1971 Trans-American Sedan Championship Explained

The 1971 Trans-American Championship was the sixth running of the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series. The format was altered to an over 2500cc class and an under 2500cc class, up 500cc from past years. All races used split classes except where noted. The year marked the rise of Datsun as a competitive brand, with the Japanese company winning several races throughout the season. American Motors, led by Mark Donohue's 7 wins, and Datsun, led by John Morton's 6 wins, won the manufacturers' championships.

Schedule

Rnd	Date	Circuit	Distance	Over 2.5 Winning Car	Under 2.5 Winning Car
				Over 2.5 Winning Driver	Under 2.5 Winning Driver
1	May 8	Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Connecticut	130miles (U2L) 200.43miles (O2L)	AMC Javelin	Alfa Romeo GTV
				Mark Donohue	Horst Kwech
2	May 31	Bryar Motorsports Park, Loudon, New Hampshire	112miles (U2L) 152miles (O2L)	Ford Mustang	Alfa Romeo
				George Follmer	Gaston Andrey
3	June 6	Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio	106miles (U2L) 180miles (O2L)	Ford Mustang	Datsun 510
				George Follmer	John Morton
4	June 20	Edmonton International Speedway, Edmonton, Alberta	106miles (U2L) 180miles (O2L)	AMC Javelin	Datsun 510
				Mark Donohue	John Morton
5	July 4	Donnybrooke International Speedway, Brainerd, Minnesota	150miles (U2L) 210miles (O2L)	AMC Javelin	Alfa Romeo GTA
				Mark Donohue	Bert Everett
6	July 17	Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	108miles (U2L) 200miles (O2L)	AMC Javelin	Datsun 510
				Mark Donohue	John Morton
7	July 25	Naval Air Station Olathe, Olathe, Kansas	120miles	not contested	Datsun 510
					John Morton
8	August 1	Circuit Mont-Tremblant, Saint-Jovite, Quebec	185.5miles	AMC Javelin	not contested
				Mark Donohue
9	August 15	Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York	123.828miles (U2L) 218.24miles (O2L)	AMC Javelin	Alfa Romeo GTV
				Mark Donohue	Horst Kwech
10	September 6	Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan	209.79miles	AMC Javelin	not contested
				Mark Donohue
11	October 3 October 4	Riverside International Raceway, Riverside, California	114.75miles (U2L) 201.4miles (O2L)	AMC Javelin	Datsun 510
				George Follmer	John Morton
12	October 16	Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, California	110.2miles	not contested	Datsun 510
					John Morton
^[1] ^[2]

Horst Kwech won the race on track, but was disqualified for an oversize fuel tank.^{[3] [4]}

Championships

Points were awarded according to finishing position. Only the highest-placed car scored points for the manufacturer. Only the best 8 finishes counted toward the championship. Drivers' championships were not awarded in Trans-Am until 1972.

Over 2.5L manufacturers

Pos	Manufacturer	LRP	BRY	MDO	EDM	DON	ELK	MTB	WGL	MIC	RIV	Pts
1	American Motors	1	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	82
2	Ford	2	1	1	2	3	2	2	2	2	4	61
3	Chevrolet	3	5	7	3	5	7	7	5	6	5	17
4	Pontiac	19	4	5		28		25	15	5		7

Under 2.5L manufacturers

Pos	Manufacturer	LRP	BRY	MDO	EDM	DON	ELK	OLA	WGL	RIV	LAG	Pts
1	Datsun	7	6	1	1	5	1	1	3	1	1	60 (62)
2	Alfa Romeo	1	1	2	2	1	2	2	1	2	2	60 (72)
3	BMW	2	2	5	10	7	5	6	4	6	3	25
4	Ford of Britain	13	20		7	4	12	13	7			3
5	British Leyland	21	12	10	6	6	11	14	23	23	17	2

Tie broken based on Datsun's higher number of wins.

See also

• 1971 Can-Am season

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1971 Trans-Am Box Scores . . 29 April 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110719235445/http://cms.scca.com/documents/Pro%20Racing/Archives/Trans-Am/1971.pdf . 2011-07-19 . dead .
2. Web site: de Jong. Frank. 1971 Trans-Am Championship table. Touring Car Racing History. 12 March 2017.
3. Web site: The SCCA Trans-Am 2.5 Challenge. DatsunHistory.com. 2 May 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110928214235/http://www.datsunhistory.com/transam1.html. 28 September 2011. dead.
4. Web site: History of the Trans-Am 2.5 Challenge. B Sedan.com. 2 May 2011. 24 February 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140224132453/http://www.bsedan.com/hist25.html. dead.