title: Brands Hatch

text: The winter of 1962/63 was severe, causing the cancellation of most sports, which resulted in empty television screens on occasions. The lack of sport to show, virtually created Rallycross for on 9 February a rallycross-type event was staged on the slushy Brands Hatch car parks in front of the TV cameras (not the Rallycross Circuit used in the 1980s and 1990s). The event had been quickly organised by Raymond Baxter of the BBC and the London Motor Club, and saw Timo Mäkinen win easily in the works Austin-Healey 3000.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The second "Motor"-sponsored Six-Hour saloon car race, was a round on the inaugural European Touring Car Challenge. It was run in appalling conditions on 6 July. The large crowd witness the favourite, a 7-litre Ford Galaxie driven by Dan Gurney and Jack Brabham floundered in the wet and the Jaguar dominated the race. Victory went to Roy Salvadori and Denny Hulme from Peter Linder and Peter Nöcker after the winners on the road, Mike Salmon and Pete Sutcliffe being disqualified for engine irregularities. The "Guards Trophy" was run for sports cars and went to Roger Penske driving his Zerex Special, which was based on a Cooper F1 chassis.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The British Grand Prix came to Kent in 1964 and was to be shared with Silverstone in alternate years until 1986. Also the race was given the courtesy title "European Grand Prix" and the management rose to the occasion. The date was 11 July, a cool and dry day which saw Jim Clark at his best in the Lotus 25 winning by 2.8secs from Graham Hill in the BRM P261, who was followed home by John Surtees in the V8 Ferrari 158; fourth and one lap down was Jack Brabham driving a car bearing his own name. A further lap down in fifth place was Lorenzo Bandini in the V6 Ferrari with Phil Hill taking the final World Championship point in a Cooper. The race average was and Clark set the fastest lap at 1min 38.8secs (). The Motor Six Hours had its third and final running on 6 June (still a round of the ETCC), with victory going to the Alan Mann-entered Lotus-Cortinas of Sir John Whitmore/Peter Proctor and Henry Taylor/Peter Harper.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The 1964 season was the busiest so far for Brands Hatch, with 14 car race meeting alone; the British Automobile Racing Club (BARC) organised its first meeting in Kent, while the London Motor Car Club organised one in June. The year's "Guards Trophy" went to Bruce McLaren driving for Cooper in a 3.9-litre Oldsmobile-powered sports car.


title: Brands Hatch

text: During the Lombank Trophy Race of 27 December 1965, held at Brands Hatch, racer George Reid Crossman was killed during the last race of the Formula 3 Season. [race day program]


title: Brands Hatch

text: With the Grand Prix not due back at Brands until 1966, they promoted a non-championship Formula One race to be known as "Race of Champions" sponsored by "Daily Mail".The race was run in two 40-lap heats with victory going to Jim Clark (Lotus 33), while his teammate Mike Spence, won the second and taking the overall victory. The first 100 mph lap was set by Clark in 1min 35.4secs. The longest race ever run at the Kentish Circuit took place on 22/23 May, this being the Guards 1000 consisting of two 500-mile races for production saloon cars. The overall winner was the works MG MGB of John Rhodes and Warwick Banks.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The British Grand Prix returned in 1966, the inaugural year of the 3-litre Formula One. The works Brabham-Repco BT19 were first and second in the hands of Jack Brabham and Denny Hulme; Brabham completed the 212-mile race in 2hrs 13mins 13.4secs () lapping everyone except Hulme in the process. Third was Graham Hill in the BRM P261 from Jim Clark (Lotus 33) with Jochen Rindt fifth in the Cooper-Maserati and in sixth position, a further lap adrift, was Bruce McLaren in the McLaren-Serenissima. The event was notable for the only F1 appearance of the Shannon SH 1 in the hands of Trevor Taylor which lasted just one lap. This was also the year that the FIA decided the end had come for Group 7 sports cars with their massive motors; John Surtees won the "Guards Trophy" on August Bank Holiday Monday driving the 6-litre Lola T70. The "Motor Show 200" for Formula Two cars saw a young Austrian named Jochen Rindt win in the Roy Winkelmann-entered Brabham BT18.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The 1967 Race of Champions (still sponsored by "Daily Mail") saw the first of two major victories by American cars at Brands when Dan Gurney brought the Eagle-Weslake T1G over the line first by 0.8 seconds from Lorenzo Bandin's Ferrari 312/67. So good was the public's response to the race (run in two 10-lap heats and a 40-lap final) that John Webb decided to make the race an annual event. The other great American victory was to come when the be-winged 7-litre Chaparral 2F-Chevrolet driven by Phil Hill and Mike Spence won the "BOAC 500" run over 211 laps of the Grand Prix Circuit at an average speed of , from the Ferrari 330-P4 of Chris Amon and Jackie Stewart. These two had lapped the rest of the field twice, third place going to the Jo Siffert/Bruce McLaren Porsche 910. The year saw many firsts; in July, Tetsu Ikuzawa became the first Japanese ever to win a race in Britain, the first Mini Festival was run at Whitsun and the Mini-Seven Club ran the first ever all-saloon car meeting in February. But the biggest 'first 'was the arrival of Formula Ford which was to become the providing ground and starting place for so many drivers. The first Formula Ford race was run on 7 July and was won by Roy Allan in a Lotus 51.


title: Brands Hatch

text: 1968 proved to be a busy season, with no less than five International meetings; the first was the Race of Champions followed by the BOAC 500, the British Grand Prix, the Guards Trophy, and the Motor Show 200. The former race gave the McLaren marque its maiden Formula One victory when Bruce, driving his own car, led home the field ahead of Pedro Rodríguez in the BRM P133 and his new team-mate, Denny Hulme. Sponsorship on racing cars was just beginning and a television executive was distressed by the 'sailor man' on the side of the Gold Leaf Team Lotus and threatened to withdraw television coverage if the offering item was not obscured, so Graham Hill was black-flagged to have the decal covered!


title: Brands Hatch

text: It was March 1968 at a minor club meeting when 17-year-old racer Barry Sheene lined up on the starting grid, on a works 125cc Bultaco, for his first race. It was an impressive debut by anyone's standards. Sheene had worked his way up to second place and threatening the leader, Mike Lewis, when the bike seized and spat its rider off over the handlebars. A rostrum position in the day's 250cc race was a great achievement, but an even better was not very far away. Just one week later, and again at Brands, Sheene took his first race win, and he did it is style by an incredible 12 seconds. And the best was yet to come, for he dominated a field of 350cc machines, riding special 250cc Bultaco (with an enlarged 280cc capacity).


title: Brands Hatch

text: The Manufacturers' World Championship came to Brands in early 1968, followed by the "BOAC 500" on 7 April. The winner was the Ford GT40 Mk.1 of Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman from the Porsche 908 of Gerhard Mitter and Ludovico Scarfiotti, these two being the only cars to complete the full race distance of 218-laps. Two laps further down in third was another 907 driven by Vic Elford and Jochen Neerpasch and fourth place went to another GT40, driven by Paul Hawkins and David Hobbs.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Three months later came the British Grand Prix on 20 July, won by Jo "Seppi" Siffert. Siffert's victory was noteworthy in that he won in a Lotus 49B which was delivered new to the circuit on the first morning of the meeting. It was completed in the paddock and was entered by the Walker-Durlacher team – a private entrant winning a Grand Prix. In second place just 4.4 secs behind was Chris Amon (Ferrari), with his teammate Jacky Ickx third. Fourth was Denny Hulme in a McLaren M7A, from Surtees in the Honda RA300 one lap down, and Jackie Stewart a further lap down in the Matra-Ford MS80.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Easter Monday 1969 saw another brainchild of John Webb and the BRSCC's Competitions Director Nick Syreett come to fruition. This was Formula 5000 which was based upon the American Formula A, the cars being single-seater chassis powered by American V8 and V6 stock-block engines of up to 5-litre capacity. The need for the new formula was caused by the escalating costs of Formula Three, Formula Two and the decreasing number of non-championship Formula One events as more and more countries demanded a Grand Prix. The winner of the first Formula 5000 race was Peter Gethin driving a McLaren M10A with Chevrolet power.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Indianapolis-style single-car qualifying was introduced for the 1969 Race of Champions, but it simply did not catch on – perhaps it did not have the glamour of the Indy 500; Jackie Stewart won the race in the Matra MS80 owned by Ken Tyrrell and went on to win his first World Championship with it.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The "BOAC 500" was once again the British round of the Manufacturers' World Championship and was a Porsche benefit, 908s taking the first three places, the winners being Jo Siffert and Brian Redman; the second place car of Vic Elford and Richard Attwood was two laps behind, with Gerhard Mitter and Udo Schütz third.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The International race calendar for 1970 opened with the Race of Champions. March Engineering made its Formula One-winning debut when Jackie Stewart won driving Ken Tyrrell's March-Cosworth 701.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The British Grand Prix returned to Brands Hatch on 19 July and saw victory go to Jochen Rindt by less than 33 seconds from Jack Brabham, who had run out of fuel. The Austrian driver of the Lotus was then disqualified following a protest over an aerofoil, but was reinstated before the evening was out. Third place went to Denny Hulme in the McLaren from the Ferrari of Clay Regazzoni; a lap down in fifth spot with the March of Chris Amon with Graham Hill sixth in the other Lotus. Rindt's winning speed was .


title: Brands Hatch

text: Although the World Championship sports race was now "BOAC 1000", but measured in kilometres, not miles, it was another Porsche benefit, the fearsome 917s taking the first three places from a 908; the first car home was the Pedro Rodríguez/Leo Kinnunen car from Vic Elford/Denny Hulme and Richard Attwood/Hans Herrmann. The 908 was driven by Gijs van Lennep and Hans Laine. The race was run over 235 laps at a speed of .


title: Brands Hatch

text: By 1971, the ownership of Brands Hatch was in the hands of Motor Circuit Developments (MCD), which saw the arrival of another MCD-inspired single-seater formula in the shape of Formula Atlantic. The "BOAC 1000" saw Alfa Romeo take their first major success in 20 years, with the chequered flag being taken by the 33TT3 of Andrea de Adamich and Henri Pescarolo, who completed the 235 laps at a speed of . They were followed home by the Ferrari 312PB of Jacky Ickx and Clay Regazzoni, with the Porsche 917 of Jo Siffert and Derek Bell a further three laps down in third.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Motor Racing is a dangerous game and there had been some fatalities at Brands including the deaths of George Crossman, Tony Flory and Stuart Duncan in the mid-60s. But in October 1971, the season drew to its close with the death of a major driver. Jo Siffert died in an accident in the "Rothmans World Championship Victory Race". This non-championship event for Formula One and Formula 5000 cars was arranged to mark Jackie Stewart and Ken Tyrrell's joint World Championships. The race was 40 laps in length; 'Seppi' lost control of his BRM P160 on lap 15, hit the bank at Hawthorn Hill, the car was engulfed in flames and he was asphyxiated before he could be extricated. The circuit came under a great deal of criticism, and it was agreed that a three-year programme of major safety modifications around the track would be commenced before the start of the 1972 season.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The 1972 season was a particularly busy one, with Formula One visiting twice for the Race of Champions on 19 March sponsored by "Daily Mail" and the John Player-sponsored British Grand Prix on 15 July (bearing the title European Grand Prix), while the BOAC 1000 was the British round of the World Championship of Makes. On 16 April, what was to be the last BOAC 1000 resulted in a complete Italian benefit race with Ferrari and Alfa Romeo filling the first six places. The 235-lap race was won by Mario Andretti and Jacky Ickx in a Ferrari 312PB, with the average race speed of , from Tim Schenken and Ronnie Peterson, a lap down in a similar car. The first Alfa home completed the podium, was the 33TT3 of Rolf Stommelen and Peter Revson. And so to July, 76-laps of the Grand Prix Circuit adds up to just a few hundred yards over 200 miles which Emerson Fittipaldi completed in 1hr 47:50.2secs (), driving the John Player Special Lotus-Cosworth 72D, from Jackie Stewart (Tyrrell-Cosworth 003), Peter Revson in the Team Yardley McLaren-Cosworth M19A, Chris Amon in the Matra-Simca MS120C, Denny Hulme Team Yardley McLaren-Cosworth M19C, with Arturo Merzario taking the last point in the Ferrari 312B2.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The following year, 1973, was less hectic; the BOAC 1000 was cancelled when the date offered by the FIA was unsuitable, and the year had an unfortunate Race of Champions. Peter Gethin driving a Formula 5000 Chevron-Chevrolet B24 beat the Formula One cars and James Hunt made his F1 debut in Hesketh Racing's March 731. Before the start of that season, £50,000 was spent upon a new grandstand adjoining the Grovewood Suite, while opening seating and new pits were built to comply with FIA requirements. There were also improvements made between Westfields and Stirlings.


title: Brands Hatch

text: It rained again during the Race of Champions in 1974, and the more nimble Formula One cars showed their heels to the Formula 5000 contingent; the winner was Jacky Ickx driving a Lotus-Ford 72E. The Grand Prix circus returned to Brands for a race on 20 July, and the RAC (who organised the race) came in for censure from the FIA for allowing the pit lane to be blocked during the race, thus preventing Niki Lauda from rejoining at the end to claim fifth place, which he was awarded on appeal. The winner was Jody Scheckter in a Tyrrell-Cosworth 007 who covered the race at an average pace of , from Emerson Fittipaldi (McLaren-Cosworth M23B), Jacky Ickx (Lotus-Cosworth 72E), Clay Regazzoni and Niki Lauda (Ferrari 312B3) with Carlos Reutemann (Brabham-Cosworth BT44) in sixth.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The BOAC 1000 had become the "British Airways 1000" and was dominated by the works Matra-Simca MS670C which finish first and second; first home were the Jean-Pierres – Jarier and Beltoise – with Henri Pescarolo and Gérard Larrousse second. Third, no less than 11 laps down, was the Gulf-Ford GR7 of Derek Bell and David Hobbs.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The winter of 1974/5 was mild, which was fortunate, allowing both tracks to be resurfaced in their entirety and completed in time for the opening event of 1975.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Tom Pryce had made a name for himself at Brands, driving Formula Ford and Formula F100 cars. He came to the "British Airways/Daily Mail Race of Champions" on 16 March as a works driver for the UOP Shadow. He drove the DN5; Pryce carved his way through the field, closing upon Jody Scheckter's Tyrrell-Cosworth when Scheckter's engine blew. This was Pryce's first and only Formula One win - he died a little over two years later during the 1977 South African Grand Prix.


title: Brands Hatch

text: It was again Grand Prix year in 1976, and notwithstanding the money already spent, another £100,000 was expended on the track and safety work; the major change was a realignment of Paddock Bend, which resulted in a slight shortening of the circuit to . Bottom Straight was also realigned making it straighter; this was all done to expand the cramped pit facilities. It was at this time that name changes occurred; Pilgrims became Hailwood Hill, Bottom Bend became Graham Hill Bend and Bottom Straight became Cooper Straight. The Grand Prix took place on 18 July and was somewhat controversial. Following a first-lap accident the race was stopped. This year's Race of Champions winner and national hero, James Hunt was involved so he took over the spare McLaren M23D, which he won, but was later disqualified by the FIA, as it was deemed that he had not completed the first lap. Ferrari's Niki Lauda was declared the winner from the Tyrrell of Jody Scheckter and John Watson's Penske PC3. Tom Pryce brought the Shadow home in fourth.


title: Brands Hatch

text: On 25 September, the second British round of the World Championship of Makes arrived for the "Brands Hatch Six-Hours"; it was run in a deluge which caused it to be stopped for an hour and it was eventually run over 103 laps – – which Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass won at driving a Porsche 935/2 Turbo. The race totally dominated by the Stuttgart marque, the first five places going to Porsche 935 Turbos – a 934 Turbo was sixth with a Carrera seventh. A little relief came with the eighth-place BMW 320i, two more Porsches rounded out the first ten. In November, Brands Hatch took over the running of the annual Formula Ford Festival (which it still holds to this day) from Snetterton. This was won by Irishman Derek Daly in a Hawke DL17.


title: Brands Hatch

text: 1977 was a quiet year, with James Hunt retaining his Race of Champions crown for McLaren. The event was not held in 1978, but this was a Grand Prix year. It was also a year to remember for it was also Indy year. Controversy again loomed at the Grand Prix, but trouble was averted; Niki Lauda had won the Swedish Grand Prix driving the Brabham BT46B 'fan car', but before it arrived in Kent, the car was banned by the FIA. Despite this, Lauda still finished second, in the conventional Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT46, behind the Ferrari 312T3 of Carlos Reutemann, with the other Brabham of John Watson in third. Fourth went to Patrick Depailler in a Tyrrell 008, with Hans-Joachim Stuck fifth in a Shadow DN9 and Patrick Tambay sixth, in a McLaren M26.


title: Brands Hatch

text: 12 March 1978, saw the return of the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) to Brands Hatch. Of the four BMW's entered, two did not even make the start. The other two were a Luigi car, entered by BMW Italia for Tom Walkinshaw and Umberto Grano, and the Jolly Club pairing of Carlo Facetti and Martino Finotto. The latter were the quickest car, but hopeless pit stops, saw the Luigi car took over the lead on lap 117 (out of 120) and take the spoils. Third was the VW Motorsport Scirocco of Richard Lloyd and Anton Stocker, as well as their class victory.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Important through the Grand Prix is, the high-spot of the 1978 season at Brands Hatch and Silverstone was the coming of the USAC Champ Car. John Webb had gone to America to witness the organisation of Indy Racing at first hand and as a result of that visit two rounds of the USAC National Championship were in England. The Silverstone race was wet and the Brands one dry. The costs were £500,000 but, unfortunately the race did not capture the imagination of the British enthusiasts, despite the appearance of such legendary names as A. J. Foyt, Rick Mears, Tom Sneva and Danny Ongais. The Brands race was run on the Club Circuit which was then renamed the Indy Circuit in honour of the guests. The race was won by Mears (Gould Penske), from Sneva with the fastest lap going to Ongais at (41.4 secs.) – a new outright record.


title: Brands Hatch

text: 1979 saw the return of the "Race of Champions" on 15 April, however the contained only seven regular cars that completed in the World Championship, while the rest of field was made up of entrants from the British Formula One Championship. The spoils of victory went to way of Ferrari, with Gilles Villeneuve winning in a modified 312T3. Second was Nelson Piquet in a Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT48, from Mario Andretti's Lotus-Cosworth 79 in third. Also, this year the World Championship of Makes arrived for again the "Brands Hatch Six-Hours" with victory going to Reinhold Joest and Volkert Merl in their Joest Racing Porsche 908/3 Turbo.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The Jolly Club pairing of Carlo Facetti and Martino Finotto, were out of luck again, when the ETCC landed in Kent for the Brands Hatch 500 km. They lost the lead of the race they had comfortably headed for 100 of a scheduled 120 laps, when the gear lever broke. Once again the rival Luigi team were on hand to take a well deserved win, this time being driven the Belgian team of Raymond van Hove, Jean Xhenceval and Pierre Dieudonné with the familiar BMW CSL.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The circuit did not see a Race of Champions in 1980 – the Formula One calendar was now so full that the teams could not afford a week to run in a non-championship race and henceforward, British fans would have only one opportunity to see current F1 cars in action per year. A little piece of motor racing history was written when Desiré Wilson became the first woman to win a Formula One race when she won a round of the British Formula One Championship, driving a Wolf WR4.


title: Brands Hatch

text: 27 April 1980, saw the final ETCC race at Brands Hatch, literally saw Harald Neger blow away victory in his Racing Corporation Vienna BMW 635CSi. The Austrian stormed through the field in lap one, following a bad practice, but the engine had been over-revved. Now the Eggenberger Motorsport BMW 320s took over, and after Hans-Jürg Dürig had to retire with a broken seat, Siegfried Müller Jr. and Helmut Kelleners won the race, with an older BMW 3.0 CSi second with the Belgian pairing of Michel Delcourt and Jean-Marie Baert.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Ayrton Senna da Silva's European car racing debut, 1 March 1981 was impressive, but not sensational, finishing fifth during a "P&O Ferries" Championship (Formula Ford 1600), driving a Van Diemen RF80. A fortnight later competing in the "Townsend Thoresen" Championship, Senna totally dominated the race despite a very heavy downpour, winning by 9.4 seconds during 15-lap race on the Indy Circuit. This time driving a Van Diemen RF81. Few knew beforehand that this race would make history – Senna first win.


title: Brands Hatch

text: On 16 March, the "Brands Hatch Six-Hours" was run and saw a healthy invasion of Italian cars; Lancia Beta Monte Carlos in the hands of Riccardo Patrese and Walter Röhrl, with Michele Alboreto and Eddie Cheever taking the two places for Lancia Corse, the winning car being the only one to complete the full race distance of 147 laps, at . In third spot a further lap down was the De Cadenet LM of Alain de Cadenet and Desiré Wilson. This was Alan Jones's World Championship year and on his way to the crown he won the "Marlboro British Grand Prix" on 13 July, in a Williams-Cosworth FW07B from Nelson Piquet and Carlos Reutemann. Piquet's Brabham-Cosworth BT49 split the two Williams, Derek Daly and Jean-Pierre Jarier filling the next spots for Tyrrell, with a young Frenchman, Alain Prost for McLaren in sixth. There was a slimmed down calendar in 1981 with but one International, the emphasis being on top-class national racing.


title: Brands Hatch

text: By contrast 1982 was extremely busy. The highlight of the year was the "Marlboro" British Grand Prix and it was voted the best of the year by the members of the Formula One Constructors Association. Once again the Grand Prix was run over (76 laps), the winner being Niki Lauda in the McLaren-Cosworth MP4/1B from the Ferrari 126C2 of Didier Pironi and Patrick Tambay. The winner speed was .


title: Brands Hatch

text: It was a non-Grand Prix year at Brands in 1983, but the "Marlboro Daily Mail Race of Champions" was successfully staged on 10 April, notwithstanding the fact it was only a week before the French Grand Prix and clashed with a tyre test at Paul Ricard. It was also the last non-championship F1 race to be held in the sport's history. It was won by the reigning world champion Keke Rosberg in the Williams FW08, who narrowly beat Danny Sullivan in his Tyrrell 011. Meanwhile, former world champion Alan Jones finished third in his last drive for Arrows. To bring some real excitement, noise and spectacle back into British motor racing, the BRSCC invented Thundersports. The new series had its debut on Easter Monday and the country's first major sport car race since the mid-1970s was a resounding success. Then, the year turned into a Grand Prix one after all; following the cancellation of the proposed New York Grand Prix, John Webb lobbied FISA in company with the RAC MSA and was granted the opportunity to run the Grand Prix d’Europe on 25 September, thus giving Britain its second Grand Prix that season.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The full circus arrived in Kent and Elio de Angelis placed his Lotus-Renault 94T on pole position; the race was 76 laps/199 miles long which Nelson Piquet in the Brabham-BMW BT52B won at . Alain Prost followed him home 6 sec later in the Renault RE40 with Nigel Mansell in the second Lotus in third.


title: Brands Hatch

text: In 1984, Brands become the first British circuit to hold Grands Prix in three consecutive years since the 1950s. This was officially the year for Kent to host the British Grand Prix but it was fraught with politics as Tyrrell was adjudged by the sport's governing body to have infringed the rules at the Canadian Grand Prix and was excluded from the remainder of the season. A court injunction ensured that the cars started their home race, but Stefan Bellof and Stefan Johansson qualified the cars on the back row of the grid, the former finishing 11th but Johansson being eliminated in a first-lap accident. The win went to Niki Lauda, driving a McLaren-TAG MP4/2. Second was Derek Warwick in the Renault RE50 and Ayrton Senna driving the Toleman-Hart TG184 into third place. Lauda's winning speed was .


title: Brands Hatch

text: 1984 saw the return of the European Formula Two Championship, the first visit since Jochen Rindt's win in 1967, which was also the last race for this category before being replaced by Formula 3000. 23 September turned out to be very wet, with the original race lasting only 16 laps being stopped due to heavy rain. The remaining 31 laps were run later in the day, with Philippe Streiff in an AGS-BMW winning on aggregate from the Martini-BMW of Michel Ferté and Roberto Moreno in a Ralt-Honda.


title: Brands Hatch

text: On 22 September 1985, Brands Hatch hosted the second British round of the World Endurance Championship in the form of the "Brands Hatch 1000km". It was to be another Porsche benefit, which the Stuttgart cars taking a 1–2 finish; first was the 962C of Derek Bell and Hans-Joachim Stuck (who jointly took the driver's title) with the identical car of Jacky Ickx and Jochen Mass second – these two were the only cars to covered the full race distance of 238 laps. Five laps down in third was the Lancia-Martini LC2 of Bob Wollek/Mauro Baldi/Andrea de Cesaris.


title: Brands Hatch

text: A fortnight later, for the second time in three years, Britain staged two Grands Prix in one season; in July, the British Grand Prix was held at Silverstone, but the loss of a race in New York City made a date available in Europe towards the end of the season. The management team led by John Webb made a bid for it and won the right to host the Grand Prix d’Europe on 6 October. It was fitting that Nigel Mansell should score his first Grand Prix on this occasion, at the wheel of a Williams-Honda FW10B, completing the 75 laps of the Grand Prix Circuit, at a speed of from Ayrton Senna's Lotus-Renault 97T and teammate Keke Rosberg in the other Williams. Alain Prost brought his McLaren-TAG MP4/2B home in fourth, to win become the 1985 World Drivers' Championship.


title: Brands Hatch

text: In October that year, rumours started to circulate regarding the future of Motor Circuit Developments; at the time the property of Eagle Star Holdings which had been sold to British American Tobacco. This caused some alarm as to the future of the circuits. Thanks to the efforts of John Webb, enter John Foulston! He was the Chairman of Atlantic Computers plc and a staunch enthusiast and Historic and Thundersports racer. His bid of £5.25m secured the future of Brands Hatch, Oulton Park and Snetterton for 'the foreseeable future'. Early in 1987, he added Cadwell Park to his fold which was now known as the Brands Hatch Leisure Group.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The Kentish Circuit was to host the Grand Prix only once more and that was on 13 July 1986 (making five years in a row), after which it was to be run continually at Silverstone. The reason for this was that the international motorsports governing body at the time, FISA, had instituted a policy of long-term contracts with circuits. Brands Hatch was perceived as a poorer facility, and it did have very little run-off and room to expand, something Silverstone as a former World War II airfield had in acres. Silverstone and the BRDC had signed a seven-year contract with Formula 1 and FISA at some point in 1986, to run from 1987 to 1993. The 1986 race saw Piquet take pole at , the fastest lap ever recorded at Brands up to that point, and 22 mph faster than the pole time set for the 1976 race on the same layout. Race day saw a major first lap accident at Paddock Bend where Jacques Laffite (Ligier-Renault JS27) broke both legs after going head-on into the wall on the right side of the track, which spelt the end of his F1 career and Brands Hatch as a Formula One circuit. It was his 176th Grand Prix, equalling Graham Hill's record. Nigel Mansell's Williams-Honda FW11 had rolled to a stop shortly after the start but, as a result of the race stoppage, he was able to use the spare Williams (which was set up for his teammate Nelson Piquet) and he took the restart, eventually winning from Piquet. Mansell won at a speed of . Alain Prost was third in his McLaren-TAG MP4/2C with fourth going to René Arnoux in the other Ligier, with the Tyrrells of Martin Brundle and Philippe Streiff taking the final points.


title: Brands Hatch

text: A week later, the World Sports Car Championship contingent arrived in Kent for the "Brands Hatch 1000". The first three places were taken by Porsche 956s, the winning car of Bob Wollek and Mauro Baldi (Richard Lloyd Racing Porsche 956 GTi) being the only car to complete the 238 laps, at a speed of . Second home was Joest Racing's 956 of Derek Bell, Hans-Joachim Stuck and Klaus Ludwig, with the Brun Motorsport 956 of Thierry Boutsen and Frank Jelinski third, four and five laps down respectively.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Almost exactly a year later, Brands echoed to the sound of the sports car, although the championship was now called, World Sports-Prototype Championship for Teams (WSPC) and the race was the "Shell Gemini 1000" run on 26 July 1987. This was the year of the 'big cats', with the Tom Walkinshaw Racing run Silk Cut Jaguar team and their XJR-8 of Raul Boesel and John Nielsen, who won at an average speed of with the Richard Lloyd Racing entered Porsche 962GTi of Mauro Baldi and Johnny Dumfries second, these two being the only cars to run the full distance. Third, no less than nine laps adrift, was Jan Lammers and John Watson's XJR-8.


title: Brands Hatch

text: If the Grand Prix was lost to Brands, large-capacity single-seater racing cars were not entirely so and on 23 August, the Intercontinental F3000 Championship was run, as the early years of the championship, the cars were all Cosworth-powered Lolas, Marches and Ralts. The race was over 45 laps, making a distance of , which Julian Bailey won at in a Lola T87/50. In second place was Maurício Gugelmin, followed by Roberto Moreno, both Ralt RT21-mounted, with Stefano Modena and Yannick Dalmas.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The big sports cars returned again on 24 July 1988. The 'big cats' were victorious again, this time using Jaguar XJR-9s, driven by Martin Brundle, John Nielsen and Andy Wallace. They were the only car to complete the full race distance, averaging . in second place was the Joest Racing Porsche 962C of Bob Wollek and Klaus Ludwig, with third going to Mauro Baldi and Jean-Louis Schlesser in their Sauber-Mercedes C9 .


title: Brands Hatch

text: A little under a month later, the F3000 brigade arrived. Practice was marred by a series of worrying accidents, but Johnny Herbert took pole position with his teammate Martin Donnelly alongside in the Eddie Jordan Racing Reynard 88Ds. In the race, they were in a class of their own with Herbert taking a huge lead as the race was stopped following an accident at Paddock Bend. At the restart Donnelly moved into the lead from Pierluigi Martini, but Gregor Foitek and Herbert touched, resulting in a bad accident and a second stoppage. Herbert was seriously injured, suffering major leg fractures. At the third start, Donnelly went away to score a debut win in the Formula, at , from Martini in a March 88B and Mark Blundell in a Lola T88/50.


title: Brands Hatch

text: On 23 July 1989, the WSPC contenders arrived in Kent, for the "Brands Hatch Trophy". Following changes to championship rules, the race distance was down to 115 laps of the Grand Prix Circuit, making a race distance of , which was won by the Sauber-Mercedes C9 of Mauro Baldi and Kenny Acheson, at an average speed of . into second place came a Porsche 962C contested by Bob Wollek and Frank Jelinski, from the second Sauber of Jean-Louis Schlesser and Jochen Mass. The British cars were placed fourth and fifth, the Aston Martin AMR1 of David Leslie and Brian Redman beating the Jaguar XJR-11 of Jan Lammers and Patrick Tambay.


title: Brands Hatch

text: A month later, on 20 August, the International F3000 Championship was held over 48 laps of the Grand Prix Circuit, which Martin Donnelly won the second successive year in a Reynard 89D at . Second was teammate Jean Alesi, followed by Érik Comas in a Lola T89/50.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Exactly a year later on 19 August 1990, the F3000 cars were back to contest the eight round of the Championship. Allan McNish won the race at in a Lola T90/50 with a Mugen engine, followed by Damon Hill in an identical car, with a Cosworth power plant. The final step of the podium was taken by Marco Apicella. The Sports Prototypes did not return to Kent in 1990, going to Donington Park instead.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The 1991 International F3000 Championship returned on 18 August for another race around the Grand Prix Circuit. Reynard 91Ds filled the first three places, first home being Emanuele Naspetti at , driving with Cosworth-power, from Alex Zanardi in a similar car. Third went to Christian Fittipaldi in the Pacific Racing Mugen entered Reynard.


title: Brands Hatch

text: International motor racing returned for the 1996 BPR 4 Hours of Brands Hatch, when a round of the BPR Global GT Series for GT1 and GT2 sports cars was staged there on 8 September. The Porsche 911 GT1 of Hans-Joachim Stuck and Thierry Boutsen led home three McLaren F1 GTRs driven by Andy Wallace/Olivier Grouillard, Pierre-Henri Raphanel/Lindsay Owen-Jones and John Nielsen/Thomas Bscher.


title: Brands Hatch

text: In October 1999, Octagon commenced negotiations for the purchase of Brands Hatch Leisure Group: in December agreement was reached, control of Brands Hatch, Cadwell Park, Oulton Park and Snetterton passing to the new owners. Octagon obtained the right from the FIA to run the British Grand Prix from 2002 and announced the intention of rebuilding the Grand Prix Circuit, whilst at the same time negotiating with the British Racing Drivers Club to run the Grand Prix at Silverstone. An agreement was reached which ensured that the Grand Prix will be run at Silverstone for 15 years. This in turn means, that the gloriously challenging Grand Prix Circuit at Brands Hatch will not be altered greatly.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The circuit currently has a curfew of 18:30 due to a housing estate built near to Clearways bend. Race engines cannot be started until after 08:30 and must be turned off by 18:30. Despite this, Brands Hatch holds race meetings on almost every weekend during the motorsport season, ranging from small club series to major international races attracting up to 50,000 spectators.


title: Brands Hatch

text: After Octagon failed to obtain the necessary planning permission and subsequent leasing of the British Grand Prix to Silverstone, this left Brands Hatch without any top-line single-seater racing. However, high-profile single-seater did return in 2003, when the "London Champ Car Trophy", a round of the CART Series was held at the circuit. Despite attracting around 40,000 spectators to see Sébastien Bourdais (Newman/Haas Racing Lola) win, the race was not retained for subsequent seasons.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Over the winter of 2002/03, the Dingle Dell chicane was reprofiled and removed. The motorcycle racing governing body (FIM) requested the change ahead of the World Superbike Championship visit in August, but it also allowed the installation of extra gravel traps should the CART be switched from the Indy Circuit to the Grand Prix configuration. Shortly after completion, Barry Sheene died, so the new complex was renamed the Sheene Curve.


title: Brands Hatch

text: One of the biggest developments in the circuit's history occurred in January 2004, when Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision company completed the purchase of Brands Hatch and the other Octagon venues (Cadwell Park, Oulton Park, and Snetterton). Palmer immediately implemented a programme of improvements to the venue, designed to heighten customer experiences both for spectators and competitors.


title: Brands Hatch

text: 25 September 2005, the inaugural A1 Grand Prix of Nations was held at Brands Hatch. A1 Grand Prix was a single-seater one-make series where the drivers represented their nation, as opposed themselves or a team. The first race, an 18-lap Sprint saw Nelson Piquet Jr. lead flag-to-flag to win for A1 Team Brazil, ahead of Alexandre Premat (France) and Matt Halliday (New Zealand). The 35-lap Main race also went to Piquet Jr. with Australia's Will Power second, and Mexico's Salvador Durán third.


title: Brands Hatch

text: On a rainy and cold 21 May 2006, SEAT and Chevrolet shared the honours on the first visit of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC)'s to Brands Hatch. Despite the weather, a good crowd came to the circuit to witness two races that were both run on soaked asphalt. SEAT Sport secured a 1–2–3 finish with Yvan Muller taking the flag ahead of teammates Peter Terting and James Thompson. Alain Menu was welcomed back to the pits as a hero by the RML garage at the end of Race 2 as he achieved the team's first WTCC victory. SEAT's Rickard Rydell finished second on the podium with fellow SEAT driver, Thompson obtaining another third place of the day.


title: Brands Hatch

text: 2006, also saw the first visit of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) on 2 July. In the warm English sunshine, 21,500 fans witnessed Tom Kristensen, who seemed to be a sure winner in his Audi A4, but he had 16 of the 85 laps to go, when his car shot off with problems. The winner was the Swede, Mattias Ekström. Second and third were Jamie Green and Bernd Schneider.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The A1 Grand Prix cars returned on 29 April 2007, for the finale of their 2006/07 season. This time Great Britain was victorious in the Sprint with Robbie Kerr driving, with Nico Hülkenberg (Germany) and Enrico Toccacelo (Italy) third. Hülkenberg reversed the result in the Main to win from Kerr with Toccacelo again in third.


title: Brands Hatch

text: A perfect pit stop strategy, great overtaking manoeuvres and a vast experience enabled Bernd Schneider (AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse) to take the DTM victory when the series visited in 2007. Only 0.543 seconds behind was Martin Tomczyk, with third going to Mattias Ekström, both driving Audi Team Abt Sportsline entered A4s.


title: Brands Hatch

text: 23 September 2007, saw Alain Menu claim victory in Race 1, after not putting a wheel wrong all race. The Chevrolet driver came under pressure from N.Technology's James Thompson on numerous occasion but the Alfa Romeo never got close enough to overtake, Third across the line was Colin Turkington's BMW. Race 2 saw Andy Priaulx take his first ever win at the wheel of a touring car at Brands. The man from Guernsey lead home Félix Porteiro (BMW) and Robert Huff (Chevrolet).


title: Brands Hatch

text: Brands Hatch held the finale again on 4 May 2008. Like the previous season, Robbie Kerr won the Sprint race the American, Jonathan Summerton and Ireland's Adam Carroll taking the next two steps on the podium. The Main race went to way of Team India's Narain Karthikeyan from Kerr in second and Neel Jani (Switzerland) third.


title: Brands Hatch

text: WTCC witnessed BMW and Chevrolet share the glory when they returned to Kent for the WTCC Race of UK, 27 July 2008. Jörg Müller of BMW Team Germany and Alain Menu for Chevrolet claimed a win each. The German inherited his win when Robert Huff (Chevrolet) went off while leading. As for Menu, this was his third WTCC win at Brands in three years, closely followed home by Félix Porteiro and Alex Zanardi in third.


title: Brands Hatch

text: 31 August 2008 saw unstable weather conditions, and Timo Scheider (Audi Team Abt Sportline) defended an extremely narrow lead against the Mercedes driver, Paul di Resta. In front of a weekend crowd of 26,800, Mattias Ekström recovered with a drive to finish third.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Brands Hatch has held sixteen Superbike World Championship, since 1993, when Giancarlo Falappa's double victory in the pouring rain, including two rounds in 2000. Brands has featured in many of the pivotal moments in the championship's history, including Carl Fogarty's double victory in 1995, and more recently James Toseland's double in 2007, not forgetting Shane 'Shakey' Bryne's double as a "wildcard" entrant back in 2003. The last visit in 2008 saw Ryuichi Kiyonari take his first two World Superbike wins of his career, although this was overshadowed by the death of Craig Jones in a supporting World Supersports race. Unfortunately, the circuit owners, MotorSport Vision and the championship organisers FG Sport decided not to return to Brands Hatch in 2009, over a dispute about an increased sanctioning fee.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Back in 1999, the event was dominated by Fogarty's fan, his following was enormous. He would attract a record crowd of 100,000 spectators to Brands (unofficially, the figure was nearer 120,000). The grandstands were red with Ducati jackets and shirts. The flags were covered with the menacing image of the "Foggy Eyes" and Union Jacks. Despite all this support the American, Colin Edwards (Honda) taking the double.


title: Brands Hatch

text: 2009 saw the last A1 Grand Prix, and this was held at Brands Hatch, following the cancellation of the final round in Mexico. Adam Carroll won both races for A1 Team Ireland. The Sprint podium was completed by Team India's Narain Karthikeyan and Mexico's Salvador Durán, with Holland's Jeroen Bleekemolen and Swiss driver Neel Jani doing the same in the Main race.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Once again Alain Menu proved to be one of the men to beat when the WTCC revisited Brands in 2009; the Swiss overtook his teammate Robert Huff in the early stages of Race 1 and added another victory to his impressive tally on this track. Huff finished second from an aggressive Andy Priaulx (BMW). Augusto Farfus (BMW) turned pole into victory in Race 2, with teammate Jörg Müller following him home in second. Gabriele Tarquini (SEAT) won a tough fight for third with Priaulx and Rickard Rydell (SEAT).


title: Brands Hatch

text: DTM returned to Kent for their annual visit on 6 September 2009. Paul di Resta delivered a timely victory for HWA Team and Mercedes-Benz, after he made a good start from pole position, as he fended off the first corner challenge of Timp Scheider's Audi, to claim Mercedes' 150th DTM win.


title: Brands Hatch

text: On 18 July 2010, Yvan Muller and Robert Huff gave RML's Chevrolet a 1–2 finished the WTCC Race 1 of UK, ahead of Independent runner, Colin Turkington's Team RAC BMW who drove a great race to take the final podium position from Alain Menu on the penultimate lap. BMW Team RBM's Andy Priaulx converted pole position into a Race 2 win on home turf. Turkington went one better in race two to bring his BMW 320i across the line in second to complete a great result for British drivers. Gabriele Tarquini secured the final podium spot for SR-Sport and SEAT.


title: Brands Hatch

text: With an impressive display, Paul di Resta takes another DTM in 2010. After 98 laps, he crossed the finish line with his AMG-Mercedes C-Klasse, 7.4 seconds ahead of his teammate Bruno Spengler, thus repeated last year's victory. Double champion, Timo Scheider (Audi) completed the podium.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Martin Tomczyk headed an Audi 1–2–3 in a wet race at Brands Hatch, on 4 September 2011. Mattias Ekström secured second, just two seconds behind and closing. Edoardo Mortara was third, just two seconds ahead of top Mercedes driver, Gary Paffett in fourth.


title: Brands Hatch

text: On 20 May 2012, Gary Paffett (Mercedes-Benz AMG C-Coupé) won his home DTM race, from pole position. His margin of victory over Bruno Spengler BMW M3 DTM was five seconds. Mike Rockenfeller completed the top three in the Team Phoenix Audi A5 DTM, making it three different manufacturers on the podium. This was Mercedes' fourth win out of seven races at Brands Hatch.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The DTM competitors returned to Brands, May 2013, where Mike Rockenfeller dominated with a lights-to-flag win, in his Audi RS5. The reigning champion, Bruno Spengler was second for BMW with his fellow Canadian, Robert Wickens taking third for Mercedes-Benz. However the DTM cars did not return in 2014, as the series expanded into Eastern Europe and China. DTM chief, Hans Werner Aufrecht said that "while Brands and Zandvoort had been good venues for the championship, Hungary and China were stronger markets". Meanwhile, Jonathan Palmer, head of Brands owner MotorSport Vision, said the decision to part with the DTM was a mutual one. "We have enjoyed hosting DTM at Brands Hatch for eight years but we have agreed with ITR that it's time for the event to move on. We witnessed great races at these circuits and have to say thank you for the good cooperation," he said.


title: Brands Hatch

text: After a four-year hiatus, it was confirmed that DTM would return to Brands Hatch in August 2018, this time competing on the full Grand Prix layout.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The British Superbike season finale has also been regularly hosted at the circuit, with the 2011 deciding round proving particularly dramatic, as Tommy Hill and John Hopkins frequently overtook each other on the final lap, with Hill emerging as the champion by 0.006 of a second. Brands Hatch typically hosts three rounds of the series, including two events on the Grand Prix circuit.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The opening and closing rounds of the British Touring Car Championship are also held at Brands Hatch, with the champions typically crowned at the circuit in October.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Brands Hatch had hosted Britcar's 'Into the Night' race from 2008 to 2011. After a four-year hiatus, it hosted the final round of the 2016 season in the night again and this event continues annually.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Truck racing has also developed into a large family-friendly event, with the series final event of the year concluded with a large fireworks display which attracts huge crowds.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The circuit also hosts a major events on the historic racing calendar on May Bank Holiday: the Masters Historic Festival.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Despite the curfew, the early evenings during the autumn months allow some racing to take place in darkness and the Britcar 'into the night' race has been a regular on the calendar, with the Lotus 1000 km reviving a tradition that started in the 1960s with the BOAC sportscar races.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The circuit has also launched a number of innovative themed festivals celebrating motorsport of different cultures, including the American SpeedFest, Festival Italia and Deutsche Fest. The American SpeedFest, launched in 2013, features the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series has become one of the venue's biggest events of the year. These festivals feature large off track entertainment areas, running concurrently with the on track racing.


title: Brands Hatch

text: In the early 1980s, Rallycross was beginning to attract more sponsorship and enjoy a higher quality of competition, frequently broadcast on BBC Grandstand. The Rallycross Grand Prix ran at Brands Hatch between 1982 and 1994 and was an open competition for anyone who owned a Rallycross car. This led to an appealing race with eclectic mix of cars and drivers, most notably Denis Marcel's in a Matra Murena, Stig Blomqvist in his own Audi Quattro, and Cor Euser in a MG Metro 6R4. Also, the location of the circuit and the marketing effort of the organizers contributed to its success. In a popular move, Group B rally cars were permitted from 1987 until 1992.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Recent versions at Lydden Hill and Croft have not recaptured the magic of the original Grand Prix, which remain some of the sport's best ever.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Aside from circuit racing, Single Stage Rally uses the tarmac and other inner sections of the circuit like the pits and other roads at the venue. The annual Modified Live and Race Car Live events also follow an exhibition format.


title: Brands Hatch

text: During the week the circuit offers some general test days and driving experiences, and can also be hired out for private testing and track days.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Since 2015, Brands Hatch hosts the Revolve24 Circuit Challenge, an ultra-distance cycling event featuring 24-hour, 12-hour and 6-hour races for soloists and relay teams up to 8 riders.


title: Brands Hatch

text: In September 2012, Brands Hatch was the base for the Road Cycling events of the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Riders raced around a course that starts and finishes at Brands Hatch and encompasses both the circuit and local roads surrounding it.


title: Brands Hatch

text: Notably, the men's H4 time trial and road race were won by Italy's Alex Zanardi, a racing driver who had extensive experience as a driver at the track. Zanardi first drove at Brands Hatch in 1991 in the Formula 3000 series, and had last driven at the track in the World Touring Car Championship in 2009 – eight years after losing both legs in a near-fatal 2001 racing accident during a CART FedEx Championship Series race in Germany.


title: Brands Hatch

text: The unofficial all-time track record set during a race weekend on the Grand Prix Circuit configuration is 1:06.961, set by Nelson Piquet in a Williams FW11, during qualifying for the second (final) qualifying for the 1986 British Grand Prix. The outright lap record for the Grand Prix configuration is 1:09.593, set by Nigel Mansell in his Williams-Honda at the circuit's last Formula One Grand Prix in July 1986, although changes to the circuit over winter of 2002 for the 2003 season means that the lap record in its current configuration was set by Adam Carroll for Team Ireland in the 2008-2009 A1GP season with a lap time of 01:12.276. The record on the shorter Indy Circuit layout is 38.032 seconds, set by Scott Mansell with a Benetton-Renault during the 2004 EuroBOSS season.


title: Brands Hatch

text: On two wheels the outright lap record for the Grand Prix configuration is 1:24.838, set by Shane Byrne, riding a Ducati in the August 2016 round of the British Superbike Championship. James Ellison holds the two wheel lap record on the Indy Circuit at 44.728 seconds. He set this on his Yamaha at the April round of the 2017 British Superbike Championship.


title: Brands Hatch

text: In DTM, Gary Paffett set a time on the Indy Circuit of 42.124 in a Mercedes, with Frederic Gabillon setting a laptime in the 2013 NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season of 48.340 in his Chevrolet, and Andrew Jordan setting a time of 48.718 in the Honda Civic BTCC. At the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, Great Britain, Adam Carroll achieved 1:12.276 on the full Grand Prix Circuit. At the 2010 Brands Hatch Superleague Formula round, Craig Dolby set a time of 1:13.460. In GT3, Dan Brown drove a lap of 1:27.206 in a BMW Z4. In the 2010 FIA WTCC Race of UK, Andy Priaulx drove his BMW 320si for a time of 1:34.078. After DTM switched to the GP layout for the DTM in 2018, Philipp Eng set the fastest DTM lap of 1:17.862 in 2019.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, usually while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Competitors possess many of the same characteristics as gymnasts and dancers, including strength, flexibility, kinaesthetic judgment and air awareness. Some professional divers were originally gymnasts or dancers as both the sports have similar characteristics to diving. Dmitri Sautin holds the record for most Olympic diving medals won, by winning eight medals in total between 1992 and 2008.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Although diving has been a popular pastime across the world since ancient times, the first modern diving competitions were held in England in the 1880s. The exact origins of the sport are unclear, though it likely derives from the act of diving at the start of swimming races. The 1904 book "Swimming" by Ralph Thomas notes English reports of plunging records dating back to at least 1865. The 1877 edition to "British Rural Sports" by John Henry Walsh makes note of a "Mr. Young" plunging in 1870, and also states that 25 years prior, a swimmer named Drake could cover .


title: Diving (sport)

text: The English Amateur Swimming Association (at the time called the Swimming Association of Great Britain) first started a "plunging championship" in 1883. The Plunging Championship was discontinued in 1937.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Diving into a body of water had also been a method used by gymnasts in Germany and Sweden since the early 19th century. The soft landing allowed for more elaborate gymnastic feats in midair as the jump could be made from a greater height. This tradition evolved into 'fancy diving', while diving as a preliminary to swimming became known as 'Plain diving'.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In England, the practice of high diving – diving from a great height – gained popularity; the first diving stages were erected at the Highgate Ponds at a height of in 1893 and the first world championship event, the National Graceful Diving Competition, was held there by the Royal Life Saving Society in 1895. The event consisted of standing and running dives from either .


title: Diving (sport)

text: It was at this event that the Swedish tradition of fancy diving was introduced to the sport by the athletes Otto Hagborg and C F Mauritzi. They demonstrated their acrobatic techniques from the 10 m diving board at Highgate Pond and stimulated the establishment of the Amateur Diving Association in 1901, the first organization devoted to diving in the world (later amalgamated with the Amateur Swimming Association). Fancy diving was formally introduced into the championship in 1903.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Plain diving was first introduced into the Olympics at the 1904 event. The 1908 Olympics in London added 'fancy diving' and introduced elastic boards rather than fixed platforms. Women were first allowed to participate in the diving events for the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In the 1928 Olympics, 'plain' and 'fancy' diving were amalgamated into one event – 'Highboard Diving'. The diving event was first held indoors in the Empire Pool for the 1934 British Empire Games and 1948 Summer Olympics in London.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Most diving competitions consist of three disciplines: 1 m and 3 m springboards, and the platform. Competitive athletes are divided by gender, and often by age group. In platform events, competitors are allowed to perform their dives on either the five, seven and a half (generally just called seven), nine, or ten meter towers. In major diving meets, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships, platform diving is from the 10 meter height.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Divers have to perform a set number of dives according to established requirements, including somersaults and twists. Divers are judged on whether and how well they completed all aspects of the dive, the conformance of their body to the requirements of the dive, and the amount of splash created by their entry to the water. A possible score out of ten is broken down into three points for the takeoff (meaning the hurdle), three for the flight (the actual dive), and three for the entry (how the diver hits the water), with one more available to give the judges flexibility.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The raw score is multiplied by a degree of difficulty factor, derived from the number and combination of movements attempted. The diver with the highest total score after a sequence of dives is declared the winner.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Synchronized diving was adopted as an Olympic sport in 2000. Two divers form a team and perform dives simultaneously. The dives are identical. It used to be possible to dive opposites, also known as a pinwheel, but this is no longer part of competitive synchronized diving. For example, one diver would perform a forward dive and the other an inward dive in the same position, or one would do a reverse and the other a back movement. In these events, the diving would be judged both on the quality of execution and the synchronicity – in timing of take-off and entry, height and forward travel.


title: Diving (sport)

text: There are rules governing the scoring of a dive. Usually a score considers three elements of the dive: the approach, the flight, and the entry. The primary factors affecting the scoring are:


title: Diving (sport)

text: Each dive is assigned a "degree of difficulty" (DD), which is determined from a combination of the moves undertaken, position used, and height. The DD value is multiplied by the scores given by the judges.


title: Diving (sport)

text: To reduce the subjectivity of scoring in major meets, panels of five or seven judges are assembled; major international events such as the Olympics use seven-judge panels. For a five-judge panel, the highest and lowest scores are discarded and the middle three are summed and multiplied by the DD. For seven-judge panels, as of the 2012 London Olympics, the two highest scores and two lowest are discarded, leaving three to be summed and multiplied by the DD. (Prior to the London Olympics, the highest and lowest scores were eliminated, and the remaining five scores were multiplied by , to allow for comparison to five-judge panels.) The canceling of scores is used to make it difficult for a single judge to manipulate scores.


title: Diving (sport)

text: There is a general misconception about scoring and judging. In serious meets, the absolute score is somewhat meaningless. It is the relative score, not the absolute score that wins meets. Accordingly, good judging implies consistent scoring across the dives. Specifically, if a judge consistently gives low scores for all divers, or consistently gives high scores for the same divers, the judging will yield fair relative results and will cause divers to place in the correct order. However, absolute scores have significance to the individual divers. Besides the obvious instances of setting records, absolute scores are also used for rankings and qualifications for higher level meets.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In synchronised diving events, there is a panel of seven, nine, or eleven judges; two or three to mark the execution of one diver, two or three to mark the execution of the other, and the remaining three or five to judge the synchronisation. The execution judges are positioned two on each side of the pool, and they score the diver which is nearer to them. The 2012 London Olympics saw the first use of eleven judges.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The score is computed similarly to the scores from other diving events, but has been modified starting with the 2012 London Olympics for the use of the larger judging panels. Each group of judges will have the highest and lowest scores dropped, leaving the middle score for each diver's execution and the three middle scores for synchronization. The total is then weighted by and multiplied by the DD. The result is that the emphasis is on the synchronization of the divers.


title: Diving (sport)

text: To win dive meets, divers create a dive list in advance of the meet. To win the meet the diver must accumulate more points than other divers. Often, simple dives with low DDs will look good to spectators but will not win meets. The competitive diver will attempt the highest DD dives possible with which they can achieve consistent, high scores. If divers are scoring 8 or 9 on most dives, it may be a sign of their extreme skill, or it may be a sign that their dive list is not competitive, and they may lose the meet to a diver with higher DDs and lower scores.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In competition, divers must submit their lists beforehand, and once past a deadline (usually when the event is announced or shortly before it begins) they cannot change their dives. If they fail to perform the dive announced, even if they physically cannot execute the dive announced or if they perform a more difficult dive, they will receive a score of zero. Under exceptional circumstances, a redive may be granted, but these are exceedingly rare (usually for very young divers just learning how to compete, or if some event outside the diver's control has caused them to be unable to perform-such as a loud noise).


title: Diving (sport)

text: In the Olympics or other highly competitive meets, many divers will have nearly the same list of dives as their competitors. The importance for divers competing at this level is not so much the DD, but how they arrange their list. Once the more difficult rounds of dives begin it is important to lead off with a confident dive to build momentum. They also tend to put a very confident dive in front of a very difficult dive to ensure that they will have a good mentality for the difficult dive. Most divers have pre-dive and post-dive rituals that help them either maintain or regain focus. Coaches also play a role in this aspect of the sport. Many divers rely on their coaches to help keep their composure during the meet. In a large meet coaches are rarely allowed on the deck to talk to their athlete so it is common to see coaches using hand gestures or body movements to communicate.


title: Diving (sport)

text: There are some American meets which will allow changes of the position of the dive even after the dive has been announced immediately before execution, but these are an exception to the rules generally observed internationally.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Generally, NCAA rules allow for dives to be changed while the diver is on the board, but the diver must request the change directly after the dive is announced. This applies especially in cases where the wrong dive is announced. If the diver pauses during his or her hurdle to ask for a change of dive, it will be declared a balk (when the diver stops mid-hurdle) and the change of dive will not be permitted.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Under FINA law, no dive may be changed after the deadline for the dive-sheet to be submitted (generally a period ranging from one hour to 24 hours, depending on the rulings made by the event organiser).


title: Diving (sport)

text: It is the diver's responsibility to ensure that the dive-sheet is filled in correctly, and also to correct the referee or announcer before the dive if they describe it incorrectly. If a dive is performed which is as submitted but not as (incorrectly) announced, it is declared failed and scores zero according to a strict reading of the FINA law. But in practice, a re-dive would usually be granted in these circumstances.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The global governing body of diving is FINA, which also governs swimming, synchronised swimming, water polo and open water swimming. Almost invariably, at national level, diving shares a governing body with the other aquatic sports.


title: Diving (sport)

text: This is frequently a source of political friction as the committees are naturally dominated by swimming officials who do not necessarily share or understand the concerns of the diving community. Divers often feel, for example, that they do not get adequate support over issues like the provision of facilities. Other areas of concern are the selection of personnel for the specialised Diving committees and for coaching and officiating at events, and the team selection for international competitions.


title: Diving (sport)

text: There are sometimes attempts to separate the governing body as a means to resolve these frustrations, but they are rarely successful. For example, in the UK the Great Britain Diving Federation was formed in 1992 with the intention of taking over the governance of Diving from the ASA (Amateur Swimming Association). Although it initially received widespread support from the diving community, the FINA requirement that international competitors had to be registered with their National Governing Body was a major factor in the abandonment of this ambition a few years later.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Since FINA refused to rescind recognition of the ASA as the British governing body for all aquatic sports including diving, this meant that the elite divers had to belong to ASA-affiliated clubs to be eligible for selection to international competition.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In the United States scholastic diving is almost always part of the school's swim team. Diving is a separate sport in Olympic and Club Diving. The NCAA will separate diving from swimming in special diving competitions after the swim season is completed.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Despite the apparent risk, the statistical incidence of injury in supervised training and competition is extremely low.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The majority of accidents that are classified as 'diving-related' are incidents caused by individuals jumping from structures such as bridges or piers into water of inadequate depth. Many accidents also occur when divers do not account for rocks and logs in the water. Because of this many beaches and pools prohibit diving in shallow waters or when a lifeguard is not on duty.


title: Diving (sport)

text: After an incident in Washington in 1993, most US and other pool builders are reluctant to equip a residential swimming pool with a diving springboard so home diving pools are much less common these days. In the incident, 14-year-old Shawn Meneely made a "suicide dive" (holding his hands at his sides, so that his head hit the bottom first) in a private swimming pool and became a tetraplegic. The lawyers for the family, Jan Eric Peterson and Fred Zeder, successfully sued the diving board manufacturer, the pool builder, and the National Spa and Pool Institute over the inappropriate depth of the pool.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The NSPI had specified a minimum depth of 7 ft 6 in (2.29 m) which proved to be insufficient in the above case. The pool into which Meneely dived was not constructed to the published standards. The standards had changed after the diving board was installed on the non-compliant pool by the homeowner. But the courts held that the pool "was close enough" to the standards to hold NSPI liable. The multimillion-dollar lawsuit was eventually resolved in 2001 for US$6.6 million ($8 million after interest was added) in favor of the plaintiff. The NSPI was held to be liable, and was financially strained by the case. It filed twice for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and was successfully reorganized into a new swimming pool industry association.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In competitive diving, FINA takes regulatory steps to ensure that athletes are protected from the inherent dangers of the sport. For example, they impose restrictions according to age on the heights of platforms which divers may compete on.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Group D divers have only recently been allowed to compete on the tower. In the past, the age group could compete only springboard, to discourage children from taking on the greater risks of tower diving. Group D tower was introduced to counteract the phenomenon of coaches pushing young divers to compete in higher age categories, thus putting them at even greater risk.


title: Diving (sport)

text: However, some divers may safely dive in higher age categories to dive on higher platforms. Usually this occurs when advanced Group C divers wish to compete on the 10 m.


title: Diving (sport)

text: There are six "groups" into which dives are classified: "Forward, Back, Inward, Reverse, Twist," and "Armstand". The armstand group applies only to Platform competitions, whereas the other five groups apply to both Springboard and Platform.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Additionally, some dives can be started in a flying position. The body is kept straight with the arms extended to the side, and the regular dive position is assumed at about half the dive.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Difficulty is rated according to the Degree of Difficulty of the dives. Some divers may find pike easier in a flip than tuck, and most find straight the easiest in a front/back dive, although it is still rated the most difficult because of the risk of overrotation.


title: Diving (sport)

text: An armstand dive may have a higher degree of difficulty outdoors compared to indoors as wind can destabilize the equilibrium of the diver.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In competition, the dives are referred to by a schematic system of three- or four-digit numbers. The letter to indicate the position is appended to the end of the number.


title: Diving (sport)

text: For groups 1 to 4, the number consists of three digits and a letter of the alphabet. The third digit represents the number of half-somersaults. The second digit is either 0 or 1, with 0 representing a normal somersault, and 1 signifying a "flying" variation of the basic movement (i.e. the first half somersault is performed in the straight position, and then the pike or tuck shape is assumed). No flying dive has been competed at a high level competition for many years.


title: Diving (sport)

text: For Group 5, the dive number has 4 digits. The first digit indicates that it is a twisting dive. The second digit indicates the group (1–4) of the underlying movement; the third digit indicates the number of half-somersaults, and the fourth indicates the number of half-twists.


title: Diving (sport)

text: For Group 6 – Armstand – the dive number has either three or four digits: Three digits for dives without twist and four for dives with twists.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In non-twisting armstand dives, the second digit indicates the direction of rotation (0 = no rotation, 1 = forward, 2 = backward, 3 = reverse, 4 = inward) and the third digit indicates the number of half-somersaults. Inward-rotating armstand dives have never been performed, and are generally regarded as physically impossible.


title: Diving (sport)

text: For twisting Armstand dives, the dive number again has 4 digits, but rather than beginning with the number 5, the number 6 remains as the first digit, indicating that the "twister" will be performed from an Armstand. The second digit indicates the direction of rotation – as above, the third is the number of half-somersaults, and the fourth is the number of half-twists:


title: Diving (sport)

text: All of these dives come with DD (degree of difficulty) this is an indication of how difficult/complex a dive is. The score that the dive receives is multiplied by the DD (also known as tariff) to give the dive a final score. Before a diver competes they must decide on a "list" this is a number of optional dives and compulsory dives. The optionals come with a DD limit. this means that a diver must select X number of dives and the combined DD limit must be no more than the limit set by the competition/organisation etc.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Until the mid-1990s the tariff was decided by the FINA diving committee, and divers could only select from the range of dives in the published tariff table. Since then, the tariff is calculated by a formula based on various factors such as the number of twist and somersaults, the height, the group etc., and divers are free to submit new combinations. This change was implemented because new dives were being invented too frequently for an annual meeting to accommodate the progress of the sport.


title: Diving (sport)

text: At the moment of take-off, two critical aspects of the dive are determined, and cannot subsequently be altered during the execution. One is the trajectory of the dive, and the other is the magnitude of the angular momentum.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The speed of rotation – and therefore the total amount of rotation – may be varied from moment to moment by changing the shape of the body, in accordance with the law of conservation of angular momentum.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The center of mass of the diver follows a parabolic path in free-fall under the influence of gravity (ignoring the effects of air resistance, which are negligible at the speeds involved).


title: Diving (sport)

text: Since the parabola is symmetrical, the travel away from the board as the diver passes it is twice the amount of the forward travel at the peak of the flight. Excessive forward distance to the entry point is penalized when scoring a dive, but obviously an adequate clearance from the diving board is essential on safety grounds.


title: Diving (sport)

text: and the moment of inertia is larger when the body has an increased radius, the speed of rotation may be increased by moving the body into a compact shape, and reduced by opening out into a straight position.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Since the tucked shape is the most compact, it gives the most control over rotational speed, and dives in this position are easier to perform. Dives in the straight position are hardest, since there is almost no scope for altering the speed, so the angular momentum must be created at take-off with a very high degree of accuracy. (A small amount of control is available by moving the position of the arms and by a slight hollowing of the back).


title: Diving (sport)

text: The opening of the body for the entry does not stop the rotation, but merely slows it down. The vertical entry achieved by expert divers is largely an illusion created by starting the entry slightly short of vertical, so that the legs are vertical as they disappear beneath the surface. A small amount of additional tuning is available by 'entry save' techniques, whereby underwater movements of the upper body and arms against the viscosity of the water affect the position of the legs.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Dives with multiple twists and somersaults are some of the most spectacular movements, as well as the most challenging to perform.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The rules state that twisting "must not be generated manifestly on take-off". Consequently, divers must use some of the somersaulting angular momentum to generate twisting movements. The physics of twisting can be explained by looking at the components of the angular momentum vector.


title: Diving (sport)

text: As the diver leaves the board, the total angular momentum vector is horizontal, pointing directly to the left for a forward dive for example. For twisting rotation to exist, it is necessary to tilt the body sideways after takeoff, so that there is now a small component of this horizontal angular momentum vector along the body's long axis. The tilt can be seen in the photo.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The tilting is done by the arms, which are outstretched to the sides just before the twist. When one arm is moved up and the other is moved down (like turning a big steering wheel), the body reacts by tilting to the side, which then begins the twisting rotation. At the completion of the required number of twist rotations, the arm motion is reversed (the steering wheel is turned back), which removes the body's tilt and stops the twisting rotation.


title: Diving (sport)

text: An alternative explanation is that the moving arms have precession torque on them which set the body into twisting rotation. Moving the arms back produces opposite torque which stops the twisting rotation.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The rules state that the body should be vertical, or nearly so, for entry. Strictly speaking, it is physically impossible to achieve a literally vertical position throughout the entry as there will inevitably still be some rotational momentum while the body is entering the water. Divers therefore attempt to create the illusion of being vertical, especially when performing rapidly rotating multiple somersault movements. For back entries, one technique is to allow the upper body to enter slightly short of vertical so that the continuing rotation leaves the final impression of the legs entering vertically. This is called "Pike save". Another is to use "knee save" movements of scooping the upper body underwater in the direction of rotation so as to counteract the rotation of the legs.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The arms must be beside the body for feet-first dives, which are typically competed only on the 1m springboard and only at fairly low levels of 3m springboard, and extended forwards in line for "head-first" dives, which are much more common competitively. It used to be common for the hands to be interlocked with the fingers extended towards the water, but a different technique has become favoured during the last few decades. Now the usual practice is for one hand to grasp the other with palms down to strike the water with a flat surface. This creates a vacuum between the hands, arms and head which, with a vertical entry, will pull down and under any splash until deep enough to have minimal effect on the surface of the water (the so-called "rip entry").


title: Diving (sport)

text: Once a diver is completely under the water they may choose to roll or scoop in the same direction their dive was rotating to pull their legs into a more vertical position. Apart from aesthetic considerations, it is important from a safety point of view that divers reinforce the habit of rolling in the direction of rotation, especially for forward and inward entries. Back injuries such as hyperextension are caused by attempting to re-surface in the opposite direction. Diving from the higher levels increases the danger and likelihood of such injuries.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In Canada, elite competitive diving is regulated by DPC (Diving Plongeon Canada), although the individual provinces also have organizational bodies. The main competitive season runs from February to July, although some competitions may be held in January or December, and many divers (particularly international level athletes) will train and compete year round.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Most provincial level competitions consist of events for six age groups (Groups A, B, C, D, E, and Open) for both genders on each of the three board levels. These age groups roughly correspond to those standardized by FINA, with the addition of a youngest age group for divers 9 and younger, Group E, which does not compete nationally and does not have a tower event (although divers of this age may choose to compete in Group D). The age group Open is so called because divers of any age, including those over 18, may compete in these events, so long as their dives meet a minimum standard of difficulty.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Although Canada is internationally a fairly strong country in diving, the vast majority of Canadian high schools and universities do not have diving teams, and many Canadian divers accept athletic scholarships from American colleges.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Adult divers who are not competitive at an elite level may compete in masters diving. Typically, masters are either adults who never practiced the sport as children or teenagers, or former elite athletes who have retired but still seek a way to be involved in the sport. Many diving clubs have masters teams in addition to their primary competitive ones, and while some masters dive only for fun and fitness, there are also masters competitions, which range from the local to world championship level.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Divers can qualify to compete at the age group national championships, or junior national championships, in their age groups as assigned by FINA up to the age of 18. This competition is held annually in July. Qualification is based on achieving minimum scores at earlier competitions in the season, although athletes who place very highly at a national championship will be automatically qualified to compete at the next. Divers must qualify at two different competitions, at least one of which must be a level 1 competition, i.e. a competition with fairly strict judging patterns. Such competitions include the Polar Bear Invitational in Winnipeg, the Sting in Victoria, and the Alberta Provincial Championships in Edmonton or Calgary. The qualifying scores are determined by DPC according to the results of the preceding year's national competition, and typically do not have much variation from year to year.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Divers older than 18, or advanced divers of younger ages, can qualify for the senior national championships, which are held twice each year, once roughly in March and once in June or July. Once again, qualification is based on achieving minimum scores at earlier competitions (in this case, within the 12 months preceding the national championships, and in an Open age group event), or high placements in previous national championships or international competitions. It is no longer the case that divers may use results from age group events to qualify for senior nationals, or results from Open events to qualify for age group nationals.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In the Republic of Ireland facilities are limited to one operational pool at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin. Other facilities with diving boards at the University of Limerick are undergoing staff training in an effort to start diving programmes.


title: Diving (sport)

text: National championships take place late in the year, usually during November. The competition is held at the National Aquatic Centre in Dublin and consists of four events:


title: Diving (sport)

text: In the United Kingdom, diving competitions on all boards run throughout the year. National Masters' Championships are held two or three times per year.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In the United States, summer diving is usually limited to one meter diving at community or country club pools. Some pools organize to form intra-pool competitions. These competitions are usually designed to accommodate all school-age children.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In the United States scholastic diving at the high school level is usually limited to one meter diving (but some schools use three meter springboards.). Scores from those one meter dives contribute to the swim team's overall score. High school diving and swimming concludes their season with a state competition. Depending on the state and the number of athletes competing in the state, certain qualifications must be achieved to compete in the state's championship meet. There are often regional championships and district championships which are necessary to compete in before reaching the state meet to narrow the field to only the most competitive athletes. Most state championship meets consist of eleven dives. The eleven dives are usually split up between two categories: five required (voluntary) dives and six optional dives.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In the United States, pre-college divers interested in learning one and three meter or platform diving should consider a club sanctioned by either USA Diving or AAU Diving. In USA Diving, Future Champions is the entry level or novice diver category with eight levels of competition. From Future Champions, divers graduate to "Junior Olympic", or JO. JO divers compete in age groups at inter-club competitions, at invitationals, and if qualified, at regional, zone and national competitions. Divers over the age of 19 years of age cannot compete in these events as a JO diver.


title: Diving (sport)

text: USA Diving sanctions the Winter Nationals championship with one, three meter, and platform events. In the summer USA Diving sanctions the Summer Nationals including all three events with both Junior and Senior divers. USA Diving is sanctioned by the United States Olympic Committee to select team representatives for international diving competitions including the World Championships and Olympic Games.


title: Diving (sport)

text: AAU Diving sanctions one national event per year in the summer. AAU competes on the one, three, and tower to determine the All-American team.


title: Diving (sport)

text: In the United States scholastic diving at the college level requires one and three meter diving. Scores from the one and three meter competition contribute to the swim team's overall meet score. College divers interested in tower diving may compete in the NCAA separate from swim team events. NCAA Divisions II and III do not usually compete platform; if a diver wishes to compete platform in college, he or she must attend a Division I school.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Each division also has rules on the number of dives in each competition. Division II schools compete with 10 dives in competition whereas Division III schools compete with 11. Division I schools only compete with 6 dives in competition. These 6 dives consist of either 5 optionals and 1 voluntary, or 6 optionals. If the meet is a 5 optional meet, then the divers will perform 1 optional from each category (Front, Back, Inward, Reverse, and Twister) and then 1 voluntary from the category of their choice. The voluntary in this type of meet is always worth a DD (Degree of Difficulty) of 2.0 even if the real DD is worth more or less on a DD sheet. In a 6 optional meet, the divers will yet again perform one dive from each category, but this time they will perform a 6th optional from the category of their choosing, which is worth its actual DD from the DD sheet.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The highest level of collegiate competition is the NCAA Division 1 Swimming and Diving Championship. Events at the championship include 1 meter springboard, 3 meter springboard, and platform, as well as various swimming individual and relay events. The points scored by swimmers and divers are combined to determine a team swimming & diving champion. To qualify for a diving event at the NCAA championships, a competitor must first finish in the top three at one of five zone championships, which are held after the various conference championship meets. A diver who scores at least 310 points on the 3 meter springboard and 300 points on the 1 meter springboard in a 6 optional meet can participate in the particular zone championship corresponding to the geographic region in which his or her school lies.


title: Diving (sport)

text: A number of colleges and universities offer scholarships to men and women who have competitive diving skills. These scholarships are usually offered to divers with age-group or club diving experience.


title: Diving (sport)

text: The NCAA limits the number of years a college student can represent any school in competitions. The limit is four years, but could be less under certain circumstances.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Divers who continue diving past their college years can compete in Masters' Diving programs. Masters' diving programs are frequently offered by college or club programs.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Masters' Diving events are normally conducted in age-groups separated by five or ten years, and attract competitors of a wide range of ages and experience (many, indeed, are newcomers to the sport); the oldest competitor in a Masters' Diving Championship was Viola Krahn, who at the age of 101 was the first person in any sport, male or female, anywhere in the world, to compete in an age-group of 100+ years in a nationally organized competition.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Diving is also popular as a non-competitive activity. Such diving usually emphasizes the airborne experience, and the height of the dive, but does not emphasize what goes on once the diver enters the water. The ability to dive underwater can be a useful emergency skill, and is an important part of watersport and navy safety training. Entering water from a height is an enjoyable leisure activity, as is underwater swimming.


title: Diving (sport)

text: Such non-competitive diving can occur indoors and outdoors. Outdoor diving typically takes place from cliffs or other rock formations either into fresh or salt water. However, man-made diving platforms are sometimes constructed in popular swimming destinations. Outdoor diving requires knowledge of the water depth and currents as conditions can be dangerous.


title: Diving (sport)

text: On occasion, the diver will inadvertently belly flop, entering the water horizontally or nearly so. The diver typically displaces a larger than usual amount of water.


title: Diving (sport)

text: A recently developing section of the sport is "High Diving" (e.g. see 2013 World Aquatics Championships), conducted in open air locations, usually from improvised platforms up to high (as compared with as used in Olympic and World Championship events). Entry to the water is invariably feet-first to avoid the risk of injury that would be involved in head-first entry from that height. The final half-somersault is almost always performed backwards, enabling the diver to spot the entry point and control their rotation.


title: Floribama Shore

text: Floribama Shore is an American reality television series that premiered on MTV on November 27, 2017, as a successor to "Jersey Shore". The series was set in the Florida Panhandle along the beach that stretches all the way to Alabama. "Floribama Shore" documented eight young adults who live together during the summer on the Gulf Coast in Panama City Beach, Florida.


title: Floribama Shore

text: Filming primarily took place in Florida with the first two seasons of the show in Panama City Beach and the third in St. Pete Beach. Due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the fourth season saw a location change to Missoula, Montana, Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and Athens, Georgia.


title: Floribama Shore

text: On January 8, 2018, MTV renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on July 9, 2018. On June 11, 2019, the series was renewed for a third season, which premiered on November 14, 2019, with a location change to St. Pete Beach, Florida. A fourth season was announced on January 26, 2021 and premiered on February 25, 2021. The season saw three new locations for the series (Missoula, Montana, Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and Athens, Georgia). The second part of fourth season premiered on September 16, 2021.


title: Floribama Shore

text: In November 2020, production of the fourth season halted for two weeks due to a production team member testing positive for COVID-19.


title: Floribama Shore

text: Nilsa, Jeremiah, Aimee and Kirk competed in a special episode of "Fear Factor" against Deena Nicole Cortese, Snooki, Pauly D and Ronnie Ortiz-Magro from "". Aimee and Nilsa appeared on first season of "How Far Is Tattoo Far?" Codi and Kirk appeared on second season of "How Far Is Tattoo Far?" Mattie Lynn Breaux was a cast member on CMT's "Party Down South". Smyrnios and Breaux appeared on the of "The Challenge", with Breaux later returning to the competition for the .


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero (; born 4 May 1987) is a Spanish former professional motorcycle racer. He is a five-time World Champion, with three MotoGP World Championships (, and ) and two 250cc World Championships ( and ).


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: After winning the 2006 and 2007 250 cc World Championships, Lorenzo moved to MotoGP in 2008 with the factory Yamaha team. In his first season, he won rookie of the year honours after finishing 4th place in the championship, including a win at Portugal. The nine seasons he spent with Yamaha from 2008 to 2016 proved to be very successful, as he won the championship on three occasions in , and , finishing as championship runner-up in , and . His win tally of eight in the 2013 MotoGP season remains the most by any rider in the premier class in a single season not to win the title, as he finished just four points behind Marc Marquez in the final standings.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: Lorenzo moved to the Ducati factory team in 2017. He struggled at Ducati in his first season, getting only three podiums, and finished 7th in the championship in , while his teammate and former 250cc rival Andrea Dovizioso fought for the championship until the final round in Valencia. In the subsequent season in , Lorenzo regained form with three victories in Mugello, Catalunya and Austria and a further 2nd place in Brno. A move to Repsol Honda in proved to be ill-fated, and Lorenzo retired at the end of the season.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: With 47 premier class wins, Lorenzo is 5th in the all-time list of premier class race winners. In 2022, Lorenzo was inducted into the MotoGP Hall of Fame as an official Legend by the FIM. Despite his retirement from riding, Lorenzo remains active in motorsports, competing in the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia with Q8 Hi Perform.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: Lorenzo made his championship debut on his fifteenth birthday, on the second qualifying day for the 2002 125cc Spanish Grand Prix, after having to miss Friday practice as he was not old enough to race. Lorenzo dominated the 2007 250cc World Championship. His nine pole positions led to nine victories in 2007.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: Lorenzo's victory at Misano in 2007 was his 16th in the 250cc class, making him the most successful Spanish rider of all time in the intermediate class – with one more victory than Dani Pedrosa and Sito Pons.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: After being linked with a Yamaha MotoGP ride for 2008, on 25 July 2007 he was confirmed as Valentino Rossi's partner on a two-year deal for the 2008 MotoGP season.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: Lorenzo made a great start to his MotoGP career, finishing 2nd after qualifying on pole for the Qatar night race. He followed this up with pole at the second round in Jerez, Spain and 3rd Position, and pole in round 3 at Estoril, Portugal. He converted this pole into a victory, his maiden win in the Premier Class. In doing so, he became the youngest rider in MotoGP to finish on the podium in his first three races, taking the record from compatriot and rival Dani Pedrosa by a single day.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: By this stage of the Championship, Lorenzo was in joint first place with Pedrosa, but on 1 May 2008 Lorenzo was thrown from his bike during practice for the MotoGP Grand Prix of China. Lorenzo suffered a chipped bone and snapped ligament in his left ankle, and a fractured bone in his right. He was still able to finish the race in 4th place. Two weeks later at Le Mans, Lorenzo suffered two accidents in the practice sessions but managed to post a 2nd-place result. In the following race at Mugello, he crashed during the race after qualifying seventh on the grid, The next week in Barcelona, he experienced his fifth crash in four meetings, the practice session accident forcing him to miss the race.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: At both Donington Park and Assen, he was observed to be riding more conservatively after a series of injuries, but moved up the order in the later part of the race to finish 6th in each case. He has commented that he is stronger in the latter parts of races, preferring the bike when it is low on fuel. In the next meeting at Sachsenring, however, Lorenzo crashed out of the race during very wet conditions. Lorenzo suffered yet more injuries to his feet at the USGP at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on 20 July, when he experienced his seventh crash in only three months. During the first lap a spectacular highside left Lorenzo with a sore right foot (or ankle) and three broken bones in his left foot, specifically the third, fourth and fifth metatarsals. At Misano, Lorenzo clinched 2nd place. Indianapolis saw him on the podium again, this time in third position. He eventually finished the season in 4th position.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: In 2009, Lorenzo stayed with Yamaha. His season started well, with two wins – at Motegi and Le Mans – and two more podiums out of five races, leading the championship up until that point after which Valentino Rossi stole the momentum from him in the Catalan Grand Prix.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: As a consequence of a crash in qualifying at the Laguna Seca round, Lorenzo suffered a small fracture in the head of the fourth metatarsal in his right foot, contusions to the bones in both ankles and damage to his collarbone in his right shoulder. Two crashes later in the season, during the rain hit British Grand Prix and at Brno hampered his title bid, as he was 50 points behind championship leader Valentino Rossi prompting Lorenzo to claim his chances of winning the title have gone. He won at Indianapolis, while both Rossi and Pedrosa crashed, reducing Lorenzo's gap to Rossi to 25 points. His first corner crash with Nicky Hayden in Australia was a blow to his title chances and Rossi clinched the title with a third-place finish in Malaysia.


title: Jorge Lorenzo

text: On 25 August 2009, Lorenzo ended speculation surrounding a possible move to Honda or Ducati by signing a contract to race with Yamaha in the 2010 MotoGP Championship. Ducati reputedly offered him a $15 million contract to take the seat vacated by Marco Melandri which was eventually taken by Nicky Hayden.