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EUROPEAN 2 LITER CHAMPIONSHIP
By Carlos De Paula By 1969, there were quite a few 2 liter sports cars around in Europe to warrant a separate championship. These cars normally competed in the World Championship of Makes, with no chance of outright victory, so competitors welcomed the chance of actually winning races, rather than classes. The first European 2 liter championship was contested in 1970, and most competitors used Chevron or Lola cars, although Abarth was a regular competitor, and there were sporadic appearances by older Porsches and Alfa Romeos, in addition to other manufacturers, such as Daren, Nomad, Astra, Focus, De Sanctis, Croosley, with some GT/Touring cars such as Lancia Fulvia, Porsche 911, Alfa GTA, BMW, Ford, Alpine Renault, Jerboa, Ferrari, Opel GT, Lotus, and VW Porsches making up the grids. The very first edition of the championship was a straight fight between Joakin Bonnier, driving a Lola, and Brian Redman. Bonnier ended up winning four rounds, to Redman’s two victories. John Burton and Vic Elford also won races for Chevron, while Abarth won a single round with Arturo Merzario. The events were normally 2 hours in length, either single or two heat races, and it included rounds in France, Finland, Austria, Sweden, Germany(2), Italy (2) and Belgium. Chevron ended up carrying the makes championship, although Lola’s Bonnier took the drivers title. Among other drivers who raced that year were Gijs van Lennep, Leo Kinnunen, Willy Kaushen, Karl Won Wendt, Reine Wissel, Peter Schetty, Teodoro Zeccoli, Jonathan Williams, Dieter Quester, Johannes Ortner, Gerard Larrousse, and Mario Casoni. Although most of the British cars used Cosworth 1.8 liter engines, a Mazda 2 liter engined Chevron finished 6th in the Belgian round, while a BMW engined Chevron finished 4th in Anderstorp. For 1971, the championship continued to be a fight between Lola and Chevron, with Abarth always ready to pick a win, specially in Italy. The GT grid fillers were not present in most rounds, although the Nurbugring 500 continued to attract a large number of such cars. Among the 2 liter makes represented were Martin, Daren, Dulon, Taydec, Redex, SAR, AMS, and Gropa. Austrian Helmut Marko was Lola’s main driver, while Chevron won races with Toine Hezemans, future world champion Niki Lauda and John Hine. Vic Elford and Jo Bonnier also won races for Lola, while Merzario won at Vallelunga, for Abarth. Among other drivers who contested rounds of the championship were Jean Pierre Jabouille (who would eventually win the European Formula 2 championship, and would be the first Formula 1 winner driving a turbo car), John Miles, who had been sacked by the Lotus Formula 1 team the year before, Gijs Van Lennep, Mario Casoni, Guy Edwards, Ronnie Peterson, Chris Craft, John Bridges, Bob Wollek who became one of sports car racing’s major stars in the late 70’s, Giovanni Salvati, and Wilson Fittipaldi Junior. Lola won the team championship, followed by Chevron and Abarth. The 1972 Championship was handsomely won by Abarth, with Merzario winning three rounds, Toine Hezemans and Derek Bell, one. Dieter Quester won a round, driving a Chevron BMW, John Burton the Barcelona round with a Cosworth Chevron, while Jean Louis Lafosse won the Nurburgring round with a Lola, and Gerard Larrouse another with a Lola. Overall, Abarth finished ahead of Chevron and Lola. Some unusual makes around were GRAC, Coldwell and KMW. Among prominent drivers who contested the series were John Watson, Nanni Galli, Vic Elford, Guy Edwards, Jo Bonnier who died during the course of the year at Le Mans, Carlo Faccetti, Howden Ganley, Jody Scheckter, Bob Wollek, and John Bridges. At this stage, although the championship was considered interesting, it lacked financial support, so it would probably be short lived. The 1973 edition was won by Chris Craft, driving a Lola, and many of the old supporters continued competing. Arturo Merzario won the Eifelpokalrennen in Nurburgring in the newly named Osella Abarth, while Vittorio Brambilla won at Enna, for the same marque. The only Chevron win was in Paul Ricard, where John Lepp led a Chevron 1-2, followed by John Burton. Craft won at Misano and Imola, while Guy Edwards won, with a Lola, the Clermont Ferrand and Osterreichring rounds. Gerard Larrousse won at Montjuich, with a Lola BMW. Other championship luminaries were Toine Hezemans, Dieter Quester, Henri Pescarolo, Tim Schenken, Italian hillcimb star Mauro Nesti, Dave Walker in a GRD, American Jim Busby, Jean Pierre Jabouille, Vic Elford and Reinhold Jost. A prominent newcomer as far as makes were concerned, was Alpine Renault. March, GRD and AMS also scored points during the year, so there was some further diversity as far as marques were concerned. 1974 was a hard year for racing in general, and the European 2 liter championship was affected as well. The championship had seven rounds and it was utterly dominated by the Alpine Renault squad, which had on its driving strength Gerard Larrouse, Alain Cudini, Jean Pierre Jabouille and Alain Serpaggi. Cudini won at Paul Ricard, while Larrousse won at Clermont Ferrand, Pergusa and Muggello. Serpaggi won at Hockenheim and Jabouille at Misano and Jarama. Nothing was left for other manufacturers, which included newcomer TOJ, in addition to Osella, Chevron, AMS, March, Lola and GRD. As a result, top drivers that used to flock to the series in the past mostly stayed away, although Merzario, Brambilla, Craft, Lepp and Laffosse paid occasional visits, and former Lotus F1- driver Dave Walker gave it a go in the TOJ. The last year of the championship was 1975, and it was indeed a sad end. Several of the rounds were cancelled, and the championship ended up having two rounds only. Alpine Renault had “graduated” to the World Makes Championship with a turbo version of the 2 liter car, so it was all left to the privateers again. The two rounds that did take place were the Brands Hatch race won by Obermoser in the TOJ, and a round at Hockenheim, won by Martin Raymond. Chris Skeaping, who had scored on both races was named champion, and as less than six rounds were run, the FIA did not recognize the championship. Some new makes appeared in those rounds, though: Cheetah, Rex (Derek Bell raced one) and Sauber, which eventually would make it to Formula 1. 2 Liter sports racers continued racing all over Europe, in track and mountain climb races. The Italian championship was particularly strong, mostly contested by Osellas. 2 Liters continued to be used in club racing in England, while they comprised most of the field in the World Championship of Makes in 1975 and World Sports Car Championships of 1976 and 1977. Eventually, the Sports Car Championship became an European level championship, still contested mostly by 2-liter cars, and when the Group Five Silhouette concept collapsed in 1980, 2-liter Group 6 cars not only contested the World Makes Championship races, but also won overall on several occasions.
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