Dome S101 - 2002

After a hiatus in the 1980s, Japanese manufacturer Dome returned to the endurance racing scene in 2001 with a new prototype called the S101, seeking glory in the highly competitive LMP900 class, soon to become the undisputed domain of Audi. In 2002, it achieved an eighth place finish at Le Mans, which it improved upon the following year.

Dome was to become a manufacturer of road cars. At least, that was the intention of its founders, who however never managed to homologate or mass-produce the 1978 Zero prototype. This is why they turned to competition and transformed this first car into a prototype with which they competed in the Japanese championship, initially without much success, but then, in 1984, achieving some good results and even a victory in 1985 at the Suzuka 500 km, which they won with the 84C evolution.

Absent from endurance racing after 1988, Dome made a comeback in 2001 with the S101, a completely new prototype (LMP900 category) built on a honeycomb frame powered by a Judd V10 engine identical to that used by Courage and other teams. The car was entered by the Danish team Den Blå Avis and the Dutch team Racing for Holland, and in its first year it finished seventh in the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Barcelona, then third in the 1000 km of Monza and fourth in the testing sessions at Le Mans in May, another third place in the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Spa and finally a first victory in the 2 Hours 30 Minutes of Brno.

Meanwhile, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, both cars were forced to withdraw due to mechanical problems. The season ended with a number of other good placings and two victories in the 2½-hour races at Mondello Park and the Nürburgring. In 2002, the Racing for Holland team established itself as the main user of the Dome S101 alongside the Kondo Racing and Chamberlain teams. The Dutch team, under the leadership of driver-manager Jan Lammers, once again guided the car to victory at Brno and to seventh place in the Le Mans trials in May.

At the following 24 Hours of Le Mans, each team entered a car, but once again, only the Dutch team with Lammers paired with Val Hillebrand and Tom Coronel made it to the finish line, securing a historic eighth place less than three minutes behind the unbeatable Audi R8 and after clocking the fifth fastest time in qualifying. The following year, the team did even better: Lammers, with John Bosch and British driver Andy Wallace, secured fourth place in qualifying and sixth place in the race, crowning a season marked by several podium finishes and three victories at the Lausitzring, Monza and Donington.

In 2004, there were fewer entries. At Le Mans, Lammers secured seventh place with Chris Dyson and Katsutomo Kaneishi, a result he repeated the following year with his fellow countryman John Bosch and American Elton Julian. Following an unfulfilling 2006 season and a first withdrawal at Le Mans, the S101 evolved for 2007 into the S101.5 version, which only managed 25th place in the Sarthe. The car was then replaced by the S102, competing in 2008 and 2010 solely at Le Mans with the official Dome Racing team.