Van Diemen International, Ltd. was a British race car manufacturer based in

Snetterton Snetterton is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. The village is about east-northeast of Thetford and southwest of Norwich. The civil parish has an area of . The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census recorded a parish population o ...

, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The company had a reputation for high-volume production runs of its cars, the most well-known of which is its series of Formula Ford chassis, which have been at the forefront of that class of motorsport for over 20 years and led it to becoming the largest manufacturer of bespoke racing cars in the world. As well as Formula Ford, Van Diemen built cars for Formula Ford 2000, Sports 2000 and Star Mazda series. The company's purpose-built manufacturing facility was located on the grounds of

Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit Snetterton Circuit is a motor racing course in Norfolk, England, originally opened in 1953. Owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, it is situated on the A11 road north-east of the town of Thetford and south-west of the cit ...

, allowing racing teams to test the cars right off the production line.

History

Van Diemen was founded in 1973 by Ross Ambrose and

Ralph Firman Sr Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

., whose children Marcos Ambrose, Ralph Firman Jr. and

Natasha Firman Natasha Firman (born 22 June 1976) is an English racing driver and winner of the inaugural Formula Woman championship in 2004. On the way to that victory, she achieved two wins and four third places out of seven races. She later set new enduranc ...

have since gone on to have successful racing careers. The company's name comes from the island of Tasmania, Australia, which was formerly known as Van Diemen's Land and is where Ambrose was born and lived before moving to the UK to co-found the company.

1970s

The first car produced was the Van Diemen FA73. In 1973

Derek Lawrence Derek John Lawrence (16 November 1941 – 13 May 2020) was an English record producer, famous for his work for Joe Meek's Outlaws, Deep Purple, Flash, Machiavel and Wishbone Ash. Lawrence came in contact with Meek circa at the end of 1963, ...

won the

BRDC The British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC) is an exclusive invitation-only members club for racecar drivers who are judged to have achieved success in the upper levels of motor sport for a number of seasons. Except under exceptional circumstances, me ...

Formula Ford 1600 championship in a FA73. The BRSCC Formula Ford was also won by a FA73. This car was driven by Donald MacLeod. South African Kenny Gray won the Scottish Formula Ford Championship in 1974 in a Van Diemen RF74. Chico Serra won the BRSCC championship in 1977 driving a Van Diemen. Serra went on to win the Formula Ford Festival that season, beating two Royale's. The British car maker took over

Group Racing Developments Group Racing Developments, known more simply as GRD, was a short-lived British constructor of racing cars. It was formed in 1971 with a large percentage of staff coming from those made redundant from the closure of Lotus Cars customer car manufac ...

, a producer of

Formula 3 Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

chassis, at the end of 1975. A Van Diemen VG376 was entered in the

British Formula 3 The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It was a junior-level feeder formula that used small single seate ...

in 1976 and 1977. The car was a GRD 375 with updated aerodynamics. Jac Nellemann scored the best result for the car at

Circuit Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

scoring a fourth-place finish. The car manufacturer would return to Formula 3 in 1992. 1977 marked the start of a long time relationship with Duckhams Oil which sponsored the factory team until 2002.

1980s

Haynes International Motor Museum - IMG 1495 - Flickr - Adam Woodford

Van Diemen swept the BRSCC Formula Ford 1600 championship in 1980. Brazilian drivers Roberto Moreno and Raul Boesel won 13 out of 14 races and finished one and two in the standings. Jonathan Palmer, also driving Van Diemen, was third in the standings. Moreno went on to win the Formula Ford Festival followed by Tommy Byrne, also driving a Van Diemen. Byrne had a very successful 1981 season winning the Festival, European and British Formula Ford 2000 championships, all driving cars made by the British car maker. Ayrton Senna made his European racing debut in 1981 in the BRSCC and

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Formula Ford 1600 championships, driving Van Diemen chassis. After winning these two championships he graduated into Formula Ford 2000, again driving Van Diemens. In 1982 Senna won both the British and European Formula Ford 2000 championships. The following year fellow Brazilian Maurício Gugelmin finished second in the British Formula Ford 2000 driving a Van Diemen. In the same year Maurizio Sandro Sala won the BRDC Formula Ford 1600. In 1985 eight Van Diemens filled the top ten at the Formula Ford Festival.

Jonathan Bancroft Jonathan may refer to: *Jonathan (name), a masculine given name Media * ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer * ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski * ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...

was the best placed driver finishing second. The race was won by Johnny Herbert driving a Quest-Ivey FF85. Halfway through the eighties Reynard chassis started to dominate the Formula Ford 2000. Van Diemen shifted its focust toward

Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to hig ...

, also a 2-litre engine formula. The Formula Ford Festival was won four consecutive times from 1986 thru 1989 by Van Diemen chassis. Roland Ratzenberger (1986) and Vincenzo Sospiri (1988) won the race in customer entries. The factory team won the race in 1987 and 1989 with Eddie Irvine and

Niko Palhares Niko Palhares (born February 24, 1966) is a Brazilian former racing driver. Palhares began in Formula Ford and won the Formula Ford Festival in 1989. He moved to the British Formula Three Championship in 1990 competing in 6 races but not scoring. ...

. The British constructor made its debut in the Formula Renault in 1989.

Neil Riddiford Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. A ...

won the first

British Formula Renault British Formula Renault Championship referred to one of two Formula Renault championships that were held in the United Kingdom. The main series was Renault Sport UK's Formula Renault 2.0 UK championship which was held from 1989 to 2011 and was g ...

championship in 1989, driving a Van Diemen.

1990s

Throughout the 1990s Van Diemen began to dominate the Formula Ford market. Throughout the decade the constructor won the British Formula Ford championship five times and the Festival seven times. Jason Plato won the first Formula Renault Eurocup driving for the Duckhams Van Diemen factory team.

Bobby Verdon-Roe Robert Geoffrey Verdon-Roe (born 21 November 1965 in Winchester, Hampshire) is a British professional racing driver who has raced in various formats of motor sport throughout his career. He has won Formula Renault, TVR Tuscan and Historic F ...

won the British Formula Renault in 1991 in a customer entered Van Diemen. The 1991 season marked the debut of the Formula Vauxhall Junior spec racing series. Because of Van Diemens success in the Formula Ford, the marque was contracted to build all Formula Vauxhall Junior cars for the 1991 season. This racing car did not use aerodynamic features like wings, but used slick tires. The first championship was won by future

IndyCar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...

driver

Dario Franchitti George Dario Marino Franchitti, MBE (born 19 May 1973) is a British former racing driver and current motorsport commentator from Scotland. He is a four time IndyCar Series champion ( 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011), a three-time winner of the Indiana ...

. For 1992 Van Diemen re-entered the Formula 3 market. This was the first composite chassis baring the Van Diemen name, it was built by

Precision Composites Precision, precise or precisely may refer to: Science, and technology, and mathematics Mathematics and computing (general) * Accuracy and precision, measurement deviation from true value and its scatter * Significant figures, the number of digit ...

. The car raced in the Japanese F3, German F3 and the French F3 championships.

Franc ten Wolde The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

raced in five races of the German F3 in a

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powered RF92 entered by Dutch racing team Nomag Racing. Ten Wolde finished once, in eleventh place. Nomag entered Ten Wolde in the

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where he finished thirteenth. The Honda powered cars entered in the Japanese F3 and French F3 had little success entering only a few races. After this disappointing season Van Diemen did not return to Formula 3. With the demise of Formula Ford 2000, Van Diemen began to export its cars to the United States. 1992 was a successful year for Van Diemen in the American F2000 series. Greg Ray won the SCCA F2000 championship. Back in Europe James Matthews, driving for Manor Motorsport, won the 1994 Formula Renault Eurocup in a Van Diemen. Van Diemen cars won the first two official USF2000 championships in 1995 and 1996 with

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and

Steve Knapp Steve Knapp (born April 17, 1964, Minneapolis, Minnesota), is a former driver in IndyCar. He raced in the 1998–2000 seasons with 13 career starts, including 3 at the Indianapolis 500. His best career finish was in his first race, a third pl ...

. Van Diemen dominated the series winning all drivers and constructors titles until the series folded after the 2006 season. Many aspiring drivers won races with the British brand like Buddy Rice and Dan Wheldon. The constructor continued to win in the British Formula Renault winning the title again in 1995 with Guy Smith. The following seasons the Van Diemen chassis became less successful in Formula Renault. Competition from Mygale, Tatuus and other smaller chassis manufacturers prevented Van Diemen from being competitive in the Eurocup. The cars remained competitive in the British championship fighting for the title against factory entered Tatuus chassis. 1998 marked the final year for Van Diemen in Formula Renault with Tim Mullen and Vítor Meira finishing third and fourth in customer entered cars. As of 1998 Van Diemen was contracted to build all the cars for the Formula Palmer Audi championship which ran until 2010.

2000s

Factory drivers Robert Dahlgren, James Courtney and

Westley Barber Westley Barber (born 19 January 1982) is a British racing driver who was the 2002 British Formula Ford and 1998 French Formula Renault Campus champion. Career Barber began racing in the Formula Renault Campus series in France. He won the title ...

won the British Formula Ford championship in 2000, 2001 and 2002. In 2002, Van Diemen International was bought by

Don Panoz Donald Panoz ( or ; February 13, 1935 – September 11, 2018) was an American entrepreneur who founded various pharmaceutical companies. Early life Panoz was an Italian-American. His father, Eugene Panunzio, immigrated to the United States f ...

and became part of his Élan Motorsport Technologies group out of Braselton, Georgia. As of 2002 the factory team ceased to exist. Tom Kimber-Smith and

Valle Mäkelä Valle Mäkelä (born 2 February 1986, Laitila, Finland) is a Finnish motor racing driver. Career Mäkelä began his kart racing career at the age of five. In 2000 he became Finnish Champion in the ICA-J class. In 2002, he began racing in Formu ...

won the British Formula Ford title, in customer entries, in 2002 and 2003. 2003 would be the last time a Van Diemen chassis would win the overall British Formula Ford title. With the takeover by Élan, Van Diemen became more active in the United States. The Van Diemen FR02 used in Formula Ireland and

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between 2001 and 2004 was introduced in the United States. The SCCA formed the

Formula SCCA Formula SCCA or Formula Enterprises is a class of open wheel race car sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America. A spec racing class, all chassis are produced by SCCA Enterprises in association with Van Diemen and include a sealed Mazda M ...

class which solely uses this chassis. This later developed in the Formula Enterprises. Van Diemen also built a sports racer version of this car, the DP04. When the Star Mazda championship announced a new car they contracted Élan Van Diemen to design and built it, the car was introduced in 2004. The

IMSA Lites IMSA Prototype Challenge (formerly IMSA Prototype Lites) is a racing series featuring two classes of single-seat prototype cars racing simultaneously. The series is sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). Most races are ...

championship started in 2006, this class comprised three subclasses, L1, L2 and L3. The L1 class uses a Élan Van Diemen built DP02 with a Mazda engine. Short lived L3 class used the DP04 Van Diemen designed before. The cars for the L2 class were not Van Diemen built but a West WX10 and later WR1000. Van Diemen designed its last Formula Ford car in 2008. Some teams updated the chassis to make their own Formula Ford cars like

Fluid Motorsport Fluid Motorsport Development constructs the Sinter Formula Ford car. The company also fielded a racing team in British Formula Ford between 2002 and 2012. Fluid Motorsport was also active in British Formula 3 as a team between 2005 and 2008. ...

2010s

The USF2000 was revived for the 2010 season as spec racing series. Élan Van Diemen was contracted to build all the cars for the Mazda powered championship. But by now the Van Diemen activities have been fully incorporated into Élan Motorsport Technologies. Every new car will bear the Élan name instead of Van Diemen, so the highly successful marque will gradually disappear. After the demise of Van Diemen Ralph Firman Sr. founded a new race car constructor:

Ralph Firman Racing Ralph Firman Racing is a British racecar constructor. The company was founded in 2008 by Ralph Firman, Sr. History Ralph Firman, Sr. was one of the founders of Van Diemen in 1973 which went on to become one of the leading formula car constructo ...

Gallery

File:Van Diemen RF86 of Pat Mullins.JPG, Van Diemen RF86 Formula Ford File:FFEA VDRF01 100413 WP.jpg, Van Diemen RF01 Formula Ford File:StarMazdaChampionshipCarMilwaukee2009.jpg, Star Mazda File:FormulaPalmer Audi Blah!.jpg, Formula Palmer Audi File:Scott Rettich wins 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs.jpg,

File:Van Diemen RF88 front-left 2019 Michael Schumacher Private Collection.jpg, Van Diemen RF88 of Michael Schumacher ( Formula Ford)

References

External links

* {{Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Automotive motorsports and performance companies Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England British racecar constructors Panoz Auto Development Sports car manufacturers British auto racing teams Companies based in Norfolk Formula Renault Eurocup teams British Formula Renault teams Auto racing teams established in 1977 Auto racing teams disestablished in 2002