SCCA Formula Super Vee

SCCA Formula Super Vee

Category	Formula Super Vee
Country	United States of America Canada Mexico
Inaugural season	1971
Folded	1990
Constructors	Various
Engine suppliers	Volkswagen
Last Drivers' champion	Stuart Crow
Last Makes' champion	Ralt

The SCCA Formula Super Vee was one of the longest running Formula Super Vee championships in the world. Twenty racing season were contested. Most of the races were sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America in some occasions the races were sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association.

History

In 1969 Josef Hoppen, head of the motorsport department of Volkswagen of America, approached the Sports Car Club of America. The Formula Super Vee was announced as an SCCA national class in November 1969.^[1][2] The class was created as a substitute for the overpopulated Formula Vee class.^[3] Beach Racing Cars manufactured the first Super Vee car, a single seater using threaded tires and no aerodynamic aides. Settled Formula Vee constructors Zink Cars, Autodynamics and Zeitler Racing Design soon followed.^[4] Beach's first Formula Super Vee chassis was bought by Formula Super Vee Europe to promote the racing class in Europe.

Thirteen drivers competed in the first edition of the Formula Super Vee SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road Atlanta. Driver/constructor John Zeitler qualified on pole but dropped to fifth position. Tom Davey won the prestigious race also racing a Zeitler chassis.^[5] In the combined Formula Super Vee/Formula Ford race, Super Vee's finished in the first three places. Skip Barber was the first Formula Ford driver placing fourth overall.^[6] The first national series was held in 1971. Bill Scott won the inaugural race at Daytona International Raceway. Scott went on to win races at Road America, Lime Rock Park and Laguna Seca Raceway.^[7] The following season entries improved. Scott became the first double champion of the series despite only winning two races.^[8] For 1973 international drivers stepped in with Swede Bertil Roos winning three out of the first four races. A late charge from Elliott Forbes-Robinson could not prevent Roos winning the championship.^[9]

In 1974 a new Formula Super Vee era began. The series featured fourteen races, two of them outside the United States. Races abroad were run at Mosport Park, Canada and Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico. Series organizer, Josef Hopen, was not loyal to any specific sanctioning body. Half of the races, including the races abroad, were sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association. The same year slick tires were introduced to the series. The co-sanctioning continued for 1975 but ended before the 1976 season. Political disagreement resulted in Hoppen pulling the Formula Super Vee Robert Bosch championship out of IMSA. As a respons IMSA created the Formula Atlantic class and USAC created the Mini-Indy Series Formula Super Vee.^[10]

The next era for Formula Super Vee started in 1978. The class introduced a new, water cooled, Volkswagen Rabbit engine replacing the old air cooled one. The SCCA club racing scene remained using the old engine. The SCCA dropped the class from its regional and national series, the pro series remained. Bill Alsup won the first season of the new era Formula Super Vee championship.^[11] Ralt dominated almost every season fielding the most cars out of any contstructor. Only the 1983 and 1986 championships were won by other manufacturers.

Champions

SCCA Formula Super Vee			SCCA National Championship Runoffs
Season	Champion Driver	Chassis	Season	Champion Driver	Chassis
1970	Not contested		1970	Tom Davey	Zeitler
1971	Bill Scott	Royale RP9	1971	Tom Davey	Lola
1972	Bill Scott	Royale RP14	1972	Bob Wheelock	Lola
1973	Bertil Roos	Tui BH3	1973	Harry Ingle	Zink
1974	Elliott Forbes-Robinson	Lola T320	1974	Fred Phillips	Elden Mk14
1975	Eddie Miller	Lola T324	1975	Fred Phillips	Elden Mk14B
1976	Tom Bagley	Zink Z11	1976	Herm Johnson	Lola T324
1977	Bob Lazier	Lola T324	1977	Steve Ovel	Lola T324
1978	Bill Alsup	Argo JM2	1978	Mike Yoder	Lola
1979	Geoff Brabham	Ralt RT1	1979	Not contested
1980	Peter Kuhn	Ralt RT1/RT5	1980	Not contested
1981	Al Unser, Jr.	Ralt RT5	1981	Not contested
1982	Michael Andretti	Ralt RT5	1982	Not contested
1983	Ed Pimm	Anson SA4	1983	Not contested
1984	Arie Luyendyk	Ralt RT5	1984	Not contested
1985	Ken Johnson	Ralt RT5	1985	Not contested
1986	Didier Theys	Martini MK-47/MK-50	1986	Not contested
1987	Scott Atchison	Ralt RT5	1987	Not contested
1988	Ken Murillo	Ralt RT5	1988	Not contested
1989	Mark Smith	Ralt RT5	1989	Not contested
1990	Stuart Crow	Ralt RT5	1990	Not contested

References

1. "Super Vee" (PDF). Vee Line (62): 1, 4. November 1969. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
2. "Formula Super Vee History". Historic Formula Super Vee Register. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
3. "1600 for 1970" (PDF). Vee Lines (61): 1, 4. October 1969. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
4. "Super Vee" (PDF). Vee Lines (64): 4. February 1970. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
5. "SCCA Runoffs Driver Histories" (PDF). SCCA. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
6. "Super Vee at Atlanta" (PDF). Vee Lines (75): 4. December 1970. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
7. "SCCA Formula Super Vee 1971". Old Racing Cars. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
8. "SCCA Formula Super Vee 1972". Old Racing Cars. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
9. "SCCA Formula Super Vee 1973". Old Racing Cars. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
10. "SERIES 2 - 1974 - 1976". Formula Super Vee. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
11. "SCCA Formula Super Vee 1978". Old Racing Cars. Retrieved 28 July 2015.