Cup of Peace and Friendship
| Category | Formula racing (1963-1989) Touring car racing (1973-1989) |
|---|---|
| Region | Eastern Bloc |
| Inaugural season | 1963 |
| Folded | 1990 |
| Last Drivers' champion | Alexandr Potekhin Josef Michl |
The Cup of Peace and Friendship (also Friendship Cup of Socialist Countries) was an auto racing championship series dedicated to Eastern Bloc drivers between 1963 and 1990.
History
The Cup of Peace and Friendship was created in 1963 as an initiative of Lech Tulak and Jerzy Jankowski of the Polish Automobile and Motorcycle Federation. The main purpose of the cup was to promote standard regulations for auto racing in Eastern Bloc countries.[1] In its initial form it was a championship for open-wheel, single seaters and included both individual and national team awards. Heinz Melkus and East Germany were the first champions.[2]
For the first two seasons, cup races were held to Formula Junior, before its replacement by the new 1-litre Formula Three from 1965. 1972 saw the creation of Formula Easter, which would form the technical basis of the championship for the next seventeen years, before switching to Formula Mondial for the final two seasons in 1989 and 1990. From 1973 a touring car class was also introduced.[2]
After the revolutions of 1989, the championship was made open to western entrants, but mounting financial difficulties made 1990 the final season of the Cup of Peace and Friendship.[3]
Champions
| Season | Single seater | Touring car | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver | Nation | Driver | Nation | |
| 1963 | Heinz Melkus | East Germany | not held | not held |
| 1964 | Jerzy Jankowski | East Germany | not held | not held |
| 1965 | Heinz Melkus | East Germany | not held | not held |
| 1966 | Heinz Melkus[4] | East Germany | not held | not held |
| 1967 | Heinz Melkus | East Germany | not held | not held |
| 1968 | Miroslav Fousek[5] | Czechoslovakia[6] | not held | not held |
| 1969 | Vladimír Hubáček | Czechoslovakia | not held | not held |
| 1970 | Vladislav Ondřejík | Czechoslovakia | not held | not held |
| 1971 | Klaus-Peter Krause | East Germany | not held | not held |
| 1972 | Heinz Melkus[7] | Czechoslovakia | not held | not held |
| 1973 | Albín Patlejch | East Germany | Andrzej Wojciechowski | Czechoslovakia |
| 1974 | Karel Jílek | Czechoslovakia | Jaroslav Bobek | Czechoslovakia |
| 1975 | Madis Laiv | Soviet Union | Milan Žid | Czechoslovakia |
| 1976 | Jiří Červa | Czechoslovakia | Milan Žid | Czechoslovakia |
| 1977 | Karel Jílek | Czechoslovakia | Oldřich Brunclik | Czechoslovakia |
| 1978 | Ulli Melkus | East Germany | Vlastimil Tomášek | Soviet Union |
| 1979 | Václav Lim | Czechoslovakia | Vlastimil Tomášek | Czechoslovakia |
| 1980 | Ulli Melkus | Czechoslovakia | Miroslav Heřman | Czechoslovakia |
| 1981 | Jiří Moskal | East Germany | Petr Samohýl | Soviet Union |
| 1982 | Jan Veselý | Czechoslovakia | Vlastimil Tomášek | Czechoslovakia |
| 1983 | Ulli Melkus | East Germany | Alexey Grigoriev | Soviet Union |
| 1984 | Ulli Melkus | East Germany | Vlastimil Tomášek | Czechoslovakia |
| 1985 | Ulli Melkus | Czechoslovakia | Vlastimil Tomášek | Czechoslovakia |
| 1986 | Václav Lim | East Germany | Vlastimil Tomášek | Czechoslovakia |
| 1987 | Toomas Napa | Soviet Union | Petr Bold | Soviet Union |
| 1988 | Viktor Kozankov | Soviet Union | Alexey Grigoriev | Soviet Union |
| 1989 | Viktor Kozankov | Soviet Union | Yuri Katsai | Soviet Union |
| 1990 | Alexandr Potekhin | not held | Josef Michl | not held |
References
- ^ "Sport Samochodowy" [Motorsport] (PDF). automobilklubpolski.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ^ a b "The Friendship of Socialist Countries Cup (FSCC)". teamdan.com. Archived from the original on 2018-08-11. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
- ^ Shugurov, Lev. "Проект реорганизации Кубков дружбы" [Friendship Cup Reorganization Project]. CarRacer.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-11-11.
- ^ "Formula 3 1966 Championship Tables". the-fastlane.co.uk.
- ^ "Formula 3 1968 Championship Tables". the-fastlane.co.uk.
- ^ Dziedātājs, Kaspars. "1968 Soc.valstu Draudzības kauss Kopvērtējums" [1968 Socialist Countries Friendship Cup Overall Results]. Racinghistory.lv (Blog) (in Latvian). Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ^ Purucker, Ray. "Pokal für Frieden und Freundschaft" [Cup for Peace and Friendship]. Puru's Motorsportseite (Blog) (in German). Retrieved 2024-11-02.