Praga R1

The Praga R1 is a racing and sports car made by Czech car manufacturer Praga. The cars raced on the Supercar Challenge and the Britcar Endurance Championship.

Development

The first Praga R1 was built in 2012. Official Praga testdriver Danny van Dongen drove the car for the first time on October 10, 2012. Production of the R1 began in March 2013.

Racing history

On 15 November 2012 the Supercar Challenge organisation in conjunction with Praga Racing and Radical Benelux launched a new racing class. The Supercar Challenge Superlights would feature four sub-classes, one for the Praga R1, one for the Radical SR8, one for the Radical SR3 and one for Group CN cars.

2013

The first race of the Superlights class was run at the Slovakia Ring. Praga Racing announced that they would enter 10 Praga R1's in the first round. Due to a strike in the Spanish customs division most of the wheels, produced by Spanish company Braid Wheels, did not arrive in time. Due to not having enough wheels only three cars could start the first race. The drivers (Van Dongen, Wagner, Hrobarek and Rosina) had their first racing experience with the Praga R1 on May 17. Danny van Dongen was the fastest Praga in free practice, setting a third time overall behind two Radical SR8's, and in front of a Norma M20F and two Radical SR3's. Danny van Dongen took the first pole position in the PR1 class, fourth overall. Stefan Rosina won the first race.

2014

During the 2014 season the Praga R1 was part of the Supercar Challenge, drivers Berry van Elk, Carlo Kuijer, Nol Köhler and Danny van Dongen we participating in the championship in Europe. At the Menzo 24 Hours of Zolder the Praga R1 was classified 3rd in class and completed the first ever 24 hours race with the Praga R1. The drivers were Ronald van Loon, Nol Köhler, Berry van Elk and Carlo Kuijer.

2017

The Praga R1T was entered for the 2017 Dutch GT & Prototype Challenge in CN class, being run by VR Motorsport in their first year with the car and this championship. The driver line-up consisted of Tim Gray, Oliver Hewitt & Alastair Boulton. For a first season, the team performed well with multiple podium positions and an outright win at Zolder.

2018

The Praga R1T was entered for the 2018 Dutch GT & Prototype Challenge in CN class, being run by VR Motorsport, with drivers Tim Gray & Alain Berg. strong results saw the Praga win the CN class. The highlight of the year being an outright win against the more powerful LMP3 cars in a DTM support race at Zandvoort.

2019

The Praga R1T was entered for the 2019 Britcar Endurance Championship, being run by VR Motorsport, with drivers Tim Gray, Grant Williams and Alastair Boulton at the wheel in various parts of the season. It had been a strong contender in the championship but in the second half of the season, the car experienced problems and dropped to sixth before having a good race in the final round of the championship at Brands Hatch. After swapping the provisional pole position spot with the Brabham BT62, it ended up third on the grid. In the first race, fuse problems, accompanied by a door issue put the car down the field in 11th at the end of the race. In the second race, the car was a lot more reliable, ending the race in 2nd place. The team ended the season 4th overall but 1st in class.

Using the "R1T-F" variant of the Praga R1, Fellner Motorsport finished 3rd overall in the 2019 edition of the Thunderhill 25 Hours with drivers Danny Van Dongen, Tim Barber, Jesse Gröse, Steven Ferrario, and Paul Blikman.

2020

In 2020, VR Motorsport upgraded to a three-Praga entry with two Class 1 cars and one Class 2 entry. One of the R1T Evos took pole position and the overall race 2 win. Danny Harrison and Jem Hepworth won the overall and Class 1 title in the 2020 Britcar Endurance Championship, Jack Fabby and Garry Townsend finished 3rd overall and 2nd in Class 1 while Martyn Compton and Warren McKinlay were 9th overall and 3rd in Class 2.

Praga Cars announced in September 2020, that the 2021 Britcar Endurance Championship would feature an all-new Praga-only category, which would pave the way for a one-make Praga series in 2022, also announcing they would field a series of guest drivers at various events throughout the season.

2021

Praga unveiled their new refreshed all-carbon Praga R1 on 20 January 2021. It was designed to produce 15% more downforce and reduce the drag by 5%. Upgrades to the engine were also made which improved the throttle response along with increased torque. Sim racer Jimmy Broadbent, ex-TV star and SAS soldier Jay Morton, YouTuber and businessman James Walker, otherwise known as "Mr JWW", supercar driver Miles Lacey, as well as Abbie Eaton and Gordie Mutch, a protegé of Romain Grosjean, were announced as the guest drivers in the new Praga R1, with one more driver yet to be announced.

The first-ever running of a dedicated Praga class took at the Silverstone Circuit in April 2021 in the Britcar Endurance Championship, with eight Praga R1 racing cars.

Praga R1R

The Praga R1R is a mid-engined production sports car based on the R1. This is Praga's first road car since 1947. The car is powered by the same engine, transmission, brakes, clutch, and chassis, but has a few differences, like being slightly smaller than the R1.

In video games

The Praga R1 appeared in racing games Assetto Corsa (2014), Asphalt 9: Legends (2018) and Rennsport (2024).

References

External links

{{commons category, Praga R1
The Praga R1 at pragaglobal.com

Racing cars
Praga vehicles
Cars introduced in 2012