![Lotus 32B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Lotus_32B.jpg)
The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers)
[Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport with National Competition Rules 1974, pages 80 to 83] was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 over a series of races in
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. It was named after the
Tasman Sea
The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...
which lies between the two countries. The Tasman Series races were held in January through to late February or early March of each year, during the
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
off season, taking advantage of winter in the
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...
to attract many top drivers to summer in the south. The Tasman Cup was the permanent trophy awarded to the winning driver.
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History
The Tasman initially started in 1960 as a series of unrelated races between Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. In 1964 it was renamed Tasman Cup. Until 1969, the Tasman Formula specified open-wheel single-seater racing cars similar to Formula One cars, yet retaining F1 engine rules that were in effect until 1960. Thus, engines of 2500 cm³ that were obsolete for the contemporary Formula One class were eligible for the Tasman Formula.
After F1 upgraded to 3000 cm³ in 1966, the Tasman Formula regulations continued to specify a 2500 cm³ limit for another four years. Usually, the chassis of the previous F1 season were fitted with "Tasman" engines, and entered "down under". In what many consider Tasman's zenith season, 1968, Cosworth
Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
even produced a Tasman variant of its legendary DFV V8, known as the DFW, and BRM
British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...
equipped its cars with a reduced capacity version of their F1 V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to:
Aircraft
* Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter
* Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft
* Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project
* Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...
. In 1969 both Lotus and Ferrari contested the series with two cars teams, Jochen Rindt
Jochen is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Jochen Asche, East German luger, competed during the 1960s
*Jochen Böhler (born 1969), German historian, specializing in the history of World War II
*Jochen Babock (born 1953), East G ...
and Graham Hill in Lotus 49B
The Lotus 49 was a Formula One racing car designed by Colin Chapman and Maurice Philippe for the 1967 F1 season. It was designed around the Cosworth DFV engine that would power most of the Formula One grid through the 1970s. It was one of the fi ...
Ts and Chris Amon
Christopher Arthur Amon (20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand ...
and Derek Bell in Dino 246 Tasmania cars which used F2 chassis fitted with modernised versions of the late 1950s F1 2.4 Dino V6 engine. Piers Courage
Piers Raymond Courage (27 May 1942 – 21 June 1970) was a British racing driver. He participated in 29 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 January 1967. He achieved two podium finishes, and scored 20 championship point ...
strongly challenged the work teams in a Frank Williams Cosworth 2.5 BT24 Brabham which beat the Lotus and Ferrari teams at Teretonga in New Zealand.
Unfortunately for the Tasman Series, F1's "return to power", coupled to ever increasing costs, reduced the cachet of its Antipodean sister and after 1969 teams became increasingly unwilling to invest significant funds into what many perceived as a lesser championship. Only one Cosworth DFW 2.5 powered car appeared in the 1970 and 1971 Tasman series, Bell driving an uncompetitive Goodyear shod Wheatcroft Brabham BT26 in 3 rounds in 1970 and Amon and fellow Kiwi
Kiwi most commonly refers to:
* Kiwi (bird), a flightless bird native to New Zealand
* Kiwi (nickname), a nickname for New Zealanders
* Kiwifruit, an edible berry
* Kiwi dollar or New Zealand dollar, a unit of currency
Kiwi or KIWI may also ref ...
David Oxton
David Oxton (born 22 December 1945) is a former New Zealand racing driver. Oxton spent the majority of his career racing open wheel cars in New Zealand and Australia but did drive touring cars late in his career.
Career
Oxton's career started ...
each contesting 2 rounds of 1971 series in the ex Andretti March 701.
In an attempt to reduce costs, the Tasman Formula was extended to incorporate Formula 5000
Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...
cars from 1970 and the limit on pure racing engines was reduced from 2.5 litres to 2.0 litres from 1972. Even these changes failed to contain spiralling costs and at the end of the 1975 event the series folded.
The four Australian former Tasman races became the Rothmans International Series
The Rothmans International Series was an Australian motor racing series which was staged annually from 1976 to 1979. Initially open to Australian Formula 1 cars (commonly referred to as Formula 5000s), for the final year it was for ‘’Austral ...
from 1976 to 1979 (still under Formula 5000 regulations). The four New Zealand races became the 'Peter Stuyvesant Series' and after 1976 changed to Formula Pacific Formula Pacific was a motor racing category which was used in the Pacific Basin area from 1977 to 1982. It specified a single-seat, open-wheeler chassis powered by a production-based four-cylinder engine of under 1600cc capacity. The formula was bas ...
cars.
Many high-profile local drivers from that era, such as Jack Brabham
Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name.
Brabham was a R ...
, Bruce McLaren
Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor.
His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...
, Chris Amon and Denny Hulme
Denis Clive Hulme (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992), commonly known as Denny Hulme, was a New Zealand racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his ...
took part in their home events, but the series also attracted international F1 stars like Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Phil Hill, John Surtees
John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...
, Jochen Rindt, Pedro Rodríguez and Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...
, who travelled the long way from Europe.
For two brief years beginning in 1999 the Tasman Series was revived as a series for Formula Holden
Formula Holden was an Australian open wheel racing category introduced in 1989.
History
Known during its development as Formula Australia, it was initially for chassis constructed from aluminium only, running a 3.8-litre Buick V6 engine a ...
racing cars with Simon Wills and Andy Booth winning the two series held exclusively in New Zealand.
The Tasman Series was revived as part of the S5000 Series.
Champions
Note: values in parentheses include the results from all races, not all of which counted towards the championship.
See also
Notes
References
External links
Tasman racing in New Zealand
Tasman Series history 1967–1969
Tasman Series history 1970–1976
{{Tasman Series circuits
1964 establishments in Oceania
1975 disestablishments in Oceania