The 1961 World Sportscar Championship

World Sportscar Championship

The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...

 season was the 9th season of the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was a series for sportscars

Sports car racing

Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....

 that ran in many worldwide endurance events. It ran from March 25, 1961 to August 15, 1961, and was composed of five races.

Schedule

Rnd	Race	Circuit or Location	Date
1	12 Hours of Sebring 12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, a former Army Air Force base in Sebring, Florida...	Sebring International Raceway	March 25
2	Targa Florio Targa Florio The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973...	Palermo Palermo Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...	April 30
3	1000km Nürburgring 1000km Nürburgring The ADAC 1000 km Nürburgring is an endurance race for sports cars held on the Nürburgring in Germany and organized by the ADAC since 1953.- History :...	Nürburgring Nürburgring The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...	May 28
4	24 Hours of Le Mans 24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...	Circuit de la Sarthe Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe, located near Le Mans, France, is a semi-permanent race course most famous as the venue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. The track uses local roads that remain open to the public most of the year...	June 10 June 11
5	4 Hours of Testa Rosa Coppa Acerbo The Coppa Acerbo was an automobile race held in Italy, named after Tito Acerbo, the brother of Giacomo Acerbo, a prominent fascist politician. Following Italy's defeat in World War II, and the consequent demise of fascism, the race was renamed the Circuito di Pescara, and in some years was also...	Pescara Circuit Pescara Circuit The Pescara Circuit was a road race course near Pescara, Italy.The track boasted two long straights between villages, as well as demanding corners in the seaside town. The roads were both narrow and bumpy, and the staggering length was the longest of any open-wheel championship event...	August 15

Season results

Points were awarded for the top 6 finishers, in the order of 8-6-4-3-2-1. Constructors were only awarded points for their highest finishing car. Other finishers from the same manufacturer were merely skipped in the points count.

Races

Rnd	Circuit	Winning Team	Results
		Winning Drivers
1	Sebring	#14 Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....	Results
		Phil Hill Phil Hill Philip Toll Hill, Jr., was a United States automobile racer and the only American-born driver to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Hill was described as a "thoughtful, gentle man" and once said, "I'm in the wrong business. I don't want to beat anybody, I don't want to be the big hero...   Olivier Gendebien Olivier Gendebien Olivier Gendebien was a war hero and race car driver. He has been cited as "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time".-Background:...
2	Palermo Palermo Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...	#162 Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....	Results
		Wolfgang von Trips   Olivier Gendebien Olivier Gendebien Olivier Gendebien was a war hero and race car driver. He has been cited as "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time".-Background:...
3	Nürburgring Nürburgring The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...	#1 Camoradi USA	Results
		Masten Gregory Masten Gregory Masten Gregory was a racing driver from the United States. He raced in Formula One between and , participating in 43 World Championship races, and numerous non-Championship races....   Lloyd Casner
4	La Sarthe Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe, located near Le Mans, France, is a semi-permanent race course most famous as the venue for the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race. The track uses local roads that remain open to the public most of the year...	#10 Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....	Results 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1961 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 29th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 10 and 11 1961. It was also the 4th round of the World Sportscar Championship.-Official results:-Did Not Finish:-Statistics:...
		Phil Hill Phil Hill Philip Toll Hill, Jr., was a United States automobile racer and the only American-born driver to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. Hill was described as a "thoughtful, gentle man" and once said, "I'm in the wrong business. I don't want to beat anybody, I don't want to be the big hero...   Olivier Gendebien Olivier Gendebien Olivier Gendebien was a war hero and race car driver. He has been cited as "one of the greatest sportscar racers of all time".-Background:...
5	Pescara Pescara Circuit The Pescara Circuit was a road race course near Pescara, Italy.The track boasted two long straights between villages, as well as demanding corners in the seaside town. The roads were both narrow and bumpy, and the staggering length was the longest of any open-wheel championship event...	#4 Scuderia Centro Sud	Results
		Lorenzo Bandini Lorenzo Bandini Lorenzo Bandini was an Italian motor racing driver who raced in Formula One for the Scuderia Centro Sud and Ferrari teams.-Career:...   Giorgio Scarlatti Giorgio Scarlatti Giorgio Scarlatti was a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on May 13, 1956. He scored one championship point....

Manufacturers Championship

Only the best 3 results out of the 5 race season counted towards the championship. Points earned but not counted towards the championship total are listed in italics.

Pos	Manufacturer	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5†	Total
1	Ferrari Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...	8	8	6	8	4	24
2	Maserati Maserati Maserati is an Italian luxury car manufacturer established on December 1, 1914, in Bologna. The company's headquarters is now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. It has been owned by the Italian car giant Fiat S.p.A. since 1993...		3	8	3	2	14
3	Porsche Porsche Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....	2	6	1	2	3	11
4	O.S.C.A. O.S.C.A. Officine Specializzate Costruzioni Automobili - Fratelli Maserati SpA was an Italian brand of sports car automobiles, usually abbreviated to O.S.C.A., OSCA or Osca.- History :...					1	1

† - Race shortened, half points awarded.

External links

• 1961 World Sportscar Championship