1981 in motorsport explained

The following is an overview of the events of 1981 in motorsport including the major racing events, motorsport venues that were opened and closed during a year, championships and non-championship events that were established and disestablished in a year, and births and deaths of racing drivers and other motorsport people.

Annual events

The calendar includes only annual major non-championship events or annual events that had significance separate from the championship. For the dates of the championship events see related season articles.

Date	Event	Ref
1–20 January	3rd Dakar Rally	^[1]
31 January-1 February	19th 24 Hours of Daytona	^[2]
15 February	23rd Daytona 500	^[3]
24 May	65th Indianapolis 500	^[4]
31 May	39th Monaco Grand Prix	^[5]
6–11 June	64th Isle of Man TT	^[6]
13–14 June	49th 24 Hours of Le Mans	^[7]
3–4 October	10th 24 Hours of Nurburgring	^[8]
25–26 July	33rd 24 Hours of Spa	^[9]
26 July	4th Suzuka 8 Hours	^[10]
5 October	22nd James Hardie 1000	^[11]
15 November	28th Macau Grand Prix	^[12]

Births

Date	Month	Name	Nationality	Occupation	Note	Ref
1	January	Zsolt Baumgartner	Hungarian	Racing driver	The first Hungarian Formula One driver.	^[13]
24	February	Timo Bernhard	German	Racing driver	24 Hours of Le Mans winner . FIA World Endurance champion (2015, 2017).	^[14]
1	March	Will Power	Australian	Racing driver	Winner of the Indianapolis 500 (2018).	^[15]
29	July	Fernando Alonso	Spanish	Racing driver	Formula One World Champion (-). FIA World Endurance champion (2018-19).	^[16]
30		Nicky Hayden	American	Motorcycle racer	MotoGP World champion .	^[17]
19	October		Finnish	Racing driver	2008 Hungarian Grand Prix winner.	^[18]
31		Mike Rockenfeller	German	Racing driver	24 Hours of Le Mans winner . Le Mans Series champion (2008).	^[19]
19	November	André Lotterer	German	Racing driver	24 Hours of Le Mans winner (-,). FIA World Endurance champion (2012).	^[20]

Deaths

Date	Month	Name	Age	Nationality	Occupation	Note	Ref
1	January	Mauri Rose	84	American	Racing driver	Indianapolis 500 winner (1941, 1947-1948).	^[21]
9		Sammy Davis	93	British	Racing driver	24 Hours of Le Mans winner .	^[22]
21		Cuth Harrison	74	British	Racing driver	One of the first British Formula One drivers.	^[23]
23	March	Mike Hailwood	40	British	Motorcycle racer	500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing World champion (-).	^[24]
13	October	Philippe Étancelin	84	French	Racing driver	Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans	^[25]

See also

• List of 1981 motorsport champions

Notes and References

1. Web site: 1981 Dakar Rally. rssp.eu. 29 April 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060932/http://www.rssp.eu/downloads/dakar/1981.pdf. 2016-03-04. dead.
2. Web site: Daytona 24 Hours 1981 - Racing Sports Cars. racingsportscars.com. 16 April 2017.
3. Web site: 1981 Daytona 500. racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. 16 April 2017.
4. Web site: 1981 Indianapolis 500. racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. 15 April 2017.
5. Web site: 1981 Grand Prix of Monaco. racing-reference.info. Racing Reference. 15 April 2017.
6. Web site: TT 1981. iomtt.com. Isle of Man TT. 15 April 2017.
7. Web site: Le Mans Register - 1981. formula2.net. 16 April 2017.
8. Web site: Nurburgring 24 hours. touringcarracing.net. 23 April 2017.
9. Web site: 24 h Spa-Francorchamps. touringcarracing.net. 16 April 2017.
10. Web site: Suzuka 8 Hours 1981 results. Moto Racing JAPAN. 24 April 2017. 10 December 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171210214940/http://www.motoracing-japan.com/result/spl/818h.html. dead.
11. Web site: 1981 Bathurst 1000. Unique Cars & Parts. 22 April 2017.
12. Web site: 1981 Macau Grand Prix. motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. 22 April 2017.
13. Web site: Zsolt Baumgartner. en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. 15 April 2018.
14. Web site: Timo Bernhard. motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. 17 April 2018.
15. Web site: Will Power. espn.com. ESPN. 27 May 2018.
16. Web site: Fernando Alonso — Biography. Grand Prix History. 10 May 2017.
17. Web site: Nicky Hayden. motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. 18 April 2018.
18. Web site: Heikki Kovalainen. en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. 16 April 2018.
19. Web site: Mike Rockenfeller. motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. 17 April 2018.
20. Web site: André Lotterer. en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. 17 April 2018.
21. Web site: Mauri Rose. motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. 17 April 2018.
22. Web site: Sammy Davis. f1grandprixdriversclub.com. F1 Grand Prix Drivers Club. 16 April 2018. 16 April 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180416204015/http://www.f1grandprixdriversclub.com/member/sammy-davis/. dead.
23. Web site: Cuth Harrison. en.espn.co.uk. ESPN. 15 April 2018.
24. Web site: Mike Hailwood. motorsportmagazine.com. Motor Sport Magazine. 16 April 2018.
25. Web site: Philippe Entancelin. ESPN. 15 April 2018.