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David Price Racing (commonly referred to as DPR) was a British motor racing team, founded by David Price. The team competed in various forms of motorsport from their foundation in 1976 until 2008. The team was sold in April 2009, but continued racing in GP2 and GP2 Asia Series under the name David Price Racing until 2010.


History

The team initially ran small single-seater series in Britain from the late 1970s, including British Formula 3 and Aurora F1. The team entered
Giacomo Agostini Giacomo Agostini (; born 16 June 1942) is an Italian former professional motorcycle road racer and racing team manager. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1963 to 1977, most prominently as a member of ...
's Williams FW06 in the Aurora-backed British F1 series in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
and
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
. Many future Formula drivers raced for the team, including
Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell (; born 8 August 1953) is a British former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Mansell won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in with Williams, and won 31 Grands Prix across 15 seasons ...
,
Martin Brundle Martin John Brundle (born 1 June 1959) is a British former racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, Brundle won the World Sportscar Champions ...
, Johnny Dumfries and
Tiff Needell Timothy Richard "Tiff" Needell (born 29 October 1951) is a British racing driver and television presenter. He is a presenter of '' Lovecars'', and formerly served as co-presenter of '' Top Gear'' and '' Fifth Gear''. Biography Needell attende ...
. David Price Racing won the French F3 title in 1982 with Pierre Petit and the British F3 title with Dumfries in 1984. DPR drivers in French F3 also included
Paul Belmondo Paul Alexandre Belmondo (born 23 April 1963) is a French actor and racing driver who raced in Formula One for the March and Pacific Racing teams. He was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, the son of actor Jean-Paul Belmondo and grand ...
, Fabien Giroix and François Hesnault from 1982 through 1986.
Andrew Ridgeley Andrew John Ridgeley (born 26 January 1963) is an English musician, best known for his work in the 1980s in the musical duo Wham! consisting of Ridgeley and George Michael. Associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US, th ...
, formerly of the pop duo
Wham! Wham! were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981 consisting of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They were one of the most successful pop acts during the 1980s, selling more than 30 million certified records worldwide from 1982 to ...
, also ran with DPR in French F3, after the band split up. In 1987, David Price moved into
sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...
, becoming a team manager for Richard Lloyd Racing. Price was approached by
Sauber Sauber Motorsport AG, currently competing in Formula One as Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber, and also known simply as Kick Sauber or Sauber, is a Swiss motorsport engineering company. It was founded in 1970 (as PP Sauber AG) by Peter Sauber, who pro ...
- Mercedes in 1988, helping the team achieve the
World Sportscar Championship The World Sportscar Championship was the world Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing series run for sports car racing, sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), from 1953 World Sportscar Championship, 1953 t ...
and a
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
victory in 1989. David Price was then headhunted by Nissan Motorsports Europe to run their sportscar program, before eventually becoming director of racing at
Brabham Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham ( ), was a British race car, racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. It was founded in 1960 by the Australian driver Jack Brabham and the British-Australian designer Ron Ta ...
in
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
in 1991. David Price Racing returned to competition in 1995, running in the
BPR Global GT Series The BPR Global GT Series (sometimes referred to as the BPR Global GT Endurance Series or simply abbreviated as BPR) was a grand tourer-based sports car racing series which ran from 1994 to 1996 before becoming the FIA GT Championship in 1997. The ...
. One of the multiple
McLaren F1 GTR The McLaren F1 GTR is the racing variant of the McLaren F1 sports car first produced in 1995 for grand touring style racing, such as the BPR Global GT Series, FIA GT Championship, JGTC, and British GT Championship. It was powered by the na ...
teams in the series, they won the team and drivers championship in their first year of competition with drivers John Nielsen and
Thomas Bscher Thomas Bscher (born 2 April 1952) is an automobile race car driver and banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending ...
. The team also finished third at the
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
that year, running the Harrods-sponsored McLaren with drivers Andy Wallace and Derek Bell and
Justin Bell Justin Derek Bell (born 23 February 1968) is a British race car driver, who after a successful career behind the wheel, transitioned into the media world in front of the camera and established himself as one of the top US based automotive conte ...
. In 1996, the team finished third in the BPR championship. DPR then became the European factory team for
Panoz Panoz is an American manufacturer of Luxury car, luxury Sports car, sports automobiles founded in 1989 as Panoz Auto Development by Don Panoz, Dan Panoz, son of Don Panoz (1935 – 2018). The company has also been extensively involved in profes ...
in 1997, running their Esperante GTR-1s in the new
FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...
as well as supporting the primary team in the United States. In 1998, Price was in charge of the first hybrid car ever to attempt to qualify at Le Mans, the Panoz GT-1 hybrid. During a brief interlude from Panoz, David Price Racing ran a
BMW V12 LM The BMW V12 LM was a racing car built for sports car racing in 1998. The car was built using a combination of Williams Racing chassis engineering and construction and a BMW powerplant. The car was the predecessor to the BMW V12 LMR, which debu ...
at the
24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...
, finishing fifth overall. The team would later return to support Panoz's own
Le Mans prototype A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...
efforts in the
American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...
and at Le Mans itself. Following the 2001 season, DPR went on hiatus. The team would briefly assist MG in development of the XPower SV for 2002. In 2004, David Price Racing returned, once again running single-seater cars. They ran the
Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Formula Renault V6 Eurocup is a former type of formula racing, active from 2003 to 2004, started by Renault as a support series in Eurosport's Super Racing Weekends ( ETCC and FIA GT Championship). It was a Formula Renault 3.5 that include also ...
series before moving into the new
GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Ecc ...
in 2005, winning two races with
Olivier Pla Olivier Pla (born 21 October 1981) is a French racing driver who competed in the Asian Le Mans Series for AF Corse. Career French Formula Campus and Formula Three Born in Toulouse, Pla started his career in 2000 in French Formula Campus befor ...
. The team briefly changed their name to
Direxiv Direxiv Co. Ltd. was a motorsports company that competed in Super GT and Formula Nippon. The company had links to the GP2 Series, then the feeder series for Formula One, and had submitted an entry to run a Formula One team in 2008. History Direxiv ...
in 2006, before returning to the David Price Racing name in 2007. The team also ran the
A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themse ...
series for
A1 Team USA A1 Team USA was the American team of A1 Grand Prix, an international racing series. Management Owner Rick Weidinger became interested in A1 Team USA and the A1 Grand Prix series when national franchises were being bid for the new series. Along w ...
during the 2005–06 season. Years after selling the team, Price had been involved in the
DeltaWing The DeltaWing is a racing car designed by British race car designer and engineer Ben Bowlby and debuted at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans. The entry was run under the Project 56 name, composed of Ben Bowlby (design), Dan Gurney's All American ...
Le Mans Prototype program since 2013. Panoz takes DeltaWing in-house for 2013 American Le Mans Series
- Gary Watkins, Autosport, 6 February 2013 Price died on 15 February 2023 aged 75.


Series results


GP2 Series

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)


GP2 Asia Series

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)


References

{{reflist, 2


External links


David Price Racing


British auto racing teams A1 Grand Prix racing teams GP2 Series teams 24 Hours of Le Mans teams American Le Mans Series teams FIA GT Championship teams FIA Sportscar Championship entrants Auto racing teams established in 1976 1976 establishments in the United Kingdom Auto racing teams disestablished in 2010 2010 disestablishments in the United Kingdom FIA European Formula 3 Championship teams French Formula 3 teams German Formula 3 teams British Formula Three teams