After the recent video of the Legends Grand Prix with that melodious, ex-Niki Lauda BMW M1 Procar in the opening scene, I remembered I still had to work on some footage related to another M1 Procar that I saw last year during the Mugello Classic historic weekend by Peter Auto. And so here it is. Jump onboard the Maldon Salt Racing's BMW M1 driven by Chris Ward and listen to the legendary inline-6 singing around Mugello Circuit! (Sorry for the overexposed onboard footage. Messed up the GoPro settings that day)
In 1979 Jochen Neerpasch, the head of BMW's Motorsports division, devised a one-make championship using racing modified M1s. The division had started construction of the first sports car for BMW in 1978, the M1, and had planned from the start to enter it in the World Sportscar Championship, as well as offering the cars to customers for other series. BMW Motorsport planned to build M1s to meet Group 5 regulations, but a rule change instituted by the FISA in 1977 altered the requirements for the class, forcing the production of minimum 400 M1s to meet Group 4 regulations before the car could be further homologated for the Group 5 category.
Development of the Group 4 racing car was already under way at the time of the regulation change. Neerpasch believed that rather than delaying their racing program until 400 road cars had been built, racing cars could be built at the same time since they too counted toward the 400 example minimum. This is where the idea of the single-make championship was born, so that Group 4 racing cars could be used and, at the same time, allowing BMW to develop the M1 through direct experience.
In those year Max Mosley, the head of March Engineering (a constructor which BMW was partnered with in their factory efforts in the European Formula 2 Championship), was a member of the Formula 1 Constructors Association. Neerpasch asked him to try to use his position to convince other F1 teams to support the idea of a single-make championship during European rounds of the F1 championship, which would also have allowed the car and the brand to gain great visibility.
And this is how the BMW M1 Procar Championship, sometimes known simply as Procar, was born. The series featured professional drivers from various motorsport disciplines. It ran for two years, with Niki Lauda winning the 1979 season, and Nelson Piquet the 1980 season. After BMW met the standards for Group 4, the Procars were sold and used by various teams in the World Championship as well as other national series.
All the BMW M1s of the Procar Championship were built to identical standards, although their origins varied. BS Fabrications assembled five cars for the BMW factory team, while cars for other competitors were built by the British Formula 2 team Project Four Racing (led by Ron Dennis) and by the Italian Osella. They shared only some basics from the M1 road cars. For the exterior, a spoiler was added under the nose of the car, while an adjustable rear wing was added on the the engine cover. Wider wheel arches were added to shroud the 28 cm wheels in the front and 32 cm at the rear. The glass windows were replaced with plastic.
The road-legal M1 featured a cast iron block, 3.5-litre BMW M88 straight-6 able to produce 273 hp. For the Procar the engine was modified into the M88/1, featuring forged pistons, sharper camshafts, bigger valves, as well as oil cooling for the transmission and rear differential. It was capable of producing 470 hp at 9,000 rpm. The 5-speed ZF gearbox housing from the road car was retained but with multiple gear ratios allowed. New suspensions, adjustable anti-roll bars and adjustable brakes pressure balance were the other changes and additions. Finally, once the non-essential elements were removed, the machine reached a weight of only 1,020 kgs (2,250 lb).
0:00 Pit Exit
0:51 Mix OnBoard & External Footage
2:44 Two Laps OnBoard
7:41 External Footage
#BMWM1 #BMWM1Procar #M1Procar
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I have to thank my friends and youtubers @Italiansupercarvideo and @NM2255 for the great collaboration done. Don't forget to subscribe to their channels!!
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- Camcorders: Canon Legria HF G30 + Canon DM-100 Microphone, Canon Legria GX10 + Zoom H5, Sony FDR AX700 + Audio-Technica Microphone
- Event: Mugello Classic 2024 by Peter Auto
- Where: Mugello Circuit, Italy
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