1984 Polish Car Racing Championships refers to the 28th season of the .
The season was contested in seven classes, though the planned introduction of Class 8, a class for production-model Polish Fiat 125p and Polonez, did not happen.
The 1984 Polish Car Racing Championships season consisted of five qualifying rounds, two of which were held at the tracks in Poznań (1 May, 7 October) and (27 May, 9 September), and one in Toruń (2 September). The race in Kielce on 27 May also served as a qualifying round for the Cup of Peace and Friendship. In addition, a competition not counting toward WSMP points was organized in Piotrków Trybunalski on 22 July, and on the occasion of three qualifying rounds, unofficial Grand Prix events were also held: the Grand Prix of Toruń (2 September), the Grand Prix of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (9 September), and the Grand Prix of Poznań (7 October).
Based on the results, seven Polish champions for the 1984 season were chosen: Jacek Chojnacki, Dariusz Kinderman, Wojciech Cołoszyński, Wacław Janowski, , , and Jerzy Krotoski. Janowski was the only driver to defend the title he had won the previous year.
Background In 1953, on the initiative of the Polish Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, which had been established three years earlier, the first season of the was organized. In the early seasons, drivers mostly used their own designs, collectively known as SAM. However, in 1957, driver and designer Jerzy Jankowski built the Rak 650 – a modern race car powered by a Triumph engine. In 1958, the vehicle won the Polish Championships, and a year later, the runner-up title. The car was subsequently replaced by the .
During this period in Italy, due to the lack of competitiveness of the local Formula 3, a new racing series called Formula Junior was established. In 1959, the International Automobile Federation approved Formula Junior as an international formula category. In 1961, the first season of the Polish Championships was held under Formula Junior regulations. In the 1964 season, Formula Junior was replaced in Poland by Formula 3. However, due to the dwindling number of competitors in the championships and difficulties in finding suitable tracks, the Polish Car Racing Championships were suspended after 1967.
In the early 1970s, a drivers' strike took place, after which undertook the reform of Polish racing. The reorganized championships were revived in 1972, introducing passenger car classes (including the Polish Fiat 125p and Fiat 126 classes). Single-seater races were held as part of Formula Easter, and from 1974 onward, also . During this period, tracks were also built in Poznań and .
1983 season In the 1983 season, a production-car class for Fiat 126 (Class 1) was held for the first time. The class for Fiat 126p cars with engines up to 652 cm3 (with possible modifications), which had been held the previous year as Class 1, became Class 2 in 1983. The same applied to Class 3 (cars with engines up to 700 cm3 – Fiat 126p, Trabant) and Class 4 (a brand-specific class with engines up to 1,500 cm3 – Polish Fiat 125p and FSO Polonez, as well as cars manufactured in Eastern Bloc countries with engines up to 1,300 cm3). In place of the abolished classes 5 (touring and GT cars with engines of 1,300–1,600 cm3) and 6 (touring and GT cars with engines of 1,600–2,000 cm3), Class 5 was introduced – passenger cars with engines up to 2,500 cm3 and Polish prototypes with engines up to 2,000 cm3. Classes 6 and 7 were Formula Easter and Formula Polonia, respectively. The races took place at the Poznań (twice), Kielce (twice), and Toruń (once) circuits. The distance of each race was approximately 40 km.
In Class 1, the Polish champion was Krzysztof Caputa of the FSM factory team, who won three races. The Class 2 championship was won by Włodzimierz Krukowski, who triumphed in four races. In Class 3, Krukowski and Tomasz Barański each won two races, but Barański was crowned champion. Class 4 was won by Wacław Janowski (Zastava 1300), who finished first in four rounds. In Class 5 (from which Marian Bublewicz, driving a , was excluded), Andrzej Koper triumphed three times and won the championships in a Renault 5 Alpine. The Class 6 champion was , who won four rounds in an MTX 1-03. In Class 7, the title was won by (), who finished one point ahead of Witold Nalewaj in the standings.
On 5 June 1983, during the Cup of Peace and Friendship qualifiers at Autodrom Chayka near Kyiv, an accident occurred in which Polish rider died. On the 13th lap of the race, Grochowski collided with Toomas Napa, who was lapping him. As a result of the accident, Grochowski lost consciousness, and his vehicle caught fire. Due to the inaction of emergency services, the rescue operation began late, and Grochowski died in the hospital from burns two days after the incident. He was the only Polish race car driver to die in a track accident during the Polish People's Republic era.
Regulations In 1984, as in previous years, the basis for establishing the classes was the classification of cars into groups according to the International Automobile Federation regulations, which were as follows: Group N – standard touring cars, manufactured in quantities of at least 5,000 units per year; Group A – touring cars with extensive modification potential, manufactured in quantities of at least 5,000 units per year; Group B – GT cars with extensive modification potential, produced in quantities of at least 200 units per year; Group C – closed-body sports cars with engines derived from Group A or B cars; Group E – racing cars of free formula and national formula.
On this basis, the Polish Automobile and Motorcycle Federation established eight classes in which the 1984 Polish Car Racing Championships were contested: Class 1 – production class – Fiat 126p with an engine up to 652 cm3 (Group N); Class 2 – production class – Fiat 126p with engine up to 652 cm3 (Group A); Class 3 – cars with engine up to 700 cm3 (Group A); Class 4 – production class – Polski Fiat 125p and FSO Polonez with engine up to 1,500 cm3, and cars manufactured in Eastern Bloc countries with engine up to 1,300 cm3 (Group A); Class 5 – passenger cars with engine up to 2,500 cm3 (Group A, B, or C) and domestic prototypes with engine up to 2,000 cm3; Class 6 – Formula Easter – single-seater racing cars with an engine from a Group N or A car manufactured in Eastern Bloc countries, up to 1,300 cm3; Class 7 – – single-seater racing cars with a Polish Fiat 125p engine of 1,300 cm3 and a Dacia or Zaporozhets gearbox; Class 8 – production class – Polish Fiat 125p, FSO 125p, and FSO Polonez with engine up to 1,500 cm3 (Group N).
Due to low interest in Class 8, no championship was ultimately held in that class, and drivers competing in such vehicles raced alongside Class 4.
50 points were awarded for a victory. The second-place driver received 46 points, and the third-place driver received 43 points. Subsequent positions were scored on a scale of 41-39-38-37-36, and so on. The final standings were determined by the four best results.
Calendar
As in the previous year, the 1984 Polish Car Racing Championships season consisted of five qualifying rounds. It began with a qualifying round in Poznań on 1 May (practice sessions were held the day before). The second race took place on 27 May in and also served as a qualifying round for the Cup of Peace and Friendship. The race was held at the Toruń airport circuit on 2 September, and a week later, again in Kielce. The season ended on 7 October with the second race in Poznań.
In addition to these events, three other races were scheduled for classes Classes 1–5, which did not count toward the championships standings. The first of these took place on 22 July in Piotrków Trybunalski. The second was held during the second round in Kielce on 9 September and was run as the Świętokrzyskie Mountains Grand Prix, while the third – the Grand Prix of Poznań – took place on 7 October in Poznań. On the occasion of the qualifying round in Toruń on 2 September, a handicap race, the Toruń Grand Prix, was held for Formula Polonia and Formula Easter cars, in which the Formula Polonia vehicles started 45 seconds ahead of the Formula Easter ones.
The distance of each race was approximately 40 kilometers.
Round Date CircuitLapsDistance (km)Classes Support events 1 1 May Poznań 10 40.850 all 2 27 May 10 41.600 all Cup of Peace and Friendship 3 2 September Toruń 14 42.000 all Grand Prix of Toruń 4 9 September 10 41.600 all Grand Prix of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains 5 7 October Poznań 10 40.850 all Grand Prix of Poznań
Season Round 1: Poznań The first round of the 1984 Polish Car Racing Championships season took place on 30 April (practice/qualifying) and 1 May (race). The race in each class consisted of 10 laps, bringing the total race distance to 40.850 km.
Defending champions, Andrzej Koper and , did not compete in Poznań, and three drivers were not defending their titles due to moving to other classes. The event took place in rainy conditions, with relatively low spectator turnout.
In Class 1, Zbyszko Gaik secured pole position. Starting third, Zdzisław Brymora overtook second-place and rode right behind Gaik for the rest of the race, briefly taking the lead on the 5th lap. Ultimately, Gaik won the race with a 0.2-second lead over Brymora. Jacek Chojnacki finished third, 15.5 seconds behind.
Bogdan Pawlak started from pole position in Class 2. Jerzy Wierzbołowski, starting from third place, took the lead at the start, but Krzysztof Caputa overtook him on the third lap. A lap later, Wierzbołowski regained the lead. On the sixth lap, Dariusz Kinderman became the new leader. During the ninth lap, Wierzbołowski moved up from third to first place and won the race. Kinderman finished second, and Zbigniew Kordek third.
Włodzimierz Krukowski, starting from pole position in Class 3, led the entire race, winning it with a lead of nearly 50 seconds over Tomasz Barański. The podium, which was entirely made up of drivers in Fiat 126p cars, was completed by Wojciech Cołoszyński.
Wacław Janowski (Zastava 1300), who started from pole position in Class 4, was unable to maintain the lead after the start, as he was overtaken by (Zastava 1300), (Lada 1300), and (Polish Fiat 125p). Janowski dropped out on the sixth lap. Mielcarek, who led throughout the race, lost his advantage a few kilometers before the finish line while lapping four competitors, but ultimately won the race. Mandera finished second, 0.4 seconds behind the winner, and Polak finished third, 0.8 seconds behind.
The made its debut in Class 5; its designer and driver was Maciej Bogusławski. He started from third position, while pole position was secured by (Polonez Prototype 1800 with a Fiat 132 engine). Bogusławski took the lead on the first lap, but lost it to Andrzej Kleina (Opel Kadett) on the next lap. Bogusławski regained the lead on the sixth lap. Two laps later, Kleina was back in the lead, but on the ninth lap he was overtaken by Bogusławski, who ultimately won the race with a 2.4-second lead over Kleina. Third place went to Piotr Nowicki (Polish Fiat 125p).
Czechoslovak-made cars made their debut in Class 6, driven by , , and . This race was the only one in Poznań to take place in dry conditions. Szmidt, who had secured pole position, dropped to fourth place at the start, with Kiełbania taking the lead. On the third lap, Szmidt overtook Kiełbania and won the race. Three kilometers before the finish line, Mazur spun out, allowing () to finish second behind Kiełbania.
(), who started first in Class 7, held the lead until the second lap, when he was overtaken by Jerzy Krotoski (). (Promot 76) finished behind Krotoski and Wojciechowski.
The Class 8 race, for which two drivers had registered, was canceled.
In the team standings, the round in Poznań was won by , which scored 150 points.