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 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 201 people living in 74 h ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, 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 Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

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 Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula Ford ...

Sports 2000 Sports 2000 is a restricted-rules class of two-seat, mid-engined, open-cockpit, full-bodied sports-prototype racecar used largely in amateur road racing. Sometimes known as S2000 or S2, the class was developed by John Webb, then of the Brands Hat ...

and

Star Mazda The USF Pro 2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires, formerly known as the Star Mazda Championship, Pro Mazda Championship, and later Indy Pro 2000 Championship, is an open-wheel racing series serving as the third step on the Road to Indy l ...

series. The company's purpose-built manufacturing facility was located on the grounds of Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, 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., whose children

Marcos Ambrose Marcos Ambrose (born 1 September 1976) is an Australian former racing driver and current Garry Rogers Motorsport competition director. He won the Australian V8 Supercar series' championship in 2003 and 2004. In 2006, Ambrose relocated to the Un ...

, Ralph Firman Jr. and Natasha Firman have since gone on to have successful racing careers. The company's name comes from the island of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, Australia, which was formerly known as

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

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 Formula Ford 1600 championship in a FA73. The

BRSCC The British Racing and Sports Car Club (BRSCC) is one of the major organisers of motorsport events in the United Kingdom. The club currently runs around forty track racing championships for cars as diverse as Caterham, BMWs and Mazda. Formed in B ...

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 Francisco Adolpho "Chico" Serra (born 3 February 1957) is a Brazilian racing driver. Biography Serra made his mark in International motorsport when he won the 1979 British Formula 3 Championship, one season after his compatriot Nelson Piquet ...

won the BRSCC championship in 1977 driving a Van Diemen. Serra went on to win the

Formula Ford Festival The Formula Ford Festival is an annual meeting of Ford-powered single-seat racing cars which is held at the end of the British racing season, at the Brands Hatch motor racing circuit in the county of Kent, in Southern England. The events are hel ...

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 in 1976 and 1977. The car was a GRD 375 with updated aerodynamics.

Jac Nellemann Jacob "Jac" NellemannSources disagree regarding the spelling of this person's surnameChicaneF1StatsF1Circuit Zolder 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 Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former racing driver. He participated in 75 Formula One Grands Prix, achieved 1 podium, and scored a total of 15 championship p ...

and

Raul Boesel Raul de Mesquita Boesel (, born 4 December 1957) is a Brazilian former racing driver who raced for the March and Ligier Formula One teams and later raced in Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. He won the 1987 World Sportscar Championship and t ...

won 13 out of 14 races and finished one and two in the standings.

Jonathan Palmer Jonathan Charles Palmer (born 7 November 1956) is a British businessman and former Formula One racing driver. Before opting for a career in motor racing, Palmer trained as a physician at London's Guys Hospital. He also worked as a junior phys ...

, 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

championships, all driving cars made by the British car maker.

Ayrton Senna Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers from Brazil to win the World Championship and ...

made his European racing debut in 1981 in the BRSCC and RAC 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 Maurício Gugelmin (born 20 April 1963) is a Brazilian former racing driver. He took part in both Formula One and Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). He participated in 80 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in for the March team. Gugelmin achi ...

finished second in the British Formula Ford 2000 driving a Van Diemen. In the same year

Maurizio Sandro Sala Maurizio Sandro Sala (born 27 August 1958 in São Paulo) is a Brazilian former racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto ...

won the BRDC Formula Ford 1600. In 1985 eight Van Diemens filled the top ten at the Formula Ford Festival. Jonathan Bancroft was the best placed driver finishing second. The race was won by

Johnny Herbert John Paul "Johnny" Herbert (born 25 June 1964) is a British former racing driver and current television announcer for Sky Sports F1. He raced in Formula One from 1989 to 2000, for seven different teams, winning three races and placing 4th in ...

driving a Quest-Ivey FF85. Halfway through the eighties

Reynard Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, a ...

chassis started to dominate the Formula Ford 2000. Van Diemen shifted its focust toward Formula Renault, 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 Roland Ratzenberger (; 4 July 1960 – 30 April 1994) was an Austrian racing driver who raced in various categories of motorsport, including British Formula 3000, Japanese Formula 3000 and Formula One. Having had sporadic success throughout t ...

(1986) and

Vincenzo Sospiri Vincenzo Sospiri (born 7 October 1966) is an Italian former racing driver. Early career In 1981, at the age of 15, Sospiri started racing in the Italian 100cc karting championship. In a karting career described by Michael Schumacher as 'dominati ...

(1988) won the race in customer entries. The factory team won the race in 1987 and 1989 with

Eddie Irvine Edmund Irvine Jr. (; born 10 November 1965) is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He competed in Formula One between 1993 and 2002, and finished runner-up in the 1999 World Drivers' Championship, driving for Scuderia Ferrari. He b ...

and Niko Palhares. The British constructor made its debut in the Formula Renault in 1989. Neil Riddiford 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 The British Formula Ford Championship was an entry level single seater motor racing category, designed to give racing drivers their first step into car racing after karting. Drivers from around the world were attracted to the United Kingdom to ...

championship five times and the Festival seven times.

Jason Plato Timothy Jason Plato (born 14 October 1967) is a British racing driver who last competed in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) for BTC Racing. He has twice been BTCC Champion, in 2001 for Vauxhall and 2010 for Silverline Chevrolet. He ...

won the first

Formula Renault Eurocup Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits. It served as a support series to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to 2015. Renault ...

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 In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the term ''formula'' in science refers to the general construct of a relationship betwee ...

spec racing series. Because of Van Diemens success in the Formula Ford, the marque was contracted to build all

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 driver Dario Franchitti. 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. The car raced in the Japanese F3, German F3 and the French F3 championships. Franc ten Wolde raced in five races of the German F3 in a Mugen powered RF92 entered by Dutch racing team Nomag Racing. Ten Wolde finished once, in eleventh place. Nomag entered Ten Wolde in the 1992 Masters of Formula 3 where he finished thirteenth. The

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

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 Gregory Ray (born August 3, 1966) is an American former race car driver. After winning the SCCA national Formula Atlantic championship in 1993, he moved up to the CART-sanctioned Toyota Atlantic series in 1994. In 1997 he made his Indy Raci ...

won the

SCCA The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) is a non-profit American automobile club and sanctioning body supporting road racing, rallying, and autocross in the United States. Formed in 1944, it runs many programs for both amateur and professional ...

F2000 championship. Back in Europe James Matthews, driving for

Manor Motorsport Manor Motorsport Ltd, currently trading as Manor Endurance Racing Ltd is a British motor racing company that was formed in 1990 by former single-seater champion John Booth. Manor has participated as a team in many motorsport disciplines since ...

, won the 1994 Formula Renault Eurocup in a Van Diemen. Van Diemen cars won the first two official

USF2000 The USF2000 Championship Presented by Cooper Tires is an American racing series using the American variation of the Formula Ford formula, "F2000", that resumed operation for the 2010 season. As of 2022, it is sanctioned by the United States Auto ...

championships in 1995 and 1996 with

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and Steve Knapp. 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 Buddy Rice (born January 31, 1976) is an American former race car driver. He is best known for winning the 2004 Indianapolis 500 while driving for Rahal Letterman Racing, and the 2009 24 Hours of Daytona for Brumos Racing. Career Early years ...

and

Dan Wheldon Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, and was co-winner ...

. 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 Mygale Racing Car Constructor (Mygale SARL) is a French racing car manufacturer that specialises in the production of single seater chassis for use in formula racing. It is most notable for its Formula Ford chassis. Mygale also produces the chas ...

Tatuus Tatuus is an Italian chassis manufacturer for a series of formula racing series, being first founded in 1980. The company is known for its association with Renault Sport for its production of the Formula Renault chassis. History The Tatuus c ...

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 Vítor Meira (born March 27, 1977) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He formerly competed in the IndyCar Series and has twice finished second in the Indianapolis 500. IndyCar Series 2002 After participating in an open test for Panther Racing ...

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 Formula Palmer Audi, officially abbreviated to FPA, and sometimes informally abbreviated to Palmer Audi, was a one-make class of open wheel Formula racing founded in 1998 by former Formula One driver, Jonathan Palmer. It was based in the United ...

championship which ran until 2010.

2000s

Factory drivers

Robert Dahlgren Robert Dahlgren (born 1 December 1979 in Skellefteå) is a Swedish auto racing driver who currently competes for the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. He previously competed in Australia and New Zealand for a single season in the V8 Superc ...

James Courtney James Anthony Courtney (born 29 June 1980) is an Australian racing driver competing in the Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 5 Ford Mustang GT for Tickford Racing. Courtney won the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series ...

and Westley Barber 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 Élan Motorsport Technologies is an American enterprise that serves as an umbrella company containing the race car engineering, development and manufacturing companies owned by American racing and automotive company conglomerate Panoz Motor Spor ...

group out of

Braselton, Georgia Braselton ( ) is a town in Barrow, Gwinnett, Hall, and Jackson counties in the U.S. state of Georgia, approximately northeast of Atlanta. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 7,511, and in 2018 the estimated population was 11,6 ...

. As of 2002 the factory team ceased to exist.

Tom Kimber-Smith Tom Kimber-Smith (born 1 November 1984 in Ascot, Berkshire) is a British race car driver. He is currently driving the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship PC class with Robert Alon. He has enj ...

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

Formula X In science, a formula is a concise way of expressing information symbolically, as in a mathematical formula or a ''chemical formula''. The informal use of the terminology, term ''formula'' in science refers to the Commensurability (philosophy o ...

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

championship announced a new car they contracted Élan Van Diemen to design and built it, the car was introduced in 2004. The IMSA Lites 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 , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

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 West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

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.

2010s

The

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

File:FFEA VDRF01 100413 WP.jpg, Van Diemen RF01

File:StarMazdaChampionshipCarMilwaukee2009.jpg,

File:FormulaPalmer Audi Blah!.jpg,

File:Scott Rettich wins 2013 SCCA National Championship Runoffs.jpg, Formula SCCA File:Van Diemen RF88 front-left 2019 Michael Schumacher Private Collection.jpg, Van Diemen RF88 of

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; ; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Lewis ...

(

)

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