The 1981 World Sportscar Championship season was the 29th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1981 FIA World Endurance Championship which was contested over a fifteen race series which ran from 31 January to 27 September.[1] The former World Challenge for Endurance Drivers was renamed to the World Endurance Championship of Drivers for 1981 and the World Championship of Makes was renamed to the World Endurance Championship of Makes. Bob Garretson won the World Endurance Championship of Drivers and Lancia was awarded the World Endurance Championship of Makes.[1]
World Endurance Championship of Drivers was contested over all fifteen races however only six of the races counted towards the World Endurance Championship of Makes.[1]
| Drivers Rd. | Makes Rd. | Race | Circuit | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |  24 Hours Pepsi Challenge | Daytona International Speedway | 31 January 1 February | |
| 2 | - | Coca-Cola 12 Hours of Sebring | Sebring International Raceway | 21 March | |
| 3 | - |  Mugello 6 Hours | Mugello Circuit | 12 April | |
| 4 | 2 | 1000km Monza | Autodromo Nazionale Monza | 26 April | |
| 5 | - | Los Angeles Times Toyota Grand Prix (6 Hours) | Riverside International Raceway | 26 April | |
| 6 | 3 |  Silverstone 6 Hours | Silverstone Circuit | 10 May | |
| 7 | 4 |  1000km Nürburgring | Nürburgring | 24 May | |
| 8 | 5 |  24 Hours of Le Mans | Circuit de la Sarthe | 13 June 14 June | |
| 9 | - | Coppa Florio (6 Hours) | Autodromo di Pergusa | 28 June | |
| 10 | - | 6 Hours of Daytona Champion Spark Plug Challenge | Daytona International Speedway | 2 July | |
| 11 | 6 | 6 Hours of Watkins Glen | Watkins Glen International | 12 July | |
| 12 | - |  24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps | 26 July 27 July | |
| 13 | - |  Molson 1000 Kilometres (6 Hours) | Mosport Park | 16 August | |
| 14 | - | Pabst 500 Miles | Road America | 23 August | |
| 15 | - | Flying Tigers 1000 Kilometres | Brands Hatch | 27 September |
Although various classes of cars contested the championship races, only the overall race winners are listed in the table below.
The World Endurance Championship of Drivers was open to FIA Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4, Group 5, Group 6, Group C and GTP cars and to IMSA GTX, IMSA GTP, IMSA AAGT, IMSA GTO, IMSA GTU and IMSA RS cars.[4]
Drivers Championship points were awarded on a 20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first twenty overall finishers at each round.[4] Bonus points were also awarded as follows:[4]
Only half points were awarded at the shortened Nürburgring round.[4] All points scored were retained towards the championship totals.[4]
| Position [5] | Driver | Car [6] | Points | |
| 1 | Bob Garretson | Porsche 935 K3 & 935 | 127 | |
| 2 | Harald Grohs | Porsche 935 & 935 K3 | 116.5 | |
| 3 | Bobby Rahal | Porsche 935 K3 & 935/78-81 | 109 | |
| 4 | Edgar Dören | Porsche 935 K3 & Porsche 935 | 107.5 | |
| 5 | Giorgio Francia | Osella PA9 BMW | 101 | |
| = | Lella Lombardi | Osella PA9 BMW | 101 | |
| 7 | BMW M1 & Porsche 935 | 96 | ||
| 8 | Bob Akin | Porsche 935 K3 & 935 | 84 | |
| 9 | Jim Busby | Porsche 935 K3 & 935 | 81 | |
| 10 | 80 | |||
| 11 | John C Cooper | Porsche 935 K3 & Chevrolet Camaro | 73.5 | |
| 12 | John Fitzpatrick | Porsche 935 K3 & 935 | 71 | |
| 13 | Dudley Wood | Porsche 935 K3 | 67 | |
| 14 | Hurley Haywood | Porsche 935 & Mazda RX-3 | 65 | |
| 15 | Lee Mueller | Mazda RX-7 | 63 | |
| 16 | Porsche 935 K3 | 60 | ||
| = | Walt Bohren | Mazda RX-7 | 60 | |
| 18 | Jürgen Lässig | Porsche 935 K3 & BMW M1 | 56.5 | |
| = | Dieter Schornstein | Porsche 935 | 56.5 | |
| 20 | Ralph Kent Cooke | Porsche 935 K3 & 935 | 54 | |
| 21 | Marion L Speer | Mazda RX-7 & Porsche 914/6 | 53 | |
| = | Emilio de Villota | Lola T600 Ford | 53 | |
| = | Bill Whittington | Porsche 935 K3 & 935 | 53 | |
| = | Guy Edwards | Lola T600 Ford | 53 | |
| 25 | Roger Mandeville | Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-3 | 52 | |
| = | Amos Johnson | Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-3 | 52 | |
| 27 | Jacques Guerin | Porsche 935 & BMW 530i | 50 | |
| 28 | Luigi Moreschi | Osella PA9 BMW | 49 | |
| = | Carlo Franchi | Osella PA9 BMW | 49 | |
| 30 | Jim Downing | Mazda RX-7, Mazda RX-3 | 46 | |
| 31 | Richard Lloyd | Porsche 924 Carrera GTR | 45 | |
| = | Frank Carney | Datsun ZX & Datsun 280ZX | 45 | |
| = | Dick Davenport | Datsun ZX & Datsun 280ZX | 45 | |
| 34 | Siegfried Brunn | Porsche 908/3 & Porsche Carrera | 44 | |
| = | Eddie Jordan | Porsche 908/3 & BMW M1 | 44 | |
| 36 | Pete Smith | Porsche Carrera & BMW M1 | 43 | |
| = | Chuck Kendall | Porsche Carrera & BMW M1 | 43 | |
| 38 | BMW M1 & March 81P | 42 | ||
| 39 | Jean-Claude Andruet | Ferrari 512 BB/LM & BMW 530i | 41 | |
| = | Gianpiero Moretti | Porsche 935/78-81 | 41 | |
| = | Mazda RX-7 | 41 | ||
| 42 | Ray Ratcliff | Porsche 914/6 & Mazda RX-7 | 40.5 | |
| 43 | Tony Garcia | BMW M1 & Porsche Carrera | 40 | |
| = | Hiram Cruz | BMW M1 & Porsche Carrera | 40 | |
| = | Albert Naon | BMW M1 & Porsche Carrera | 40 | |
| 46 | Dirk Vermeersch | Mazda RX-7 & BMW 530i | 39 | |
| = | Eddy Joosen | Mazda RX-7 & BMW 530i | 39 | |
| 48 | Pierre Dieudonné | Mazda RX-7 & Ferrari 512 BB/LM | 38 | |
| = | Roy Woods | Porsche 935 K3 & 935 | 38 | |
| = | Bruce Leven | Porsche 935 | 38 |
A total of 371 drivers scored points in the 1981 World Endurance Championship of Drivers.[5]
The World Endurance Championship of Makes was open FIA Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Group 4 and Group 5 cars and to IMSA GTX cars.[4]
Cars from all eligible groups were combined, and then divided into two Divisions based on engine capacity.[4] Points were awarded on a 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the top ten places in each Division at each race.[7] Only the best placed car of each make in each division at each race was eligible to score points.[4] Cars from groups not included in the championship (e.g. FIA Group 6 cars) were disregarded when assessing divisional positions for championship purposes.Only half points were awarded for the shortened Nurburgring race.[4] The best five round results could be retained by each make.[4]
The overall World Endurance Championship of Makes title was won by Lancia.[1] Although both Lancia and Porsche scored 100 points from their best five class results, Lancia was awarded the title based on its six divisional victories against the five scored by Porsche .[1]
| Pos | Manufacturer | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porsche | 20 | 20 | 20 | (7.5) | 20 | 20 | 100 | |
| 2 | BMW | 8 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 4 | 52 | ||
| 3 | Ferrari | 3 | 15 | 15 | |||||
| 4 | Lancia | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| 5 | Morgan | 2 | 2 |
| Pos | Manufacturer | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lancia | 20 | 20 | 20 | (10) | 20 | 20 | 100 | |
| 2 | BMW | 15 | 7.5 | 22.5 | |||||
| 3 | Opel | 5 | 5 | ||||||
| 4 | Ford | 4 | 4 | ||||||
| 5 |  Toyota | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| 6 | Alfa Romeo | 0.5 | 0.5 |
