1979 Dywa Grand Prix Series season
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| 1979 Dywa Grand Prix Series season | |
|---|---|
| Season | |
| Races | 15 |
| Start date | 1st April |
| Start Event |  Enna-Pergusa
|
| End date | 23rd September |
| End Event | Monza
|
| Awards | |
| Driver's Champion |  Amalure Arrigorriagakoa
|
| Constructor's Champion | Template:FRA Vaillante Équipe Dywa |
| Seasons | |
| Previous season | Next season |
| 1978 | 1980 |
The 1979 Dywa Grand Prix Series season was the second series of the Dywa Grand Prix Series. Following the unexpected success of 1978, a number of changes were introduced for the following season. For one, there was a new chassis — the Dywa-002, complete with a brand-new ground-effects system. On the sporting side of things, there were additional changes; the fourteen-team entry limit was scrapped and pre-qualifying implemented, using an atypical system of having the bottom fourteen teams in the standings enter pre-qualifying. Furthermore, the number of races expanded to fifteen, with the addition of a trip behind the Iron Curtain. The season was plagued with safety concerns - a total of five drivers were fatally injured over the course of the season, and many more suffered serious injuries. Additionally, there were a whole host of accusations of irregularities, ranging from illegal cars to drivers impersonating other drivers. In the end, Basque driver Amalure Arrigorriagakoa won the Drivers' Championship, and the French outlet Vaillante Équipe Dywa won the Teams' Championship.
Teams and drivers
All teams and drivers raced identical Dywa-002 chassis with Renzo DFV-2 3.0 V8 engines.
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Driver Changes
- Heywood Jablowme was fired by Dickenson-Lightley for failing to qualify at Enna-Pergusa and replaced by Javier Scarpetta.
- Ouragan suffered fatal injuries as a result of a collision with Amalure Arrigorriagakoa at Enna-Pergusa, but this was covered up by the team and hidden from the rest of the paddock. An unknown driver drove in Ouragan's place for the following two races.
- Max Speed fell into a coma following a severe crash during pre-qualifying at Rouen, rendering him out for the season. He was replaced by Diane Ettick.
- Giuseppe Gasperoni suffered a broken ankle after a crash at Rouen. Norwegian Per Olsen filled in for him in the subsequent three races.
- Paul Pott sustained a concussion and some broken ribs after being T-boned by Leopoldo Faraldo at Rouen. South West African driver Bern van der Westhouzen replaced him for the next three races.
- Jehan Duchamps was ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining massive internal trauma in a crash at Rouen. Sofia de Haro was brought in to replace him for Thruxton, though she would leave the series after just one round, replaced by Adán Gabaldon.
- Mike Zhen Hong was fatally injured in a crash at Thruxton. Nicholas Krutzhoff would replace him at Mainz-Firthen, and drive the car in the Eastern Bloc rounds, while a recovered Lena Troscchi would make her return to racing at Mugello.
- Ben Dover suffered a broken ankle in the same crash as Zhen Hong at Thruxton, and missed the following three races. "Dave" was brought in to replace him.
- Barry McKockiner was fired by Order of Racing after failing to qualify P26 at Thruxton. Nunzio Dunn was hired to replace him.
- Javier Scarpetta was fired by Dickenson-Lightley after he took out his teammate, George Lightley, in a collision at Syracuse. The Earl of Sandwich replaced Scarpetta for the following race at Pau, and Bern van der Westhouzen in the races thereafter.
- Duncan Idaho left Order of Racing following his retirement from the lead at Syracuse. The recently-fired Javier Scarpetta was hired as his replacement.
- Nino Pilia suffered a broken vertebra at Pau and missed the next three races. Jèrrais driver Billy Baker filled in for these races. However, at Halle, in an attempt to get points, Giuseppe Gasperoni raced under Pilia's name, only to get caught and disqualified.
- George Lightley was killed in a crash at Grobnik.
- Amada Castellón suffered a broken vertebra at Grobnik and missed the next four races, replaced by a returning Sofia De Haro and later the French driver Nina Noyer (though because she did not get a visa for the USSR, Barry McKockiner was drafted in at very short notice for Bikernieki).
- Nikolai Zorbin sustained an injury at Halle and missed the next three races. Polish driver Dominik Nowak filled in for him during these races.
- Jacques Clouseau suffered a season-ending injury at Bikernieki. Barry McKockiner replaced him for the rest of the season.
- Javier Scarpetta sustained a near-fatal injury at Bikernieki and missed the rest of the season. American driver Kruger Dunning was brought in to replace him.
- Johannes Gruber was injured in a crash at Keimola. Yuri Komarov replaced him at Castle Combe.
- Nina Noyer was killed in a crash at Keimola. She was replaced by De Haro, and then the recovered Castellón.
- "Sentenza" suffered a career-ending injury in a crash at Keimola. Lamberto Alfaghetti replaced him for the next two races. At the Monza finale, "Sentenza" apparently returned, but post-race, it was discovered that Marco Tortellini was actually racing under the Sentenza alias.
- Paul Pott was handed a three-race ban for his part in causing the crash that resulted in Sentenza's injuries. Bern van der Westhouzen was brought in again as a replacement.
- Ensar Alić was injured at Charade. Canadian-Czechoslovakian driver "Dom Wings" was brought in for Monza.
- Alphonse Fabron was injured at Charade. Despite ostensibly suffering a season-ending injury, the still-injured Jacques Clouseau was called up for Monza to replace Fabron.
- Jehan-Jacques Graves suffered a career-ending injury at Charade.
- Karl Gustav Schneider was injured at Charade. Dominik Nowak was called up again to replace him.
Mid-Season Team Changes
- Scuderia Verona was excluded from the championship after Rouen when it transpired that they had covered up Ouragan's death and had an unknown ringer racing under Ouragan's pseudonym in his stead for the subsequent two races.
- Team Kraguj took over the excluded Scuderia Verona's assets and entered the championship from Mugello onwards.
- Dickenson-Lightley was expelled from the championship for bringing the sport into disrepute following the death of their driver George Lightley.
- Order of Racing pulled out of the series after Castle Combe. New driver Kruger Dunning kept the team going, rebranded as Dilbert Racing.
Season Calendar
Standings
Scoring System
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | PP | FLAP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
Drivers' Championship
All results counted towards the championship.
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Teams' Championship
All results by each team's cars counted towards the championship.
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