1983 Race of Champions
| 1983 Race of Champions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Non-championship race in the 1983 Formula One season | |||
 | |||
| Race details[1] | |||
| Date | 10 April 1983 | ||
| Official name | Marlboro Race of Champions | ||
| Location | Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, Fawkham, Kent, England | ||
| Course | Permanent racing facility | ||
| Course length | 4.206 km (2.6136 miles) | ||
| Distance | 40 laps, 168.24 km (104.544 miles) | ||
| Weather | Warm, dry | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Williams-Cosworth | ||
| Time | 1:15.766 | ||
| Fastest lap | |||
| Driver |
 René Arnoux | Ferrari | |
| Time | 1:17.826 on lap 18 | ||
| Podium | |||
| First | Williams-Cosworth | ||
| Second | Tyrrell-Cosworth | ||
| Third | Arrows-Cosworth | ||
The 1983 Race of Champions was a non-championship Formula One (F1) race held at Brands Hatch on 10 April 1983. Contested over 40 laps, it was the final non-championship F1 race to be held in the sport's history (with exception of the Formula One Indoor Trophy sprint event held between 1988 and 1996). Reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg won in a Williams-Ford, narrowly beating the Tyrrell-Ford of F1 rookie Danny Sullivan, while 1980 World Champion Alan Jones was third in an Arrows-Ford.
Report
Entry
Only thirteen cars were entered for the event, compared with the maximum grid of 26 starters which took part in the World Championship Grands Prix of
There were two drivers present who did not take part in that year's championship:
Eleven teams took part, but only Arrows and Theodore entered more than one car. Brabham elected not to use either of its regular drivers
Qualifying
Keke Rosberg took
Race
Rosberg and Arnoux held their grid positions off the line, but Sullivan rose to third place after being given a nudge under braking for the first corner, the extra momentum forcing him into overtaking Jones around the outside instead of hitting him. Arnoux used the estimated 650 bhp (485 kW; 659 PS) available from his
On lap seven, Arnoux, who had been passed for the lead by Rosberg going into Surtees, pitted for new tyres, his Ferrari wearing its rubber extremely quickly despite cool ambient temperatures (Arnoux also had major tyre troubles in practice and was lucky not to damage the car after blowing a rear tyre at speed on the run to Clearways). By lap 23 and two further stops, his team had no further sets of tyres and he was forced to retire with camshaft trouble, although he had set the
At around half-distance of the forty-lap race, Rosberg also began to suffer from tyre wear, particularly blistering to his left-rear. Sullivan was using a softer-compound set of tyres, but had "scrubbed" them in the pre-race warm-up and had no such problems. For the final fifteen laps, he was right behind Rosberg, but never managed to overtake the Williams. Despite running side by side at places on the last lap, Rosberg held on to win from Sullivan, with Jones (still with two pins in his hip after breaking it falling off a horse on his farm in Australia) half a minute behind in third. Henton, Boesel, and the lapped Schlesser and Guerrero completed the finishers.
Rosberg would later add the championship Monaco Grand Prix to his victory haul in 1983, but the other finishers would not approach their results at this race in any other F1 Grand Prix in 1983. As the World Championship had become ever-more important in the increasingly commercial world of Formula One, the 1983 Race of Champions remains the final non-championship race to have been held in the sport's history, with exception of the Formula One Indoor Trophy sprint event held between 1988 and 1996.
Classification
Entry list
Qualifying
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Lap | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  Keke Rosberg
|
Williams-Cosworth | 1:15.766 | — |
| 2 | 28 | René Arnoux
|
Ferrari | 1:15.839 | +0.073 |
| 3 | 30 |  Alan Jones
|
Arrows-Cosworth | 1:17.501 | +1.735 |
| 4 | 7 |  John Watson
|
McLaren-Cosworth | 1:18.062 | +2.296 |
| 5 | 33 |  Roberto Guerrero
|
Theodore-Cosworth | 1:18.862 | +2.680 |
| 6 | 4 |  Danny Sullivan
|
Tyrrell-Cosworth | 1:18.446 | +2.783 |
| 7 | 34 | Brian Henton
|
Theodore-Cosworth | 1:18.549 | +3.096 |
| 8 | 12 | Nigel Mansell
|
Lotus-Renault | 1:18.894 | +3.128 |
| 9 | 26 |  Raul Boesel
|
Ligier-Cosworth
|
1:19.236 | +3.470 |
| 10 | 5 |  Héctor Rebaque
|
Brabham-BMW | 1:19.592 | +3.826 |
| 11 | 29 | Chico Serra
|
Arrows-Cosworth | 1:22.402 | +6.636 |
| 12 | 40 |  Stefan Johansson
|
Spirit-Honda | 1:35.500 | +19.734 |
| 13 | 17 | Jean-Louis Schlesser
|
RAM March-Cosworth | No time | — |
Race
| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Keke Rosberg
|
Williams-Cosworth | 40 | 53:15.253 |
| 2 | 4 | Danny Sullivan
|
Tyrrell-Cosworth | 40 | +0.490 |
| 3 | 30 | Alan Jones
|
Arrows-Cosworth | 40 | +28.642 |
| 4 | 34 | Brian Henton
|
Theodore-Cosworth | 40 | +40.520 |
| 5 | 26 | Raul Boesel
|
Ligier-Cosworth
|
40 | +40.971 |
| 6 | 17 | Jean-Louis Schlesser
|
RAM March-Cosworth | 39 | +1 lap |
| 7 | 33 | Roberto Guerrero
|
Theodore-Cosworth | 39 | +1 lap |
| Ret | 29 | Chico Serra
|
Arrows-Cosworth | 30 | Gear linkage |
| Ret | 28 | René Arnoux
|
Ferrari | 23 | Tyres/Camshaft |
| Ret | 5 | Héctor Rebaque
|
Brabham-BMW | 14 | Tyres/Suspension |
| Ret | 7 | John Watson
|
McLaren-Cosworth | 8 | Transmission |
| Ret | 12 | Nigel Mansell
|
Lotus-Renault | 6 | Handling |
| Ret | 40 | Stefan Johansson
|
Spirit-Honda | 4 | Engine |
- Fastest lap: René Arnoux, 1:17.826 (lap 18)
- Lap leaders: René Arnoux (1–6), Keke Rosberg (7–40)
References
- Fearnley, Paul (October 2008). "Ever Decreasing Circles – F1 Non-Championship Races Part Three: The '70s & '80s". Motor Sport. 84 (10): 92.
- Hamilton, Maurice, ed. (1983). ISBN 0-905138-25-2.
- ISBN 0-905138-25-2.