1992 World Sportscar Championship

1992 World Sportscar Championship

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File:Derek Warwick Silverstone 2014.JPG

Derek Warwick (pictured in 2014) and Yannick Dalmas won the Drivers' World Championship for 1992

File:1992Peugeot905EVO1B.jpg

Peugeot Talbot Sport won the Teams' World Championship with the Peugeot 905

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. The championship was open to Group C Sportscars.

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

Pre-season

From the start, the 1992 season was in doubt. The FIA planned to cancel the season due to a lack of entrants, as it was announced by Max Mosley, new President of FIA, at a meeting held in London on 11 November 1991, but pressure from Peugeot, who had poured a large sum of money into the design and build of their 905 model 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. The "rebirth" of the championship was announced at the FIA World council on 5 December 1991. With this, the FIA allowed the season to move forward, though with few participants.

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.

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 1985, 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	Template:Flagicon 500 km of Autopolis	Autopolis	5 April
2	Template:Flagicon 1000 km of Monza	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	26 April
3	Template:Flagicon 500 km of Silverstone	Silverstone Circuit	10 May
4	Template:Flagicon 500 km of Jarama	Circuito Permanente Del Jarama	26 May
5	Template:Flagicon 24 Hours of Le Mans	Circuit de la Sarthe	20 June 21 June
6	Template:Flagicon 1000 km of Donington	Donington Park	19 July
7	Template:Flagicon 1000 km of Nürburgring	Nürburgring	2 August
8	Template:Flagicon 1000 km of Suzuka	Suzuka Circuit	30 August
9	Template:Flagicon 1000 km of Mexico City	Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez	13 September
10	Template:Flagicon 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	Template:Flagicon Trofeo F. Caracciolo (500 km)	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	26 April
2	Template:Flagicon BRDC Empire Trophy (500 km)	Silverstone Circuit	10 May
3	Template:Flagicon 24 Hours of Le Mans	Circuit de la Sarthe	20 June 21 June
4	Template:Flagicon Triton Showers Trophy (500 km)	Donington Park	19 July
5	Template:Flagicon Suzuka 1000km	Suzuka Circuit	30 August
6	Template:Flagicon 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

File:Mazda MXR-01 front-right 2014 WEC Fuji.jpg

Mazda's MXR-01 with driver Yojiro Terada (right)

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

FIA Cup

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

Results and standings

Race results

File:Toyota TS010 Goodwood.jpg

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

Points system

Points were awarded on the following basis:

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.

Drivers' World Championship

Pos Driver Team Template:Flagicon MON Template:Flagicon SIL Template:Flagicon LMS Template:Flagicon DON Template:Flagicon SUZ Template:Flagicon MAG Points 1 Template:Flagicon Yannick Dalmas Template:Flagicon Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 1 1 2 1 5 98 1 Template:Flagicon Derek Warwick Template:Flagicon Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 1 1 2 1 5 98 2 Template:Flagicon Philippe Alliot Template:Flagicon Peugeot Talbot Sport Ret Ret 3 1 3 1 64 2 Template:Flagicon Mauro Baldi Template:Flagicon Peugeot Talbot Sport Ret Ret 3 1 3 1 64 3 Template:Flagicon Geoff Lees Template:Flagicon Toyota Team Tom's 1 Ret Ret 3 2 3 59 4 Template:Flagicon Jan Lammers Template:Flagicon Toyota Team Tom's Ret Ret 5 Ret 2 3 35 5 Template:Flagicon Ferdinand de Lesseps Template:Flagicon Chamberlain Engineering NC 3 7 6 5 7 34 6 Template:Flagicon Maurizio Sandro Sala Template:Flagicon Mazdaspeed Ret 2 Ret 5 Ret 6 29 7 Template:Flagicon Johnny Herbert Template:Flagicon Mazdaspeed 2 4 25 8 Template:Flagicon David Brabham Template:Flagicon Toyota Team Tom's Ret 3 2 4 22 9 Template:Flagicon Hitoshi Ogawa Template:Flagicon Toyota Team Tom's 1 Ret 20 10 Template:Flagicon Will Hoy Template:Flagicon Chamberlain Engineering 3 6 18 11 Template:Flagicon Andy Wallace Template:Flagicon Toyota Team Tom's Ret Ret 5 Ret Ret 4 18 12 Template:Flagicon Stefano Sebastiani Template:Flagicon Team SCI Ret 4 Ret 7 8 17 12 Template:Flagicon Ranieri Randaccio Template:Flagicon Team SCI Ret 4 Ret 7 8 17 13 Template:Flagicon Heinz-Harald Frentzen Template:Flagicon Euro Racing 6 4 Ret 16 14 Template:Flagicon Kenny Acheson Template:Flagicon Toyota Team Tom's 2 Ret 15 14 Template:Flagicon Pierre-Henri Raphanel Template:Flagicon Toyota Team Tom's 2 15 14 Template:Flagicon Éric Hélary Template:Flagicon Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 15 14 Template:Flagicon Christophe Bouchut Template:Flagicon Peugeot Talbot Sport 2 15 15 Template:Flagicon Alex Caffi Template:Flagicon Mazdaspeed 5 Ret 6 14 16 Template:Flagicon Nick Adams Template:Flagicon Chamberlain Engineering 5 7 12 17 Template:Flagicon Volker Weidler Template:Flagicon Mazdaspeed Ret 4 10 17 Template:Flagicon Phil Andrews Template:Flagicon Euro Racing 4 10 17 Template:Flagicon Jésus Pareja Template:Flagicon Euro Racing DNS DSQ Ret 4 10 17 Template:Flagicon Hideshi Matsuda Template:Flagicon Euro Racing 4 10 18 Template:Flagicon Teo Fabi Template:Flagicon Toyota Team Tom's 5 8 19 Template:Flagicon Shunji Kasuya Template:Flagicon Euro Racing 6 6 19 Template:Flagicon Jun Harada Template:Flagicon Chamberlain Engineering NC 6 6 19 Template:Flagicon Divina Galica Template:Flagicon Chamberlain Engineering 6 6 20 Template:Flagicon Richard Piper Template:Flagicon Chamberlain Engineering 7 4 20 Template:Flagicon Olindo Iacobelli Template:Flagicon Chamberlain Engineering 7 4

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

Teams' World Championship

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

Post-season

File:Peugeot 905 at 2013 Le Mans 001.jpg

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.

External links

• 1992 Sportscar World Championship race results at www.classicscars.com
• 1992 World Sportscar Championship Programmes, www.progcovers.com
• Appendix J for the International Sporting Code (including Sport Car technical regulations (Group C)), 1992 FIA Yearbook of Automobile Sport, historicdb.fia.com, as archived at web.archive.org