Season review
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The 1981 European Formula Two season was the fifteenth European Formula Two season and was contested over 12 rounds. The season started on 19 March and ended on 20 September. The Drivers' Championship was won by Englishman Geoff Lees. [1]
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Alberto Ascari was an Italian racing driver and a two time Formula One World Champion. He was a multitalented racer who competed in motorcycle racing before switching to cars. Ascari won consecutive world titles in 1952 and 1953 for Scuderia Ferrari. He was the team's first World Champion and the last Italian to date to win the title. This was sandwiched by an appearance in the 1952 Indianapolis 500. Ascari also won the Mille Miglia in 1954. Ascari was noted for the careful precision and finely-judged accuracy that made him one of the safest drivers in a most dangerous era until his death.
Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers.
Red Bull Racing, also simply known as Red Bull or RBR and currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing, is a Formula One racing team, racing under an Austrian licence and based in the United Kingdom. It is one of two Formula One teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH, the other being Scuderia AlphaTauri. The Red Bull Racing team has been managed by Christian Horner since its formation in 2005.
Wilson Fittipaldi Júnior is a Brazilian former racing driver and Formula One team owner. He participated in 38 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on May 1, 1972, scoring a total of three championship points. He ran the Fittipaldi Formula One team between 1974 and 1982. He also participated in numerous non-Championship Formula One races.
Hubert Hahne was a racing driver from Germany. He was the older brother of Armin Hahne, as well as the uncle of Jörg van Ommen.
Michael Thackwell is a former racing driver from New Zealand, who participated in a number of prominent racing categories, including Formula 1. The fifth youngest driver ever to qualify for a Grand Prix, he participated in five of them, making his first start on 28 September 1980 at the Canadian Grand Prix. He scored no championship points. He had previously attempted unsuccessfully to qualify for the Dutch Grand Prix which was held on 31 August 1980.
Vitantonio "Tonio" Liuzzi is an Italian professional racing driver who formerly raced in Formula One for the Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Force India and HRT teams.
Harvey Ernest Postlethwaite was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the aborted Honda F1 project.
Formula 5000 was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula. The '5000' denomination comes from the maximum 5.0 litre engine capacity allowed in the cars, although many cars ran with smaller engines. Manufacturers included McLaren, Eagle, March, Lola, Lotus, Elfin, Matich and Chevron.
Mugello Circuit is a race track in Scarperia e San Piero, Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The circuit length is 5.245 km (3.259 mi). It has 15 turns and a 1.141 km (0.709 mi) long straight. The circuit stadium stands have a capacity of 50,000.
Formula LGB Swift is a single seater, open wheel class in motorsport in India launched in 2003. The cars are powered by 1.3 liter Maruti Esteem engines and are driven by top and upcoming Indian drivers in the National Racing Championship. This car can be considered as an Indian equivalent of Europe's Formula Ford series, where it is void of aerodynamic aids like wings. From 2006 this car replaced Formula Maruti as an entry level formula car. This series offers the first feel and insights into open wheel racing for an upcoming race driver.
Guillermo "Memo" Rojas Jr. is a Mexican professional race car driver. Successful in American sports car racing, Rojas is a four-time series champion in the Rolex Sports Car Series, a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, and a two-time European Le Mans Series champion. He is the first Mexican driver to win a major American racing championship.
Brendon Hartley is a New Zealand professional racing driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing.
Russell Spence is an English racing driver. He now runs a construction business in London. In 2011, Spence was jailed for 13 weeks for his part in a fraud scam involving a chain of car washes.
The Cooper T43 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed and built by Cooper Car Company for the 1957 Formula One season, first appearing at the 1957 Monaco Grand Prix in a works car for Jack Brabham. The T43 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Stirling Moss drove a Rob Walker Racing Team T43 to win the 1958 Argentine Grand Prix, the first World Drivers' Championship win for a mid-engined car. Despite this achievement, the car was superseded almost immediately by the T45. The T43's last appearance in a World Championship event was the 1960 Italian Grand Prix.
The MotorSport Vision Formula Three Cup is a national motor racing series that takes place primarily in the United Kingdom, with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It is a club racing series aimed towards amateur drivers and aspiring racers, and uses older generation single seater Formula Three cars to keep costs low. The F3 Cup has three classes covering cars built between 1981 and 2011. The series is organised by MotorSport Vision, and in 2015 it was the only Formula Three series in the United Kingdom. Since 2021 the championship has been managed by the Monoposto Racing Club and sponsored by Hardall International.
The 1985 British Formula Three Championship was the 35th season of the British Formula Three Championship. Maurício Gugelmin took the BARC/BRDC Marlboro British Formula 3 Championship.
The Matra Company's racing team, under the names of Matra Sports, Equipe Matra Elf and Equipe Matra Sports, was formed in 1965 and based at Champagne-sur-Seine (1965–1967), Romorantin-Lanthenay (1967–1969) and Vélizy-Villacoublay (1969–1979). In 1979 the team was taken over by Peugeot and renamed as Automobiles Talbot.
The Lola T850 is an open-wheel Formula 2 racing car from the British manufacturer Lola Cars, which was used in the European and Japanese Formula 2 Championships in the early 1980s. It is not Lola's own construction, but a car produced under a license that was developed by competing companies. A variant of the Lola T850 is the Docking Spitzley DS1. Lola also built a version destined for Formula Atlantic, sold as the Toleman TA860.
