Grand Prix Masters was a one-make motor racing series featuring retired Formula One drivers. The inaugural (and sole 2005) event, at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in South Africa, took place on 11–13 November, but the series folded after a two-race season in 2006.

Concept Grand Prix Masters was modeled on the lucrative seniors tours of golf and tennis. In order to compete, drivers must:

Have retired from all forms of open wheel racing Have competed in (and retired from) F1 for two complete seasons Have passed a medical examination Be more than 45 years old (lowered to 40 for 2006) on 1 January for the season to follow

Car

All participants raced identical open wheel cars, which are based on the 2000 Reynard 2KI. The chassis was built by English constructor Delta Motorsport,Delta Motorsport - About Delta and was powered by a naturally aspirated, 3.5-litre, 80-degree V8 engine produced by Nicholson McLaren. The engine was based on the Cosworth XB engines previously used in Indy car racing, and according to the series' organisers, it produced more than 650 bhp at 10,400 rpm with over torque at 7,800 rpm.

In 2007 cars were to have been powered by a Mecachrome 90-degree V8 4.0 litre. It developed and revved to in excess of 9500 rpm.Mecachrome powers the Masters

Gearbox operation was controlled by a contemporary paddle shift arrangement.

Grand Prix Masters promoters boasted that the 650 kg (1433 lb.) cars reach . Claiming that the combination of stable aerodynamics and considerably simpler technology (than in use in modern Formula One) better demonstrate driver skill and promoted overtaking, electronic "drivers' aids" (such as traction control, power steering and ABS) were absent, and brakes were made of steel rather than carbon (as in many contemporary single seater race cars) to increase braking distances.

On track The Grand Prix Masters car first ran in late-September 2005 in the hands of Delta Motorsport Operations Director Simon Dowson. He reported a successful shakedown, despite appearing to sit very high in the car, his helmet appearing to sit level with the top of the roll-over hoop.

In mid-October 2005, Nigel Mansell and René Arnoux tested the car at the Pembrey Circuit in South Wales. 26 October saw the first multi-car test for the series, with Mansell, Andrea de Cesaris, Stefan Johansson, Derek Warwick, Alex Caffi, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Patrick Tambay and Christian Danner running at the Silverstone Circuit in England. De Cesaris was fastest, Danner slowest whilst Tambay crashed.

Controversy There were questions surrounding the fitness of the former Formula One stars who ended up competing in the series. Participant Christian Danner questioned the ability of 1980 World Champion Alan Jones and former GP winner Patrick Tambay in particular, given the rapid expansion of these drivers' waistlines since retiring from racing. Jones hit back claiming the only time Danner had seen a Grand Prix podium was when he passed it on the way to the lavatory. Jones' lack of fitness at the first GP Masters event might suggest Danner's assessment had some merit.You Can Go Home Again - AutoWeek Magazine

Seasons 2005

The first event, and the only event of the 2005 season, took place at Kyalami in South Africa on 13 November 2005. Nigel Mansell took pole then won after battling hard with Emerson Fittipaldi. Riccardo Patrese was third. Andrea de Cesaris finished fourth after a storming drive, where he pushed past Derek Warwick. Stefan Johansson spun out early on. Jacques Laffite retired with damaged right-front suspension after colliding with René Arnoux. As predicted, Alan Jones proved a disappointment. In practice he was up to ten seconds off the pace of Mansell, before pulling out of the race –- ostensibly due to neck injury. He was replaced by Eliseo Salazar.

2005 results Kyalami (South Africa), November 13

Pos No Driver Team Time Gap 1 5 Nigel Mansell Team Altech 50:55.154 2 7 Emerson Fittipaldi Team LG 50:55.562 + 0.408 3 6 Riccardo Patrese Team Goldpfeil 51:15.816 + 20.662 4 22 Andrea de Cesaris Team Unipart 51:16.854 + 21.700 5 12 Derek Warwick Team Lixxus 51:17.007 + 21.853 6 14 Hans-Joachim Stuck Team Phantom 51:18.355 + 23.201 7 11 Christian Danner Team Unipart 51:19.272 + 24.118 8 17 Eddie Cheever Team Altech 51:27.359 + 32.205 9 9 Jan Lammers Team LG 51:27.932 + 32.778 10 8 Eliseo Salazar Team Golden Palace 51:38.573 + 43.419 11 25 Patrick Tambay Team Lixxus 52:06.738 + 1'11.584 12 28 René Arnoux Team Golden Palace 52:07.890 + 1'12.736 Ret 26 Jacques Laffite Team GMF 43:44.471 17 laps Ret 2 Stefan Johansson Team Phantom 3:33.040 28 laps

2006

In January 2006 GP Masters announced it would hold events in the following venues:

Losail International Circuit (Qatar), April 29 Autodromo Nazionale Monza (Italy), June 18 (cancelled) Silverstone Circuit (United Kingdom), August 13 Sepang Circuit (Malaysia), October 15 (cancelled) Kyalami (South Africa), November 12 (cancelled) The race scheduled for Monza was cancelled due to noise limits. The Kyalami event would later be cancelled as well. A race at Sepang was a later addition to the calendar, but was also cancelled in the end.

2006 results Losail International Circuit (Qatar), April 29

Pos No Driver Team Time Gap 1 5 Nigel Mansell Team Altech 52:06.000 2 11 Christian Danner Team LUK 52:06.562 + 0.562 3 35 Eric van de Poele Team Golden Palace 52:07.174 + 1.174 4 17 Eddie Cheever Team Altech 52:09.016 + 3.016 5 12 Derek Warwick Team Lixxus 52:09.420 + 3.420 6 23 Pierluigi Martini Team Global Logistics 52:11.710 + 5.710 7 9 Jan Lammers Team LG 52:13.044 + 7.044 8 2 Stefan Johansson Team Altech 52:14.339 + 8.339 9 4 René Arnoux Team Golden Palace 52:15.068 + 9.068 10 6 Riccardo Patrese Team INA 52:15.423 + 9.423 11 27 Patrick Tambay Team Lixxus 52:21.506 + 15.506 12 7 Emerson Fittipaldi Team LG 52:35.788 + 29.788 Ret 10 Andrea de Cesaris Team INA 33:29.621 8 laps Ret 8 Eliseo Salazar Team Phantom 52:22.127 11 laps Ret 14 Hans-Joachim Stuck Team Phantom 9:28.882 19 laps

Silverstone Circuit (United Kingdom), August 13

Pos No Driver Team Time Gap 1 17 Eddie Cheever Team GPM 1:01:06.625 2 35 Eric van de Poele Team Golden Palace 1:01:25.302 + 16.677 3 11 Christian Danner Team LUK 1:01:45.180 + 36.555 4 14 Hans-Joachim Stuck Team Phantom 1:02:02.139 + 53.514 5 15 Alex Caffi Team Altech 1:02:11.648 + 1:03.623 6 6 Riccardo Patrese Team INA 1:02:15.492 + 1:06.867 7 23 Pierluigi Martini Team Motorola 1:02:54.980 + 1:46.355 8 7 Emerson Fittipaldi Team LG 1:01:13.217 + 1 Lap 9 4 René Arnoux Team Golden Palace 1:01:55.250 + 2 Laps 10 10 Andrea de Cesaris Team INA 1:01:34.298 + 2 Laps 11 27 Patrick Tambay Team Lixxus 1:01:49.162 + 3 Laps 12 2 Stefan Johansson Team Virgin Radio 55:22.246 + 4 Laps Ret 9 Jan Lammers Team LG 34:44.025 13 laps Ret 8 Eliseo Salazar Team Phantom 19:30.140 20 laps Ret 12 Derek Warwick Team Lixxus 5:39.035 26 laps Ret 5 Nigel Mansell Team Altech 31:44.608 26 Laps

2007 (cancelled)

Three races would be held in 2007, all cancelled due to organiser bankruptcy (see below section): Bucharest Ring (Romania), May 20 Kyalami (South Africa), September 23 Losail International Circuit (Qatar), November 17

Bankruptcy On 18 September 2007, Delta Motorsport, supplier of the GP Masters chassis, announced they were filing a petition with the British High Court to have the GP Masters Operating company placed in liquidationautosport.com - GP Masters News: Winding up order served on GPM due to non-payment of invoices. Following a hearing on 28 November 2007, the Grand Prix Masters series was officially wound up.autosport.com - GP Masters News: Masters series officially wound up

In the first quarter of 2008 Delta Motorsport stated that they intend to re-launch the series under the name F1 Masters using the original car that they manufactured for the GP Masters series.

Driver statistics Driver Age in 2005/2006 GP starts GPM starts GPM wins GPM pole positions GPM fastest laps Podiums Nigel Mansell 52 187 3 2 2 1 2 Emerson Fittipaldi 61 149 3 0 0 0 1 Riccardo Patrese 53 256 3 0 0 0 1 Andrea de Cesaris 48 214 3 0 0 0 0 Derek Warwick 53 147 3 0 0 0 0 Hans-Joachim Stuck 57 93 3 0 0 0 0 Christian Danner 49 47 3 0 1 1 2 Eddie Cheever 49 143 3 1 0 0 1 Jan Lammers 51 41 3 0 0 0 0 Eliseo Salazar 53 37 3 0 0 0 0 Patrick Tambay 58 123 3 0 0 0 0 René Arnoux 59 165 3 0 0 0 0 Stefan Johansson 51 103 3 0 0 0 0 Eric van de Poele 46 29 2 0 0 0 2 Pierluigi Martini 46 124 2 0 0 1 0 Alex Caffi 43 75 1 0 0 0 0 Jacques Laffite 64 180 1 0 0 0 0 Alan Jones 61 117 0 0 0 0 0

See also Superstar Racing Experience, another series with similar concept

References

External links http://www.delta-motorsport.com