BMW M1 Procar Championship
Two seasons, 1979 and 1980, of M1 against M1 before the European Grands Prix, with BMW's works cars kept for the fastest available Grand Prix drivers of Friday practice. Niki Lauda won the first title and Nelson Piquet the second; every round is here, with the race outside the championship at Donington Park.
Imola, 14 September 1980. Nelson Piquet won the last Procar race as he had won the two before it, at the Österreichring and Zandvoort, and the third win in a row made him champion. It was the 17th championship round in two seasons of M1 against M1, run with the European Grands Prix, in which BMW lent its own cars to whichever Grand Prix drivers were quickest in Friday's practice and set them against private entries in the same car. Niki Lauda had taken the first title, in 1979. The results below are those of the Procar cars and teams as the records hold them, round by round, and because the works entrant raced elsewhere too, they include two races outside the series: the Nürburgring 1000 km of 1980 and the Mosport 6 Hours of 1981.source 1source 2source 3
How it began
The series was Jochen Neerpasch's answer to a racing car with no class to race in: BMW Motorsport had built the M1 for Group 4, and the 400 road cars Group 4 asked for would take years. Max Mosley, then the Formula 1 constructors' legal adviser, was clear in 2017 about whose idea it was: "The person behind it was Neerpasch … He invented the name and came up with the whole idea, and we did it." Bernie Ecclestone, in the same retrospective, said "I brought it about". Mosley knew BMW well through March's Formula 2 programme, and Ecclestone put the race into the package he sold to Grand Prix organisers. Marc Surer, BMW's development driver, said later that BMW "paid the drivers and paid Bernie for permission to do it".
Denis Jenkinson, who never liked it, traced the plan to Neerpasch and Mosley at Hockenheim in 1978. BMW's announcement came that December, at its museum in Munich, and C.R. wrote in Motor Sport that the plan was going ahead whatever its doubters said. He gave the date of the first race as "May 13th", the day of the Belgian Grand Prix; in the event the M1s ran on the Saturday, the 12th. Among the drivers named that day were Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Toine Hezemans, Bruno Giacomelli, Eddie Cheever, Marc Surer, Dieter Quester and Manfred Winkelhock, and two of the cars were for Jean-Louis Lafosse.
The loudest cynic in the paddock was a team owner. A.H. remembered his words 5 years on:
BMW is trying to get into the Grand Prix arena on the back of the rest of us by fielding those ProCars . . . if they really want to benefit from all the exposure available to Formula I then they should build a Formula 1 engine and get properly involved.
The rules
The rule that made Procar was BMW's plan of December 1978: five places on each grid for "the fastest available Formula One drivers". In practice that meant the five quickest Grand Prix drivers in Friday's practice, each given a BMW-entered works car for the Procar race and, in 1979, one of the first five places on its grid. "Available" mattered. The Procars ran on Goodyear tyres, and Ferrari and Renault were contracted to Michelin, so their drivers could not take part: Alan Henry named them in 1997 as Jody Scheckter, Gilles Villeneuve, Jean-Pierre Jabouille and René Arnoux. Richard Heseltine added drivers whose contracts would not let them race another maker's car.
Everyone else in the field drove a private entry, built to the same specification, and a Grand Prix driver could choose that route too. Henry wrote that there were "separate championships for both seeded and non-seeded competitors", and that Lauda "shrewdly had himself organised as a non-seeded runner": his own M1 came from Project Four, and his Friday times on the Grand Prix grid still earned it a place at the front. Stuck, never in the top five at ATS, raced privateer cars throughout and said he "won the privateer section both years". No source read prints those separate tables; the standings below are the single tables the Motor Sport database gives.
The money was cash. Neerpasch remembered the first race, at Zolder, where people doubted that five Formula 1 drivers would turn out on the Saturday: "Max was there with a case of money. I'll never forget this." Andretti, by Neerpasch's account and Ecclestone's, was one of those the cash persuaded, and Mosley paid the prizes himself.
As far as I remember it was something like $9000 if you were on pole, and then $6000, $4000, $3000, like the F1 points in those days. We used to deduct money if they damaged the cars. Reutemann would be in the middle of a shunt and still emerge without a scratch.
racingsportscars lists 182 entries in the Procar races of 1979 and 179 in 1980, about 20 a race by our arithmetic, against the 25 places on each grid BMW had planned and 20 at Monaco. For 1980 the rule changed: the works drivers still took BMW's cars, but a place among the first five on the grid was no longer theirs as of right.source 7source 4source 2source 5source 9source 8source 10
1979, race by race
Zolder, 12 May. The first round ran over 20 laps the day before the Belgian Grand Prix, and it went badly for the stars. Goodyear had supplied a cheaper construction than the tyres the cars had been set up on, the M1s were hard to drive, and of the works drivers, Lauda, Mario Andretti and Jacques Laffite retired and Piquet did not start; Clay Regazzoni's third place saved BMW's afternoon. Elio de Angelis, in an Osella-entered car, was in Motor Sport's later words "a surprise winner". Jenkinson, who had watched most of the field break down, ended his report: "I still don't know what Pro-Car means — perhaps it should be Con-Car!"
Monaco, 26 May. Over 15 laps of the street circuit Lauda, now in his own Project Four car, got past Regazzoni for the lead, "confounding the cynics who said that it was impossible to pass on this absurdly confined street circuit", as Henry put it, and won. Stuck went out when an oil leak put him over the barriers by the swimming pool, and the Formula 3 race had to wait 2 hours for the repairs. Emerson Fittipaldi drove his only Procar race that day, third in a works car: "It was a big car for Monaco!"
Donington Park, 3 June. Outside the championship, the Gunnar Nilsson Memorial Meeting gave the M1s a race of their own: 30 laps of the 3.149 km (1.957 mile) circuit before 21,500 people. Piquet won it from pole in his works car, with the fastest lap. BMW ran more works cars than its usual five, for James Hunt, Alan Jones, John Watson and Andretti among others, and Dan Gurney and Denny Hulme were entered and did not start. Lauda was not there.
Dijon-Prenois, 30 June. The French round nearly did not happen. Jean-Marie Balestre, president of FISA and of the French federation, called Procar a "publicity demonstration" with no place at the French Grand Prix. Ecclestone replied that Procar came with the Grand Prix, and Henry recalled the message as "if there were no Procars, then there would be no GP". The race ran, officially billed as a show. FISA had ruled that it counted only as a publicity event, so the French timekeepers were forbidden to time it and Brabham's staff kept the times, and Jenkinson called it "a high speed processional advertisement for BMW and all those firms who had been talked into buying a car". Piquet won it. Mosley called the dealings of those years "guerrilla warfare with Balestre". Didier Pironi, who drove for Tyrrell, was third in a works car.
Silverstone, 13 July. Lauda won again, on the day before the British Grand Prix, and the crowd made its view of Ecclestone plain. Motor Sport's report of the Grand Prix noted that when Ecclestone appeared at the Procar prize-giving the crowd "expressed their disapproval of B. C. Ecclestone Esq., by booing".
Hockenheim, 28 July. Lauda's third win came over 15 laps at home for BMW, with Stuck second. The young Hans-Georg Bürger, in a works car, "almost won", Henry wrote; he finished third.
Österreichring, 11 August. The race ran after practice on the Saturday afternoon, Motor Sport's report says (the Motor Sport database dates it by the Grand Prix, the next day). Laffite won it in a works car.
Zandvoort, 25 August. Stuck won in Manfred Cassani's car, after Saturday's practice; the database again gives the Sunday, the Grand Prix day.
Monza, 9 September. Stuck won the last round too, over 18 laps, but Lauda's second place kept him ahead, and the title was his, "pipping Stuck", as Motor Sport had it. The championship's first 10, as the database gives them:source 1source 3source 2source 6source 5source 11source 12source 13source 14source 15source 16
| Place | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niki Lauda | 78 |
| 2 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | 73 |
| 3 | Clay Regazzoni | 61 |
| 4 | Markus Höttinger | 45 |
| 5 | Toine Hezemans | 44 |
| 6= | Nelson Piquet | 35 |
| 6= | Jacques Laffite | 35 |
| 8 | Didier Pironi | 34 |
| 9 | Helmut Kelleners | 33 |
| 10 | Alan Jones | 26 |
1980, race by race
The second season had nine rounds, and three of them stood alone, away from any Grand Prix: Donington, the Avus and the Norisring. racingsportscars enters that year's works cars under BMW Motorsport at four rounds, under Bob Sparshott's BS Fabrications at Donington, the Norisring and Zandvoort, and under the Procar Association at Hockenheim.
Donington Park, 26 April. With no Grand Prix at Donington that year, the opening round was a race of its own, over 40 laps. Jan Lammers, in a hard Formula 1 season with ATS that cost him his drive by June, took pole and won it for BMW Nederland by 12 seconds.
Avus, 11 May. Manfred Schurti won the Berlin round in Cassani's car.
Monaco, 17 May. Lammers took pole and led until, in his words, "Didier Pironi rammed me at Mirabeau and destroyed the back end". Stuck won in Project Four's car, the M1 Lauda had raced the year before.
Norisring, 22 June. Over 50 laps, more than any other round of the two seasons, the race ran with the German championship's meeting in Nuremberg. Lammers led from the start until his taped-up cockpit set off the fire extinguisher; he fell to sixth and came back to second. Stuck won, and Surer was third in Sauber's car.
Brands Hatch, 12 July. Reutemann won in a works car on the eve of the British Grand Prix. He was the driver Mosley and Ecclestone remembered for always collecting the bonus for bringing his car back undamaged. Alain Prost, in his first season of Formula 1, drove his only Procar race and was sixth.
Hockenheim, 9 August. Pironi won by less than a second from Schurti, after forcing Stuck up the escape road at a chicane, and Stuck finished third. Henry was there:
Stuck uncoiled his six-foot frame from the confined cockpit of his M1 to unleash a furiously vocal critique of Pironi's driving – straight to the Frenchman's face.
Österreichring, 16 August. Piquet's first win of the year.
Zandvoort, 31 August. Piquet won again. Andretti made his second and last appearance of the year and retired.
Imola, 14 September. Piquet's third win in a row, from Jones, settled the title. The first 10:source 1source 3source 2source 5source 17
| Place | Driver | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nelson Piquet | 90 |
| 2 | Alan Jones | 77 |
| 3 | Hans-Joachim Stuck | 71 |
| 4 | Jan Lammers | 69 |
| 5 | Carlos Reutemann | 64 |
| 6 | Manfred Schurti | 48 |
| 7 | Hans Heyer | 41 |
| 8= | Jacques Laffite | 37 |
| 8= | Marc Surer | 37 |
| 10 | Didier Pironi | 34 |
The champions
Lauda won three of the eight rounds of 1979, at Monaco, Silverstone and Hockenheim, and was second at Monza, all in the Project Four car Ron Dennis ran for him. He said what it had been like in 2017:
They were easy to drive, nice and powerful … I was lucky that I had the one Marlboro car, while the others were switching cars. This was an advantage. Ron Dennis was very good and we won the championship.
He stopped racing in Formula 1 after 1979, and it was Dennis, his Procar team boss, who later brought him back to it. Looking back in 2008, he gave the drivers' side: "We drivers had fun … We were always there, hitting each other, which we couldn't do in F1. And we earned good money."
Piquet's title came late. He had won at Dijon in 1979, and outside the championship at Donington, and in 1980 his first win waited until August; then he won the last three rounds, and with his third place at Monaco, fourth at Hockenheim and fifth at Donington that was enough for 90 points. For a Brabham driver on, in Henry's phrase, "only a modest stipend", Procar was "great pocket money". BMW gave its champions road M1s as well.
Stuck won four championship rounds, as many as Piquet, at Zandvoort and Monza and then at Monaco and the Norisring, and finished second in 1979 and third in 1980.source 1source 3source 2source 4source 5source 18source 8
Every driver
By a count of racingsportscars' entries, 42 drivers were entered in Procar races in 1979, the Donington race included, and 40 in 1980, and the Motor Sport database's tables give points to 30 and 28 of them. Motor Sport counted seven world champions, past or future, and 35 drivers who had started at least one Grand Prix. On racingsportscars' list the seven are Andretti, Fittipaldi, Hunt, Jones, Lauda, Piquet and Prost; Hulme was entered at Donington and did not start, and so was Gurney, for whom the results page records "No driver license".
The rest came from touring cars, sports cars and the junior formulae. In 1979 they included Hezemans, Höttinger, Kelleners, Quester, Winkelhock, Jochen Mass, David Hobbs, Tom Walkinshaw and Frank Sytner, with a "John Winter" at Hockenheim, a pseudonym. In 1980 Cecotto, Christian Danner, Patrese, Prost, Henri Pescarolo, Arturo Merzario, Derek Daly and Jo Gartner were among the new names, and Lammers and Schurti were the new privateers who won.
The full lists, as racingsportscars' entries give them, run as follows. For 1979: Mario Andretti, Jean-Pierre Beltoise, Michael Bleekemolen, Walter Brun, Hans-Georg Bürger, Eddie Cheever, Elio de Angelis, Patrick Depailler, Teo Fabi, Emerson Fittipaldi, Bruno Giacomelli, Dan Gurney, Toine Hezemans, David Hobbs, Markus Hotz, Markus Höttinger, Denny Hulme, James Hunt, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Alan Jones, Helmut Kelleners, Franz Konrad, Albrecht Krebs, Jacques Laffite, Jean-Louis Lafosse, Niki Lauda, Sepp Manhalter, Jochen Mass, Tiff Needell, Nelson Piquet, Didier Pironi, Dieter Quester, Clay Regazzoni, Carlos Reutemann, Wolfgang Schütz, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Marc Surer, Frank Sytner, Tom Walkinshaw, John Watson, Manfred Winkelhock and "John Winter". For 1980: Mario Andretti, Michael Bleekemolen, Edy Brandenberger, Walter Brun, Bernd Brutschin, Hans-Georg Bürger, Johnny Cecotto, Eddie Cheever, Derek Daly, Christian Danner, Beppe Gabbiani, Jo Gartner, Hans Heyer, Jean-Pierre Jarier, Alan Jones, Hans Christian Jürgensen, Helmut Kelleners, Jacques Laffite, Jan Lammers, Jürgen Lässig, Sepp Manhalter, Arturo Merzario, Siegfried Müller Jr, Walter Nussbaumer, Peter Oberndorfer, Riccardo Patrese, Henri Pescarolo, Nelson Piquet, Didier Pironi, Alain Prost, Dieter Quester, Carlos Reutemann, Manfred Schurti, Wolfgang Schütz, Massimo Sigala, Willi Siller, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Marc Surer, John Watson and Manfred Winkelhock.
Hans-Georg Bürger, third at Hockenheim in 1979 and at the Avus in 1980, was killed at Zandvoort that year, on the warm-up lap of a European Formula 2 race.source 3source 1source 2source 12source 5
Why it ended
There was no third season. A.H. wrote in 1984 that the series was wound up at the end of the 1980 European Formula 1 season, and the sources give several reasons. BMW's effort was going into the turbocharged Formula 1 engine for Brabham, which A.H. connected with Tyrrell's demand that BMW build an engine of its own. Neerpasch had left BMW, and Adam Cooper wrote that after his departure the M1 project "was effectively canned". Heseltine adds that Goodyear, the principal sponsor, withdrew, and that the war between FISA and the teams' association made a one-make series "just a distraction". Motor Sport noted in September 1981 that Procar had given way to "the European series for Renault 5 turbos". Mosley put it in money:
It was a one-year deal, and it was renewed for a second year … And after that BMW probably thought it was too expensive, and they'd had the best out of it.
And by then the cars had somewhere else to go. "As soon as the car was homologated for Group 4, in 1981, they stopped Procar and we did Le Mans and long-distance racing," Surer remembered; the recognition form itself is dated from 1 December 1980.source 10source 8source 4source 2source 19source 20
Legacy
Motor Sport called it in 2017 the last time Formula 1 drivers raced in support events on Grand Prix weekends, "before increasingly restrictive contracts and busy PR and briefing schedules made it impossible". Its money had a longer reach. Ron Dennis, whose Project Four built most of the cars, said that Procar "made us a lot of money and that allowed us to build MP4/1".
Those who raced in it remembered it fondly. Henry wrote in 1997 that it was "still recalled by many as the best one-make racing series ever devised", Surer called it "the best series ever around F1", and Stuck went further:
The best ever, nothing has ever compared with it. A whole field of identical BMW M1 coupés mainly driven by F1 guys, with big prize money so everyone really went for it … it was usually better than the Grand Prix. Neerpasch organised it, he spent a ton of money on it.
Christian Horner called for a revival in 2016. Lauda had already raced a Procar again by then, at Hockenheim in July 2008, when BMW marked the M1's 30th anniversary at the German Grand Prix.source 2source 4source 5source 9
Results
A yellow year marks a win.
- 1979
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zolder 1979
12 May 1979, Zolder, Belgium. No. 99, Toine Hezemans: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zolder 1979
12 May 1979, Zolder, Belgium. No. 28, Clay Regazzoni: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zolder 1979
12 May 1979, Zolder, Belgium. No. 1, Mario Andretti: retiredsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zolder 1979
12 May 1979, Zolder, Belgium. No. 5, Niki Lauda: retiredsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zolder 1979
12 May 1979, Zolder, Belgium. No. 26, Jacques Laffite: retiredsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zolder 1979
12 May 1979, Zolder, Belgium. No. 6, Nelson Piquet, in Nelson Piquet's 1979 works Procar: did not startsource 3
- 1979
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Monaco 1979
26 May 1979, Monaco. No. 28, Clay Regazzoni: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Monaco 1979
26 May 1979, Monaco. No. 14, Emerson Fittipaldi: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Dijon-Prenois 1979
30 June 1979, Dijon-Prenois, France. No. 27, Alan Jones: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Dijon-Prenois 1979
30 June 1979, Dijon-Prenois, France. No. 3, Didier Pironi: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1979
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Silverstone 1979
13 July 1979, Silverstone, England. No. 6, Nelson Piquet, in Nelson Piquet's 1979 works Procar: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Silverstone 1979
13 July 1979, Silverstone, England. No. 44, Markus Höttinger: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Silverstone 1979
13 July 1979, Silverstone, England. No. 2, Carlos Reutemann: 8th overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Silverstone 1979
13 July 1979, Silverstone, England. No. 90, Tiff Needell: 9th overallsource 3
- 1979
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Hockenheim 1979
28 July 1979, Hockenheim, Germany. No. 77, Hans-Joachim Stuck, in Hans-Joachim Stuck's Cassani Procar, 4301062: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Hockenheim 1979
28 July 1979, Hockenheim, Germany. No. 90, Hans-Georg Bürger: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1979
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Österreichring 1979
11 August 1979, Österreichring, Austria. No. 44, Markus Höttinger: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Österreichring 1979
11 August 1979, Österreichring, Austria. No. 3, Didier Pironi: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1979
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zandvoort 1979
25 August 1979, Zandvoort, Netherlands. No. 26, Jacques Laffite: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zandvoort 1979
25 August 1979, Zandvoort, Netherlands. No. 81, Manfred Winkelhock: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1979
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Monza 1979
9 September 1979, Monza, Italy. No. 5, Niki Lauda, in Niki Lauda's 1979 Procar: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1979
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Monza 1979
9 September 1979, Monza, Italy. No. 44, Markus Höttinger: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1980
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Donington Park 1980
26 April 1980, Donington Park, England. No. 81, Hans Heyer: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Donington Park 1980
26 April 1980, Donington Park, England. No. 27, Alan Jones: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Donington Park 1980
26 April 1980, Donington Park, England. No. 5, Nelson Piquet: 5th overallsource 3
- 1980
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Avus 1980
11 May 1980, Avus, Berlin, Germany. No. 99, Jan Lammers: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Avus 1980
11 May 1980, Avus, Berlin, Germany. Hans-Georg Bürger: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1980
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Monaco 1980
17 May 1980, Monaco. No. 66, Helmut Kelleners: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Monaco 1980
17 May 1980, Monaco. No. 5, Nelson Piquet: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Monaco 1980
17 May 1980, Monaco. No. 25, Didier Pironi: 9th overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Monaco 1980
17 May 1980, Monaco. No. 99, Jan Lammers: retiredsource 3
- 1980
- 1980
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Norisring 1980
22 June 1980, Norisring, Nuremberg, Germany. No. 99, Jan Lammers: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1980
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Brands Hatch 1980
12 July 1980, Brands Hatch, England. No. 27, Alan Jones: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Brands Hatch 1980
12 July 1980, Brands Hatch, England. No. 25, Didier Pironi: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Brands Hatch 1980
12 July 1980, Brands Hatch, England. No. 8, Alain Prost: 6th overallsource 3
- 1980
- 1980
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Hockenheim 1980
9 August 1980, Hockenheim, Germany. No. 40, Hans-Joachim Stuck, in Niki Lauda's 1979 Procar: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Hockenheim 1980
9 August 1980, Hockenheim, Germany. No. 5, Nelson Piquet: 4th overallsource 3
- 1980
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Österreichring 1980
16 August 1980, Österreichring, Austria. Hans-Joachim Stuck: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Österreichring 1980
16 August 1980, Österreichring, Austria. Carlos Reutemann: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1980
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zandvoort 1980
31 August 1980, Zandvoort, Netherlands. No. 90, Marc Surer: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zandvoort 1980
31 August 1980, Zandvoort, Netherlands. No. 26, Jacques Laffite: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Zandvoort 1980
31 August 1980, Zandvoort, Netherlands. No. 11, Mario Andretti: retiredsource 3
- 1980
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Imola 1980
14 September 1980, Imola, Italy. No. 27, Alan Jones: 2nd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Imola 1980
14 September 1980, Imola, Italy. Hans Heyer: 3rd overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Imola 1980
14 September 1980, Imola, Italy. Johnny Cecotto: 8th overallsource 3
- 1980
BMW M1 Procar Championship, Imola 1980
14 September 1980, Imola, Italy. Riccardo Patrese: 9th overallsource 3
- 1981
Sources
Sources are given as plain text; their addresses are on the sources page.
- Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
- Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
- Databaseresults and listings, entry by entry
- Motor Sport (database), "1979 BMW M1 Procar" and "1980 BMW M1 Procar" (championship races and standings), 1980 races, round 9, Imola, the winner; 1979 and 1980 standings; 1979 races: rounds, laps and winners; 1979 standings, first ten; 1980 races: rounds, laps and winners; 1980 standings, first ten; 1979 and 1980 standings; the rounds each won; 1979 and 1980 standings: 30 and 28 scorers; 1979 races, round 1, winner; 1979 races, round 2, winner; 1979 races, round 3, winner; 1979 races, round 4, winner; 1979 races, round 5, winner; 1979 races, round 6, winner; 1979 races, round 7, winner; 1979 races, round 8, winner; 1980 races, round 1, winner; 1980 races, round 2, winner; 1980 races, round 3, winner; 1980 races, round 4, winner; 1980 races, round 5, winner; 1980 races, round 6, winner; 1980 races, round 7, winner; 1980 races, round 8, winner; 1980 races, round 9, winner. Database
- Motor Sport, "Retrospective: BMW Procar" ("Race of champions"), Jan 2017, p. 98, p. 98, Piquet's three wins at the end of 1980; Lauda's title of 1979; p. 98, Mosley and Ecclestone on who began it; Mosley and March; Surer on what BMW paid; p. 98, the rule, the Michelin teams, Lauda's car, Mosley on the prize money, the change for 1980; p. 98, Zolder "a disappointment"; Fittipaldi at Monaco; Balestre and Dijon; "pipping Stuck to the title"; p. 98, the 1980 rules; Reutemann and the no-damage bonus; the last three rounds; p. 98, Lauda's words; his return with Dennis; Piquet's three wins; p. 98, seven world champions and 35 Grand Prix starters; p. 98, Mosley on the end; Surer on Group 4; p. 98, "the last time"; Dennis on MP4/1; Surer; Horner. Reference
- racingsportscars.com, "BMW M1 – All Results", the Procar entries of 1979 and 1980; 1979 Procar entries: places, entrants and the works cars; 1980 Procar entries: places, entrants, Prost at Brands Hatch, Andretti at Zandvoort; Lauda's and Piquet's entries, 1979–80; the Procar entries of 1979 and 1980, by driver; 12.5.1979, Procar Zolder, No. 60, 4301040, 1st; 12.5.1979, Procar Zolder, No. 99, 2nd; 12.5.1979, Procar Zolder, No. 28, 4301039, 3rd; 12.5.1979, Procar Zolder, No. 1, DNF; 12.5.1979, Procar Zolder, No. 5, DNF; 12.5.1979, Procar Zolder, No. 26, DNF; 12.5.1979, Procar Zolder, No. 6, 4301018, DNS; 26.5.1979, Procar Monaco, No. 5, 4301028, 1st; 26.5.1979, Procar Monaco, No. 28, 4301039, 2nd; 26.5.1979, Procar Monaco, No. 14, 3rd; 26.5.1979, Procar Monaco, No. 77, 4301062, DNF; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, No. 6, 4301018, 1st; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 2nd; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301072, 3rd; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301062, 4th; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 5th; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301026, 6th; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301021, 7th; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301061, 8th; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301063, 9th; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301040, 10th; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 11th; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 12th; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301066, 13th; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301030, DNF; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, DNF; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, DNS; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301039, DNA; 3.6.1979, Procar Donington, 4301028, DNA; 30.6.1979, Procar Dijon, No. 6, 4301018, 1st; 30.6.1979, Procar Dijon, No. 27, 4301044, 2nd; 30.6.1979, Procar Dijon, No. 3, 3rd; 13.7.1979, Procar Silverstone, No. 5, 4301028, 1st; 13.7.1979, Procar Silverstone, No. 6, 4301018, 2nd; 13.7.1979, Procar Silverstone, No. 44, 4301041, 3rd; 13.7.1979, Procar Silverstone, No. 2, 4301042, 8th; 13.7.1979, Procar Silverstone, No. 90, 9th; 28.7.1979, Procar Hockenheim, No. 5, 4301028, 1st; 28.7.1979, Procar Hockenheim, No. 77, 4301062, 2nd; 28.7.1979, Procar Hockenheim, No. 90, 3rd; 11.8.1979, Procar Zeltweg, No. 26, 1st; 11.8.1979, Procar Zeltweg, No. 44, 4301041, 2nd; 11.8.1979, Procar Zeltweg, No. 3, 3rd; 25.8.1979, Procar Zandvoort, No. 77, 4301062, 1st; 25.8.1979, Procar Zandvoort, No. 26, 2nd; 25.8.1979, Procar Zandvoort, No. 81, 4301072, 3rd; 9.9.1979, Procar Monza, No. 77, 4301062, 1st; 9.9.1979, Procar Monza, No. 5, 4301028, 2nd; 9.9.1979, Procar Monza, No. 44, 4301041, 3rd; 26.4.1980, Procar Donington, No. 99, 1st; 26.4.1980, Procar Donington, No. 81, 4301099, 2nd; 26.4.1980, Procar Donington, No. 27, 3rd; 26.4.1980, Procar Donington, No. 5, 5th; 11.5.1980, Procar Avus, 4301062, 1st; 11.5.1980, Procar Avus, No. 99, 2nd; 11.5.1980, Procar Avus, 4301098, 3rd; 17.5.1980, Procar Monaco, No. 40, 4301028, 1st; 17.5.1980, Procar Monaco, No. 66, 4301026, 2nd; 17.5.1980, Procar Monaco, No. 5, 3rd; 17.5.1980, Procar Monaco, No. 25, 9th; 17.5.1980, Procar Monaco, No. 99, DNF; 25.5.1980, 1000 km Nürburgring, No. 201, 3rd; 22.6.1980, Procar Norisring, No. 40, 4301028, 1st; 22.6.1980, Procar Norisring, No. 99, 2nd; 12.7.1980, Procar Brands Hatch, No. 28, 1st; 12.7.1980, Procar Brands Hatch, No. 27, 2nd; 12.7.1980, Procar Brands Hatch, No. 25, 3rd; 12.7.1980, Procar Brands Hatch, No. 8, 6th; 9.8.1980, Procar Hockenheim, No. 25, 1st; 9.8.1980, Procar Hockenheim, No. 91, 4301076, 2nd; 9.8.1980, Procar Hockenheim, No. 40, 4301028, 3rd; 9.8.1980, Procar Hockenheim, No. 5, 4th; 16.8.1980, Procar Zeltweg, No. 5, 1st; 16.8.1980, Procar Zeltweg, 4301098, 2nd; 16.8.1980, Procar Zeltweg, 3rd; 31.8.1980, Procar Zandvoort, No. 5, 1st; 31.8.1980, Procar Zandvoort, No. 90, 4301073, 2nd; 31.8.1980, Procar Zandvoort, No. 26, 3rd; 31.8.1980, Procar Zandvoort, No. 11, DNF; 14.9.1980, Procar Imola, No. 5, 1st; 14.9.1980, Procar Imola, No. 27, 2nd; 14.9.1980, Procar Imola, 3rd; 14.9.1980, Procar Imola, 8th; 14.9.1980, Procar Imola, 9th; 16.8.1981, 6 h Mosport, No. 2, 4301269, 14th. Database
- Adam Cooper, "One for the pros", Motor Sport, Oct 2008, p. 54, p. 54, "the man behind the Procar series"; p. 54, the works cars and Friday practice; Neerpasch on Zolder and Mosley's "case of money"; p. 54, Lauda and Dennis; "We drivers had fun"; p. 54, after Neerpasch left BMW; p. 54, Dennis on MP4/1; Lauda, "We drivers had fun"; the Hockenheim races of 2008. Reference
- Alan Henry, "Procar: When current F1 champs went tin-top racing" ("Procar – the ultimate one-make racer"), Motor Sport, Jul 1997, p. 94, p. 94, Ecclestone and the race organisers; p. 94, the four Michelin drivers; seeded and non-seeded runners; Lauda's entry; p. 94, Monaco, "confounding the cynics"; Dijon; Bürger at Hockenheim; p. 94, Hockenheim 1980, Pironi and Stuck; p. 94, "great pocket money"; p. 94, Bürger; p. 94, "the best one-make racing series ever devised"; Hockenheim 1980 paragraph: Pironi won "by less than a second from Manfield Schurti" (as printed). Reference
- Denis Jenkinson, "Reflections in the Woods", Motor Sport, Jun 1979, Zolder, the scheme of Hockenheim 1978; Zolder, "perhaps it should be Con-Car!". Primary
- Clive Richardson ("C.R."), "BMW's Racing Plans", Motor Sport, Jan 1979, p. 54, p. 54, the press conference of December 1978, the rounds and the drivers named; p. 54, five places for "the fastest available Formula One drivers". Primary
- Alan Henry ("A.H."), "M1 Magic", Motor Sport, Dec 1984, p. 76, p. 76, Ken Tyrrell as A.H. recalled him; p. 76, "top six"; p. 76, the 1979 title given to Piquet; p. 76, the series wound up after 1980; Tyrrell's demand. Primary
- Simon Taylor, "Lunch with… Hans Stuck", Motor Sport, Dec 2011, p. 89, p. 89, "I won the privateer section both years"; p. 89, "The best ever". Reference
- Richard Heseltine, "BMW M1", Motor Sport, Mar 2008, p. 134, p. 134, drivers "whose contracts would allow them"; p. 134, Goodyear and the war between FISA and FOCA. Reference
- Motor Sport, "Hans on…", Nov 2006, p. 58, p. 58, Stuck at Monaco: the oil leak and the delayed Formula 3 race; caption to the Monaco Procar race of 1979. Reference
- racingsportscars.com, Race, results and car-data pages with BMW M1 entries, 1979–86 (group), Donington Park, 3 June 1979: "Non championship race", distance, attendance, pole and fastest lap; Donington Park 1979 results: Gurney's and Hulme's non-starts; Donington 1979, results page, 1st; Donington 1979, results page, 2nd; Donington 1979, results page, 3rd; Donington 1979, results page, 4th; Donington 1979, results page, 5th; Donington 1979, results page, 6th; Donington 1979, results page, 7th; Donington 1979, results page, 8th; Donington 1979, results page, 9th; Donington 1979, results page, 10th; Donington 1979, results page, 11th; Donington 1979, results page, 12th; Donington 1979, results page, 13th; Donington 1979, results page, DNF, engine; Donington 1979, results page, DNF, front suspension; Donington 1979, results page, DNF, rear suspension; Donington 1979, results page, DNS, "No driver license", as the results page records it; Donington 1979, results page, DNA; Nürburgring 1000 km 1980, race page: IMSA GTX/GTP +2000 class winner, No. 201; Mosport 1981, results page, 14th, No. 2, 192 laps. Database
- Motor Sport, "1979 Austrian Grand Prix race report", Sep 1979, p. 29, p. 29, the race after Saturday's practice. Primary
- Denis Jenkinson, "Dutch Grand Prix", Motor Sport, October 1979, p. 75, p. 75, the M1 race after Saturday's practice. Primary
- Denis Jenkinson, "Reflections in the Bourgogne", Motor Sport, Aug 1979, p. 70, p. 70, Dijon: the FISA ruling, the timekeepers and "a high speed processional advertisement". Primary
- Motor Sport, "1979 British Grand Prix race report – Williams all the way", Aug 1979, p. 33, p. 33, the Procar prize-giving at Silverstone. Primary
- Simon Taylor, "Lunch with… Jan Lammers", Motor Sport, Mar 2015, p. 69, p. 69, Donington, Monaco and the Norisring, 1980. Reference
- BMW Group Classic, "A letter from the sporting gods" (BMW Classic blog), the champions' road-going M1s. Primary
- ONS / FIA (FIA Historic Database), ONS/FIA homologation form (Testblatt) no. 670, BMW M 1, Group 4 (and its transfer to Group B), 1980, form p. 1, valid from 1 December 1980. Primary
- Motor Sport, "Around and about", Sep 1981, p. 40, p. 40, the Renault 5 Turbo series. Primary