Elite Racing League

All information on this page is not part of canon.

The Elite Racing League is a racing series made by ShaneEyoho, it is a single seater series and is not canon in the Formula rejects universe although it could be in the future should interest grow in the series.

General Information

The Elite Racing League (commonly abbreviated to ERL and often written as 'Elite Racing League') is a FICTIONAL open-wheel single-seater racing competition, the competition itself made its debut to the racing world in 1960 as a Formula 1 support series, the formula is governed by the FIA. What makes this season unique compared to the likes of F1, most of the races from 2016 onwards take place during the off season alongside various winter series meaning the roster of drivers and constructors can vary from season to season.

The Series started out, as mentioned, in 1960 and has seen many good races between now and then, the seasons can be seen below, as the ERL has a long and somewhat complicated history, each season page will run through the basics of what happened during those seasons.

The series stayed as a Formula 1 support series until 1997 when it broke away from the FIA and went independent following backing from title sponsor FedEx this would continue until 2004 when the ERL came back to FIA regulations and backing due to a decrease in ratings and race attendance.

Due to the series (between 1960 and 1997) being an Formula 1 support series, several Formula 1 World Champions participated in this series due to some of the Formula 1 teams at the time also having teams in the ERL (eg: Ferrari.)

The Elite Racing League made its debut on TV at the start of its 1978 season (18 months after Formula 1 debuted at their Japanese Grand Prix in 1976.)

1980 Formula One merge

In 1980 (due to lack of driver interest) a merge between F1 and its ERL support series was made due to their not being enough drivers on the market for the two series to have different grids so the FIA decided to merge the two championships, the ERL would still get its own championship/race slots it would just race the F1 calendar instead of its own, it also meant that future legends of the time could participate in the series more often this actually increased TV ratings as the ERL races usually took place on a Saturday before an F1 Grand Prix on the Sunday.

The merge lasted until 1987 when the FIA were satisfied to continue to run the ERL, once again, as its separate entity - the series would become independent in 1997.

In 1980 drivers weren't allowed to leave their official F1 teams however in 1981 the regulations for the ERL side of the race weekends, the drivers and teams were allowed to move freely between teams (eg: For the 1981 ERL season a McLaren driver could sign for Lotus etc...)

Seasons

In the official ERL rules from 1970 in order for a race to officially be a championship race there needed to be at least 12 drivers on the grid, this rule was changed to 14 as part of the many 1980's regulation changes, it was changed back to 12 during the independent run between 1998 and 2004 it was then increased to 20 for the "Modern Era" from 2005 to present.

Year	Grands Prix	Drivers Champion	Manufacturers Champion
1960	7	Template:AUS Jack Brabham (Cooper)	Template:GBR Cooper-Climax
1961	8	Template:AUS Jack Brabham (Cooper)	Template:GBR Cooper-Climax
1962	8	Template:GBR Jim Clark (Lotus)	Ferrari
1963	8	Bruce McLaren (Cooper)	Template:GBR Lotus-Climax
1964	9	Jo Bonnier (Ferrari)	Ferrari
1965	8	Jo Bonnier (Ferrari)	Ferrari
1966	8	Lorenzo Bandini (Ferrari)	Ferrari
1967	8	Template:GBR Jim Clark (Lotus)	Template:GBR Lotus-Climax
1968	8	Denny Hulme (McLaren)	Honda
1969	9	Template:AUS Jack Brabham (Brabham)	Template:GBR Brabham-Ford
1970	10	Denny Hulme (McLaren)	Template:GBR McLaren-Ford
1971	10	Niki Lauda (BRM)	Template:GBR Lotus-Ford
1972	12	Niki Lauda (Ferrari)	Honda
1973	12	Niki Lauda (Ferrari)	Ferrari
1974	12	Denny Hulme (McLaren)	Template:GBR McLaren-Ford
1975	14	Ronnie Peterson (Lotus)	Honda
1976	14	Chris Amon (Honda)	Honda
1977	14	Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren)	Template:GBR McLaren-Ford
1978	15	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari)	Ferrari
1979	15	Template:SUI Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari)	Ferrari
1980	13	Template:AUS Alan Jones (Williams)	Fittipaldi-Ford
1981	16	Template:FRA Alain Prost (Renault)	Ferrari
1982	16	Template:GBR Nigel Mansell (McLaren)	Template:GBR McLaren-Ford
1983	15	TBA	TBA
1984	-	TBA	TBA

Race Milestones

100 - Template:USA 1971 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen.
200 - 1979 Monaco Grand Prix.

Race Count: 254 (as of the 1982 Caesars Palace Grand Prix)

List of Grand Prix and Locations

As of the 1983 season.

Name of Race	Years	Locations
Argentine Grand Prix	1963-1981	Buenos Aires (1963-1981)
Template:AUT Austrian Grand Prix	1978-present	Template:AUT Salzburgring (1978-1979) Template:AUT Osterreichring (1980-present)
Template:BEL Belgian Grand Prix	1981-present	Template:BEL Circuit Zolder (1981-1982) Template:BEL Circuit Spa-Francorchamps (1983-present)
Brazilian Grand Prix	1972-present	Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace (1972-1980) Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet (1981-present)
Template:GBR British Grand Prix	1960-present	Template:GBR Silverstone Circuit (1960-1979, 1981, 1983-present) Template:GBR Brands Hatch (1980, 1982)
Template:USA Caesars Palace Grand Prix	1981-1982	Template:USA Caesars Palace (1981-1982)
Template:USA California Grand Prix	1980-present	Template:USA Sonoma Raceway (1980) Template:USA Long Beach Street Circuit (1981-present)
Canadian Grand Prix	1969-present	Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (1969-1979) Circuit Gilles Vileneuve (1980-present)
Dutch Grand Prix	1960-present	Circuit Zandvoort (1960-present)
European Grand Prix	1960-1964, 1975-1979, 1982-present	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (1960) Template:GBR Aintree Motor Circuit (1961-1964) Mugello Circuit (1975-1979) Template:FRA Dijon-Prenois (1982) Template:GBR Brands Hatch (1983-present)
Template:FRA French Grand Prix	1960-present	Template:FRA Reims-Gueux (1960-1961) Template:FRA Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours (1962-1979) Template:FRA Circuit Paul Ricard (1980, 1982-present) Template:FRA Dijon-Prenois (1981)
German Grand Prix	1960, 1970-present	Nurburgring Nordschleife (1960) Hockenheimring (1970-present)
Italian Grand Prix	1960-present	Autodromo Nazionale Monza (1960-1979, 1981-present) Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (1980)
Japanese Grand Prix	1975-1979	Suzuka Circuit (1975-1979)
Monaco Grand Prix	1960-present	Circuit de Monaco (1960-present)
Portuguese Grand Prix	1961-1962	Circuit Boavista (1961-1962)
San Marino Grand Prix	1981-present	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (1981-present)
South African Grand Prix	1964-present	Kyalami Circuit (1964-present)
Spanish Grand Prix	1972-1979, 1981	Circuito del Jarama (1972-1979, 1981)
Template:USA United States Grand Prix	1961-1980, 1982-present	Template:USA Sebring International Raceway (1961-1966) Template:USA Watkins Glen (1967-1973, 1980) Template:USA Sonoma Raceway (1974-1979) Template:USA Detroit Street Circuit (1982-present)