 and the motul celica #1 rounded up the top 10
24 HOURS OF LE MANS GT CLASS RESULTS
1. martini Porsche #1 20pts
2. martini Porsche #2 16 pts
3. racing beat camel Mazda #1 14 pts
4. eurobrun BMW #1 12 pts
5. marlboro spice Lamborghini #2 10 pts
6. BMS Scuderia italia ferrari 6 pts
7. gulf joest Porsche #2 4 pts
8. Zakspeed ford mustang #1 3 pts
9. TWR Jaguar #1 2 pts
10. motul Celica #1 1 pt
ROUND 11: WATKINS GLEN 6 HOURS
the post-le mans round takes place at the Watkins glen international track, where the GTWC once again shares the event woth the IMSA GTO and GTP series. Watkins glen is a track that favors nimble cars, and as such, it's no surprise that the likes of the porsches, Celicas, BMW M1s, jaguars, lotus esprit and RX-7s shared the first few rows with each other, the only exceptions being the Texaco haas racing camaro #1 of Geoff brabham and pancho carter starting in 8th alongside the Zakspeed mustang #2 of Danny Sullivan and Manfred winckelhock.
in the end, the BMW M1 of regazzoni and lammers won its second race of the season, beating the Tom walkinshaw Jaguar #1 and the John player lotus of Daly and needell. the Zakspeed ford mustang #2 finished 4th, the Marlboro lambo #1 5th, the motul celica #1 6th, the two martini Porsche 7th and 8th, the second Marlboro lambo in 9th and the joest Porsche of Palmer and bell scoring the last point, narrowly beating the Haas camaro of brabham and Carter.
ROUND 11: WATKINS GLEN RESULTS
1. Eurobrun BMW #1 20 pts
2. TWR Jaguar #1 16 pts
3. John player team lotus #1 14 pts
4. Zakspeed ford mustang #2 12 pts
5. marlboro spice Lamborghini #1 10 pts
6. motul Celica #1 6 pts
7. martini Porsche #2 4 pts
8. martini Porsche #1 3 pts
9. marlboro spice Lamborghini #2 2 pts
10. gulf joest Porsche #1 1 pt
ROUND 12: NURBURGRING 24 HOURS
deep in the heart of Germany lies the infamous nurburgring, the site of the third 24 hours race of the season. the porsches and BMWs have even more pressure to succeed in their own backyard,Porsche even more, as Lamborghini stepped up as their closest challenger for the manufacturer's title.
and unfortunately for Porsche, despite the best efforts of the martini and joest team, it is the Italian outfit that conquered the ring, as Desiree Wilson made history as the first woman to win the event, bringing her team of Patrick depailler and pierre dieudonné home in first place, their teammates in the lambo #2 sadly unable to hold off Stefan bellof, who takes second after an Herculean effort, the nurburgring's new track record holder looking extremely exhausted from going all out at so many corners. the BMS scuderia italia #1 finished 4th in front of the TWR Jaguar #1 and Eurobrun BMW #1, while the martini Porsche unfortunately retired from electrical issues. the smaller teams got a chance to shine, as ecurie francorchamps ferrari, Richard Lloyd Porsche and haas camaro all scored points.
ROUND 12: NURBURGRING RESULTS
1. marlboro spice Lamborghini #2 20 pts
2. martini Porsche #1 16 pts
3. marlboro spice Lamborghini #1 14 pts
4. BMS scuderia italia ferrari #1 12 pts
5. TWR Jaguar #1 #1 10 pts
6. Eurobrun BMW #1 6 pts
7. racing beat RX-7 #1 4 pts
8. ecurie francorchamps ferrari #1 3 pts
9. Texaco haas racing camaro #1 2 pts
10. DHL Richard Lloyd porsche 1 pt
ROUND 13: MOLSON GT TROPHY AT MONT-TREMBLANT
an all-italian domination by marlboro Lamborghini and BMS scuderia italia occurred at the Quebec-based mont-tremblant track as the fierce rivals tried to outsmart each other, taking the first 4 spots with ease. Zakspeed ford mustang #2 finished 5th, the ecurie francorchamps ferrari in 6th, the racing beat RX-7 in 7th, the John player lotus esprit #1 in 8th, the martini Porsche #2 in 9th and, finally, the Zakspeed mustang #1 took the last point available.
ROUND 13: MONT-TREMBLANT RESULTS
1. marlboro spice Lamborghini #1 20 pts
2. BMS scuderia italia ferrari #1 16 pts
3. BMS Scuderia italia ferrari #2 14 pts
4. marlboro spice Lamborghini #2 12 pts
5. Zakspeed ford mustang #2 10 pts
6. ecurie francorchamps ferrari #1 6 pts
7. racing beat RX-7 #1 4 pts
8. John player team lotus #1 3 pts
9. martini Porsche #1 2 PTS
10. Zakspeed mustang #1 1 pt
ROUND 14: 24 HOURS OF SPA.
at the newly-renovated spa francorchamps track, Porsche is leading the manufacturer's title race by 61 points over Lamborghini and 65 pts over ferrari. all they needed was to have three cars finish on the podium and they will clinch the title.
and you can always count on them to clinch clich a title, as the martini Porsches and the joest Porsche #1 swept the podium, taking advantage of retirements from Ferrari teams and the leading Marlboro lambo #2 with trademark German efficiency, proving once again that, in endurance racing, reliability and strategy is all that matters. Stefan bellof was particularly praised for his balls-out approach to racing and being essentially the spark plug of the Porsche teams. that, combined with the veteran presence and leadership of Jacky ickx allowed their teammates and crewmen to always keep their heads up high when things went awry. bellof would later announce that he would leave the championship to drive for Tyrell in formula 1, at the same time that Porsche announced works deals with Tyrell and mclaren.
ROUND 14: 24 HOURS OF SPA RESULTS
1. martini Porsche #2 20 pts
2. martini Porsche #1 16 pts
3. gulf joest Porsche #1 14 pts
4. John player team lotus #1 12 pts
5. racing beat RX-7 #1 10 pts
6. Marlboro spice lamborghini #1 6 pts
7. Eurobrun BMW #1 4 pts
8. Eurobrun BMW #2 3 pts
9. ecurie francorchamps ferrari #2 2 pts
10. motul Celica #1 1 pt
1983 GRAN TURISMO WORLD CHAMPIONS:
CONGRATULATIONS!!
ROUND 15: HOCKENHEIM
with the championship essentially wrapped up, the rest of the teams now raced for pride...and none is more prideful than the Americans, and they took hockenheim by storm, keeping pace with the Ferraris, lambos and jags before eventually rounding up the podium behind eventual winners BMS scuderia italia #1.
ROUND 15: HOCKENHEIM RESULTS
1. BMS scuderia italia 20 pts
2. Zakspeed ford mustang #1 16 pts
3. haas racing camaro #1 14 pts
4. Zakspeed ford #2 12 pts
5. TWR Jaguar #1 10 pts
6. TWR Jaguar #2 6 pts
7. marlboro Lamborghini #2 4 pts
8. Eurobrun BMW #1 3 pts
9. Eurobrun BMW #2 2 pts
10 Martini Porsche #1 1 pt
ROUND 16: KYALAMI 3 HOURS
The final round happened at the kyalami circuit in South Africa, an event which, unfortunately, was shrouded in controversy, as many of the big teams in the championship refused to take the trip there in protest against the apartheid. the only big teams that showed up were the porsches, lambos, BMWs and Tom walkinshaw Jaguar, with lots of privateers filling up the rest of the grid. as expected, the big teams largely dominated, with the martini Porsche sending one last hurrah to Stefan bellof by having the German score his final win in GT racing before going to F1.
shortly after the race was over, the FIA announced that, due to the political tensions in South africa, it is highly unlikely that they will host an FIA-sanctioned event there in the future...
ROUND 16: KYALAMI RESULTS
1. martini Porsche #1 20 pts
2. TWR Jaguar #1 16 pts
3. marlboro spice Lamborghini #2 14 pts
4. Martini Porsche #2 12 pts
5. Eurobrun BMW #1 10 pts
6. Marlboro Lamborghini #1 6 pts
7. gulf joest Porsche #1 4 pts
8. gulf joest Porsche #2 3 pts
9. TWR Jaguar #2 2 pts
10. Eurobrun BMW #2 1 pt
the aformetioned teams and, by extension, the FIA was criticised by many for participating in an event held in a racist regime like that of South Africa, even when the FIA announced the cancellation of any future events in that country.
on a more positive note, it appears that companies like rally stalwarts Lancia, renault and alfa Romeo have shown interest in entering the GT world championship next year, with renault possibly developing a GT version of their alpine model in order to compete in the series in the near future.
not only that, but none other than Mercedes-Benz has also shown interest! it would be seen as a huge move by the silver arrows, who have been teasing a return to motorsports for the first time since the 1955 le mans disaster with a stillborn entry into the WRC this year. the FIA, however, is reportedly not keen on Mercedes insisting on using their chevy-powered V8 450SLC as used in the Australian GT championship. we fully expect the two parties to reach some sort of compromise.
in other news, ferrari has announced that, due to their good inaugural campaign, they will allow the BMS scuderia italia team to use works versions of their brand new 288 GTO coming out next year, with the BB LM also allowed to be used by privateers. the prancing horse have announced that pre-sale numbers have far exceeded the 200 examples as needed for the homologation rules in order to compete, so the 288 GTO can be used next season.
the brand new ferrari 288 GTO.
despite the late season controversy in South Africa, the first season of the FIA GT world championship was a resounding success, with crowd coming like flies, sports car sales rising to record numbers and more and more manufacturers and sponsors showing more and more interest, it looks like the series is gonna be here to stay for a long, long time! long live next season! until then, see ya next year for another season of gran turismo racing!
1983 FIA GT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
FINAL STANDINGS
1. Porsche 365 pts
2. lamborghini 244 pts
3. Ferrari 238 pts
4. lotus 114 pts
5. Jaguar 99 pts
6. BMW 97 pts
6. ford 97 pts
8. mazda 73 pts
9. Toyota 55 pts
10. chevrolet 34 pts
see ya next season!
OOC: so the first season is now done! feel free to give your feedback and opinion on this season!