Spirit Racing was founded in 1981 by ex-March employees Gordon Coppuck and John Wickham with backing from Bridgestone and Honda, who were aimed to re-enter Formula One as an engine supplier. Spirit participated in the 1982 European Formula Two Championship before moving to Formula One in 1983. The Spirit 201 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed by John Baldwin and Spirit co-founder Gordon Coppuck and powered by Honda. For Formula two the car was powered by a 2-litre naturally aspirated engine. For Formula One 1.5 litre turbocharged Honda engine was used, marking Honda’s return to Formula One Championship after an absence of 15 years. The V6 turbo engine was capable of around 600 bhp an 11,000 rpm. Swedish driver Stefan Johansson who raced for Spirit in F2 in 1982 logically took the Spirit’s seat in F1. The car debuted at the non-championship 1983 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch where Johansson qualified the car 12th (out of 13) and retired with a blown engine after 4 laps. First appearance in the World Championship race was at the British GP at Silverstone. New modification 201C was ready and Johansson qualified it at 15th position. However the engine problems on race morning forced him to drive the 201 retiring after 5 laps with a broken fuel system.
| Season | Series | Event |
| 1983 | F1WC | British GP |
| Driver | No. | Entrant |
| Stefan Johansson | 40 | Spirit Racing |
| Scale | Manufacturer | Collection |
| 1:43 | Spark | Exclusive Romu -Romu.com Limited Edition |
| Cat. No. | Quality | Rarity |
| ROMU030 | 
|
|
formula143 