Format
With the Procar Championship announced in spring 1978 at the official unveiling of the M1 road car, Neerpasch and the newly formed Procar Association laid out regulations for the 1979 season. Races were planned for the middle of the Formula One season, when the championship remained in Europe for several months. Practice and qualifying were held on Friday of the race weekend, while the race itself occurred on Saturday. The winner of each race received US $5,000, second place received $3,000, and third place $1,000. Races varied in length, but each lasted for approximately half an hour.
To attract Formula One drivers to the championship, seats were guaranteed in the Procar races by cars which were entered by the factory BMW team. The five fastest Formula One drivers from Friday practice were assigned to the factory team, and were even guaranteed the first five grid positions for the Procar race, regardless of their qualifying times in the cars. This not only guaranteed Formula One driver participation, but also allowed for a variety of drivers to be seen over the course of the season. However, because the series ran Goodyear tyres, several Formula One drivers were not allowed to compete due to contractual obligations with competing tyre manufacturer Michelin. As Scuderia Ferrari and Renault were selling roadcars themselves, they did not allow their Formula One drivers to participate and implicitly endorse BMW.
Other teams were allowed to participate, assigning a variety of sportscar and touring car drivers as well as Formula One drivers who had not earned spots in the factory cars. Points were awarded to the top ten finishers, starting with 20 points and decreasing down to 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 3, 2, and finally 1 for the nine remaining drivers. An overall championship was awarded to the driver who had accumulated the most points at the end of the season. A new M1 road car was awarded to the championship winner.
Read more about this topic: BMW M1 Procar Championship