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Elite Racing League[edit | edit source]

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.)

Seasons[edit | edit source]

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 Constructors Champion
1960 7 Flag of Australia (converted).svg.png Jack Brabham (Cooper) Flag for British Drivers.png Cooper-Climax
1961 8 Flag of Australia (converted).svg.png Jack Brabham (Cooper) Flag for British Drivers.png Cooper-Climax
1962 8 Flag for British Drivers.png Jim Clark (Lotus) Flag of Italy.svg.png Ferrari
1963 8 New Zealand flag.png Bruce McLaren (Cooper) Flag for British Drivers.png Lotus-Climax
1964 9 Sweden.png Jo Bonnier (Ferrari) Flag of Italy.svg.png Ferrari
1965 8 Sweden.png Jo Bonnier (Ferrari) Flag of Italy.svg.png Ferrari
1966 8 Flag of Italy.svg.png Lorenzo Bandini (Ferrari) Flag of Italy.svg.png Ferrari
1967 8 Flag for British Drivers.png Jim Clark (Lotus) Flag for British Drivers.png Lotus-Climax
1968 8 New Zealand flag.png Denny Hulme (McLaren) Japan2.jpg Honda
1969 9 Flag of Australia (converted).svg.png Jack Brabham (Brabham) Flag for British Drivers.png Brabham-Ford
1970 10 New Zealand flag.png Denny Hulme (McLaren) Flag for British Drivers.png McLaren-Ford
1971 10 Austria.png Niki Lauda (BRM) Flag for British Drivers.png Lotus-Ford
1972 12 Austria.png Niki Lauda (Ferrari) Japan2.jpg Honda
1973 12 Austria.png Niki Lauda (Ferrari) Flag of Italy.svg.png Ferrari
1974 12 New Zealand flag.png Denny Hulme (McLaren) Flag for British Drivers.png McLaren-Ford
1975 14 Sweden.png Ronnie Peterson (Lotus) Japan2.jpg Honda
1976 14 New Zealand flag.png Chris Amon (Honda) Japan2.jpg Honda
1977 14 Brazil.png Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren) Flag for British Drivers.png McLaren-Ford
1978 15 Png-transparent-flag-of-switzerland-flag-of-spain-switzerland-angle-flag-text-thumbnail.png Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) Flag of Italy.svg.png Ferrari
1979 15 Png-transparent-flag-of-switzerland-flag-of-spain-switzerland-angle-flag-text-thumbnail.png Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari) Flag of Italy.svg.png Ferrari

Merge with Formula 1[edit | edit source]

The merge 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 (So far) lasted for two years.

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...)

Year Grands Prix Drivers Champion Constructors Champion
1980 13 Flag of Australia (converted).svg.png Alan Jones (Williams) Brazil.png Fittipaldi-Ford
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986

Races[edit | edit source]

List of Elite Racing League Grand Prix by season

Records[edit | edit source]

COMING SOON