The following is an overview of the events of 1981 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.

Annual events

The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.

Date Event Ref
1–20 January 3rd Dakar Rally [1]
31 January-1 February 19th 24 Hours of Daytona [2]
15 February 23rd Daytona 500 [3]
24 May 65th Indianapolis 500 [4]
31 May 39th Monaco Grand Prix [5]
6–11 June 64th Isle of Man TT [6]
13–14 June 49th 24 Hours of Le Mans [7]
3–4 October 10th 24 Hours of Nurburgring [8]
25–26 July 33rd 24 Hours of Spa [9]
26 July 4th Suzuka 8 Hours [10]
5 October 22nd James Hardie 1000 [11]
15 November 28th Macau Grand Prix [12]

Births

Date Month Name Nationality Occupation Note Ref
1 January Zsolt Baumgartner Hungarian Racing driver The first Hungarian Formula One driver. [13]
24 February Timo Bernhard German Racing driver 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (2010, 2017). FIA World Endurance champion (2015, 2017). [14]
1 March Will Power Australian Racing driver Winner of the Indianapolis 500 (2018). [15]
29 July Fernando Alonso Spanish Racing driver Formula One World Champion (2005-2006). FIA World Endurance champion (2018-19). [16]
30 Nicky Hayden American Motorcycle racer MotoGP World champion (2006). [17]
19 October Heikki Kovalainen Finnish Racing driver 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix winner. [18]
31 Mike Rockenfeller German Racing driver 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (2010). Le Mans Series champion (2008). [19]
19 November André Lotterer German Racing driver 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (2011-2012, 2014). FIA World Endurance champion (2012). [20]

Deaths

Date Month Name Age Nationality Occupation Note Ref
1 January Mauri Rose 84 American Racing driver Indianapolis 500 winner (1941, 1947-1948). [21]
9 Sammy Davis 93 British Racing driver 24 Hours of Le Mans winner (1927). [22]
21 Cuth Harrison 74 British Racing driver One of the first British Formula One drivers. [23]
23 March Mike Hailwood 40 British Motorcycle racer 500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing World champion (1962-1965). [24]
13 October Philippe Étancelin 84 French Racing driver Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1934) [25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "1981 Dakar Rally" (PDF). rssp.eu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Daytona 24 Hours 1981 - Racing Sports Cars". racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "1981 Daytona 500". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "1981 Indianapolis 500". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  5. ↑ "1981 Grand Prix of Monaco". racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "TT 1981". iomtt.com. Isle of Man TT. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Le Mans Register - 1981". formula2.net. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  8. ↑ "Nurburgring 24 hours". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "24 h Spa-Francorchamps". touringcarracing.net. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "Suzuka 8 Hours 1981 results". Moto Racing JAPAN. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "1981 Bathurst 1000". Unique Cars & Parts. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "1981 Macau Grand Prix". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Zsolt Baumgartner". en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  14. ↑ "Timo Bernhard". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "Will Power". espn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
  16. ↑ "Fernando Alonso — Biography". Grand Prix History. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  17. ↑ "Nicky Hayden". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  18. ↑ "Heikki Kovalainen". en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  19. ↑ "Mike Rockenfeller". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  20. ↑ "André Lotterer". en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  21. ↑ "Mauri Rose". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  22. ↑ "Sammy Davis". f1grandprixdriversclub.com. F1 Grand Prix Drivers Club. Archived from the original on 16 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  23. ↑ "Cuth Harrison". en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  24. ↑ "Mike Hailwood". motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  25. ↑ "Philippe Entancelin". ESPN. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
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