HISTORY OF THE 1980 PROCAR SERIES

The 1979 Procar series was not only a commercial success for BMW, it was also a success among spectators, i.e. something very attractive for organisers. As master organisers Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley saw large possibilities in the formula, so they decided to create the Procar Association Ltd. That means that they bought out BMW for the 1980 season, in order to have full control over the series. The six works cars of 1979 became thus propriety of the new Procar Association. They were sent to B & S Fabrication in Luton (GB), up from now responsible for their set-up. To make it clear for the public the ex-works cars were no longer painted in the typical BMW Motorsport colours, but the the sky blue/night blue/red transversal stripes were replaced by a bordered wide Bordeaux red transversal stripe. The technical rule book of the previous year was nearly completely maintained, except for the fact that all M1s needed to come fitted with air-jacks allowing quicker wheel and tyre changes.
Modifications were more important on the organisational level. The 1979 principle that the five first F1 racers at the Friday Grand Prix qualifications were free from M1 qualification was abolished. As they could not maintain the times realised by their F1 cars - times being 20 seconds or more under those of the costumer M1s - the selected F1 racers were no longer sure to start from the five first places on the grid. Up from now F1 racers had to qualify their B & S Fabrication cars just as the customers had to do with their M1s. 
Number of rounds for the 1980 Procar series was increased from eight to nine. However not all rounds were - as it was in 1979 - no longer a curtain raiser for a European Grand Prix. That was only the case for the Monaco GP, the British Grand Prix, the German Grand Prix, the Austrian Grand Prix and the Italian Grand Prix. As Procar racing was extremely popular in Germany and England - less in Belgium and France (after the Ballestre comedy of last year - the Procar Association decided to introduce two separate rounds in Germany (at the Avus-Berlin Ring and at the Norisring) and one in England (where last year's off-championship round at Donington was a success).
Starting bonuses were now $ 5,000 US for the five selected F1 racers. Prize money for the top-3 of each round remained up to $ 5,000 US, $ 3,000 US and $ 1,000 US (increased by 50 per cent at the Norisring).  On finisging ahead of F1-racers privateers receive $ 50 US per achieved lap. End of the season prizes - in 1979 still for the six first at the final ranking - were now restricted to the top-3 with a BMW 635CSI for the winner, a BMW 528i for the second and a BMW 323i for the third: thus no longer a BMW M1 for the two first (fully understandable as Bernie Ecclestone had already one won last year).
Points system remained unchanged. Ferrari and Renault maintained their prohibition as all M1s had to use Goodyear tyres and as Michelin tyres were not allowed. Moreover Colin Chapman refused that his talented youngster Elio de Angelis could still start in the Procar Series. Several F1 racers were no longer present at the 1980 Procar edition. Among them last year's winner, Niki Lauda, who decided at the Canadian GP of last year to quit F1 racing, and James Hunt who retired from active racing at the Gunnar Trophy, earlier the same year. Emerson Fittipaldi - too busy with the set-up of his F1 Fittipaldi F8 Ford for Keke Rosberg and himself was no longer seen in Procar racing. Clay Regazzoni - in 1979 still third at the Procar series - had by the end of March 1980 his terrible accident at the American GP at Long Beach, and had his two legs paralysed for the rest of his life. Patrick Depailler, who won last year still the Spanish Grand Prix for Ligier, moved to the uncompetitive Alfa Romeo and had a fatal accident y at the German Grand Prix. Good old Jean-Pierre Beltoise, last year still seen at the wheel of Winkelhock's car stayed away. Contrarily to last year, when the reigning world champion, Mario Andretti, was still seen in Procar racing, the in 1980 reigning world champion, Jody Scheckter, was not allowed to start due to the Michelin refusal. 

Third PROCAR 1980 round as curtain raiser to the F1 Monaco Grand Prix on May 17, 1980.  Walter Nußbaumer (CH) leads Hans Heyer (D). Both are 1980 rookies in Procar racing.

In 1980 ten different racers succeeded to qualify for a seat in one of the five (x-)works M1s (against thirteen in 1979). Of last years drivers it were Didier Pironi (having switched in GP racing from Tyrell to the more competitive Ligier, what allowed him to realise nine M1 entries against only three the previous year), Alan Jones (driving for Williams in GP racing, and qualifying for all nine rounds), Nelson Piquet (driving for Brabham and realising eight qualifications out of nine, two more than last year), Jacques Lafitte (driving for Ligier and realising also eight M1 entries out of nine, also two more than last year), Carlos Reutemann (now driving in GP racing for Williams instead of Lotus last year, and increasing his number of M1 entries from one last year to eight this year), Jean Pierre Jarier (still driving for Tyrell, and realising only one selection, just as last year) and Mario Andretti (still driving for Lotus and realising only one M1 entry against two last year). With Pironi, Piquet, Lafitte and Reutemann 40 of the 45 M1 selections only three other drivers, next to Andretti and Jarier, could realise one entry in the B & S Fabrication ex-works cars: Alain Prost, Riccardo Patrese and Derek Daily. Ferrari, having fully dominated F1 racing last year, and realising a 1-2 at the F1 Worlds with Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve, was absolutely nowhere in 1980 F1 racing. They collected now only res. 6 and 2 points (against 51 and 47 last year). Even if Michelin should have allowed them to enter the Procar competition, they should have failed to win the slightest entry At Renault René Arnoux, having realised three poles, could have made three M1 entries without the Miichelin prohibition, and four for Jean Pierre Jabouille. Elio de Angelis, having been forbidden by Colin Chapman to enter the 1980 Procar realised no top-5 qualification eligible for Procar (against four qualifications last year).
Five other racers, involved in 1980 Grand Prix racing, could start on customer cars. Such was the case for Jan Lammers (driving the 1979 Toine Hezemans car at all nine rounds), Marc Surer (doing this year six rounds against four last year), for Eddy Cheever (doing only one round, just as last year), for John Watson (doing only one round, just as last year) and for Manfred Winkelhock (one entry in 1980 against five the previous year).

HOCKENHEIM TRAGEDY
The first round was contested at Donington (GB) on April 26. On the entry list we found initially Markus Höttinger (A), last year brilliant with three Procar podia and a fourth place overall, now announced to drive dr. Helmut Marko's new car. It concerned the son of an Austrian national judge, his mom being a teacher. After studies at the renowned Militärgymnasium he proceeded to study Medicine in combination with Physical Education. From 1977 to early 1980 he made a meteoric career  in autosport and was offered beginning the season the wheel of an F2 car in Walter Maurer's team to do the complete European F2 Championship. Moreover a debut in F1 was planned for the Austrian GP at Zeltweg on August 16, 1980. At the opening race at Thruxton on April 7, Höttinger had bad luck when his BMW engine, tuned By the Berlin based Mampe, expired already at the opening lap.
"Höttinger was hopeful to have better luck in the next race, the XIV Deutschland Trophäe, part of the festivities of the XII Jim Clark Gedächtnisrennen and scheduled for 13 April at Hockenheim, a circuit he knew quite well. Markus had a good qualification and was racing amidst the pack. At lap 2 lap a trio of drivers – Derek Warwick, Mike Thackwell and Höttinger – got to the scene; Höttinger had started the race in great shape, and was able to closely follow the other two cars. Thackwell overtook Warwick going into the first corner,  but slid wide and scattered sand everywhere. Warwick also went wide and spun wildly. Trying to regain control, Warwick crossed the road and hit the armco on the right side of the track; upon impact, the right rear wheel of his Toleman TG280 was tore off. The wheel bounced across the road, right on the path of Höttinger, who hit it square with his helmet, causing him very serious head injuries; in fact, the impact was so violent that the car roll bar was bent sideways. Markus was knocked unconscious; the out-of-control Maurer was hit by Bernard Devaney’s March before came to a stop against the guard-rails at the right side of the track, three hundred meters after the point of initial against the errant wheel."
"Höttinger was quickly reached by rescuers, who initially loaded him in an ambulance while performing CPR and applying cortisone injections. The doctors that attended Markus initially considered him clinically dead, but it was decided to call in the a rescue helicopter from Oggersheim, located some 24 kilometres from the circuit." All that was at no avail.. Austria's new racing star passed away later in the afternoon.

THE TEAMS AT THE START
The tragic death of Höttinger let Marko Rennsport decide to offer the seat to another young lion: Jo Gartner. Hettinger's Winnebago/Castrol/Jim Bean car, raced in 1979, and maintained by the Freiburg based GS Tuning was entered it at the 1980 Procar series under the new Denim colours. The team entered also two new cars, another also in Denim livery for last year's WCM world champion Hans Heyer (then on Lancia Beta Montecarlo), and one in the BASF colours for the 1979 revelation Hans-Georg Bürger (racing this year also in the F2 European championship). Wolfgang Schütz and Sepp Manhalter came back with their 1979 cars in the same livery as last year. Franz Konrad did no longer show, having sold his M1 to Kannacher GT which entered it at three 1980 rounds: twice for Rolf-Dieter Schreiber and once for Jürgen Lässig. The Alimpo Sport M1 of Toine Hezemans was now entered by BMW Nederland for the young Jan Lammers, coached by Toine Hezemans himself. Manfred Cassani Racing, which entered last year their M1 in UHER livery for Hans-Joachim Stuck, had now a new sponsor - H.I.S. - and let race their #55 initially by Manfred Schurti (2 rounds), later by Christian Danner (twice) and by Manfred Winkelhock (once).
"Der Lange", last year winner of two rounds and series runner-up, moved from Cassani Racing to Project Four where he found a seat in the same Marlboro car having won last year's Procar series and three rounds. Dieter Quester raced again his Gösser Beer M1, initially still under last year's colour, but later in a new livery. His car was no longer entered by TWR as last year, but by BMW Austria. The same car was also entred by BMW France for Dieter Quester and Didier Pironi at the WCM Mugello Six Hours, but without the sponsoring for "Gösser Beer".

Max Eggenberger was again there with his Arcus Air M1, raced at four rounds by Sigi Müller and at one round by Helmut Kelleners. Squadra Osella Corse has again two cars on the grid, now officially entered by BMW Italia for good old Arturo Merzario and for the young Massimo Sigala. Schnitzer Racing have, just as GS Tuning, three cars on the grid: two more than last year. It concerns the cars of Walter Brun and Sepp Manhalter, and their #62 own car which will be raced by five different racers.
Team Abel Lepitre is back with a car for Edi Brandenburger. They have even a spare car. It's the #71 ex-Max Heidegger car. Squadra Osella Corse will enter their Denim-livery car of last year at one round for Eddy Cheever.  The five BMW Motorsport works cars are still here, but - as earlier said - now in another livery and entered officially by B & S Fabrication.
Several teams involved in the 1979 Procar series are no longer involved. It concerns MRS/Arvor, Max Heidegger Racing, Franz Konrad Racing, Tom Walkingshaw Racing and Team Krebs (having sold its gold coloured Warsteiner M1 to Peter Pospieszcyk).
Among the new teams we note BMW Schweiz with the #90 Pooh Jeans sponsored car, initially rac
ed during three rounds by Beppe Gabbiani and in the six following rounds by Switzerland's Marc Surer. Another Pooh Jeans sponsored car is entered by Sauber Racing for Walter Nußbaumer, but will also be raced at two rounds by Manfred Schurti. The French ZOL Auto will enter its M1 once, at Monte-Carlo for François Servanin.
At most rounds there are two to four more M1s at the start than last year. Up from round #4 at the Norisring the B & S Fabrication ex-works cars will show in a new livery. They are now in lurid white with a double bordered lime green wide transversal stroke going from the left front to the right rear over the res. wheel arches and the roof. l

ROUND #1 DONINGTON (GB) TO JAN LAMMERS (April 26)
As the four first Grand Prix were contested from January to end March in overseas countries, the 1980 Procar series could not start earlier than by the end of April. Alan Jones (Williams) won in Buenos Aires, René Arnoux (Renault) in Sao Paulo and at Kyalami, and Nelson Piquet (Brabham) won at Long Beach. Top-5 qualifiers at the US West GP at Long Beach were Nelson Piquet, Alan Jones, Didier Pironi, Carlos Reutemann and Jacques Laffite. They thus were qualified for the 1980 Procar opening round. Contrarily to what happened at the second half of last season's Procar series, the rev limiters were again obliged with 8,700 revs as maximum. Dieter Stappert, the BMW Motorsport team-chef, had warned Ecclestone and Mosley that higher revs were nearly not redundant and that they could only result in more motor breaks for the entrants.
Fastest qualifier was Holland's Jan Lammers in the ex-Alimpo Sport M1, realising a fabulous time of 1'11"99 what was 2"5 quicker than Nelson Piquet's fastest time last year. Another young lion, Hans-Gregor Bürger clocked the second best time. With the ex-works cars the GP selected racers came no further than third (Pironi), fifth (Jones), eleventh (Piquet), thirteenth (Reutemann) and fourteenth (Laffite).
Fastest away for a race over 40 laps (ca. 50 minutes of racing) was Jan Lammers, passing the start-finish line at the end of the first lap with 50 metres in hand over Alan Jones, Didier Pironi, Hans-Gregor Bürger and Jo Gartner. Hans-Joachim Stuck, still eighth after the first lap, then moves up. At mid-race he is found in fourth position, but has then to come into the pits for a tyre check-up, loosing one lap. Also moving up is Hans Heyer, found after 22 laps in fourth position behind Lammers, Pironi and Jones. With only two laps to go Pironi looses his second place with electric problems. Jan Lammers wins. Twelve seconds later Hans Heyer, having passed Jones at the later stages of the race, finishes as second, followed by Jones, Gartner, Piquet and Reutemann. Bürger and Quester were eliminated before mid-race with brakes problems. Total prize money at the end of the race was $ 25,000 US.

ROUND #2 AVUS-BERLIN (D) TO MANFRED Schurti (May 11)
The second round is contested one week later than the Belgian GP at Zolder. There Alan Jones realised the pole. The four other GP racers winning also a B & S Fabrication are Didier Pironi (who won the Belgian GP in his Ligier), Alan Jones, Carlos Reutemann and Nelson Piquet. They go for a 15 laps race on the hyper fast 8.11 kilometre long Avus Ring in the Berliner Grunewald, where the M1s realise an average of 215kph per lap. Sensation at the qualifications when young Hans-Gregor Bürger realises the pole, ahead over Manfred Schurti, Walter Brun, Jan Lammers and Nelson Piquet. Just before the qualifications the Procar Association decided to ban the rev limiters, allowing again 9300rpm instead of 8700rpm. Another rule, that the rear wing could not be inclined over more than 3 degrees was also abolished. Stirring: Bürger realised his pole ... with the rev limiter on.
During the opening lap Walter Brun breaks one of his brake discs, missing the chicane, so that Hans Heyer lands in the tyre wall and has to abandon his GS-Sport Denim M1. He'll be followed by Hans-Joachim Stuck and Nelson Piquet finishing one lap later in the tyre wall as well. Meanwhile Manfred Schurti is leading during the two first laps, but is then passed by Didier Pironi. At the end of lap 5 he's again leading, with Pironi as second and Jan Lammers as third. Towards mid-race Pironi falls out, bringing Lammers in second and Bürger in third position. With less than two laps to go Schurti suffers from a flatting front tyre, so that Lammers is coming closer and closer. Despite that tyre problem Manfred Schurti will win the race, six seconds over Jan Lammers, followed by Hans-Georg Bürger, Jacques Laffite and Carlos Reutemann.

ROUND #3 MONTE-CARLO (MONACO GP) TO HANS-JOACHIM STUCK (May 17)
At Monaco Alan Jones realised the GP pole and qualified together with Nelson Piquet, Didier Pironi and Carlos Reutemann for the Procar curtain raiser. Jacques Laffite missed the top-5 and Derek Daily took the fifth place. In Procar qualifying Jan Lammers realised his second pole, followed by Stuck, Kelleners and Bürger. As only twenty cars were allowed to start Edi Brandenburger (Team Lepitre) and François Servanin (ZOL Auto) failed to make the starting grid. Unlike at Donington Lammers could not lead from start to finish: on a wet soaked track Pironi tried to pass the Dutchman, slipping aside and pushing him at the Loews-curb into the security rails. So Helmut Kelleners, in the Eggenberger M1, took the lead, setting the pace during eleven out of fifteen laps. Behind Manfred Winkelhock and Dieter Quester were fighting for the third place behind Stuck, but both went too late in the brakes at Saint-Devote, being eliminated. Derek Daly went off at Tabac-curb. During the last laps Hans-Joachim Stuck succeeded to pass Kelleners, holding him off by more than one second at the finish. Piquet, Jones and Beppe Gabbiani took the three following places. On Sunday Carlos Reutemann, having finished sixth in Procar, won the Monaco Grand Prix.

ROUND #4 NORISRING (D) TO HANS-AGAIN JOACHIM STUCK (June 22)
Being one of the best rewarded races of the international calendar, and sponsored by Liqui Moly, Nigrin and Dickie (with 40,000 DM extra for the winner), the Procar race at the Norisring is the most prestigious one on this year's calendar. Selected GP drivers for the B & S Fabrication cars are the same five of the Monte-Carlo round. Fastest qualifier is Marc Surer in the BMW Schweiz Pooh car, followed by Manfred Schurti, Nelson Piquet, Didier Pironi and Jan Lammers. Of the 23 entrants three could not start: Brandenburger, Gartner and Jürgensen. Good start by Schurti, Lammers, Pironi and Piquet. Stuck, who started in tenth position moved up to the second place behind Schurti at the end of the first lap. We have to wait lap 22 out of 50 to see Stuck taking the lead from Schurti. At lap 22 Pironi collides with Piquet, resulting in a double retirement, followed shortly after by that of Jones. In front Jan Lammers and Marc Surer succeed to pass Schurti, taking the second and third place behind Hans-Joachim Stuck in the Project Four Valvoline M1. For "der Lange" it's his second 1980 win, his fourth in two seasons. For Project Four, it's already their fifth Procar victory.

ROUND #5 BRANDS HATCH (BRITISH GRAND PRIX) TO CARLOS REUTEMANN (July 12)
One week later the French GP was contested, but after last year's humiliation - the crazy Ballestre-incident - the Procar Association refused to return to France (where Alan Jones won his second GP of the year). Up to now the top-5 Grand Prix racers could score no Procar victory. They were dominated, or by the young lions, or by Sprietzel and his Valvoline M1. Going to the holy all-British autosport temple of Brands Hatch, before a critical well-informed public, they had to prove their real talent. Time was now over that Pironi could bump off customer cars as well as (ex-)works cars. Nelson Piquet failed to make the move to the Procar race and saw the young Alain Prost making his Procar debut.  Marc Surer scored his second consecutive pole ahead of the lurid white and lime green M1s of Pironi, Reutemann and Jones.  The duo Prost-Laffite was split by Stuck.
Immediately after the start the five works cars started as rockets before the grandstands. Prost passed Stuck on the left side to take the fifth place, whilst Lafitte passed him on the right side. Already at the first curb Pironi proved once more he is a walking disaster. Trying to pass Surer on the inside and going far over the curb stones he pushed him out of the race. The five B & S cars were on the five first places, and only Bürger seemed able to follow the white/green train. Stuck was so impressed by what happened before his eyes that he made a spin, loosing several places. Later he should make a terrible come-back under public applause to finish as seventh, ahead over local hero John Watson in Marko's car. In front the Williams-duo, Carlos Reutemann and Alan Jones succeeded to pass Pironi, finishing in that order with Lafitte as fourth and Prost as sixth. After 5 rounds Jan Lammers leads the Procar ranking with 51 points, against 49 for Jones, 44 for Stuck and 40 for Reutemann. On Sunday Jacques Lafitte will beat Carlos Reutemann, Alan Jones and Nelson Piquet in the German F1 Grand Prix. 

ZANDVOORT TRAGEDY
Eight days after Brands Hatch tragedy knocks again on Procar's door. Involved in the Euro-pean F2 Championship, Hans-Georg Bürger tested his Tiga F280 at full speed during the warm-up session, when at Scheivlak, "he crashed head-on into the guard-rail and violently hit his head on a fence pole: first driver to arrive to the place of accident was Beppe Gabbiani, who stopped his Maurer MM80 - BMW and found Bürger's red Simpson helmet, broken in two: even if the cockpit of the Tiga was undamaged, the driver had sustained massive head injuries. In a few minutes he was taken by ambulance to the EG Elizabeth Hospital of Haarlem and one hour later he was transferred to the intensive care unit of the Wilhelmina Hospital of Amsterdam, where he succumbed to his skull injuries two days later."

ROUND #6 HOCKENHEIM (GERMAN GRAND PRIX) TO DIDIER PIRONI (August 9)
Hans-Joachim Stuck, the very best touring car driver in Germany, accepts the offer to drive the GS Sport BASF car in honour of Hans-Georg Bürger who passed away two weeks ago. So the Project Four Valvoline car is not raced on German soil. Although Jones, Reutemann, Pironi, Piquet and Lafitte can qualify in the top-5 of the F1 Grand Prix, the man from Argentine will be replaced by Jean-Pierre Jarier (who realised only the 23rd time). I don't know why, but an explanation could be that at the Friday qualification round Reutemann missed the top-5 and Jarier not. Procar pole goes to Manfred Schurti in the #91 Sauber Pooh car, normally driven by Walter Nußbaumer. Didier Pironi shares the front line, with Stuck and Christian Danner on the second row, Jean-Pierre Jarier and Dieter Quester on the third row.
At the technical control scrutinisers give young Christian Danner a $ 3,000 US sanction as his Manfred Cassani #55 M1 is ... 1.5kg too heavy. Immediately after the start, having driven less than 500m, Jean-Pierre Jarier finished in the safety-guards. Over and out. In front Pironi - meanwhile called by most journalists "der Procar-Schreck" - is setting the pace. When Stuck tries to pass the Frenchman at lap 5, Pironi closes the door at the chicane, both cars collide slightly, and a real furious Stuck falls back in eighth position. Pironi can save his car by taking the emergency exit. Manfred Schurti is now the new leader, with Pironi as second. One lap later Marc Surer tries to pass Pironi on the same place where Patrick Depailler had his fatal crash one week earlier. Again Pironi closes the door, enforcing Surer to go hard in the brakes. At lap 14 Surer tries again at "der Ostkurve", colliding with Pironi's car and finishing in the tyre wall.  Now we find Schurti, Heyer and Stuck on ranks 2 to 4. When Stuck tries to pass Heyer, the last one makes a spin and drops into seventh position. Sprietzel is now only one second down to the Liechtensteiner and two to "der Procar-Schreck". As heavy rain is at once falling, the race director decides to cut the race distance by one lap. Didier Pironi wins ahead over Schurti, Stuck and Piquet. At the finish several racers are so mad about Pironi that he dares not to show at the prize giving ceremonial. Before TV Stuck, still infuriated, names the French Ligier driver a "Mörder". One day later Jacques Laffite wins on his Ligier the German GP, ahead over Reutemann, Jones, Piquet and Giacomelli.
In the provisional Procar ranking Lammers, having finished fifth is the new leader with 59 pointsd. Stuck is second with 56 points, ahead over Lammers with 50, Jones with 49, Schurti with 48, Reutemann with 40, Pironi with 34 and Piquet with 30.

ROUND #7 ZELTWEG (AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX) TO NELSON PIQUET (August 16)
Before the start Pironi and Stuck were shaking hands after "der Lange" apologised for his hard words on TV at the Hockenheim round. Sprietzel did this in his own original manner: Ich gehe zu ihm, sage, "es tut mir leid, aber ein Depp bist du trotzdem." The traditional five - also top-5 in the provisional F1 Worlds ranking - are again selected for the Procar race. Fastest qualifiers are the Ligier drivers with Jacques Lafitte on the pole and "Procar-Schreck" Didier Pironi as second. Then follow Stuck, Piquet, Surer and Reutemann. Having ignition problems the M1 of Pironi cannot start. Lafitte is fastest away, followed by Stuck, Piquet and Reutemann. Local Jo Gartner hits the M1 his country mate Willy Siller in the rental Schnitzer car. Siller out. In lap 7 it's Garner's turn to fall out. One lap earlier pace setter Lafitte, leading now Piquet, Stuck, Reutemann, Cheever and Quester, makes a spin due to a defect clutch. He, and one lap later also Cheever, are out. Stuck inherits now the lead, but one lap further he cannot avoid that Piquet passes, to set the pace for the rest of the race. Nelson Piquet will win ahead of Stuck, Reutemann, Surer and Quester. In the provisional ranking, with still two rounds to go, Stuck increases his advance. He counts now 71 points, 63 for Lammers, 52 for Jones and Reutemann, 50 for Piquet, 48 for Schurti, and 34 for Pironi. On Sunday Jean-Pierre Jabouille wins for Renault the F1 race, followed by Reutemann, Jones, Lafitte and Piquet. Alan Jones leads the provisional standings.

ROUND #8 ZANDVOORT (DUTCH GRAND PRIX) ALSO TO NELSON PIQUET (August 30)
At Zandvoort local Jan Lammers has good hope that he can close the gap with Hans-Joachim Stuck, having collected 8 points more at the previous rounds. When he qualifies only as seventh, he understands that his BMW Nederland M1 is no longer as fast as in the beginning, when he scored one win and two second places. His country mate Michael Bleekemolen, who races the #82 GS Sport M1, his hardly happier after having qualified as 13th on 15. On Friday Didier Pironi qualified only as 15th in F1. So he'll be replaced by Mario Andretti, making his first Procar entry of the season.
Fastest qualifier is Hans-Joachim Stuck with Nelson Piquet 6/100 of a second behind. At the start Piquet is faster away than Stuck, who'll be also passed by Hans Heyer. Then follows Lammers, having made a blitz-start in the Dutch dunes. When he tried to take over "der Lange" in the Tarzan curb he hit the BASF M1, colliding with the Denim M1 of Heyer. Sprietzel and Heyer are thus out after the first lap. Even earlier Jo Gartner (once more!) pushed Andretti off the track. Those two were out. At lap 3 Surer can out-brake Piquet in the Tarzan curb, to go out on the lead. In lap 8 (out of 20) Piquet can pass Surer and sets now the pace until the finish. Lammers, having lost several places after his collision with Stuck has no hope to come really back as his motor turns not on all six cylinders. He'll finish sixth, Bleekemolen eighth. Nelson Piquet wins, 6 seconds ahead over Marc Surer, who let Lafitte, Jones and Reutemann behind on ranks 3 to 5.
With one last lap to go the unlucky Stuck is still leader with 71 points, one more than Nelson Piquet and two more than Lammers. Jones follows with 62 points, Reutemann with 60. That implies that with one last round to go we have no less than five potential winners. On Sunday Nelson Piquet wins the Dutch F1 Grand Prix, letting Arnoux, Laffite, Reutemann, Jarier and Prost taking the rest of the points.

ROUND #9 IMOLA (ITALIAN GP): AGAIN PIQUET, WINNING THE SERIES (September 13)
Twenty cars show for a thrilling last round of the 1980 Procar series. Jacques Laffite fails to qualify for the M1 race and will be replaced by Riccardo Patrese making his first entry. Nelson Piquet, who normally never control his M1 before the race, is extremely motivated to beat Stuck and Lammers, res. one point ahead and one point behind. He let the B & S mechanics control his car until the last screw. At the qualifications he blows all his opponents away, realising a fastest lap in 1'53"182, letting Didier Pironi 1"4 seconds behind. Then follow Heyer and Jones. Stuck doesn't return to the Project Four M1 for this last race. He continues on the GS-Sport BASF M1 but qualifies only as sixth in 1"54"980 after a series of tech woes. Lammers is only eleventh.
At the start Piquet is fastest away, followed by Heyer, Pironi and Jones. Far behind Jan Lammers has again a blitz-start and at the end of the first lap we find him even ahead of Stuck, having started five places higher. Both are now involved in a gruelling combat behind the semi-works M1s and Heyer's. They are racing nose to tail. Drama at the end of the second lap. At the Rechtskurve, just before the start and finish line, Stuck tries to pass Lammers. Unfortunately he goes to wide over the curb stones  and sweeps to the left where he hits the Dutch BMW in the left door. Stuck is out. Lammers can continue, but he has to make a pit stop in order to repair his left rear tyre. As Piquet and Jones were driving at the two first places there was no more hope for Stuck (out) and Lammers to win the title. Shortly after Lammers car was abandoned. Nelson Piquet won the race, followed by Jones, Heyer, Schütz, Brun and Gartner.
Piquet won thus the 1980 Procar series with 90 points, ahead of Jones with 77 points. Stuck dropped with his 71 points into third position (but still in the prizes), Lammers with his 69 dropped from third to fourth position, out of the prizes. Then followed Reutemann, Schurti, Heyer, Laffite, Surer and Pironi. At the Italian GP Piquet won, ahead of Alan Jones and Reutemann. The two last Grand Prix in Canada and the States were both won by Jones. At the end of the season he was crowned as the 1980 F1 world champion with Piquet, Reutemann, Lafitte and Pironi on the following places.
As BMW Motorsport had other plans for next season, the co-operation with the Procar Association was not prolonged. It was the end of one of the best competitions in the history of motorsport. A autosport historian concluded as follows: "Procar remains the single greatest one make championship ever to have existed. Indeed, the combination of contemporary Grand Prix drivers, exotic locations, crack teams and of course the Group 4 M1, make it quite unmatched in history." [JPVR]