Everything about Dams totally explained
France
| principal =
Jean-Paul Driot
| current series =
GP2 Series A1 Grand Prix
| former series =
Formula 3000 World Series by Renault Formula Renault V6 Eurocup ALMS FIA GT Championship Le Mans 24 Hours FIA Sportscar Championship
| driver titles =
1990 Formula 3000 (Comas)1993 Formula 3000 (Panis)1994 Formula 3000 (Boullion)2003 FR V6 Eurocup (López)
| team titles =
1989 Formula 30001990 Formula 30001993 Formula 30001994 Formula 30002005-06 A1 GP (France)
| folded =
}}
Driot-Arnoux Motorsport (
DAMS) is a racing team from
France, involved in many areas of
motorsports. DAMS was founded in 1988 by
Jean-Paul Driot and former
Formula One driver
René Arnoux. It is headquartered near
Le Mans, only 2 km from the
Bugatti Circuit.
History
The year after its foundation, DAMS joined the
International Formula 3000 Championship. They stayed in F3000 until
2001. DAMS were one of many French teams that were part of the
Elf young driver sponsorship program.
Aside from F3000, DAMS tried joining the F1 World Championship in, with a car developed by
Reynard, but lack of funds prevented the team from advancing.
DAMS enter in
sports car racing since 1997 until 2002 where it helped the
Michel Vaillant movie, preparing and racing cars in the
24 Hours of Le Mans.
Actually, the team is involved in
GP2 Series and
A1 Grand Prix. Since 2006, DAMS is associate with the
Toyota Drivers Program to race their drivers in GP2 Series.
GP2 Series and Formula 3000
Right from its inception, the French team entered the
FIA International Formula 3000 Championship, which they won in
1990 with
Érik Comas,
1992 with
Olivier Panis and
1994 with
Jean-Christophe Boullion.
In 13 years,
1989 to
2001, DAMS won 4 team titles, 3 drivers titles, 21 wins, 19 pole positions and 19 fastest laps, making DAMS one of the most successful Formula 3000 teams with
Super Nova Racing and
Arden International.
The team competed in the
GP2 Series since its beginning in
2005, winning races with drivers
José María López and
Nicolas Lapierre.
Since 2006, DAMS is associate with the
Toyota Drivers Program (TDP) to ran their drivers in GP2 Series. In 2006, it was
Franck Perera and
Kazuki Nakajima in 2007, who finish 5th in the GP2 championship and race the last Formula 1 2007 Grand Prix in
Brazil with
AT&T Williams. In 2007,
Kamui Kobayashi replace Nakajima at DAMS GP2 and became the
Toyota F1 test driver.
A1 Grand Prix and Formula Renault
In the 2003 and 2004 seasons, DAMS took part in the
Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, which they won that same year with Argentinian
José María López. In 2005 their entered in the
World Series by Renault. Since 2005, DAMS joined the
GP2 Series but also the
A1 Grand Prix where it serviced three teams.
Driot is one of the owners of the
A1 Team France. DAMS also managed
A1 Team Switzerland,
A1 Team Mexico and later
A1 Team South Africa in the A1 Grand Prix championships. With A1 Team France, DAMS was the first winner of the series winning 13 of the 22 races including in the
2005-06 season.
For the
2007-08 season, A1 Team France and South Africa collaborated closely to finalize the car like it was previously done with A1 Team Switzerland.
Sports car racing
Starting from 1997, Driot's team diversified into
sports car racing, entering the
FIA GT Championship in partnership with
Panoz. Splitting up in the following year, DAMS ran a
Lola B98/10 with a
Judd engine in the
SportsRacing World Cup, winning four races, as well as participating in the
American Le Mans Series and
Le Mans 24 Hours.
In 2000 and 2001, DAMS associated themselves with
General Motors, preparing the works
Cadillac Northstar LMP prototypes for the
American Le Mans Series,
FIA Sportscar Championship and
24 Hours of Le Mans, but failed to get any competitive results.
DAMS (running the
Bob Berridge Racing Lola) helped the
Michel Vaillant movie crew in the
2002, 24 Hours of Le Mans entering with a
Lola B98/10-
Judd as
Vaillante and a
Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S-
Élan as
Leader.
They then switched their effort to an FIA GT return. In 2003, they tried entering two
Nissan 350Z, but once again funds prevented the French team from developing the Japanese car. In 2004, they teamed with
Lamborghini and entered two
Murciélago R-GT cars in the final rounds of the FIA GT Championship.
Results
GP2 Series and Formula 3000
- D.C. = Drivers' Championship position, T.C. = Teams' Championship position.
A1 Grand Prix and Formulas Renault
2007-08 is the current season.
† Davide di Benedetto drive only the last round for DAMS. He drive also for Guidare Formula this season and is final 9th place take both team results.
D.C. = Drivers' Championship position, T.C. = Teams' Championship position.
Sports car racing
D.C. = Drivers' Championship position, T.C. = Teams' Championship position.
Timeline
Further Information
Get more info on 'Dams'.
|
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