The month in MOTOR SPORT
SEPTEMBER
15: Registrations for the 1995 WRC close. Only Subaru (above) has put its name down. ..
16: Malcolm Wilson wins the Manx International Rally, and in doing so wraps up the British Rally Championship.
18:The BTCC concludes at Donington, with victories for Paul Radisich (Ford) and Giampiero Simoni (Alfa). It marks Andy Rouse’s final BTCC appearance, the preparation wizard having announced his retirement.
18:Nicola Larini (Alfa Romeo) wins both DTM races at Singen, but Klaus Ludwig does enough to secure the title for Mercedes. Emanuele Pirro secures the ITCC title by finishing second to Audi team-mate Frank Biela in both races at Varano.
18: Michael Schumacher’s younger brother Ralf wins his first F3 race at Singen. Jorg Muller wins race two, and wraps up the German Championship.
18:Kazuyoshi Hoshino wins the non-championship F3000 race at Tokachi. Rusty Wallace takes NASCAR spoils at Dover.
18: Finishing fourth, behind Greg Moore, at Nazareth, Steve Robertson becomes the first Briton to win the Indy Lights championship. Paul Tracy heads another Penske 1-2-3 in the main event.
18:Stephen Murphy/Mick Morrissey (Escort Cosworth) win the Wexford Rally.
19:Damon Hill re-signs for Williams. Michael Schumacher, meanwhile, will stay With Benetton, despite speculation to the contrary. He has renegotiated his contract, however, so that he will be a free agent at the end of ’95.
19: Prodrive is tipped to be launching an F1 Programme in 1996, with Subaru.
19:42 entries are confirmed for the FIA World Touring Car Cup. Amongst them is Gabriele Tarquini, the BTCC champion having secured a last-minute entry.
19:Preferring to save its funds for 1995. Mitsubishi says it will not contest the RAC Rally.
19:Colin McRae wins the Rally Australia, beating Juha Kankkunen by nine seconds.
23: Ligier announces that it has signed Franck Lagorce as test driver.
23:Paul Tracy arrives in Portugal with Benetton, in order to test for the team following the Portuguese GP.
24:Jules Boullion and Vincenzo Sospiri finish 1 -2 in the Estoril F3000 race. With one race to go, Bouillon is only a point shy of series co-leaders Franck Lagorce and Gil de Ferran. And Sospiri can still take the title, too.
24: Chris Mellors (Sierra Cosworth) wins the Artemis Equipment Forest Stages Rally and, simultaneously, the Mintex National Rally Series.
25: Victory at Estoril takes Damon Hill to within a point of Michael Schumacher in the World Championship. In his last scheduled F1 race of the season, David Coulthard finishes second.
25:Rusty Wallace edges closer to Dale Earnhardt in the NASCAR points table, thanks to victory at Martinsville. Incredibly, Ernie Irvan is fit enough to stage a press conference during the weekend, having made an amazing recovery from the near-fatal injuries he sustained at Michigan.
25:Johnny Cecotto clinches the GTCC for BMW after winning at the Nürburgring. Steve Soper closes to within three points of ITCC series leader Tom Kristensen after clinching a brace of wins for Suzuka.
25:Michael Duke wins the Irish Formula Ford Festival at Mondello Park.
26: John Cleland (below) is confirmed as Vauxhall’s BTCC ace for the next two seasons.
26: Franҫois Delecour, without a WRC deal for 1995, may end up driving in crosscountry raids for Citrӧen. . .Didier Auriol, meanwhile, is set to stick with Toyota, and Carlos Sainz is likewise settled at Subaru.
30:A week of F1 testing concludes at Estoril, with the returning Michael Schumacher fastest for Benetton. Paul Tracy impresses on his first F1 acquaintance. The other new face is that of Domenico Schiattarella, who prepares for his Jerez GP debut with Simtek. Luca Badoer tries a Minardi. Occasional Jordan tester Vittorio Zoboli also has a run.
OCTOBER
2: Jules Bouillon’s third straight F3000 victory, at Magny-Cours, makes him the 10th FIA European champion. Franck Lagorce finishes second in the race, and the series. Former Lotus team manager Trevor Foster is present at the race; he wants to set up an F3000 team in 1995. Victory for Jean-Philippe Belloc in the supporting F3 race brings him the national championship crown.
2: The British F3 season concludes at Silverstone; in teeming rain, Jan Magnussen chalks up his 14th victory of the season.
2: Dick Johnson/John Bowe win the Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst. The meeting is marred by the death of privateer Don Watson, killed in a practice accident.
2: Geoff Bodine takes NASCAR honours at North Wilkesboro. Jeremy Dale’s Spice beats the Ferraris in the IMSA finale at Phoenix.
2: The ITCC concludes at Mugello, with wins for Emanuele Naspetti (BMW) and Rinaldo Capello (Audi). Alain Cudini continues his winning run for Opel in the French equivalent, at Montlhéry.
2:The All-Japan F3000 series tightens up after Ross Cheever wins at Suzuka. Richard Dean takes his first F3 win in the main support race.
3:The Grand Prix Mechanics Charitable Trust Day at Silverstone is a great success once again, and raises over £100,000.
4:Peugeot unveils its 306 ‘kit car’ rally contender at the Paris show.
7: Rumours linking Michael Schumacher to a McLaren-Mercedes deal, possibly in 1996, continue to circulate.
8:Vauxhall signs 20 year-old James Thompson to partner John Cleland in the BTCC.
9:Mario Andretti starts his final IndyCar race, at Laguna Seca. The 1978 World Champion is forced to retire from sixth place when his timing chain breaks. Paul Tracy wins again for Penske, a few days before confirming that he will join the Newman Haas team, alongside Michael Andretti, in 1995. Nigel Mansell bows out of America with an eight place finish. Andre Ribeiro wins the FIL support race.
9: Dale Jarrett wins the Charlotte NASCAR race; Dale Earnhardt still leads the points table.
9: Italian F3 champion Giancarlo Fisichella wins the final two rounds of the championship, at Magione. Jӧrg Muller and Alexander Wurz take F3 honours in the German championship finale at Hockenhelm, where the Mercedes 190s of Kurt Thiim and Bernd Schneider take a DTM win apiece, thereby recovering the manufacturers’ crown from 1993 winner Alfa Romeo.
9:Will Gollop wins the British Rallycross Championship finale at Croft; Dermot Carnegie is champion.
10:Although Footwork had intimated that Gianni Morbidelli would be replaced by Jean-Marc Gounon for the final three Grands Prix, the Italian confirms that he has found the means to continue with the team. Elsewhere, Hideki Noda is confirmed as Larrousse’s second driver for the balance of the season.
10: Honda confirms that it will enter two Accords in the 1995 BTCC.
12:As F1 personnel prepare to travel to Spain, Ligier announces that it has signed Johnny Herbert with immediate effect, to replace Eric Bernard, who is recruited by Lotus for the European GP. Team Lotus administrator Robson Rhodes is pressing on with disposal of assets to satisfy creditors; Herbert’s contract is thought to have been sold for around £1.5M.
13: Didier Auriol wins a thrilling Sanremo Rally, elevating himself to the position of clear favourite for the WRC title. Alister McRae wins the Formula 2 section for Nissan.
13: The UK press picks up on remarks made by Michael Schumacher, to the effect that Damon Hill is not a worthy adversary. Hill ignores the bait. The two later shake hands in an apparent reconciliation at Jerez.
16: Michael Schumacher wins the European GP at Jerez. During the course of the weekend, Peter Sauber says that Monaco accident victim Karl Wendlinger will be fit to test at Paul Ricard within a few days.
16: Paul Radisich retains the FIA Touring Car Cup at Donington Park. Stories during the weekend link Ron Dennis and Mike Earle with Audi’s 1995 BTCC plans. . .Radisich also wins the somewhat violent TOCA Shoot-Out which concludes the meeting. The International F3 invitation race, in which control Dunlops are deployed for the first time, falls to Christophe Tinseau after Olly Gavin spins off. Gavin recovers to finish second.
16: Victory at Fuji gives Marco Apicella a 10-point lead over Andrew Gilbert-Scott in the All-Japan F3000 series, with two races remaining. The Englishman finishes fifth, after starting from the pit lane.
16: Malcolm Wilson wins the Midland Rally, part of Ford’s build-up to the RAC.
17: Back from Jerez, Nigel Mansell turns up at Brands Hatch to announce a partnership with the circuit’s associated racing schools, which will henceforth carry his name.
17: Tommi Makinen signs to drive for Mitsubishi in the 1995 WRC.