The Chevron B31 was a

sports prototype A sports prototype, sometimes referred to as simply a prototype, is a type of race car that is used in the highest-level categories of sports car racing. These purpose-built racing cars, unlike street-legal and production-based racing cars, are ...

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organis ...

built by

Chevron Cars Ltd Chevron Cars Ltd. is an English manufacturer of racing cars, founded by Derek Bennett in 1965. Following Bennett's death in 1978, the firm has remained active in various guises. The original company's designs and name continue to be used t ...

in 1975, and initially used in the European 2-Litre Championship. The car was an evolution of the

Chevron B26 The Chevron B26 is a 2-liter Group 6 sports prototype race car, designed, developed and built by British manufacturer Chevron, in 1973. Over its racing career, spanning 14 years, it won a total of 17 race wins (including 17 additional class wins), ...

, and was initially fitted with a 2-litre Hart 420R straight-four engine producing . However, various other engines were used; the car also ran with engines such as the 3-litre

Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had fo ...

V8, the 2-litre Cosworth FVD/ Cosworth BDG straight-four engines, and the 2-litre

BMW M12 The BMW M12/13 turbo was a 1499.8 cc 4-cylinder turbocharged Formula One engine, based on the standard BMW M10 engine introduced in 1961, powered the F1 cars of Brabham, Arrows and Benetton. Nelson Piquet won the FIA Formula One Drivers ...

straight-four, amongst others.

Design

The Chevron B31 was an evolution of the B26, and was designed for the European 2-Litre Championship by

's founder

Derek Bennett Derek John Bennett is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in the 2015 provincial election. The B31 featured subtle changes, such as a slightly redesigned bodywork, but it featured the same basic aluminium

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

chassis as its predecessor. The bodywork was made from

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cl ...

, and the B31 was designed to use the same Hart 420R engine as its predecessor had. The 420R was a naturally-aspirated 2-litre, 16 valve

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion ch ...

fuel-injected straight-four engine, with a maximum power output of at 9500 rpm, and the power was transmitted to the rear wheels by a

Hewland Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...

5-speed

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed motor vehicle transmission system, where gear chang ...

. For the suspension, the B31 featured double wishbones, coil springs over dampers with an

anti-roll bar An anti-roll bar (roll bar, anti-sway bar, sway bar, stabilizer bar) is a part of many automobile suspensions that helps reduce the body roll of a vehicle during fast cornering or over road irregularities. It connects opposite (left/right) wheel ...

at the front, and single top links, twin lower links, twin trailing arms, coil springs over dampers with an anti-roll bar at the rear. The brakes were ventilated discs all round, and the car had rack-and-pinion steering. As the car weighed , it had a

power-to-weight ratio Power-to-weight ratio (PWR, also called specific power, or power-to-mass ratio) is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measuremen ...

of exactly 0.5 hp/kg.

Racing history

1975–1982: International competition

1975

The B31 made its racing debut in 1975 at the

1000 km of Mugello 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length ...

, which was part of the

World Championship for Makes The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...

;

KVG Racing KVG or kvg may refer to: * Boazi language (ISO 639-3 language code kvg), a Papuan language spoken in the Western Province of Papua New Guinea * Kavieng Airport (IATA airport code KVG), an airport in Kavieng, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea * KVG Coll ...

entered John Hine and Ian Grob in a B31, and Team Italiano Chevron also ran the new car, choosing Eris Tondelli and Mauro Nesti to drive it. Team Italiano Chevron, however, had the B31 fitted with a 1.3-litre

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 industri ...

straight-four engine in place of the Hart 420R; thus, whilst the KVG Racing car was classified in the Sports 2000 category, the Team Italiano Chevron car was classified in the Sports 1300 category. Although the 1300cc car retired, KVG Racing won the Sports 2000 class, and finished fifth overall. The 1300cc car was then entered in the second round of the Campionato Italiano Group 5 Sport, held at Varano; "Bramen", its driver, was classified eighth in the Sports 1300 category. The car's next international event was the 800 km of Dijon, where KVG Racing were the only team to enter a B31; they took third overall, and the Sports 2000 class victory. At the

1000 km of Monza The 6 Hours of Monza (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Monza and known after 1966 as "Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo") is an endurance race, mainly for sports cars, which is held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy. Overview Desp ...

, Grob crashed his B31 in practice, leaving the car too damaged to compete in the race; instead, "Bramen" and

Pasquale Anastasio Pasquale is a masculine Italian given name and a surname mainly found in southern Italy. It is a cognate of the French name Pascal, the Spanish Pascual, the Portuguese Pascoal and the Catalan Pasqual. Pasquale derives from the Latin ''pasch ...

were the only B31 drivers to compete in the race; they won the Sports 1300 class, and finished 13th overall. At the

1000 km of Spa The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps) is an endurance race for sports cars held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. History The Spa 24 Hours had been introduced in 1924, and other races f ...

, KVG Racing were once again the only entrants; this time, they finished third in the Sports 2000 class, and 14th overall. At the

1000 km of Pergusa 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length ...

, KVG Racing entered their car, whilst "Bramen" partnered

Giancarlo Gagliardi Giancarlo is an Italian given name meaning "John Charles". It is one of the most common masculine given names in Italy and is often short for "Giovanni Carlo". Notable people with the name include: List A * Giancarlo Agazzi (1933–1995), Italia ...

in a 1.6-litre Cosworth FVA straight-four engined car that had been entered by Scuderia Citta dei Mille; although KVG Racing finished ninth overall and last (second in the Sports 2000 class), Scuderia Citta dei Mille won the Sports 1600 class (as they were the only entrant in that class to finish), and finished sixth overall. At the

1000 km of Nürburgring 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, both of the entered B31s featured Hart 420R engines; KVG Racing had entered one, as usual, but this time they were joined by Fisons Racing, who entered Martin Raymond and

Tony Goodwin Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

in their car. However, neither car had a successful race; the Fisons Racing car suffered an oil leak after 23 laps, and was forced to retire, whilst the KVG Racing car was classified eighth in the Sports 2000 class (26th overall), but suffered a throttle linkage failure after 30 laps, whilst leading its class. Four Hart 420R-engined B31s were entered in the European 2-Litre Championship (E2LC) opener, held at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hos ...

; KVG Racing entered Hine and Grob in two separate cars, whilst Fisons Racing entered Raymond, and the fourth entrant did not show up. Although Raymond did not compete in the race, having blown his engine up, Hine won the first heat, and Grob finished fourth in that heat; in the second heat, Grob finished third, whilst Hine span, stalled, and was forced to retire. At the rain-shortened 1000 km of Zeltweg, Fisons Racing (now called Team Fisons) and KVG Racing both entered B31 Harts; the KVG Racing car blew its engine after nine laps, but the Team Fisons car finished 13th overall, and sixth in class. At the Hockenheim round of the E2LC, four B31 Harts were entered; KVG Racing entered Grob and Richard Lloyd, although the latter did not attend, whilst Team Fisons Racing entered Raymond, and Jörg Zaborowski entered as a privateer, but did not attend the race. Grob finished fourth in the first heat, whilst Raymond finished second; Grob's 21st in the second heat dropped him to 17th overall, but Raymond won the second heat, and won the event outright. This would prove to be the car's last major international event of the season, although Raymond did enter his B31 in the

Interserie Interserie is the name of a European-based motorsport series started in 1970 that allows for a wide variety of racing cars from various eras and series to compete with less limited rules than in other series. Created in 1970 by German Gerhard Härl ...

championship, as he had been doing throughout the season.

1976

The B31's first appearance of 1976 came in the 300 km of Nürburgring, which was the opening round of the

World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992. The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and ...

(WSC); although three cars were entered, neither finished the race, as Manrico Zanuso's B31 blew its 3-litre

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight- cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and u ...

before the start of the race, Tony Charnell crashed his 2-litre

Cosworth FVC 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 industries ...

straight-four engined B31 out of the race, whilst Peter Smith and

John Turner John Napier Wyndham Turner (June 7, 1929September 19, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Canada from June to September 1984. He served as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and leader of t ...

did not actually attend the race. For the

4 Hours of Monza The 6 Hours of Monza (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Monza and known after 1966 as "Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo") is an endurance race, mainly for sports cars, which is held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy. Overview Despi ...

, five B31s were entered;

John Blanckley John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

entered Zanuso and Raymond in a DFV-engined B31, Hay Seech entered

Bob Marsland Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals * Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surnam ...

and

Alois Müller Alois Müller (born 7 June 1890, date of death unknown) was an Austrian football player. He was born in Stockerau. He played for the Wiener Sport-Club, and also for the Austria national football team. He competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics The ...

in a Hart-engined B31, Anastasio partnered "Tambauto" in a 1.3-litre Cosworth-engined B31, Smith and Turner drove a 2-litre Cosworth-engined B31, and

Claudio Francisci Claudio Francisci (born 7 November 1944) is an Italian racing driver. Francisci competed in the Italian Formula Three Championship in 1969 finishing third and made his European Formula Two Championship debut later that season. He returned to Itali ...

and Biaggio Cammarone drove another 1.3-litre Cosworth B31. However, the cars of Smith/Turner and Francisci/Cammarone did not attend the race, and neither of the other three B31s finished; the Hay Seech car blew its engine after 72 laps, the Anastasio/"Tambauto" car blew its engine after 64 laps, and the John Blanckley car suffered a cooling system failure after 28 laps. The third round of the WSC, which was the 500 km of Imola, saw only one B31 entered; Blanckley entered himself and Zanuso in a DFV-engined B31, but retired again, this time due to gearbox failure after 52 laps. For the

Coppa Florio Pergusa The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA) is a United States federal law, located at (). The act, effective April 21, 2000, applies to the online collection of personal information by persons or entities under U.S. juri ...

, Francisci and

Bruno Del Fante Bruno may refer to: People and fictional characters * Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname * Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880) * Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologn ...

entered the only B31 of the event, a 1.3-litre Cosworth-engined car; the team failed to make the start of the race. At the 500 km of Dijon, Blanckley and Raymond drove their DFV-engined B31, but retired once again, after 105 laps. At the 200 miles of Salzburgring, it was a similar story; Zanuso and Blanckley retired the DFV-engined car due to a halfshaft failure. As this was the final round of the WSC season, it meant that no B31 had finished a race in the series; although B31s were used to win a non-championship race at

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, Interserie race at Zolder, and the Thruxton round of the British Sports Car Championship during the 1976 season.

1977

The

1977 World Sportscar Championship season The 1977 World Sports Car Championship season was the 25th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured two separate World Championship series.Results, Automobile Year 1977/78, pages 196 to 223 * The 1977 World Championsh ...

started the same way that 1976 had gone. For the 500 km of Dijon, Tom Charnell and

Ian Bracey Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

drove a Hart 420R-engined B31, but retired due to a flywheel failure after 14 laps. For the

500 km of Monza The 6 Hours of Monza (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Monza and known after 1966 as "Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo") is an endurance race, mainly for sports cars, which is held at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Italy. Overview Des ...

, three B31s were entered: Martin Raymond and John Blanckley entered a DFV-engined car,

Chandler Ibec International Chandler or The Chandler may refer to: * Chandler (occupation), originally head of the medieval household office responsible for candles, now a person who makes or sells candles * Ship chandler, a dealer in supplies or equipment for ships Arts ...

Team Lloyds A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

entered Bracey and Tony Charnell in the Hart-engined car, and Claudio Francisci partnered Giuseppe Fiaccadori in the remaining B31, which was fitted with a 1600cc Cosworth engine. For the first time since 1975, the B31 finished a WSC race; although Raymond and Blanckley did not attend, Francisci and Fiaccadori finished eighth overall, and fifth in the Sports 2000 class, whilst Bracey and Charnell finished immediately behind them, and won the Sports 1800 class. For the 400 km of Vallelunga, Francisci entered himself once more in the 1600cc Cosworth-engined B31, whilst Blanckley and

Rolf Götz Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic name ''Hrolf'', itself a contraction of ''Hrodwulf'' ( Rudolf), a conjunction of the stem words ''hrod'' ("renown") + ''wulf'' ("wolf"). The Old Norse cognate is ''Hrólfr''. ...

entered the DFV-engined car. Although Blanckley and Götz did not attend, Francisci finished fourth overall, and won the Sports 1600 class. A 2-litre Cosworth FVD-engined B31 was then entered by Chandler Ibec International-Team Lloyds at the

1977 24 Hours of Le Mans The 1977 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 45th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on 11 and 12 June 1977. The second year of the FIA Group 5 (racing)#4th Generation Group 5 – “Special Production Cars” (1976 to 1982), Group 5 and Group 6 (rac ...

, the first time a B31 had been used in the endurance event. Charnell, Bracey and Robin Smith were selected to drive the car, but the team retired after 21 laps due to a fuel pump failure. Five B31s were entered in the 500 km of Le Castellet; Mogil Motors entered Charnell and Robin Smith in a 2-litre Cosworth FVC-engined car, whilst three 2-litre

Chrysler-Simca Chrysler Europe was the American automotive company Chrysler's operations in Europe from 1967 through 1978. It was formed from the merger of the French Simca, British Rootes and Spanish Barreiros companies. In 1978, Chrysler divested these o ...

straight-4 engined cars were entered ( Michel Pignard, Michel Dubois and Jean-Louis Bos in one,

Albert Dufréne Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Albert C ...

and

François Servanin François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

in a second, and

Jean-Pierre Jaussaud Jean-Pierre Jaussaud (3 June 1937 – 22 July 2021) was a French racing driver, noted for winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1978 and 1980. Jaussaud was born in Caen, Calvados, and started racing in automobiles in 1962, taking courses in the Ji ...

partnered

Jacques Henry Jacques Henry, known as "Old Jack", (15 May 1942 in Lure (Haute-Saône – 19 November 2016) was a French private rally driver from the 1970s. He was a double champion of France of the rallies on Alpine-Renault A110bis, in 1974 and 1975. He won ...

(F) in the other car) and Raymond entered himself and Götz in the DFV-engined car. Jassaud and Henry finished third overall, and won the Sports 2000 class, whilst Charnell and Smith finished right behind them, the two other Chrysler-Simca-engined cars retired, and the pairing of Raymond and Götz once again did not compete in the race. For the 250 km of Imola, Francisci partnered "Robin Hood" in a 1.6-litre Cosworth FVA-engined car, and Blanckley entered himself and Götz in the DFV car; although the latter pairing once again did not attend the race, "Robin Hood" and Francisci finished eleventh overall, and third in the Sports 1600 class.

1978

For 1978, the World Sportscar Championship had folded; as a result, the

European Sportscar Championship The European Sportscar Championship was a name used by several sports car racing championships based in Europe. Initially created in 1970 by the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) as the European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship f ...

(ESC) was introduced in its place. In the opening round of the ESC season, which was the 300 km of Nürburgring, Raymond drove his DFV-powered car to ninth place, and second in the Sports 2.0+ category. Four cars were entered at the next ESC race, which was the

320 km of Monza 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

; however, three failed to qualify, and the one car that did, a Cosworth BDG-engined B31 driven by Robin Smith and Charnell, retired due to engine problems. Charnell and Smith were partnered by Fréderic Alliot and

Richard Jones Richard Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *F. Richard Jones (1893–1930), American filmmaker *Dick Clair (Richard Jones, 1931–1988), American producer, actor and TV writer *Richard Jones (The Feeling), British bass guitarist *Richard J ...

for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but their race was strewn with problems, and the 181 laps they completed were insufficient for them to be classified.

Secondo Ridolfi The term Secondo ''(sg. m.) (Seconda (sg. f.))'' is an umbrella term which has particularly been used in Switzerland. ''Secondo/Seconda'' is the Italian word for ''second'' and has been used to refer to people who are children of immigrants, were ...

and Grassi were the only two to use a B31 at the Coppa Florio Pergusa, the fourth round of the ESC season, and they finished sixth. This was the car's best result all season in any championship.

1979

In 1979, the European Sportscar Championship folded, and the

(WCM) replaced it. Nesti was the solitary B31 entry in the 6 Hours of Mugello, which was the second round of the WCM; however, he did not compete in the B31, instead driving a BMW 320i with

Luigi Moreschi is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

. Ridolfi partnered Roberto Marazzi in the 1000 km of Monza, which formed part of the

Italian Group 6 Championship Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

; they took their 1.6-litre Ford-engined car to fourth overall, and won the Sports 1600 category. Blanckley then attempted to enter the 1000 km of Nürburgring, but did not attend the race. Götz and Blanckley's next WCM entry was at the

6 Hours of Brands Hatch 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

; once again, they did not actually compete in the event. The best B31 finish of the season came in July, when Götz took his

-engined car to second in the third round of the Interserie championship, held at Nürburgring.

1980

The B31 was still being entered into WCM events in 1980; Götz attempted to run himself and

Roland Binder Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as th ...

in the 1000 km of Monza, but did not compete. Götz and Blanckley then entered the 1000 km of Nürburgring, and brought their BMW-powered B31 home in 15th overall, and won the Sports 2000 category. The first seven laps also scored points for the Interserie championship; Götz was classified seventh at this point (and third in the Sports 2000 class), for what would prove to be the B31's best overall finish of the year. The last B31 entries of 1980 in the WCM came at the 6 Hours of Vallelunga, where two 1.6 litre Cosworth cars were entered; "Menes" and Franco Forini in one car, whilst

Maurizio Gellini Maurizio is an Italian masculine given name, derived from the Roman name Mauritius. Mauritius is a derivative of Maurus, meaning ''dark-skinned, Moorish''. List of people with the given name Maurizio Art and music * Maurizio Arcieri (born 1945 ...

and Luigino Grassi drove the other. Neither would finish the race; as Gellini/Grassi retired after 108 laps, and "Menes"/Forini retired four laps later.

1981

By 1981, the B31 was being used less and less. Gellini partnered Ridolfi in a 1.6-litre Cosworth BDG-engined car at the 1000 km of Monza, but they lasted just nine laps before retiring. Jones and

Barrie Williams Barrie Williams (23 September 1937 – 23 April 2018) was a Welsh football coach. He managed Sutton United during the 1980s and the England women's team during 1991. In January 1989, Williams led Sutton United, of the Football Conference, to a ...

then ran a 2-litre BDG-powered B31 at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, but the race was far from trouble-free, and the 141 laps that they completed were not enough to be classified. Götz, Binder and Blanckley initially entered a DFV-powered B31 in the 1000 km of Nürburgring, but instead Götz and Binder drove a

Lola T296 Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lola (f ...

, whilst Blanckley drove a McLaren M8 Special. The B31's best finish of 1981 came at the sixth round of the Interserie championship, held at Nürburgring; Götz brought his DFV-engined car home in seventh overall, and fourth in the Sports 2000+ class.

1982–1984: Interserie success

1982

In 1982, the B31 was not used in any World Endurance Championship (WEC) races; instead, it was used solely in the Interserie championship, and all bar one entry was from Götz. Despite the fact that the B31 was now seven years old, it was still fairly successful in the Interserie; Götz finished sixth overall, and second in Division II, at the opening round of the season, held at Nürburgring. A fifth overall, and fourth in Division II at the

Österreichring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from to . It was later ...

followed, before Götz finished eighth and fifth overall (fourth and second in his division) in the next two Nürburgring races.

Autodrom Most Autodrom Most is a hard-surfaced long race track for motorsport outside of the city of Most in the northwest of the Czech Republic. The racing circuit was built between 1978 and 1983, but the Most district was known for organizing motorcycle ...

saw

Rainer Rahardt Rainer may refer to: People * Rainer (surname) * Rainer (given name) Other * Rainer Island, an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia * 16802 Rainer Year 168 ( CLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar ...

attempt to enter, but not compete; however Götz finished fourth overall, and second in his division. Götz finished the season by taking fifth overall, and second in Division II, at

Siegerland The Siegerland is a region of Germany covering the old district of Siegen (now part of the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein in North Rhine-Westphalia) and the upper part of the district of Altenkirchen, belonging to the Rhineland-Palatinate adjoin ...

. Götz finished the Interserie season in fourth overall, with 67 points.

1983

In 1983, Götz was the only person to run a B31. He started his season by taking seventh overall in the fourth round of the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM) series, held at Mainz-Finthen; he was the fastest of the three Group 6 entrants. Götz then took fourth overall, and third in Division II, at the opening round of the Interserie, held at the Österreichring. He would take seventh overall at Most, and fourth in his division, before following this with ninth and seventh overall in the two Siegerland races (second and third in his division.) Seventh at Hockenheim, and second in Division II, meant that Götz finished the

1983 Interserie season The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

classified in third place, with 64 points; he was level with Binder on points, but had no class wins to Binder's three, and was classified behind him as a result.

1984

Now entering its ninth season, the venerable B31 was still Götz's car of choice for the Interserie. In the season opener, held at

AVUS The Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS, is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern par ...

, Götz took third overall, and won Division II, for the car's best overall finish since 1979. He was slightly less competitive at the Österreichring, where he finished seventh overall, and fourth in his division; and he was unable to do better than 14th overall, and sixth in his division, at the Nürburgring. Götz then took another seventh overall, and fourth in his division, at

Erding Erding () is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the rural district of the same name. It had a population of 36,469 in 2019. The original Erdinger Weissbier is a well-known Bavarian specialty. Erding is located around 31 kilometers no ...

; however, this was followed by a successful race at Most, where he couldn't make the start of the race. The final round of the Interserie season, held again at the Nürburgring, was also unsuccessful; Götz could do no better than 16th, and seventh in Division II. He slipped to joint-sixth in the Driver's standings; level with

Henri Pescarolo Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (born 25 September 1942) is a former racing driver from France. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the ...

in a

Porsche 956 The Porsche 956 was a Group C sports-prototype racing car designed by Norbert Singer and built by Porsche in 1982 for the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was later upgraded to the 956B in 1984. In 1983, driven by Stefan Bellof, this car ...

. Gotz switched to a

March 832 The March 832 was a British open-wheel Formula 2 racing car, built by March Engineering in 1983. The car's best result in Formula 2 racing was third in the 1983 championship season with Beppe Gabbiani scoring 4 wins with Onyx Racing. After find ...

for 1985, and the B31 would remain unused in that year, and 1986.

1987–1990: Later career

1987–1988

After three years of inactivity, two B31s were entered in a non-championship race at

Kyalami Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has h ...

; Duckhams/All-Car entered Allan Quinn and Chad Wentzel in their car,

whilst Giorgio Cavalieri ''While'' is a word in the English language that functions both as a noun and as a subordinating conjunction. Its meaning varies largely based on its intended function, position in the phrase and even the writer or speaker's regional dialec ...

and

Ben Morgenrood Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Benson, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben (in he, בֶּן, ''son of'') forms part of Hebrew surnames, e.g. Abraham ben Abraham ( he, � ...

drove a

Mazda , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima (town), Fuchū, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, M ...

-powered B31. Although Quinn and Wentzel retired after 49 laps, Cavalieri and Morgenrood were able to bring their B31 home in 14th, and third in the Thundersport class. In 1988,

Gérard MacQuillan Gérard (French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constitue ...

entered himself and Williams in a 2-litre BMW M12-engined B31/36 in the fourth round of the BRDC C2 Championship, held at

Oulton Park Oulton Park is a hard surfaced track used for motor racing, close to the village of Little Budworth, Cheshire, England. It is about from Winsford, from Chester city centre, from Northwich and from Warrington, with a nearby rail connection al ...

; they finished ninth, and last. Despite this, MacQuillan used the car again at Brands Hatch; he and

Tony Lanfranchi Tony Lanfranchi (25 June 1935 – 7 October 2004) was a British racing driver. He competed in many various events throughout a long racing career, including the 1965 24 Hours of Le Mans for Elva, non-championship Formula One races in 1968, and ...

finished fifth. MacQuillan and Williams would then enter the

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

round of the series, finishing eighth overall, and second in Class C.

1989–1990

MacQuillan and Williams entered two Thundersports races in their B31/36 at the start of the 1989 season; both ended in retirement. Despite this, they ran the car again in the Oulton Park round of the BRDC C2 Championship; they finished ninth. Two further races followed that year; seventh at Thruxton, before bearing problems prevented the pair from starting the race at Silverstone. One further entry in 1990 would follow, at the

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned ...

round of the BRDC C2 Championship; this also resulted in a failure to start. After 15 years of competition, the B31 was finally retired, as it never competed again.

References

{{reflist, 30em Chevron racing cars Sports prototypes 24 Hours of Le Mans race cars