Archive for the ‘F1’ Category

Giancarlo Baghetti: Lotus 49 Ford: Italian Grand Prix 1967…

Posted: May 8, 2015 in F1, Features
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baghetti lotus 49

Giancarlo Baghetti relaxes during the Italian Grand Prix weekend, he had a ‘one off’ drive of the Team Lotus spare ’49, backing up Jim Clark and Graham Hill…

He qualified well back on the grid, 17th, and retired on lap 50 whilst running 6th with an engine failure. John Surtees took a fabulous last corner win from Jack Brabham, winning Hondas’ first Grand Prix since Ginthers’ victory in the last race of the 1.5 Litre Formula in Mexico, 1965.

Baghettis’ career started with immense promise, famously winning his first championship Grand Prix, the French in a great dice with Dan Gurney (Porsche) in a Ferrari 156 in 1961….

Baghetti French GP 1961

The stone chips on the nose of Baghettis’ 156 bear witness to the closeness of the race, third place went to Jim Clarks’ Lotus 21 Climax. (sutton images)

French GP finish 1961

Toto Roche waves the chequered flag for Baghetti, winning a famous victory over Dan Gurneys’ Porsche 718, French GP Reims 1961, his championship race debut. (Unattributed)

Baghetti started racing in 1956 in an Alfa Romeo 1900Ti and built a solid reputation as he moved into Formula Junior in 1959. In early 1961 he was selected to drive for the Italian FISA team, an organization formed to promote young Italian drivers by entering them in Non-Championship Grands’ Prix.

FISA struck a deal with Scuderia Ferrari to run a 1960 F2 Ferrari Dino 156 (in effect the prototype of the 1961 F1 car) in the first non-championship races of 1961. The results were amazing, Baghetti, not necessarily the best credentialled candidate won on his GP debut in Syracuse in front of Gurney, Surtees, G Hill, Brabham, Moss, Salvadori, Ireland and Bandini.

syracuse GP baghetti

Giancarlo Baghetti ahead of Dan Gurney Syracuse GP April 1961. Ferrari Dino 156 from Porsche 718. The first of Giancarlos’ wins against stong opposition. (Unattributed)

He followed up with another win in the Napoli GP in May beating Ashmore, Lotus 18 Climax and Bandini Cooper T53 Maserati 2nd and 3rd as well as Roy Salvadori, Andre Pilette and Tim Parnell.

FISA persuaded Ferrari to hire them a 1961 ‘Shark Nose’ for their driver to make his championship GP debut at Reims, he was allocated the car which was to be driven by Equipe National Belge driver Olivier Gendebien, the car quickly repainted from yellow to red.

Phil Hill took pole from Ferrari teammates Von Trips and Ginther, Baghetti 12th fastest. The 3 works Ferrari’s disappeared at the start, only Moss managed to stay near them. Even a quick spin by Ginther dropped him behind the Lotus, but he was soon able to re-pass Moss such was the Ferraris’ power advantage.

Baghetti had made his way to the front of the chasing pack. When Moss was forced to pit with brake problems, the four Ferrari’s lead, this didn’t last as Von Trip’s engine died in the heat.

Hill spun on the melting road surface. The American lost over 2 laps as he tried to restart his hot engine. This left Ginther in the lead with Baghetti fighting the Porsches of Dan Gurney and Jo Bonnier to hold on to second place, a battle that became even more significant a couple of laps later as Ginther pulled off the track with no oil pressure.

Baghetti recounts the last laps …’It was a very hard race. It was hot. The asphalt was melting, the radiator was blocking up and I saw the temperature starting to soar. Luckily I was behind the two Porsches of Gurney and Bonnier and relied on getting a tow along the straights. What you must remember is that this was my first Grand Prix and both Gurney and Bonnier were trying to frighten me by running on either side of me, but I thought that if they could do things like that and get away with it, then I could do it too.

Three laps from the end Gurney and I were fighting for the lead and I realized that to finish first I needed to be in the perfect position to slipstream. Going into the last corner I was right behind Gurney so that as we came out I was on his tail. He sat right in the middle of the track because he obviously knew what I was going to try to do. I waited and when I saw him glance in his mirror when I was on his left, I quickly switched to the right and got past him to win the race.’

Giancarlo Baghetti became the first man in history to win his debut World Championship Grand Prix.

ferrari 156 cutaway

James Allingtons’ cutaway drawing of the 1960 Ferrari 156 F2 car, chassis ‘008’ the car used by Baghetti at Syracuse and Naples was the prototype 1960 car fitted with ’61 ‘Sharknose’ body. Multi-tubular spaceframe chassis, suspension by upper and lower wishbones front and rear. 1476cc 65 degree DOHC 2 valve Weber carbed V6, 185bhp@9200rpm. 5 speed ‘box. Later spec ’61 cars had the 120 degree V6 190bhp@9500rpm. (James Allington)

Baghetti qualified mid-grid for the British GP, spinning off the wet Aintree circuit during the race. For his home GP at Monza he qualified 6th, the other four Ferrari’s were faster. This was the day that von Trips was expected to win the world title, but it was not to be, ‘Taffy’ crashed to his death after contact with Clarks’ Lotus 21, the car flew into the crowd killing 11 spectators on lap two. Baghetti raced at the front until his engine blew on lap 14 and Phil Hill won the race to seal the first World Championship for an American driver. Giancarlo set the fastest lap.

His season ended with his 4th and last GP win, he took victory in a little known event to decide the ‘Prima Coppa Italia’ (Italian Championship for Drivers) at Vallelunga, Baghetti won the 2 heats in a Porsche 718 when his Ferrari was not available for the event. Lorenzo Bandini and Baghetti were tied for the Championship , this event was organised to decide the winner.

What a debut GP season!

ferrari 156 drawing

1961 spec Ferrari 156. (Scuderia Ferrari)

For 1962 Baghetti joined Phil Hill, the ’61 champion in the works Ferrari team (Rodriguez driving a third car occasionally). Enzo rested on his laurels thinking that the 156’s didn’t require evolution to continue their dominance but the Brits had caught up.

BRM, Lotus and Cooper produced cars to beat the Ferrari’s. Lotus debuted the epochal monocoque chassis Lotus 25 at Zandvoort and Coventry Climax produced their FWMV 1.5 V8 in quantities, the BRM team also built a V8, the Type 56 available to customers as well as the ‘works’ BRM P57’s. The British teams shortcomings in 1961 were their engines, the relatively old 1.5 litre variant of the Climax FPF not ‘man enough’ for Ferrari’s powerful V6. It was different in 1962 when their engine power was equivalent to their chassis mastery…

Baghetti scored points at Zandvoort and Monza, but Ferrari was in total turmoil and for 1963 he joined Hill in the mass exodus to Carlo Chiti’s ATS team, an unmitigated disaster for all involved, it effectively destroyed his F1 career. Baghetti drove Centro Sud’s old BRM P57 in 1964, he returned to race in F2, F3 and sports and touring cars, also making an annual apperance at the Italian GP, his last in the Lotus 49 in 1967.

baghetti spa

‘Hitchin a ride’: Baghettis’ BRM P57 gives Phil Hill and Bob Anderson a lift at the end of the 1964 Belgian GP, Spa. Giancarlo was 8th in the race won by Clarks’ Lotus 25 Climax. Hill raced a Cooper T73 Climax and Anderson a Brabham BT11 Climax (G Clayton)

baghetti brabham 65 italian

Brabham entered a third car for Giancarlo at the 1965 Italian GP. He qualified the BT7 Climax poorly in 19th, the engine failed on lap 12 in the race won by Stewarts’ BRM P261. (Unattributed)

baghetti targa 1965

Baghetti at the wheel of a factory Ferrari 275 P2 during Targa 1965, DNF with Jean Guichet. (Unattributed)

After a huge accident at Monza in a Ferrari Dino 166 F2 car in the ‘Monza Lottery GP’ in June 1968 he retired from driving, working as journalist and photographer. He succumbed to cancer in 1995 age 60.

No-one has ever repeated the feat…a quasi factory Ferrari drive on the results of a ‘journeyman’, won his first 3 GP’s, 4 for the year, one of them a championship event and then so rapidly disappeared from sight…

baghetti italian gp 1966

Baghetti at the wheel of a Ferrari Dino 246, Monza, Italian GP 1966. Q16, raced Spences’ Lotus for 5th until the car failed in the race won by Scarfiottis’ Ferrari 312. Car was lent to him by Scuderia after his Parnell  Lotus BRM failed in practice. (Unattributed)

Baghetti Ferrari 156 1962

Giancarlo Baghetti, Ferrari 156 1962. The class of the field in 1961 were at best also-rans in 1962. He is smiling so it must be at the seasons commencement… (Unattributed)

Photo and other Credits…

Mel Turbutt, motorsportretro.com, Sutton Images, James Allington, Scuderia Ferrari, The Auto Channel

Finito…

Gerhard Berger and the Innovative Ferrari 640…

Posted: April 24, 2015 in F1, Icons & Iconoclasts
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berger busstop chicane belgianm 1989 fazz 640

Gerhard Berger pings his Ferrari 640 through the ‘Bus-Stop’ chicane, Spa 1989…

He spun off on lap 9, the race won by Ayrton Senna from teammate Alain Prost in McLaren MP/5 Hondas’ and Nigel Mansell in the other Ferrari 640.

ferrari 640 cockpit

The nub of the cars innovation, its electro-hydraulic 7 speed gearbox and steering wheel mounted operation; faster gearchanges, greater reliability by eliminating ‘muffed’ up and especially downchanges, two hands on the wheel at all times giving greater control and speed. (Unattributed)

Ferrari 640 and Innovation…

The new single-seater was known colloquially as the 640 after its design number, but was officially F1-89.

Nigel Mansell joined the team, Gerhard Berger was his teammate. Ferrari took three wins and was third in the Constructors’ Championship with 59 points.

The F1-89 hailed the return of the normally aspirated 12-cylinder engine and in a major first for Formula 1, also had a gear change bar mounted behind the steering wheel.

Ferrari have never been noted for innovation but this was a ‘game changer’ which all other teams and formulae followed.

Nigel Mansell won his debut race at Interlagos and then headed the pack across the line again at Budapest. The Scuderia’s third season win came from  Gerhard Berger at Estoril. McLaren took both titles that year with Alain Prost winning the Drivers’ Title for them.

The semi-automatic gearbox was Barnard’s solution to the problem of the long manual actuation mechanism. Barnard interviwed by ‘MotorSport’ in 2005 said ‘The project started because I wanted to make the monocoque really narrow. In those days we had to fit a gearshift run through the monocoque alongside the engine and back to the gearbox. It was a real pain to find a route for this and make room in the cockpit for the selector and the driver’s hand. I thought, ‘Surely, instead of a gear lever, I can have a switch.’ So it was a packaging imperative. The gear linkage affected lots of things, and of course the driver was taking his hand off the wheel during changes. The time-saving advantage came afterwards. Vittorio Ghidella, running Ferrari post-Enzo, was terrified of the ‘box failing and had a manual version built; Mansell tested it and said ‘forget it’. But the effort was a danger to the project.’

Originally intended to appear in ’88 on the 639, the electrohydraulic ‘box and normally aspirated V12 were held back until the following season once it was clear that the equivalency rules for ’88 made it vital to run a turbo to be competitive. When it did at last race in ’89 the new transmission was initially unreliable but it eventually became clear to everyone in the pitlane that here was a technology they would all have to copy.

Ferrari say that ‘the new gearbox and communications difficulties with Barnard who was working from England dragged out the car’s development’. However, when it finally did emerge, it was seen by the other constructors as a shining example of superb engineering and aerodynamics, the latter thanks to its extremely clean-looking form’

Boy, it was and is a stunning looking car, perhaps the last really sexy F1 car?

ferrari 640 cutaway

Technical Specifications…

With the banning of turbo-charged engines from the end of 1988, as stated above, Ferrari returned to a normally aspirated 65° V12 Bore/stroke 84 x 52.6 mm displacing 3497.96 cc. The  block was cast iron as a result of Barnard driving Ferrari hard on engine length and to get the crank as low as possible. He also influenced the 4 bolt pick ups for the engine, which differed from the way Ferrari hung their engines from the tub before.

Compression ratio was 11.5 : 1, maximum power 441 kW (600 hp) at 12,500 rpm. Valve actuation was DOHC per bank, five valves per cylinder, Fuel feed by Weber-Marelli electronic indirect injection, Ignition electronic, single spark plug per cylinder, lubrication dry sump. Clutch multi-plate with a 7 speed electro-hydraulic gearbox.

The chassis was designed by Barnard and his team at Ferraris’ Guildford Technical Office in the UK. When Barnard joined the team Ferrari had not won a race since 1985 so he was able to name his terms, inclusive of not working at the factory in Maranello! Ferrari agreed to the establishment of a design office near Barnards’ home in the UK.

The chassis was typical of the period, a Kevlar and carbon-fibre composite monocoque, its distinctive pannier shape a function of the large volumes of fuel, 220-230 litres carried at the time..

Barnard commented about the cars suspension ‘The 639 had conventional spring/damper units on top of the chassis, but because the 640 monocoque was so narrow I drew up a torsion-bar arrangement instead which started the short-torsion-bar fashion that continues today. It kept the installation as compact as possible and also I didn’t like coil-over dampers. The springs were never well enough made to avoid side loads on the damper rods and consequently added friction. I designed a lower friction package with the torsion bar, which ran on ball bearings. It was a really good solution’.

Front suspension comprised independent push-rod, torsion bar springs, telescopic shock absorbers and anti-roll bar. Rear suspension independent push-rod, twin wishbones, coil springs over horizontally-mounted telescopic shock absorbers. Brakes were steel discs. Steering rack-and-pinion. Fuel tank capacity 192 litres and Front tyres 25.0-10.0-13 and Rear tyres 26.0-15.0-13.

ferrari 640 naked

The beautiful symmetry and packaging of the car, a Barnard strength is seen to good effect in this shot from above. (Unattributed)

Apart from Mansells debut win at Interlagos in Brazil the gearbox gave early season troubles, both drivers having DNF’s in all subsequent races until the French GP, the ‘box the cause of many of them.

John Barnard again comments and sets the record straight ‘The semi-auto gearbox was slagged off early on for being unreliable, but that was unwarranted. A lot of the retirements in early 1989 listed as gearbox failures weren’t at all, they were due to loss of power to the ‘box. The alternator was driven by a belt from the crank and this kept falling off. It took a long time to find out why, using high-speed photography on the dyno. At this time the V12 only had a four-bearing crank which started to whip at certain revs, causing the front pulley to shed the belt. The alternator would stop and so would the gearbox electronics. We didn’t have any fundamental problems with the ‘box itself. It was pretty reliable. It was mostly standard inside and the hydraulic system was simple and robust.’

After these problems were sorted the advantages of the gearbox were clear…Barnard had instigated the second technical innovation of his career, the first the carbon-composite chassis…

Check out this article on John Barnards’ McLaren MP4/1 Ford…

McLaren MP4 Ford: 1981 The first Carbon-Composite Car…John Barnards’ Brilliance

1989 brazilian gp start

Start of the 1989 Brazilian GP with L>R Berger, Prost, Senna, Patrese and Boutsen behind him…Ferrari 640, McLaren MP4/5 Honda x2 and Williams FW12C Renault x2. Winner Mansell is not to be seen, he won from Prost and Mauricio Gugelmins’ March CG891 Judd. (Unattributed)

Etcetera…

mansell onaco fazz 640

Nigel Mansell at Monaco in his 640 1989. He retired with gearbox failure, Senna won in his McLaren. (Unattributed)

Credits…

Scuderia Ferrari, MotorSport June 2005

 

Warwick Farm 100 Tasman Series 1968…

Posted: April 14, 2015 in F1, Who,What,Where & When...?
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duetto champs
(Bruce Thomas)

The little Alfa Duetto’s DOHC 1570cc would have struggled ferrying this lot, even for a lap…

It’s the victory parade after the 1968 ‘Warwick Farm 100′ won by Jim Clarks’ Lotus 49 Ford DFW from teammate G Hill, with Piers Courage third in his little McLaren M4A Ford FVA.

What driving talent aplenty in this car!

Driving the car is 1960 Australian Gold Star Champion Alec Mildren, Mildren also an Alfa Dealer and incredibly successful and generous race team owner of the 1960-1970 period, the Dutto immaculate in white and wearing a set of ex-GTA wheels, I wonder who owns it now?

Behind Alec is a youthful Alfredo Costanzo, first local home in an Elfin Mono Ford 1.5 and later to be very successful in Australia’s latter F5000 days and the Formula Pacific era in cars owned by Porsche Cars Australia’s Alan Hamilton, another very generous benefactor of the sport.

Brabham, Moss and Clark needing no introduction…

Clark won the race, the Lotus 49 was the F1 standard from its 1967 Dutch GP launch, reliability cost Lotus the titles that year- the light, nimble beautiful handling Brabham BT24’s did the trick, Denny Hulme pipping Jack for the Drivers Championship and Brabham Repco winning the Constructors laurels.

In 2.5 litre ‘DFW’ spec the Ford Cosworth powered cars were formidable Tasman weapons, Clark won the 1968 title and Jochen Rindt was the fastest man of the series in 1969, if not the most reliable.

clark wf
Jim Clark, Lotus 49 DFW, WF 1968. (Paul Hobson)

The Tasman Cup entries in 1968 were as interesting and diverse as ever

Moreso than previous years in fact- the interesting shot below was taken as the cars lined up for practice in Warwick Farm’s pit lane and shows the business end of the new Len Terry designed 2.5 litre V12 BRM P126. Its Hewland DG300 gearbox is just visible behind the Lucas fuel pump mounted to the rear of the ‘box, the Shell ‘el cheapo’ oil catch tank is a nice ‘in the field’ touch! Richard Attwood in the hotseat retired from the race with gearbox dramas.

Two of the P126’s were entered in the Tasman, Bruce McLaren raced a car in the New Zealand rounds and took a win at Teretonga, the cars were in the Southern Hemisphere to be race proven, after the abortive H16 program, before the European F1 season but there was always a scramble to drive the old, light, nimble and reliable 2.1 litre V8 P261.Pedro Rodriguez raced it at WF finishing sixth in a car which had so much Tasman success, Jackie Stewart took the title in a P261 in 1966.

In front of the BRM is Frank Gardner’s Alec Mildren Racing, one off, Brabham BT23D Alfa. This magic little car was powered by a 2.5 litre V8 developed via Alfas’ endurance racing Tipo 33 program. Its twin vertically mounted distributors fired two plugs per cylinder- a distinctive visual element of the little DOHC, two valve, injected engine. Later in 1968 the car won the Australian Drivers Championship in Kevin Bartlett’s capable, quick hands.

Forward of Frank is Piers Courage’ McLaren M4A Ford FVA- he came to Australasia with this car and two engines and did incredibly well, perhaps its not unfair to say he re-launched his career with this self funded Tasman effort. Numerous podium placings were surpassed by an heroic win in hopelessly wet conditions on one of the ‘biggest balls’ circuits of the world, Longford a fortnight after his strong third at WF ahead of many more powerful and equally nimble cars as his little F2 McLaren.

This McLaren stayed in Australia after the Tasman being bought by Niel Allen, and was also raced successfully by Warwick Brown in the formative stages of his career.

WF pitlane
WF pitlane Tasman Series 1968. (Brian McInerney)
gh pitlane
Graham Hill and friends, Warwick Farm paddock 1968. (Brian McInerney)

Graham Hill was perhaps not as focussed on a win as teammate Clark…get your hands off that young woman you bounder!

Was there ever a bloke from ‘central casting’ who looked more like a dashing, debonair driver than G Hill? He did not have the absolute pace of teammates Clark, Stewart or Rindt but was a driver of incredible ability, the only winner of motor racings World F1 Title/LeMans/Indy ‘Triple Crown’ of course.

His greatest moments were to come in 1968 when he picked Team Lotus up by the scruff of the neck, despite the loss of his good friend Jim Clark, providing the leadership the team needed whilst Colin Chapman recovered from his own grief at losing his driver, friend and colloborator in April, only months after this race meeting.

Lotus’ wins in the Drivers and Constructors Titles in 1968 owe a lot to Hill’s character as well as his determination and speed.

hill amon courage wf
Hill from Amon and Courage. Lotus 49 DFW, Ferrari Dino 246T, and McLaren M4A FVA. 2nd, 4th and 3rd respectively. WF 1968, the majesty of the place clear in this shot. (Unattributed)

 Jack Brabham had a short 1968 Tasman.

His Brabham BT23E was powered by Repco’s latest 740 Series SOHC V8 and competed in only the Warwick Farm and Sandown rounds.

In fact Repco, for all their F1 success didn’t ever have much Tasman glory in their own backyeard…to be fair the primary reponsibility of the Repco Tasman program each year was to sort out the engines for the coming Grand Prix season, but all the same, a few local wins should have been achieved given the resources deployed?

This fabulous car stayed in Australia, acquired by Bob Jane at the Tasmans’ duration, it was raced for him by John Harvey who was always fast in it, but also unlucky, surviving a high speed accident at Bathurst after a component failure, the low point for the team.

jb wf pilane
Brabhams BT23E Repco all ready to qualify with a fresh set of Goodyears. Car in front is the BRM P261 V8 of Rodriguez, Courages’ McLaren body on the deck behind Jack. WF pitlane 1968. (Brian McInerney)
moss Wf 1968
Stirling Moss tells Clark about the fast way around ‘The Farm, both drivers loved the place and won there. ‘Lucas Opus’ spark-box prominent between the Vee of the Cossie DFW. Ford DFV famous as a load bearing member of the car, this shot showing the suspension componentry and its attachment to the engine and ZF ‘box. Suspension itself conventional for the day; inverted lower wishbone, single top link, twin radius rods and coil spring/damper, adjustable roll bar. Front suspension inboard; top rocker visible. Nice. WF Tasman 1968. (Brian McInerney)

The Eyes Have It.

Chris Amon (below) absolutely focussed on the task at hand. He came back with another two Dinos he ran with the assistance of David McKay’s Scuderia Veloce in 1969, lifting the title in a tremendous and very popular fashion.

In 1968 he was very competitive, winning the first two Kiwi rounds at Pukekohe and Levin but did not ultimately have the speed of the Lotuses of Clark and Hill. The car was a Ferrari 166 F2 (1.6 litre formula at the time) to which was fitted the 2.4 litre DOHC, two valve, injected V6 engine from the cars used at the start of the 3 litre Formula 1 in early 1966.

In the 1968 Australian Tasman Rounds Amon mixed the racing of the Dino single seater with McKay’s P4/CanAm 350 Ferrari i wrote about a week or so back.

Ferrari P4/Can Am 350 #0858…

amon eyes
Chris Amon, Ferrari Dino 246T, WF, Tasman Series 1968. (Brian McInerney)

 This shot captures the atmosphere of the Tasman Series generally and Warwick Farm specifically…

There is no hassle of the drivers by the appreciative crowd and vice-versa, there would be uproar these days of course.

Piers Courage is looking relaxed and happy about his third behind the Lotuses of Clark and Hill, and Amon fourth, is still figuring he could take the title with two rounds remaining at Melbourne’s Sandown and Tasmania’s Longford- ultimately he fell short of Clark by 8 points, Amon taking two wins to Clark’s four.

tasman 68 warm down
Piers Courage and Chris Amon on the WF warmdown lap. McLaren M4A FVA and Ferrari Dino 246T. Australian summer male ‘fashion’ of the day on full display. (Bruce Thomas)

Jim Clark savouring the plaudits of the crowd and one of his last wins, Lotus 49 Ford DFW, 18 February 1968…

jim clark wf lotus 49 1968
Jim Clark, Lotus 49 WF 1968. (wirra)

Grid and Results…

RCN 68 WF Tasman 01

Etcetera…

(B Jackson)

Get a move on chaps…

And things go better with Coke it seems- brake bleed in process. Note the solid front rotor on Graham’s Lotus 49 rather than the vented ones first used in 1967. Nice shot of the front bulkhead and inboard front suspension mounting treatment.

amn pilane
(Peter Windsor)

Chris Amon in the Warwick Farm pitlane, Ferrari Dino 246T, 1968 was a useful exploratory season for the successful two car assault in 1969.

(Brian Jackson)

Piers Courage alights his McLaren M4A Ford FVA as Ray Parsons, in ‘Australian summer mechanic’s clobber’ awaits instructions for the next round of tweaks before the next session, one of which is to increase the size of the nose mounted duct to get a bit more cool air into the cockpit.

fg wf 68
(John Ellacott)

Superb John Ellacott shot of Frank Gardner in the one-off Alec Mildren Racing Brabham BT23D Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 2.5 V8- she is puffing a bit of blue smoke in best Alfa tradition!

gh wf 68
(Brian McInerney)

‘See you after the race then?’ Hill G dealing with another admirer of the feminine type.

1968 WF Tasman cover
(Brian Jackson)

First local driver home was Alfie Constanzo in his Elfin Mono Mk2B Ford twin-cam in eighth place, here shielding his eyes from the late afternoon sun- that’s Ian Fergusson in a Lotus 27 Ford twin-cam behind Alf, both of these cars are ANF 1.5s.

1968 WF Tasman event 5

Photo and Other Credits…

Bruce Thomas, Paul Hobson, Peter Windsor, Brian McInerney, Wirra, John Ellacott, Brian Jackson, Stephen Dalton for the race program and ‘Racing Car News’ material

Finito…

Phil Hill: Italian GP Monza 1958…

Posted: April 7, 2015 in F1, Fotos
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Phil Hill, Ferrari Dino 246, Italian GP Monza 1958. His debut GP for Ferrari

Phil Hill looking fairly relaxed on the occasion of his Ferrari Grand Prix debut…

Hill had been part of Ferraris’ sports car squad since 1955 and ‘shamed’ the chief into promoting him by making his Grand Prix debut in the French GP in Jo Bonniers’ Maserati 250F.

He justified Ferrari’s faith in him placing 3rd in his Dino 246. Tony Brooks Vanwall won the race.

Love Hill’s natty race safety attire! Check, short sleeved blue shirt his first line of defence against fire, mind you the prevailing wisdom of the day was to be thrown clear of the car in the event of a ‘big one’.

It’s interesting to reflect on how far safety advanced in the following ten years- in cars advances included monocoque chassis, roll bars, six-point harnesses and fire extinguishers. In terms of driver safety ‘Nomex’ fire retardant ‘suits with Bell introducing the first ‘Star’ full face helmet in 1968 spring to mind.

Mind you the cars were far faster over that decade, the GP field was ‘winged by the end of 1968 with another leap in performance as a consequence. The circuits hadn’t kept pace though, the Jackie Stewart led Grand Prix Drivers Association crusade to improve circuit standards and safety was just underway, he was a pariah in the views of some traditionalists but many drivers lives were saved as a result.

We lost some of the visual splendour of classic circuits and Phils’ striped blue shirts…

enzo

Enzo Ferrari & Phil Hill Monza 1958- ‘just do as i say and you will be fine…'(Jesse Alexander)

 

italian

1958 Italian GP Start…# 28 Tony Brooks & # 30 Stuart Lewis-Evans, both in Vanwall VW57’s & Mike Hawthorns’ Ferrari Dino 246. Brooks the winner of the race from Hawthorn & Hill. Lewis-Evans DNF. (Unattributed)

 

phil 2

Phil Hill Ferrari Dino 246 Italian GP Monza 1958- that steering wheel is so ‘period’! (Jesse Alexander)

Etcetera…

Phil looking very youthful, 25 years of age, at Torrey Pines, California in July 1952, car is a Ferrari 212 Export- a win it seems!

Photo Credit…

Jesse Alexander

Finito…

2015 Malaysian Grand Prix…

Posted: April 1, 2015 in F1, Fotos
Tags: , , ,
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vettel malaysia

Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari SF-15T. Malaysian GP 2015. (MotorSport)

Mark Hughes in his usual insightful way explains why Ferrari gave us a welcome change of colour at the chequered flag…

http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/f1/reports/2015-malaysian-grand-prix-report/

hammo

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1-W06, Malaysian GP 2015 (MotorSport)

 

Tony Marsh, Bo’ness Hillclimb, Scotland : BRM P48 Part 1…

Posted: March 26, 2015 in F1
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tony marsh

Tony Marsh working his 1960 BRM P48 chassis ‘484’, 2.5-litre ex-Bonnier 1960 F1 car very hard, lifting an inside rear wheel into ‘The Courtyard’, Bo’ness Hillclimb, Scotland 1966…

Two of the reasons why the content of this blog is eclectic are that it suits my broad racing interests and that a photo is usually the inspiration for an article, this shot is one of those! I tripped over it on ‘The Nostalgia Forum’, which is a wonderful place for those of you who may not paid it a visit. You can get lost in there for weeks! http://forums.autosport.com/forum/10-the-nostalgia-forum/

p48
The old and new…P25 and mid-engined P48 prototype ‘481’ on test, circuit unknown, August 1959 (Unattributed)

Lots of ex-GP cars have found their way into British Hillclimbing over the years, the Tony Marsh BRM P48 is one of those…

The 1951 BRM P15 supercharged 1.5-litre V16 racer was a disaster, too complex, too late but a fabulous bit of kit and the greatest sound in motor racing, full-stop. Aural orgasm is not going too far to describe its musical, mechanical, sonorous howl!

The design which followed, the Type 25 was the reverse, a simple 2.5-litre, DOHC, Weber carbed, front-engined, spaceframe chassis car which served BRM from 1955 to 1959, finally achieving a breakthrough win for Bourne in the 1959 Dutch Grand Prix, Jo Bonnier the driver.

But by then the game had moved on, Cooper dominated the grids with their Coventry Climax engined, simple mid-engined cars. Jack Brabham and Cooper took the drivers and constructors titles in 1959 and 1960 with Cooper Types 51 and 53, Tony Rudd and his team needed to respond.

BRM were famous for their engineering process and toolroom quality but the P48 was a quick fix, utilising as many of the Type 25 components as possible, in essence the P48 was a mid-engined variant of the Type 25, right down to its controversial, less than reliable cookie-cutter, single, gearbox mounted rear disc brake.

brm p 48
(Vic Berris)
monza
The prototype chassis #481 BRM P48 was tested in practice at the 1959 Italian Grand Prix in September by Harry Schell and Jo Bonnier. They stayed on at Monza for further testing, the P48 was then developed over the winter of 1959-60 and made its race debut at Silverstone early in 1960 (John Ross Motor Racing Archive)

1960 was the last year of the 2.5-litre Formula, the P48 Mk II was more competitive than the first iterations used for most of the season and were devoid of the cookie cutter and used the wishbone rear suspension which formed the basis of BRM’s 1961 contender’s design intent.

This 1961 car, the P57, was Coventry Climax 1.5-litre FPF powered until BRM’s fabulous and successful P56 1.5-litre V8 was developed for use from the 1962 season. See this link; https://primotipo.com/2014/10/12/graham-hill-brm-p57-german-gp-1962/ The P48 evolved into the P57 which delivered BRM’s first and only Manufacturers and Drivers Championships for the marque and Graham Hill in 1962.

BRM P48 engine and rear suspension
BRM P48 spaceframe chassis, P27 2.5-litre DOHC four ex-Type 25 front engined car. Strut type rear suspension, cookie cutter single rear disc, not the most elegant of mid-engined cars but a good first up effort given the design wasn’t clean sheet and BRM learn’t fast! (Unattributed)
g hill
(unattributed)

Graham Hill’s P48 485 (above) took third place in the 1960 Belgian GP at Spa won by Brabham’s Cooper T53 Climax. The weekend was one of racing’s worst, Stirling Moss broke both legs after an axle failure, Mike Taylor’s steering broke so he crashed into trees suffering grievous injuries which made him paralysed, eventually with therapy he walked again, both were driving Lotus 18s, those accidents took place in practice. In the race Chris Bristow crashed his Cooper T51 Climax at Malmedy whilst pushing too hard and crashed to his death while Alan Stacey (Lotus 18 Climax) was hit in the face by a bird near Masta, he crashing and died instantly.

Tony Marsh German GP 1957
Tony Marsh attacking the Nurburgring in his Cooper T43 Climax, German GP 1957 (unattributed)

Tony Marsh…

Marsh was an iconic hillclimber, first taking the British Hillclimb Championship title in a Cooper Mk8 Jap in 1955. After two more successive wins he turned to circuit racing winning the British F2 Championship in 1957 with a Cooper T43 Climax. He also contested the 1957 German GP, finishing fifteenth in his F2 car and eighth in 1958 aboard a Cooper T45 Climax.

Marsh raced a private Lotus 18 Climax and his own BRM P48/57 1.5 V8 engined car in 1962 in some Non-Championship F1 events – best placings were fourth in the Pau GP and seventh in the International Trophy at Silverstone.

He returned to hillclimbing in the mid-1960s, winning the championship a further three times and was still competing right up until his death at 77 years of age in May 2009.

tony marsh brussels gp
Tony Marsh ahead of Willy Mairesse in the 1962 Brussels GP, 1 April. His BRM P48/57 was factory entered along with Graham Hill’s P57, both non-classified. The race was won by Wild Willy in his Ferrari 156 (unattributed)
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Tony Marsh warming up his BRM P57 1.5 V8 prior to practice of the Aintree 200 in April 1962. He qualified 10th and retired on lap six with an oil leak, he had a lot of problems with this car! (Brian Tregilgas)

Bo’ness Hillclimb…

Bo’ness is 17 miles north-west of Edinburgh, the hillclimb was used from 1934 to 1966 and ran through the grounds of Kinneil House. James Watt of steam engine fame lived there, the grounds contain the ruins of his cottage and the boiler of his Newcomen Engine.

Tony Marsh set the record for the climb in June 1963, one which stood for all time, the last meeting at the venue was held in June 1966, revival meetings have taken place in recent years.

Some former motor racing greats held the climbs’ record including Bob Gerard, Ken Wharton, Ron Flockhart and Jim Clark, the latter with a Lister Jaguar in 1959.

Etcetera…

Dan Gurney P48 Silverstone 1960
Dan Gurney awaits adjustments to his P48 486 , Silverstone, British GP 1960. That transmission mounted ‘cookie cutter’ single rear disc and caliper clearly shown (unattributed)
Jo Bonnier P48 BRM Monaco 1960
Jo Bonnier in the Tony Marsh BRM P48 484 at Monaco in 1960, he finished fifth. ‘Up his chuff’ is Stirling Moss, heading for victory in Rob Walker’s Lotus 18 Climax (unattributed)

Credits…

The Nostalgia Forum, John Ross Motor Racing Archive, Brian Tregilgas, Doug Nye, Vic Berris

From Ballarat to Bathurst, BRM P48’s in Australia, Part 2…

Bourne to Ballarat : BRM P48 Part 2…

Finito…

Lorenzo Bandini:Cooper T53 Maserati: Warwick Farm, Sydney 1962…

Posted: March 24, 2015 in F1, Sports Racers
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bandini warwick farm 1962 cooper maser

(John Ellacott)

Lorenzo Bandini heading for fourth place in his ‘Centro Sud’ Cooper T53 Maserati, ‘Warwick Farm 100’, February 1962…

The race was won by Stirling Moss in Rob Walkers’ Cooper T53 Climax from Bruce McLaren in a similar car.

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Lorenzo Bandini 1967. (Unattributed)

Bandini joined Centro Sud in 1961 making his championship debut at Spa having scored 3rd place in the Non-Championship Pau GP earlier in the season.

He raced in the Southern Summer gaining valuable experience in the powerful F Libre cars raced in Australasia at the time against the Worlds best.

Bandini contested the Warwick Farm International, his only race in Australia but competed in New Zealand at the start of the year coming 5th in the NZ GP at Ardmore and retired at Wigrams airfield circuit and at Teretonga with an oil leak and ignition problems respectively.

Born in 1935, he commenced his racing career on motorcycles, progressing into cars with a borrowed Fiat 1100. He came to the attention of ‘Centro Suds’ Mimmo Dei after Formula Junior successes in Stanguellini and Volpini chassis’ in 1960 and 1961.

bandini brm

Have always thought BRM’s and Cooper’s look great in BRG but they look even better in red!? Lorenzo in his ex-works BRM P57 1.5 V8 in the British GP, Silverstone 1963. An excellent 5th in the race won by Jim Clarks’ Lotus 25 Climax. (Unattributed)

le mans 63

Victorious at Le Mans in 1963 in Ferraris’ first V12 mid engined endurance racer the 250P. He shared the car with fellow Italian Ludovico Scarfiotti. (Unattributed)

Bandini drove his first GP for Ferrari in 1962 but for 1963 drove in their sports car squad, Centro Sud kept him in GP racing campaigning an ex-works BRM P57…Ferrari did enter him in the last 4 GP’s of the season…he also won Le Mans in’63 partnered by Ludovico Scarfiotti in a Ferrari 250P.

For 1964 he partnered John Surtees in the F1 team winning the Austrian GP at Zeltweg, sadly his only Championship GP win.

bandini zeltweg

First in the Austrian GP at Zeltweg in August 1964 ahead of Richie Ginther in a BRM P261 and Bob Anderson, Brabham BT11 Climax…(Unattributed)

bandini germany 1965

Patiently bleeding the brakes of his Ferrari 158 in practice for the German GP, Nurburgring 1965. 6th in the rcae won by Clarks’ Lotus 33 Climax. (Unattributed)

bandini french gp 66

Disappointment on his face, Bandini pulls to the side of the Reims circuit, 1966 French GP. He was in the lead of the race and pulling away, of all things his throttle cable broke, well before the days of potentionometers! Jack Brabham took the lead in his Brabham BT19 Repco and became the first driver to win a race in a car of his own manufacture and name. (Unattributed)

Always competitive in F1, if not an absolute ‘ace’ Bandini was unlucky not to win the 1966 French and US Grands Prix’ when well in the lead of both races , mechanical problems with his 3 litre V12 Ferrari 312 intervening.

p2 targa 65

Famous shot first published in Automobile Year. Lorenzo in the Ferrari P2 he shred with local Nino Vaccarella to win the 1965 Targa Florio. (Automobile Year)

Luckier in sports car racing, in addition to the Le Mans victory, he also won the Targa Florio in 1965 and the Daytona 24 Hours and Monza 1000Km in 1967 racing the superb Ferrari P4 partnered with Chris Amon whom he first met at the NZ GP in 1962, Chris campaigning a Maserati 250F before he came to Europe…

Lorenzo died in a gruesome accident at Monaco in 1967, the fire which took his life accelerating improvements to circuit and driver safety, not the least the abolition of hay-bales with which he collided, fuelling the ensuing fire.

He was an immensely popular driver with his colleagues, the media and fans, 100000 of whom were in the streets surrounding the Reggiolo church in which his funeral was held.

bandini monza p4

Bandini in the gorgeous Ferrari P4 at Monza, 1967 1000Km’s which he won with Chris Amon. The P4 4 litre V12 was outgunned by the 7 litre Fords and Chaparrals that year but still scored some successes. (Unattributed)

le mns 63 poster

Shell ad to celebrate the 1963 Le Mans win. #10 Rodriguez/Penske Ferrari 330LM TRI, #18 P Hill/Bianchi Aston DP215, # 21 victorious Bandini/Scarfiotti Ferrari 250P, # 23 Surtees/Mairesse Ferrari 250P, # 8 McLaren/Ireland Aston Martin DB4 GT

Credits…

John Ellacott, Automobile Year,

Pedro Rodriguez Pictorial…

Posted: March 18, 2015 in F1, Fotos
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pedro spa

Rodriguez victorious at Spa in the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix in his BRM P153, the narrowest of wins from Chris Amons’ March 701 Ford on a circuit made for the Mexican’s skill and bravery…

pedro & ricardo 1962

(Unattributed)

Pedro and brother Ricardo Rodriguez (right) in 1962.

Ricardo died at the wheel of a Lotus 24 Climax in the Mexican Grand Prix 1962, the Rob Walker Racing entered machine’s rear suspension failed, the resultant collision killed him instantly at 20 years old.

pedro in sebring

(Unattributed)

Pedro cruising through the Bridghampton paddock in his ‘NART’ Ferrari 250P- 1963 ‘Double 500’.

pedro cooper

(Bernard Cahier)

1967 Monaco Grand Prix, Cooper T81 Maserati- the eyes have it. Tragic race of course, Lorenzo Bandini lost his life in a Ferrari 312 in the latter stages of the race.

spa 1971 rod oli winner

(Unattributed)

Spa 1000Km 1971, victory with Jackie Oliver in a John Wyer Porsche 917K, Siffert/Bell behind and finished second, the marshal gets maximum points for stupidity.

pedro

(M Le Grand)

Lotus 33 Climax, Mexico City 1966.

Team Lotus entered an ‘old nail’ for Pedro, a 2 litre BRM V8 engined 33 in a two off drive (Watkins Glen too), he qualified the Ron Harris run car eleventh but DNF with transmission failure after 49 laps. John Surtees won in a Cooper T81.

pedro and jo spa 1970

(unattributed)

Pedro #25 and Jo Siffert #24 , Porsche 917K, lap 1 of the Spa 1000Km 1970.

Friends and rivals in the JW Automotive Team, Rodriguez was ultimately the better driver. A gaggle of 917’s and 512’s behind. Siffert/Brian Redman won the race whilst Pedro/Leo Kinnunen DNF with gearbox failure on lap 44.

Rodriguez, Monaco 1967, Coopet T81 Maserati

(M Le Grand)

Rodriguez delicately caressing the big Cooper T81 Maserati V12 around Monaco in 1967. He was fifth, four laps adrift,  in the race won by Denny Hulme’s light, nimble Brabham BT20 Repco V8.

Rodriguez , Porsche 917, Brands 1000Km 1970

(Unattributed)

Pedro put in a stunning, famous drive to win the Brands Hatch 1000Km in his ‘JW Automotive’ Porsche 917K, partnered by Leo Kinnunen in 1970.

He is #10 here ‘hunting down’ the rival ‘Porsche Salzburg’ #11 917K of Elford/Hulme/Ahrens. Oh to have been there!

pedro portrait

(Automobile Year 18)

Pedro portrait 1970. I remember first seeing this photograph in the Camberwell Grammar School copy of Automobile Year 18- the review of the 1970 season, and  thinking ‘Wow!’, as I did so often in relation to the photography of that publication in that era…

MHC0177-1024x819fit

(Mike Hayward Collection)

BRM P153 at rest, British GP, Brands Hatch 1970. Rindt won in a Lotus 72 Ford, Pedro DNF, prang on lap 58.

pedro 3

Porsche 908/3 Nürburgring 1000km 1970 (Unattributed)

Rodriguez was one of those drivers who loved racing for its own sake, he competed whenever he could and was killed in an ‘Interserie’ (European Can-Am or Group 7) race at the Norisring, Germany in July 1971.

He had started the season well, lightning fast in both his BRM P160 F1 car and Porsche 917 and was pointlessly killed in a race of no importance when a slower car edged his Ferrari 512M into the wall, the car erupted into flames and one of the ‘aces’ of the era died shortly thereafter.

Photo Credits…

Bernard Cahier, Automobile Year, Mike Hayward Collection https://www.mikehaywardcollection.com/ , Max Le Grand

Finito…

Australian Grand Prix, Saturday, 2015…

Posted: March 14, 2015 in F1, News/Events
Tags:
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Yes the F1 cars are fast, the ultimate and marginally less ugly, let’s not say attractive, than last year…

One of my sons is not a big race fan and hadn’t been for 2 years, and seeing and hearing the F1’s for the first time turned to me and said, and sadly it’s easy to have a conversation whilst the cars are circulating now, ‘What the fuck have they done to the cars!’

Precisely.

Still it was a fun day, the AGP program is packed with events and displays; support categories include V8 Supercars, Carrera Cup, Historics with Brabham the featured marque. And the F1’s, let’s not call them Grand Prix cars, ‘Petite Prix’ cars perhaps.

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Many car club displays, not much stuff we haven’t all seen before but still adds to the show and Albert Park is huge so there is lotsa space to fill!

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Touring Cars aren’t my thing but the V8 Supercars are interesting these days with Mercedes, Volvo and Nissan part of the show and providing diversity in addition to the local tribal followings of Holden and Ford. The cars are fast, loud and spectacular. Arguably the third best ‘Taxi’ series in the world behind NASCAR and the  German championship.

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Mad. And fantastic.

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Really good historic display, as noted above Brabham are the featured marque paying respect to JB with his recent passing. BT19 Repco, his 1966 Championship winning mount and well featured on primotipo in the past is the star of the show.

Winning the 1966 World F1 Championships: Brabham BT19 Repco…

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RAAF ‘Roulettes’ elite squadron flying Pilatus PC9 aircraft and the McDonnell Douglas F/A 18 Hornet ‘demo’ are always much anticipated.

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This shot is of the V8 Supercars and shows the proximity of the City of Melbourne to Albert Park, it’s a walk or short tram ride depending upon where you stay. Gritty, trendy St Kilda my pick as a local especially for the young or young at heart. It’s an easy walk to the circuit being on its doorstep with plenty of pubs, bars and restaurants as well as being right on Port Phillip Bay, if the weather is beach friendly and it usually is in early March.

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Elfin Owners Club Display, from ‘black to back’ cars; F2 622 Ford, 600 FF, 500 FV, pink nosed F2 600 Ford, red ‘Mallala’ Ford Sports. Superb cars they are too!

Most of you are from far away, it’s a race and place worth visiting.

If you had 2 weeks leave I would; arrive in Cairns and visit and dive ‘The Great Barrier Reef’, have a few days in Sydney and then ‘back to back’ the Phillip Island Historic Meeting with the AGP doing some touristing out of Melbourne in the week between. Hope some of you come next year let me know if you do, happy to be a tour guide.

 

The Long Walk Home: ‘Team Morphings’ From Toleman Group to Lotus…

Posted: March 6, 2015 in F1
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Gerhard Berger starts the long walk back to the Interlagos pits, Brazilian Grand Prix 1996…

Teammate Jean Alesi passes in his Benetton B196 Renault en-route to second place in the race won by Damon Hills’ Williams FW18 Renault,the Brit won the title that year. It was a great weekend for Hill, he started from pole, won the race, set fastest lap and lapped his mate Mikey in his new Ferrari F310 10 laps from home.

Gerhard qualified 8th and pulled off the circuit with hydraulics failure.

Schumacher joined Ferrari after his two Benetton World Championships on the trot at the start of 1996, the F310 commenced the season poorly but by the end of the year with hard work all round the car was competitive. Benetton were never a force after Schumachers departure morphing into Renault in 2002…Schumi left with Rory Byrne, Ross Brawn and other key players at the time.

Team Morphings…

At the same time i tripped over the shot above i looked at the prospective F1 team list for 2015, depending upon who actually lobs in Melbourne in March!

Of the 11 potential entrants this year only 3 have ‘unbroken lineage’ as marques; Ferrari, McLaren and Williams. Sure there have been changes in equity ownership along the way of these 3 but in essence the marques are ongoing.

All the other teams started as something else, often many years ago.

Benetton are a good example of a team which ‘morphed’ into a few different teams along the way.

Toleman Motorsport…

henton toleman

Brian Henton in his 1980 European F2 championship winning Toleman TG280 Hart. The team which designed, built and raced this car were the core of the team well into the Schumacher era of the team in its various iterations. (DR)

Ted Toleman, a transport entrepreneur became involved in motorsport initially as a power boat competitor and as a sponsor, initially of South African Rad Dougall in FF2000.

They progressed to F2 with Rad racing customer March and Ralt cars and became a manufactuer with the fantastic Toleman TG280 Hart, this 2 litre ground effects F2 machine designed by Rory Byrne, late of Royale for whom he had designed some great cars, the 75′ Royale RP21 one of the alltime best FF cars.

Brian Henton won the 1980 European F2 Championship from teammate Derek Warwick, the whole team including its drivers progressing to F1 in 1983, and famously launching the F1 career of Ayrton Senna in 1984.

Toleman attracted Benetton as a sponsor in 1985, the clothing manufacturer acquiring the team and renaming it in their own image with effect the 1986 season.

senna monaco 1984

Senna drove the underpowered but fairly explosive in its power delivery, Toleman TG184 Hart to 2nd place with great, deft precision. Only an eagerly waved red flag stopping the Brazilian from passing an a slowing Prost…with Stefan Bellof also coming home strongly from the rear of the grid in his Tyrrell. Bellof was making similar progress to Senna as Senna was to Prost…what a finish it could have been. To be fair there were a lot of accidents, the red flag was justified..if only it went out a few laps later! (Unattributed)

Benetton Formula Ltd…

Over the years the team used BMW, Ford and Renault engines with Flavio Briatore, Tom Walkinshaw and David Richards having key management roles along the way.

Drivers included Gerhard Berger, Jean Alesi, Sandro Nannini, Thierry Boutsen, Nelson Piquet, Roberto Moreno, Michael Schumacher and Ricardo Patrese.

The teams most successful period was in 1994/5, with Schumacher taking the drivers title in 1994 with the Ford V8 Zetec powered B194 and both drivers and constructors titles with the Renault RS7 V10 powered B195 in 1995.

Renault acquired the team in March 2000, leaving its name as Benetton in 2000/1 before changing the name to Renault F1 Team…Equipe Renault Elf the earlier incarnation of the Renault F1 team as a constructor from 1977-1985 before withdrawing as a constructor but continuing as an engine supplier to the likes of Williams and Lotus.

Renaults’ Grand Prix heritage stretches right back to the Edwardian period with Ferenc Szisz winning the 1906 French Grand Prix in a Renault AK90CV, they have been in and out of the sport as corporate marketing and engineering needs changed over 100 years.

berger

Gerhard Berger, Monaco 1986 in the Benetton B186 BMW. Gerhard qualifed 5th, wheel drive peg failure causing his retirement. Alain Prost won the race in a McLaren MP4 TAG. (Unattributed)

Renault F1 Team…

The teams sweet spot was with Fernando Alonso in the mid-2000’s, the Spaniard winning the drivers and constructors championships in 2005 and 2006 with the R25 and R26 powered by Renaults RS25 3 litre V10 and RS26 2.4 litre V8 respectively.

alonso monaco 2008

Alonso Monaco 2008 in his Renault R28. He qualified 7th and finished 10th in the race won by Hamiltons’ McLaren MP4/23 Mercedes. Tight lines as far as the eye can see.(Unattributed)

The teams competitiveness waned with the departure of Schumacher and other key players to Ferrari at the end of 2005.

Kubica monaco 2010

Robert Kubica added some firepower to the team in 2010, here in Monaco he qualified his Renault R30 second to Mark Webbers’ winning Red Bull RB6 Renault, the pair finishing the race in that order. Kubica replaced Alonso after he left for Ferrari at the end of 2009, his promise unfulfilled after the rallying accident which seriously broke his arm, preventing his return to an F1 cockpit.(Unattributed)

Lotus Renault GP…

In 2010 Renault sold a 75% stake in the company to Genii capital , a Luxembourg based investment company given road car commercial pressures. Renault announced its plans to scale back its F1 involvement, Toyota, Honda and BMW withdrawing from the sport for similar reasons.

Lotus Cars entered into a sponsorship agreement till 2017 with the team renamed Lotus Renault GP for 2011 but the cars themselves still called Renaults…and competed with Team Lotus (modern) who had acquired the rights to this historic name from former World Champ James Hunts’ brother David Hunt.

So, essentially there were two Lotus’ competing in 2011, the ‘Lotus Renault GP’ Teams Renault R31 and the ‘Team Lotus’ Lotus T128 Renault…will the real Lotus Renault please stand up!

It could only happen in modern F1, Lotus fans wept and Chapman turned in his grave…at least the Lotus sponsored Renault R31’s were competitive but the Lotus T128’s were shit-boxes at best.

Crazy!

petrov monaco 2011

Vitaly Petrovs’ Renault R31, entered by Lotus Renault GP. 10th on the grid and DNF after a collision on lap 67. Monaco 2011. Compare and contrast with the other ‘Lotus’ of Trullis’ below…(LAT)

Team Lotus (modern) raced in F1 as ‘Lotus Racing’ in 2010, that entity a group set up and funded by a group of Malaysian businessmen lead by Tony Fernandez who had secured a licence to use the name from Lotus Cars owner, Proton cars, a national Malaysian road car manufacturer.

This ‘dual Lotus’ naming situation was resolved when Fernandez acquired Caterham Cars, see the paragraph below, renaming the team Caterham F1 Team, the cars, wait for it, also Renault powered!

team lotus

Jarno Trulli, poor sod, in the Lotus T128 Renault, entered by Team Lotus, Monaco 2011, 13th in the race, 2 laps down on Vettels’ victorious Red Bull RB7 Renault. (Unattributed)

A bit of history here…Team Lotus (old) was the entity under which Colin Chapman competed in Grand Prix Racing…in simple terms, and its not quite this simple; in the Chapman Lotus World ‘Group Lotus Ltd’ built the road cars, ‘Lotus Components’ built the racing cars and ‘7’ until sold to Graham Nearn in 1971, Nearn rebranding the cars ‘Caterham’ as he wasn’t allowed to call them Lotuses’ under the deal he struck with Chapman, and ‘Team Lotus’ raced the cars…simple isn’t it!?

Renault, as stated above continued to supply the chassis (for the Lotus Renault GP team) from the Enstone, UK base which dated back to Benetton days, with Renault branding featuring in black and gold livery which echoed the ‘glory days’ of the Lotus ‘John Player Specials’ of the 70’s. Whilst the visual links were clear the innovative designs and race winning ability were not!

From 2012 the team has been known as Lotus F1 Team…

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Kimi Raikkonen in his Lotus E20 Renault, Q8 and 9th in the race won by Mark Webbers’ Red Bull RB8 Renault (LAT)

Kimi Raikkonen, having returned to F1 from a two year stint in rallying and Romain Grosjean really made the E20 Renault RS27 engined cars sing in 2012 .

romain

Romain Grosjean at Monaco in the 2014 Lotus E22 Renault, like most of the 2014 cars ‘as ugly as a hatful of arseholes’ as we colloquially put it in this country… he finished 8th in the race won by Nico Rosbergs’ Mercedes W05. (Unattributed)

And so to the present. The Lotus F1 team have entered the 2015 season with their Lotus E23 Mercedes to be driven by Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado, the long relationship with Renault as engine provider over for now at least.

The Administrator of Caterham, an administrator to the company being appointed in October 2014 due to funding deficiencies, have provisionally entered the season with dispensation being provided to run the 2014 chassis to improve the potential of the companies sale. ‘Crowdfunding’ being used to raise some working capital. The ‘CF1 Caterham team’ would therefore use the 2014 Caterham CT05 Renault with drivers TBA…

The next morphing of Toleman/Benetton/Renault/Lotus Renault/Lotus F1 will be interesting but far from the last! It begs the question as to which team has ‘morphed’ the most in F1 history…Minardi or Jordan maybe?

Photo Credits…

D Reinhard, LAT, DR

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