Details of Cars

Dome S101: the Japanese prototype that dominated the FIA Sportscar Championship

DOME

Dome S101 in the pits at the 2004 Le Mans
A Dome S101 in the pits at the 2004 Le Mans. Photo by Martin Lee from London, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

The Dome S101 is a sports prototype built and designed for the LMP1 class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other endurance races. It made its racing debut at the 2001 Barcelona 2 Hours 30 Minutes, the opening round of the FIA Sportscar Championship, in the hands of the Danish Den Blå Avis team, and went on to be developed as the S101 Hb, S101 Hbi and S101.5.

Dome S101 at a glance

Dome S101 key facts
Maker Dome Co., Japan
Class sports prototype, LMP1
Racing debut 2001 Barcelona 2 Hours 30 Minutes
First win Brno Circuit, Czech Republic
Teams Den Blå Avis, Racing for Holland
Constructors’ title 2002 FIA Sportscar Championship (Dome)
Teams’ titles 2002 and 2003 (Racing for Holland)
Developments S101 Hb, S101 Hbi, S101.5
Successors Dome S102, Strakka-Dome S103
Rule change hybrid LMP1 cars barred from ACO events from 2007

This page is based on English Wikipedia only, so the details could not be cross-checked against a second source.

History of the Dome S101

A debut season in 2001

The S101 was designed for the LMP1 class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and for the endurance races around it. It first raced at the 2001 Barcelona 2 Hours 30 Minutes, the opening round of that year’s FIA Sportscar Championship, entered by the Danish team Den Blå Avis. A second car joined the championship in the hands of Racing for Holland, and the Dome took its first win at the Mistrovství FIA Sportovních Vozů at the Brno Circuit in the Czech Republic.

Racing for Holland Dome S101
The Racing for Holland Dome at Le Mans. Photo by Rob Oo from NL, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Titles with Racing for Holland

Racing for Holland returned with their Dome chassis in 2002 and finished first in the Teams Championship, while Dome itself won the 2002 FIA Sportscar Constructors Championship. The same partnership repeated the result in 2003, taking the teams’ title for a second consecutive year.

S101 Hb and S101.5

The car was upgraded over the years and raced as the S101 Hb and S101 Hbi. In March 2005 the S101 Hb was still early in its testing cycle: Dome released photographs of the car testing ahead of the Le Mans Series Prologue at the Circuit Paul Ricard. New LMP1 regulations for 2007 barred so-called hybrid-rules LMP1 cars from any ACO-sanctioned event, so Dome built the S101.5. To save costs the lower half of the S101 Hb monocoque was retained, but a new double roll hoop assembly was fitted in place of the earlier single roll hoop and air intake.

Place in the Dome line

The S101 was the predecessor of the Dome S102 and of the Strakka-Dome S103, the cars that carried the Japanese constructor’s prototype programme into the following decade.

Design and features

  • Built for endurance racing: designed for the LMP1 class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and similar events.
  • Roll hoop layout: early cars used a single roll hoop, replaced by a double roll hoop assembly on the S101.5.
  • Cost-conscious update: the S101.5 kept the lower half of the S101 Hb monocoque to hold down the price of the conversion.
  • Long competition life: the same chassis family was still being raced, in updated form, in 2007.

Dome S101 versions

  • S101 (2001): the original car, debuting in the FIA Sportscar Championship.
  • S101 Hb (2005): the updated version tested ahead of the Le Mans Series Prologue at Paul Ricard.
  • S101 Hbi: a further development of the same chassis.
  • S101.5 (2007): new double roll hoop and no air intake, built for the revised LMP1 rules.

The Dome S101 belongs to the Dome collection, alongside the Japanese constructor’s other prototype racing cars.

Video: 2001 – Le Mans – Onboard with John Nielsen

Video on YouTube.

Sources