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30-567: The inaugural series was staged in 1967 as the SCCA Grand Prix Championship . It was open to the SCCA's existing Formula A , Formula B and Formula C cars, which were restricted to maximum engine capacities of 3 liters, 1.6 liters and 1.1 liters respectively. For 1968, the SCCA amended their Formula A regulations to allow the use of production-based V8 engines , restricted to a 5-liter maximum engine capacity, in addition to

60-608: A car dealership , David Hobbs Honda, in Glendale, Wisconsin , which was sold to the Van Horn Automotive Group in March 2023. His youngest son, Guy, worked for Speed as a pit reporter on their sports car coverage. He is the grandfather of current racing driver Andrew Hobbs. ( key ) ( key ) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) † Events with 2 races staged for

90-666: A 1963 Jaguar from Hobbs' real life hometown in England. Hobbs's father, Howard Frederick Hobbs, was an Australian-born engineer and inventor who developed an early version of the automatic transmission , known as the Mecha-Matic. Colin Chapman had this transmission fitted to his Lotus Elite racecars. Hobbs lives in Vero Beach, Florida with his wife, Margaret, with whom he has two sons, Gregory and Guy. In 1986, Hobbs opened

120-534: A feature/pit reporter from 1979 until 1996, and then moved to Speed in 1996 working as a colour commentator and then moved to NBCSN in 2013. He also worked for ESPN, serving as an analyst for their Formula 1 coverage from 1988 until 1992. Hobbs appeared in the 1983 comedy film Stroker Ace , playing a TV race announcer. He also appeared in the Cars 2 movie, which premiered in June 2011, as announcer "David Hobbscap",

150-592: A group of 27 drivers who by their achievements were rated the best in the world. Hobbs was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009. Hobbs was born, in Royal Leamington Spa , England, just months before the outbreak of World War II . His career as an international racing driver spanned 30 years at all levels including in sports cars , touring cars , Indy cars , IMSA , Can-Am and Formula One . He has participated in

180-602: A popular historic category in Australia and New Zealand with the Tasman Revival Series running races in both countries. The S5000 Australian Drivers' Championship is marketed as a modern interpretation of Formula 5000, featuring a modern European-built open wheeler chassis fitted with a large-capacity V8 engine. The South African Formula One Championship was opened to Formula 5000 cars in 1968, with these racing against Formula One and Formula Two cars until

210-573: A significant number of continental drivers. The weak pound (a result of the energy crisis) and the increasing cost of importing Chevrolet V8 engines caused some concern and engine regulations for European F5000 were revised to permit engines other than the 5.0 litre pushrod V8s - the DOHC Cosworth GA V6 (based on a unit used in Group 2 Capris was permitted to race at a capacity of 3500cc. March 75A and Chevron B30 cars were successful with

240-613: A tribute to Formula 5000 in 2008. At that time, the Wine Country Classic was a sister event to the popular Monterey Historic Automobile Races held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California . In 2014, the Rolex Monterey Reunion featured Formula 5000 cars as a featured race to conclude the weekend and the 2015 get together included Formula 5000 cars as well. 1971 SCCA Formula A Champion

270-464: The 1976 Daytona 500 and drove a race in the 1979 International Race of Champions . Hobbs provided commentary for Formula One and GP2 races (alongside Bob Varsha and former Benetton mechanic Steve Matchett ) until 2013, the SCCA Valvoline runoffs, and parts of the 24 Hours of Daytona. He has also worked for CBS on its Daytona 500 coverage, working as both a colour commentator and

300-652: The IMSA GT Championship in 1981, the old F5000 were now clumsy and slow compared to the new cars . In the UK, the arrival of the Cosworth DFV engine meant that many teams could now afford to build their own chassis around a good engine/transmission package, so Cooper , Lotus and Brabham stopped the production of customer Formula 1 cars. Unfortunately, smaller privateer teams and drivers that entered Britain's non-championship F1 events were left behind, and

330-531: The Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona . He made twenty starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, finishing in 8th place at the first attempt in 1962, following with a pole position and a best finish of third (in 1969 and 1984 ) to his credit. Hobbs was due to make his F1 Grand Prix debut for Tim Parnell Racing at the 1965 French Grand Prix at Clermont-Ferrand, but a serious road accident put him in hospital for three weeks. In 1971 Hobbs won

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360-456: The L&;M 5000 Continental Championship driving for Carl Hogan out of St. Louis, Missouri, in a McLaren M10B-Chevrolet. He won five of the eight rounds that year at Laguna Seca , Seattle , Road America , Edmonton and Lime Rock. Twelve years later, he would claim the 1983 Trans-Am Series championship as well. He also made two NASCAR Winston Cup starts in 1976, including leading two laps at

390-752: The RAC quickly adopted the American F5000 regulations. A European championship was first run in 1969 as the Guards Formula 5000 Championship. This was renamed to Guards European Formula 5000 Championship in 1970, to Rothmans European Formula 5000 Championship in 1971 and then to ShellSport European Formula 5000 Championship in 1975. Unlike the American series, the European championship didn't attract many star names from Formula 1 and sports cars, and

420-566: The SCCA L&;M Continental 5000 Championship for 1971, the 5000 component of the name chosen to give the 5 liter formula greater international recognition. As of 1972, the Formula A regulations still permitted both 5000cc restricted and 3000cc unrestricted engines. Sponsorship by the L&;M cigarette brand was not carried forward from the 1973 championship. An agreement was reached between

450-775: The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and the United States Auto Club (USAC) to jointly sanction the championship from 1974. The championship was renamed to the SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 Championship and was now open to both SCCA Formula 5000 cars and USAC Championship Division cars . The latter could be powered by supercharged engines of up to 2650cc, non- supercharged overhead camshaft engines of up to 4,200cc or production, non- supercharged, non-overhead camshaft engines of up to 5,250cc. During 1976 USAC announced their intention to withdraw from

480-829: The 1970s Formula One had become more commercial and the Grand Prix stars no longer took part. The Tasman Series had become a competitive Australian/New Zealand local championship leaving the field to be dominated by the cream of "Down Under" drivers such as Frank Matich , Frank Gardner , Kevin Bartlett , Vern Schuppan , Graeme McRae , Graeme Lawrence , Warwick Brown , Johnnie Walker , John McCormack , Alan Jones , John Goss , Larry Perkins , John Bowe and Garrie Cooper racing against European and American drivers such as David Hobbs , Teddy Pilette , Mike Hailwood , Sam Posey , Richard Attwood and Peter Gethin . The four Australian Formula 5000 Tasman races continued (separate from

510-767: The New Zealand races) as the Rothmans International Series from 1976 until 1979. Formula 5000 was also the main component of Australian Formula 1 from 1971 to 1981 and this formula was the primary category contesting the Australian Drivers' Championship during those years and the Australian Grand Prix until 1980. Although still called Australian Formula 1 until 1983, F5000 was replaced by Formula Pacific and Formula Mondial after 1981. While European cars such as

540-648: The V6, the March in particular being little more than a 751 Formula One car with minor modifications for the new engine. However, the same problem that befell US F5000 happened in Europe, and in 1976 the European F5000 Championship evolved into the Shellsport Group 8 Championship. This was a British-based series for Formula 1 , Formula 2 , Formula 5000 and Formula Atlantic cars, forming

570-703: The basis of what would become the Aurora F1 Championship in 1978. The F1 Championship was open to Formula 1 and Formula 2 cars only, with Formula 5000 cars no longer eligible. Older F5000 cars continued to be used in the British Sprint Championship and were common in Formula Libre races well into the 1980s. In Australia and New Zealand, the Tasman Formula, defining cars eligible for the annual Tasman Series ,

600-491: The co-sanctioning arrangement at the end of the year. The SCCA proposed to stage a ten race championship in 1977 but subsequently decided to replace the Formula 5000 Championship with a revived Can Am Series . Regulations permitted the existing Formula 5000 cars, with fully enveloping bodywork, to compete in the new series. Formula A Formula 5000 (or F5000 ) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around

630-512: The existing 3 liter engines. For 1969 the series was renamed to the SCCA Continental Championship , with the Formula A cars now contesting a separate feature race at each championship event and the Formula B & C cars competing in their own race for separate points. The championship received substantial sponsorship from L&M Cigarettes for 1970. Increased support from L&M saw the championship renamed to become

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660-548: The formula quickly lost its appeal after 1975. Older cars continued to be used in the SCCA national races, but the most competitive teams reconverted their cars with sports car bodyworks, in the resurrected Can-Am championship, starting in 1977. The formula worked initially, with a number of European drivers crossing the Atlantic to attend the SCCA-run championship, but when IMSA introduced the new GTP prototype regulations for

690-543: The series switched to Formula Atlantic from 1976 onwards. The category was revived in the late 2000s in New Zealand as an amateur historic racing category. In 2009/2010, a five round race series was held, the final round as a support race for the 2010 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, Australia. The annual Wine Country Classic, a historic automobile racing event held at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California , had

720-594: The various Lolas , McLarens and Chevrons were popular, locally made cars from Matich (Matich A50, A51, A52 and A53), Elfin ( Elfin MR5 , MR6, MR8 and the MR9, the only ground effects F5000 ever built) and McRae were also successful. The most popular engine used was the 5.0 L Chevrolet V8 , with the Australian made Repco Holden , based on the 5.0 L Holden V8 engine , also popular and successful. Formula 5000 remains

750-525: The world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars that no longer fit into any particular formula. The '5000' denomination comes from the maximum 5.0 litre engine capacity allowed in the cars, although many cars ran with smaller engines. Manufacturers included McLaren , Eagle , March , Lola , Lotus , Elfin , Matich and Chevron . In its declining years in North America Formula 5000

780-469: Was Dave Heinz of Tampa, Florida in a Lola 142/Traco Chevy. The SCCA Runoffs were run at Road Atlanta that year. David Hobbs (racing driver) David Wishart Hobbs (born 9 June 1939) is a British former racing driver . He worked as a commentator from the mid 1970s for CBS until 1996, Speed from 1996 to 2012 and NBC from 2013 to 2017. In 1969 Hobbs was included in the FIA list of graded drivers,

810-546: Was dominated by drivers that were usually seen in Formula 2 or at the back of F1's World Championship grids. Peter Gethin managed to launch his F1 career thanks to his F5000 championship titles. While it was based in the United Kingdom, the series managed to spread across Europe, with races held at many international circuits, including Monza (Italy), Hockenheim (Germany) and Zandvoort (Netherlands), and attracted

840-527: Was extended in 1970 to include Formula 5000 cars as well as the existing 2.5 litre cars. The Tasman Series ran during the Formula One off season in the European winter, and in the 1960s it had attracted the attention of the greatest names in Grand Prix racing, from locals Jack Brabham , Denny Hulme , Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon , to foreigners like Graham Hill , Jim Clark , Jackie Stewart , Phil Hill , Piers Courage and Jochen Rindt . However, by

870-611: Was inspired by the success of the Can-Am Series, which featured unlimited formula sports cars fitted with very powerful engines derived from American V8s ; the idea was to replicate the concept using open wheel racing cars. F5000 enjoyed popularity in the early 1970s in the U.S. and featured drivers such as Mario Andretti , Al Unser , Bobby Unser , James Hunt , Jody Scheckter , Brian Redman , David Hobbs , Tony Adamowicz , Sam Posey , Ian Ashley , John Cannon and Eppie Wietzes . Increasing costs and Lola domination meant

900-580: Was modified into a closed wheel, but still single-seat sports car racing category. Formula 5000 was introduced in 1968 as a class within SCCA Formula A races, a series where single seaters from different origins were allowed to compete, but which rapidly came to be dominated by the cars equipped with production-based American V8s. The engines used were generally 5 litre, fuel injected Chevrolet engines with about 500 horsepower (370 kW) at 8000 rpm, although other makes were also used. The concept

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