Worst Team Ever?
Damian Penny
the worst ever? It would be easy to
pick on one of these underfunded,
fly-by-night teams which popped up in
the late 1980s and early 90s (anyone
remember EuroBrun? AGS? Life? Onyx?
Andrea Moda?) but I'd have to vote for
Ligier.
Yeah, I know, this team won a few races
in the early 1980s. But I was
absolutely astonished by Ligier's
ability to squander vast resources.
Unlike, say, Simtek, the team was flush
with sponsorship cash, thanks largely to
Guy Ligier's connections with the French
government. In 1992 they had Renault
engines - same as Williams - and didn't
score a single point, for God's sake.
Comments?
Damian P.
David Buttery
>Which F1 team can truly be classified as the worst ever?
<snip>
>I'd have to vote for Ligier.
<snip>
>I was absolutely astonished by Ligier's ability to squander vast
>>resources.
<snip>
>Comments?
>
>Damian P.
If we're allowed to vote for particular seasons, rather than a team's
entire history (and excluding last season's BAR on compassionate
grounds), it has to be Ferrari 1992:
Sacked their best asset (Alain) before the end of '91 because he was
honest about how pathetic the car was (the famous "lorry driver"
comment). No wins in '91, but at least they got 56.5 points. We then
had to endure the sight of Alesi (who drove his heart out, as usual,
for very little reward) and Capelli racking up the grand total of 21
points, with precisely two podium finishes (Alesi 3rd in Barcelona
and Montreal). Alesi 7th in the DWC, Capelli 12th= (with Wendlinger).
Now *that's* squandering resources.
--
David.
"After all, a mere thousand yards - such a harmless little knoll,
really." (Raymond Mays on Shelsley Walsh)
EN¿GMA
--
En¿gma
To Finish First, First you have to Finish..
Damian Penny <dpe...@nf.sympatico.ca> wrote in article
<38CEF6A1...@nf.sympatico.ca>...
> Which F1 team can truly be classified as
> the worst ever? It would be easy to
> pick on one of these underfunded,
> fly-by-night teams which popped up in
> the late 1980s and early 90s (anyone
> remember EuroBrun? AGS? Life? Onyx?
> Andrea Moda?) but I'd have to vote for
> Ligier.
>
> Yeah, I know, this team won a few races
> in the early 1980s. But I was
> absolutely astonished by Ligier's
> ability to squander vast resources.
Al Fox
<tim...@bigpond.com> wrote:
>Damian Penny <dpe...@nf.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
>news:38CEF6A1...@nf.sympatico.ca...
>> Which F1 team can truly be classified as
>> the worst ever? It would be easy to
>> pick on one of these underfunded,
>> fly-by-night teams which popped up in
>> the late 1980s and early 90s (anyone
>> remember EuroBrun? AGS? Life? Onyx?
>> Andrea Moda?) but I'd have to vote for
>> Ligier.
>>
>> Yeah, I know, this team won a few races
>> in the early 1980s. But I was
>> absolutely astonished by Ligier's
>> ability to squander vast resources.
>> Unlike, say, Simtek, the team was flush
>> with sponsorship cash, thanks largely to
>> Guy Ligier's connections with the French
>> government. In 1992 they had Renault
>> engines - same as Williams - and didn't
>> score a single point, for God's sake.
>>
>> Comments?
>>
>> Damian P.
>
>
> depends, if you base it on races won per start, then Arrows...
>
>
>
>
As I recall, Team Rebaque with Hector Rebaque driving year old Lotus
back in 1980 didn't have much success either.....
-Al
sunburst
No. Thats no surprise.
Then there's Fittipaldi's team. And Graham Hill's team.
Anymore?
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
David Betts
>
> As I recall, Team Rebaque with Hector Rebaque driving year old Lotus
> back in 1980 didn't have much success either.....
Rebaque drove for Brabham in 1980, replacing Ricardo Zuninho and
starting seven GPs with a best placing of sixth in Canada.
I think you may be thinking of 1979, when Hector ran a Lotus 79-Ford
and then the Rebaque-Ford for three races. Depends how you define
success, as well. Personally I believe that, as the last true
privateer to run in F1, he did a pretty good job to qualify for all
but four of the GPs - only missed out on a point in Austria by one
place, as well.
--
David Betts (dav...@motorsport.org.uk)
"Returning to Goodwood is like going back to an old friend" - Sir
Stirling Moss
Photo albums:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=10440&Auth=false
Ian Hill
sunburst <matt_jess...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:01f44a60...@usw-ex0104-032.remarq.com...
> Remember the ill fated Lola project?
Which one?
Ah yes, the '97 one with zero testing that set a qualifying time something
like 15% off pole and was never seen again.
Or do you mean the '93 blancmange?
regards
--
Ian Hill, Cambridge, UK Email: ian...@crosswinds.net
http://ianhill.tripod.com
Please visit www.thehungersite.com today!
Fredrik B. Knutsen
sunburst wrote:
> Remember the ill fated Lola project?
>
> No. Thats no surprise.
>
> Then there's Fittipaldi's team. And Graham Hill's team.
Yes, I remember both. Especially telling Graham that Tony Brise had made it
across the line in a points-scoring position, despite being stuck in 5th, at the
Swedish GP in 1975. Why exactly would that team merit being among the worst
ever? In 1973, Graham ran a singleton Dhadow in Embassy colours, and his team
transporter was a Fort Transit mini-artic - hardly a big-buck team, and Graham
was far from his best as a driver. In 1974, they ran Lola and a two-car team and
ran well anough in mid-field, whilst for '75 Tony Brise came onboard and things
were really taking off....until that fateful November night at Elstree Aerodrome
:-(
Doc
>
>
> Anymore?
>
> * Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
> The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
--
Doc Fredrik B.Knutsen
Cheek Racing Cars
www.cheekracing.com
Fredrik B. Knutsen
Ian Hill wrote:
> sunburst <matt_jess...@hotmail.com.invalid> wrote in message
> news:01f44a60...@usw-ex0104-032.remarq.com...
> > Remember the ill fated Lola project?
>
> Which one?
>
> Ah yes, the '97 one with zero testing that set a qualifying time something
> like 15% off pole and was never seen again.
> Or do you mean the '93 blancmange?
I thought he meant the '62 Climax V8-powered version in which Surtees ran away
from the field at Rheims :-)
Or indeed the '67 Monza winner.
Doc
>
>
> regards
> --
> Ian Hill, Cambridge, UK Email: ian...@crosswinds.net
> http://ianhill.tripod.com
> Please visit www.thehungersite.com today!
--
Tom Hiett
> "Al Fox" wrote
> >
> > As I recall, Team Rebaque with Hector Rebaque driving year old Lotus
> > back in 1980 didn't have much success either.....
Lotus started 1978 in the previous year's Lotus 78s before the Lotus
79 came along and even won with it. Ronnie Peterson died in a year
old Lotus 78 clear at the end of the season after wrecking his 79 in
practice. IIRC, Rebaque was in line for current Lotuses but got them
further into the season than the works team.
> Rebaque drove for Brabham in 1980, replacing Ricardo Zuninho and
> starting seven GPs with a best placing of sixth in Canada.
Then went to CART, won his only race, then retired.
> I think you may be thinking of 1979, when Hector ran a Lotus 79-Ford
> and then the Rebaque-Ford for three races. Depends how you define
> success, as well. Personally I believe that, as the last true
> privateer to run in F1, he did a pretty good job to qualify for all
> but four of the GPs - only missed out on a point in Austria by one
> place, as well.
Think he ran a Lotus 78 too. Saw a pic of it somewhere. Some of the
F1 model builders have been wanting decals to do his version.
Arturo Merzario was a privateer during the same era and didn't
do nearly as well as Rebaque.
Tom
--
Tom Hiett e-mail: thi...@iastate.edu
Designer-Illustrator-Modeler Iowa State University
Check out my vintage race pics at:
www.public.iastate.edu/~thiett
Al Fox
<dav...@dbassoc.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
>"Al Fox" wrote
>>
>> As I recall, Team Rebaque with Hector Rebaque driving year old Lotus
>> back in 1980 didn't have much success either.....
>
>Rebaque drove for Brabham in 1980, replacing Ricardo Zuninho and
>starting seven GPs with a best placing of sixth in Canada.
>
>I think you may be thinking of 1979, when Hector ran a Lotus 79-Ford
>and then the Rebaque-Ford for three races. Depends how you define
>success, as well. Personally I believe that, as the last true
>privateer to run in F1, he did a pretty good job to qualify for all
>but four of the GPs - only missed out on a point in Austria by one
>place, as well.
>
>--
>David Betts (dav...@motorsport.org.uk)
>
>"Returning to Goodwood is like going back to an old friend" - Sir
>Stirling Moss
>
>Photo albums:
>http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=10440&Auth=false
>
>
>
Yep, it was 1979, not 1980. I remember seeing him in a brown Lotus at
Watkins Glen.
Patrick
>
> Which one?
>
> Ah yes, the '97 one with zero testing that set a qualifying time something
> like 15% off pole and was never seen again.
> Or do you mean the '93 blancmange?
At least they had the good sense to withdraw the car instantly, rather
than spend the whole of the summer trawling it round europe wasting the
time of its drivers.....Still hard to comprehend how a good solid motor
racing engineering company like Lola screwed up quite so badly.
As far as the worst cars of all time go, does anyone remember the Coloni
Subaru. Subaru's rather strange, half arsed entry into F1 took place in
1990/1 (my memory fails me as to which of these years), when they stuck a
Flat 12 engine in a rather horrid yellow Coloni and let Pedro Chaves and
Bertrand Gachot attempt to qualify the thing.
Then there was the mysterious Italian/Russian Life Outfit. Reynard (I
think it was they) had built a chassis for the ill-fated GLAS F1 project
in the mid/late eighties, while some off duty Ferrari (or possibly Motori
Moderni) engineers had built a W12 engine, again, some time in the late
eighties. Life put these two museum piece curiousities together
and made an F1 team out of it. Bankrolled by a conglomerate of Russian
steel companies and
run by an obscure Italian, this team tackled most of the 1990 season, and
never once made it past prequalifying. At Silverstone, the car lapped just
fast enough to place itself 2nd on the grid for the F3 race that same day.
That was one of the team's better outings.
Other late eighties/early nineties half hearted attempts at F1 included
Osella, Zakspeed, AGS, Rial, Fondmetal, Andrea Moda, Pacific, Forti,
Eurobrun, Monteverdi (rebadged Onyxes) and various other oddities
Am I the only one who kind of misses these teams and thinks they actually
added something to the spectacle in a funny kind of way ?
Pat
patr...@dai.ed.ac.uk
http://members.tripod.com/~PatrickD/f1.html
Tel-0131-661-3189
Bores bore each other too, but it never seems to teach them anything. -
Don Marquis
Barry Posner
Patrick wrote:
> > Ah yes, the '97 one with zero testing that set a qualifying time something
> > like 15% off pole and was never seen again.
> > Or do you mean the '93 blancmange?
> At least they had the good sense to withdraw the car instantly, rather
> than spend the whole of the summer trawling it round europe wasting the
> time of its drivers.....Still hard to comprehend how a good solid motor
> racing engineering company like Lola screwed up quite so badly.
Lack of funding and a weak engine. The Mastercard sponsorship, which was
tied to people using "Lola-F1" credit cards, never materialized. And
they were using the Ford EC-3 motor, which was a couple of years old and
of a lower spec than even the Minardi and Pacific motors. It seems Ford
wasn't too interested in developing their customer motors.
bp
Paul Jacuzzi
Damian Penny wrote in message <38CEF6A1...@nf.sympatico.ca>...
>Which F1 team can truly be classified as
>the worst ever? It would be easy to
>pick on one of these underfunded,
>fly-by-night teams which popped up in
>the late 1980s and early 90s (anyone
>remember EuroBrun? AGS? Life? Onyx?
>Andrea Moda?) but I'd have to vote for
>Ligier.
>
>Yeah, I know, this team won a few races
>in the early 1980s. But I was
>absolutely astonished by Ligier's
>ability to squander vast resources.
>Unlike, say, Simtek, the team was flush
>with sponsorship cash, thanks largely to
>Guy Ligier's connections with the French
>government. In 1992 they had Renault
>engines - same as Williams - and didn't
>score a single point, for God's sake.
>
>Comments?
>
>Damian P.
My vote goes to BAR, 1999, despite my obvious leanings to Jacques. I hardly
need to reacquaint y'all with their deplorable season and stats. The worst
team money could buy.
PJ
Barry Posner
Paul Jacuzzi wrote:
> My vote goes to BAR, 1999, despite my obvious leanings to Jacques. I hardly
> need to reacquaint y'all with their deplorable season and stats. The worst
> team money could buy.
Indeed, especially if you judge them on results per millions of dollars
spent. On that count, they were ultimately worse than any of the Life,
Eurobrun, Lola or Forti efforts.
I remember Pollock stating at one time last year that up to 60% of the
components manufactured for the car were found to be faulty in one way
or another...that's about 30 times higher than the acceptable rate in
any other industry.
bp
Tim Cunnings
> the worst ever? It would be easy to
> pick on one of these underfunded,
> fly-by-night teams which popped up in
> the late 1980s and early 90s (anyone
> remember EuroBrun? AGS? Life? Onyx?
> Andrea Moda?) but I'd have to vote for
> Ligier.
>
> Yeah, I know, this team won a few races
> in the early 1980s. But I was
> absolutely astonished by Ligier's
> ability to squander vast resources.
> Unlike, say, Simtek, the team was flush
> with sponsorship cash, thanks largely to
> Guy Ligier's connections with the French
> government. In 1992 they had Renault
> engines - same as Williams - and didn't
> score a single point, for God's sake.
>
> Comments?
>
> Damian P.
Johnny Moda
"Patrick" <patr...@dai.ed.ac.uk> wrote in message
news:Pine.GSO.4.10.100031...@drumoak.dai.ed.ac.uk...
Life - I thought the Life chassis was based upon the ill-fated First F1
project, and the GLAS F1 project became Modena Lamborghini ? It's all
getting a bit hazy now.
The W12 engine was developed by former Ferrari F1 engineer Franco Rocchi,
and the team was ran by one Ernesto Vista. Later in the season they swapped
the W12 for a Judd V8, but didn't bother to re-design the engine cover, so
it kept falling off. Compared to these people, Coloni were a slick,
professionally-run organisation !
I miss these little teams in F1 also. They certainly provided a little bit
of variety, and with some sponsorship some of them might have stayed the
course. Let's face it, Frank William's first effort in F1 (before the Wolf
buy-out) in the seventies was on a par with the likes of Fondmetal, AGS, and
Forti etc. And his team has now become a major-player of course.
These days, even top F3000 teams, such as Forti and Pacific, cannot stay in
F1 'cos of the huge costs. And others, such as Super Nova and DAMS, thought
about it then decided against it for this reason. It seems F1 is now
effectively a closed-shop, and I think that it may eventually stagnate, and
become an arena only for a dozen-or-so major motor manufacturers.
Pretty-much the same year-in, year-out.
frank...@my-deja.com
100...@drumoak.dai.ed.ac.uk>,> > Which one?
> >
> > Ah yes, the '97 one with zero testing that set a qualifying time
something
> > like 15% off pole and was never seen again.
> > Or do you mean the '93 blancmange?
>
> At least they had the good sense to withdraw the car instantly, rather
> than spend the whole of the summer trawling it round europe wasting
the
> time of its drivers.....Still hard to comprehend how a good solid
motor
> racing engineering company like Lola screwed up quite so badly.
>
Coloni
> Subaru. Subaru's rather strange, half arsed entry into F1 took place
in
> 1990/1 (my memory fails me as to which of these years), when they
stuck a
> Flat 12 engine in a rather horrid yellow Coloni and let Pedro Chaves
and
> Bertrand Gachot attempt to qualify the thing.
>
> think it was they) had built a chassis for the ill-fated GLAS F1
project
> in the mid/late eighties, while some off duty Ferrari (or possibly
Motori
> Moderni) engineers had built a W12 engine, again, some time in the
late
> eighties. Life put these two museum piece curiousities together
> and made an F1 team out of it. Bankrolled by a conglomerate of Russian
> steel companies and
> run by an obscure Italian, this team tackled most of the 1990 season,
and
> never once made it past prequalifying. At Silverstone, the car lapped
just
> fast enough to place itself 2nd on the grid for the F3 race that same
day.
> That was one of the team's better outings.
ROFL!!
> Other late eighties/early nineties half hearted attempts at F1
included
>
> Osella, Zakspeed, AGS, Rial, Fondmetal, Andrea Moda, Pacific, Forti,
> Eurobrun, Monteverdi (rebadged Onyxes) and various other oddities
>
> Am I the only one who kind of misses these teams and thinks they
actually
> added something to the spectacle in a funny kind of way ?
You have to laugh very hard but it is also sad because some people
actually toil and dream they can actually get these cars into a race.
I guess EJ and Sir Frank had the same dreams too.
> Pat
>
> patr...@dai.ed.ac.uk
> http://members.tripod.com/~PatrickD/f1.html
> Tel-0131-661-3189
>
> Bores bore each other too, but it never seems to teach them
anything. -
> Don Marquis
>
>
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
frank...@my-deja.com
Too true. It is a shame that Minardi does not have the Honda engine.
Minardi builds a reliable race car and it would be quick with a better
power plant.
Bob Dubery
davidb...@ANTISPAM.x-stream.co.uk.invalid (David Buttery) wrote:
>Sacked their best asset (Alain) before the end of '91 because he was
>honest about how pathetic the car was (the famous "lorry driver"
>comment). No wins in '91, but at least they got 56.5 points.
'91 was when the rot set in. It was I think, Spain, that Pier Luigi
Martini in a MINARDI with a customer Ferrari engine put one over the
works cars. That was embarrasing.
Bob Dubery
<JPB@*nospam*moda.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
>Life - I thought the Life chassis was based upon the ill-fated First F1
>project, and the GLAS F1 project became Modena Lamborghini ? It's all
>getting a bit hazy now.
Makes sense to me. Do you remember the Modena car from 1991? It was so
out of date it was fascinating. Looked like an early 70s McLaren or
BRM with those lovely bulbous sides.
But at least that car actually started (and finished!) a race.
> Let's face it, Frank William's first effort in F1 (before the Wolf
>buy-out) in the seventies was on a par with the likes of Fondmetal, AGS, and
>Forti etc.
Yeah. I remember the Marches he ran in '72, and then that dreadful
ISO-Techno thing.
Patrick
> > Then there was the mysterious Italian/Russian Life Outfit. Reynard (I
> > think it was they) had built a chassis for the ill-fated GLAS F1 project
> > in the mid/late eighties, while some off duty Ferrari (or possibly Motori
> > Moderni) engineers had built a W12 engine, again, some time in the late
> > eighties. Life put these two museum piece curiousities together
> > and made an F1 team out of it. Bankrolled by a conglomerate of Russian
> > steel companies and
> > run by an obscure Italian, this team tackled most of the 1990 season, and
> > never once made it past prequalifying. At Silverstone, the car lapped just
> > fast enough to place itself 2nd on the grid for the F3 race that same day.
> > That was one of the team's better outings.
> >
> > Other late eighties/early nineties half hearted attempts at F1 included
> >
> > Osella, Zakspeed, AGS, Rial, Fondmetal, Andrea Moda, Pacific, Forti,
> > Eurobrun, Monteverdi (rebadged Onyxes) and various other oddities
> >
> > Am I the only one who kind of misses these teams and thinks they actually
> > added something to the spectacle in a funny kind of way ?
> >
> > Pat
>
> Life - I thought the Life chassis was based upon the ill-fated First F1
> project, and the GLAS F1 project became Modena Lamborghini ? It's all
> getting a bit hazy now.
Yes...that was it. I think it was Reynard that built the FIRST chassis.
FIRST were an F3000 team if I remember rightly... there was a lot of talk
of them entering F1 for a number of years, but it never happened. I
believe Toyota got as far as building a show-car at around the same
time...and it too never actually ran.
>
> I miss these little teams in F1 also. They certainly provided a little bit
> of variety, and with some sponsorship some of them might have stayed the
> course. Let's face it, Frank William's first effort in F1 (before the Wolf
> buy-out) in the seventies was on a par with the likes of Fondmetal, AGS, and
> Forti etc. And his team has now become a major-player of course.
>
For a while, I think it was 1988, AGS actually ran a pretty competitive
mid-grid car. Lack of money for testing and development, coupled with some
distinctly underwhelming drivers, did for them.
> These days, even top F3000 teams, such as Forti and Pacific, cannot stay in
> F1 'cos of the huge costs. And others, such as Super Nova and DAMS, thought
> about it then decided against it for this reason. It seems F1 is now
> effectively a closed-shop, and I think that it may eventually stagnate, and
> become an arena only for a dozen-or-so major motor manufacturers.
> Pretty-much the same year-in, year-out.
F1 isn't effectively a closed shop, it is literally a closed shop. Bernie
Ecclestone has limited the number of teams allowed to compete to 12, and
if anyone else wants to enter F1, they effectively have to buy up an
existing team. The cost of buying even, say, Minardi is so prohibitively
expensive that an F3000 team simply couldn't make the leap. All the same,
it worries me the extent to which F1 is falling into the hands of motor
manufacturers, liable to come and go as and when the economic
climate/currently in vogue marketing strategies come and go. Already it is
looking like there won't be enough engines to go round next year as nobody
is building customer engines any more, apart from Supertec, who may well
pull out when Renault return to F1.
Johnny Moda
"Bob Dubery" <mega...@icon.co.za> wrote in message
news:38d09662....@hermes.is.co.za...
> >project, and the GLAS F1 project became Modena Lamborghini ? It's all
> >getting a bit hazy now.
>
> out of date it was fascinating. Looked like an early 70s McLaren or
> BRM with those lovely bulbous sides.
>
> But at least that car actually started (and finished!) a race.
>
Yes, there were two new teams for the start of the 1991 season,
Modena-Lamborghini, and Jordan-Ford. It's amazing to think that on the
evidence of the first race at Phoenix, USA, that out of the two, Modena Team
looked by-far to have the best prospects.
Both teams had one car which failed to pre-qualify, and both also had one
car that qualified and got into the race. Gachot (Jordan), and Larini
(Lambo) both qualifying mid-grid. However, in the race, the Jordan retired
with engine failure. The Modena Lambo on the other-hand finished a
respectable 7th.
This turned-out to be the team's finest hour. And yes, I think the car had
the best side-pods of the nineties !
Stephen M Baines
>As far as the worst cars of all time go, does anyone remember the Coloni
>Subaru. Subaru's rather strange, half arsed entry into F1 took place in
>1990/1 (my memory fails me as to which of these years), when they stuck a
>Flat 12 engine in a rather horrid yellow Coloni and let Pedro Chaves and
>Bertrand Gachot attempt to qualify the thing.
It was especially dreadful - the engine was a Motori Moderni (if ever a
mischosen name, that is it) designed by Carlos Chitti. The engine was so
dreadful that eventually Subaru disappeared and handed the team back to
Enzo Coloni.
>Then there was the mysterious Italian/Russian Life Outfit.
Another of my favourite teams <G> First Racing chassis, iirc. The GLAS
project became Central Park Modena.
>Other late eighties/early nineties half hearted attempts at F1 included
>
>Osella, Zakspeed, AGS, Rial, Fondmetal, Andrea Moda, Pacific, Forti,
>Eurobrun, Monteverdi (rebadged Onyxes) and various other oddities
>
>Am I the only one who kind of misses these teams and thinks they actually
>added something to the spectacle in a funny kind of way ?
No, you are certainly not. This one for one really does miss them.
--
Stephen M Baines http://www.motorsport.org.uk
http://www.motorsport.org.uk/me
finger ste...@motorsport.org.uk for PGP Keys
"Unnatural gentlemen prefer unnatural blonds. IME." Richard G
Pete Fenelon
> Think he ran a Lotus 78 too. Saw a pic of it somewhere. Some of the
> F1 model builders have been wanting decals to do his version.
There's a Quartzo 1:43 diecast of it -- not a particularly nice model but
a lovely livery.
> Arturo Merzario was a privateer during the same era and didn't
> do nearly as well as Rebaque.
The Kauhsen team is probably the most embarrassingly inept F1 entry of the 70s,
though "Little Art"'s attempts to turn bits of old Marches into ground-effects
cars were pretty poor too. At least his mechanic Simon Hadfield recovered to
become a top figure in the world of historic racing!
pete
--
pe...@fenelon.com "there's no room for enigmas in built-up areas."
Pete Fenelon
> Then there was the mysterious Italian/Russian Life Outfit. Reynard (I
> think it was they) had built a chassis for the ill-fated GLAS F1 project
> in the mid/late eighties, while some off duty Ferrari (or possibly Motori
> Moderni) engineers had built a W12 engine, again, some time in the late
> eighties. Life put these two museum piece curiousities together
> and made an F1 team out of it. Bankrolled by a conglomerate of Russian
> steel companies and
> run by an obscure Italian, this team tackled most of the 1990 season, and
> never once made it past prequalifying. At Silverstone, the car lapped just
> fast enough to place itself 2nd on the grid for the F3 race that same day.
> That was one of the team's better outings.
This is a mixture of several stories. The GLAS chassis became the Modena
Lambo, and has nowt to do with this (neither do Reynard). The Life chassis
was the abandoned FIRST project from 1988, revived to take their terrible W12
in 1989. You're right about the Russian steel companies, though.
> Am I the only one who kind of misses these teams and thinks they actually
> added something to the spectacle in a funny kind of way ?
Stephen Baines and I often post "this team was worse than that one!" stuff
about the late 80s :)
Pete Fenelon
> course. Let's face it, Frank William's first effort in F1 (before the Wolf
> buy-out) in the seventies was on a par with the likes of Fondmetal, AGS, and
> Forti etc. And his team has now become a major-player of course.
Frank Williams' *first* effort in F1 was the ex-works Brabham for Piers Courage
in '69. Which was far from being a back-of-the-grid effort -- Courage scored
two second places and a few other good placings in '69. It was the period
after Courage's death and the end of the de Tomaso project (customer Marches,
the various Politoys/Williams/ISO cars, the Hesketh-based Wolf-Williams
etc., the interim season with a March ('70-77) during which Williams
was scratching around.`
Patrick
> Patrick <patr...@dai.ed.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> > Then there was the mysterious Italian/Russian Life Outfit. Reynard (I
> > think it was they) had built a chassis for the ill-fated GLAS F1 project
> > in the mid/late eighties, while some off duty Ferrari (or possibly Motori
> > Moderni) engineers had built a W12 engine, again, some time in the late
> > eighties. Life put these two museum piece curiousities together
> > and made an F1 team out of it. Bankrolled by a conglomerate of Russian
> > steel companies and
> > run by an obscure Italian, this team tackled most of the 1990 season, and
> > never once made it past prequalifying. At Silverstone, the car lapped just
> > fast enough to place itself 2nd on the grid for the F3 race that same day.
> > That was one of the team's better outings.
>
> This is a mixture of several stories. The GLAS chassis became the Modena
> Lambo, and has nowt to do with this (neither do Reynard). The Life chassis
> was the abandoned FIRST project from 1988, revived to take their terrible W12
> in 1989. You're right about the Russian steel companies, though.
Yes...that was it. I'm sure that one of the established single seater
manufacturers was behind the FIRST chassis though. I did try a trawl
through the internet, but oculdn't turn up anything whatsoever about Life,
FIRST or GLAS (save a little on Steve Baines's site).
GLAS was originally a Mexican outfit if I remember rightly...Modena took
over when they lost the funding for the project...the car nearly scored
points in San Marino, with Eric Van De Poele at the wheel, but the engine
blew a few laps from home.
Actually one of the most intriguing aspects of the whole story, to me at
least, is just who was paying Life to send their car to prequalify at each
European race through the summer ofg 1990, and what they thought they were
getting in return. That and the question of whether Ernesto Vita made any
money on the deal.
And on a totally by-the-by note, my youngest brother used to have an
F1-themed duvet cover, featuring McLarens Lotuses, Williams, and,
peculiarly, the Life. Wish I'd kept the thing actually.
Pat
patr...@dai.ed.ac.uk
http://members.tripod.com/~PatrickD/index.html
Robert Jackson
Remember Lotus in 1988? Same (or similar) Honda turbos as Mclaren who
won 15/16 races, 1987 champ Piquet spent most of the year battling with
the likes of AGS and being beaten by teammate Nakajima
Sadly things got worse for the team from then on....
Patrick
>
>
> Remember Lotus in 1988? Same (or similar) Honda turbos as Mclaren who
> won 15/16 races, 1987 champ Piquet spent most of the year battling with
> the likes of AGS and being beaten by teammate Nakajima
>
> Sadly things got worse for the team from then on....
The Lotus Honda was a pretty terrible car, by all accounts really...the
extent of its awfulness was partially hidden by the fact that Senna was
driving it in '87.
All the same, when it comes to wasting engines, Ligier did a sum total of
nothing with championsip winning Renault atmos in 1992.
And when it comes to doing nothing with top drivers, Ferrari have had
Schumacher, Prost, Mansell and Berger driving for them in the last ten
years, and yet they still haven't won the WDC since 1979.
patr...@dai.ed.ac.uk
http://members.tripod.com/~PatrickD/f1.html
GD
says...
>>
>> > Then there was the mysterious Italian/Russian Life Outfit.
>Yes...that was it. I'm sure that one of the established single seater
>manufacturers was behind the FIRST chassis though. I did try a trawl
>through the internet, but oculdn't turn up anything whatsoever about Life,
>FIRST or GLAS (save a little on Steve Baines's site).
Well, since I happen to have a few "Prix Editions" magazines
from around that era:
Vol4 , No1 (1990) not only has a photo of an extremely young
looking Coulthard, but also has an interview with Gary Brabham
(who of course drove for LIFE)in which he says:
"I went down to the factory at regio Emilia - near Modena -
expecting it to be a low-budget operation operation. Osella,
or that kind of thing. ... Its a good setup. They've got their
own composite shop, a huge oven and they have got their own
engine built in a great workshop. Its a 12-cylinder unit
in a W configuration and it has loads of grunt."
The magazine goes on to say:
The engine, like the team, is the product of the work of
ex-Ferrari expertise in the form of Franco Rocchi, who was
recruited to Ferrari in 1949 [until 1979] He was the designer
of a W-16 engine for Ferrari which was outlawed.
... The Life company was set up by Italian businessman Ernesto
Vita... A staff of 15 [only 15!!!] work under the guidance of
Morelli, another former Ferrari man who in Gary's own words
was "one of the top cats there - and was one of the best. Dad
remembers him well."
Vol4, No3 has a small bit about Glas:
"A new F1 team will be unveiled at the San Marino Grand Prix.
Designed and built in Italy, but financed with Mexican money,
the Glas-Lamborghini [will be ready for the 1991 championship]
Motivator and main financial prop of the new team is Fernando
Gonzales Luna, heir to a banking, construction and hotel
dynasty in Mexico. A former kart driver himself, he is mounting
a Formula 1 challenge, he says, to bring back the enthusiasm
felt in his country when the Rodriguez brothers were racing.
To achieve this, he turned to... Mauro Forghieri [Ferrari man].
Phoenix Grand Prix - the only Life car there failed prequalifying
when it managed just 2 laps before the electrics failed.
Brazil GP (Sao Paolo) - the Life car did not record a time in
prequalifying, because "a broken con-rod disabled the car as soon
as he [Brabham] took to the track".
San Marino GP. Gary Brabham leaves Life in an effort to save his
career. Replacement Bruno Giacomelli doesnt record a time (and
thus fails) in prequalifying.
Monaco GP. Giacomelli records a Life prequalifying time 20 seconds
slower than pole man Prost, he is last and fails prequalifying.
The engine blew up after 8 laps.
Canadian GP. The Life car driven by Giacomelli is again slowest
of all in prequalifying, and thus again fails.
Mexican GP.
"The proposed Mexican Formula 1 team failed to appear at its
scheduled launch here. Fernando Gonzales Luna, a Mexican
businessman, formed the new GLAS (which stands for Gonzales
Luna and ASsociates) F1 team. The team hired Lamborghini's
Mauro Forghieri to design the car which is fitted with a
Lamborghini V12 engine. The car was supposed to be flown from
Paris [whats it doing there??] to Mexico City on the Wednesday
before the race. Then problems arose when a cheque from GLAS
to Lamborghini for over one million dollars reportedly failed
to clear the bank. The GLAS F1 car is still in Paris.
Luna, however, has disappeared.
He leaves behind a company which is now suffering from a
reported [imagine a pounds symbol here]20 million financial
deficiency."
Meanwhile, the Life car of Giacomelli was last once more, and
failed prequalifying once more also. "No life in the engine"
French GP. The Life team didnt bother to turn up.
"no explanation was given for their non-arrival"
British GP. Poor Life is last again in prequalifying.
"Electrical problems"
German GP: Engine problems and last in prequalifying once
more for Giacomelli in his Life car. Makes you wonder why
they bother. 30 seconds slower than pole man Senna.
Hungarian GP. Same old story. Life Last in prequalifying.
Belgian GP. Life is last in prequalifying once more.
18 seconds slower than the next-slowest car of Langes in
the EuroBrun.
Italian GP. Giacomelli manages just 2 laps in prequalifying
before his Life car fails again. Poor effort guys.
Thats as far as my magazine collection goes, but the programme
guide to the Adelaide GP says of the Life team:
"...but the first half of the season showed how disastrously
ill-prepared the team was - even failing to find a wheel
wrench to effect elementary repairs to Gary Brabham's
car in Phoenix."
Bobski
>
> On Wed, 15 Mar 2000, Ian Hill wrote:
>
> >
> > Which one?
> >
> > Ah yes, the '97 one with zero testing that set a qualifying time something
> > like 15% off pole and was never seen again.
> > Or do you mean the '93 blancmange?
>
>
>
> Osella, Zakspeed, AGS, Rial, Fondmetal, Andrea Moda, Pacific, Forti,
> Eurobrun, Monteverdi (rebadged Onyxes) and various other oddities
>
> added something to the spectacle in a funny kind of way ?
>
>
> patr...@dai.ed.ac.uk
> http://members.tripod.com/~PatrickD/f1.html
> Tel-0131-661-3189
>
> Bores bore each other too, but it never seems to teach them anything. -
> Don Marquis
<snip>
You're not the only one misses these things, certainly livened up F1.
Remember Andrea Moda (IIRC 1993, working from memory here). It's owner got
arrested in the pit lane during qualifying for Belgium GP, something about
unpaid bills. Great stuff!
Bobski.
Patrick
>
> <snip>
>
> You're not the only one misses these things, certainly livened up F1.
> Remember Andrea Moda (IIRC 1993, working from memory here). It's owner got
> arrested in the pit lane during qualifying for Belgium GP, something about
> unpaid bills. Great stuff!
Ahh, so that was why they disappeared. I think it was '92 as it happens,
but I could be wrong. There were an awful lot of borderline criminals
operating at the back end of the grid...I suspect a result of the fact
that financial difficulties made it difficult to keep a tail-end team
afloat while remaining 'legit'. March are still the legal possession of
the serious fraud office, I believe. I struggle to remember just how many
people surrounding Gerard Larrousse got locked up (I think one murdered
his wife...another committed suicide in a stake out of his home), while
Middlebridge/Brabham also caught the attentions of the serious fraud
office.
That said, theres a rumour that current f1 teams are resorting to cocaine
smuggling in order to stay afloat (an article on the front page of the
Sunday Times last year claimed as much anyway)
Pat
patr...@dai.ed.ac.uk
http://members.tripod.com/~PatrickD/index.html
Pete Fenelon
> The engine, like the team, is the product of the work of
> ex-Ferrari expertise in the form of Franco Rocchi, who was
> recruited to Ferrari in 1949 [until 1979] He was the designer
> of a W-16 engine for Ferrari which was outlawed.
I believe this was actually a W18...
> Luna, however, has disappeared.
And never came back, if I recall rightly :)
> Hungarian GP. Same old story. Life Last in prequalifying.
> Belgian GP. Life is last in prequalifying once more.
> 18 seconds slower than the next-slowest car of Langes in
> the EuroBrun.
> Italian GP. Giacomelli manages just 2 laps in prequalifying
> before his Life car fails again. Poor effort guys.
> Thats as far as my magazine collection goes, but the programme
> guide to the Adelaide GP says of the Life team:
> "...but the first half of the season showed how disastrously
> ill-prepared the team was - even failing to find a wheel
> wrench to effect elementary repairs to Gary Brabham's
> car in Phoenix."
They switched to a Judd V8 for their last couple of races. The car
was still dreadfully slow, but not quite *as* slow as it was with the
Life engine. Given that the team was called Life Racing *Engines* you can
imagine how much it must've hurt putting the Judd lump in there -- on a par
with the Subaru-Coloni or Arrows-Porsche debacles.
Pete Fenelon
> Ahh, so that was why they disappeared. I think it was '92 as it happens,
> but I could be wrong. There were an awful lot of borderline criminals
> operating at the back end of the grid...
Akira Akagi of Leyton House fame had dealings with Japan's equivalent of the
SFO. Joachim Luhti of Brabham "fame" had difficulties with his finances, as
did Jean-Pierre van Rossem.
And, were he still alive, Colin Chapman would've been doing time by then
(Fred Bushell did time, if I recall rightly) Wonder what the *real*
cause of his death was? Reckon he offed himself 'cos he knew he'd be
sewing mailbags? :)
> I suspect a result of the fact
> that financial difficulties made it difficult to keep a tail-end team
> afloat while remaining 'legit'. March are still the legal possession of
> the serious fraud office, I believe. I struggle to remember just how many
> people surrounding Gerard Larrousse got locked up (I think one murdered
> his wife...another committed suicide in a stake out of his home), while
Didier Calmels shot his wife, the chap who run "venture capital" firm
Comstock killed himself.
> Middlebridge/Brabham also caught the attentions of the serious fraud
> office.
The Landhurst Leasing debacle, if I recall rightly. Lotus were also implicated
in this.
At one point it looked like every shady nouveau-riche multimillionaire with
a few eight-figure sums to hide bought into an F1 team -- certainly a more
colourful era, but not necessarily a more respectable one.
David Betts
>
> At one point it looked like every shady nouveau-riche
> multimillionaire with a few eight-figure sums to hide
> bought into an F1 team -- certainly a more
> colourful era, but not necessarily a more respectable one.
Who was the Essex guy? David Thieme. Sponsored Lotus. Supposed to be
an oil company of sorts. Whatever happened to him? Then there was
Southern Organs - at one time they seemed to sponsor pretty much every
motor race in the UK, but I'm not sure they ever sold any organs.
And we mustn't forget that fancy Italian bank which sponsored Arrows
for a while - Ambrosiana, was it? Supposed to be a front for the
Vatican mafia. Something to do with the Vatican financier who ended up
hanging under a bridge in London.
--
David Betts (dav...@motorsport.org.uk)
"In the end it's always a matter of more accelerator and less brake" -
Frank Gardner
Photo albums:
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumList?u=10440&Auth=false
Tuomo O. Vuolteenaho
> And we mustn't forget that fancy Italian bank which sponsored Arrows
> for a while - Ambrosiana, was it? Supposed to be a front for the
> Vatican mafia. Something to do with the Vatican financier who ended up
> hanging under a bridge in London.
If you like the story, go and buy Jeffrey Robinson's "The Laundrymen."
Chapter fifteen "A Tale of Two Banks" gives a very entertaining while
truthful account of the events.
Tuomo
Stephen M Baines
>At one point it looked like every shady nouveau-riche multimillionaire with
>a few eight-figure sums to hide bought into an F1 team -- certainly a more
>colourful era, but not necessarily a more respectable one.
OK, I've took the plunge, and raided a few of my old postings about the
old rogues of late 80s early 90s F1... Prepare yourself for the
FAQ of F1 Ratbags and Constructors ;-)
======================================
Apologies for any strange tenses, it's been cut and pasted from lots of
posts, and I got lost <G>
Il Barone Rampante / Andrea Moda
================================
Il Barone Rampante seemed to get linked with just about every team known
to man during the 90s! In late '91 they were linked to their own
effort going to F1, then they were to buy Tyrrell for £4.5m (Uncle Ken
did right to hold on, by the look of it <G>). IIRC the team that ran Il
Barone Rampante latterly became the Andrea Moda squad.
Onyx
====
The Mike Earle-Jo Chamberlain Onyx was a good little team, but Jean-
Pierre van Rossem's interest quickly evaporated when he couldn't get
Porsche engines (a bit like his money <G>). When they quit in late '89
it went more than a little pear-shaped. In February '90, a French group
called DB (never found out who they were) bought into the team, and van
Rossem pulled out saying "I am fed up of F1". Two Japanese groups and
Mike Earle were linked to buying it back. Then the team was set to merge
with Brabham.
Van Rossem decides he didn't want to sell the team to Swiss Monteverdi,
so sells it to Middlebridge. Middlebridge then sell Onyx to Monteverdi
within 3 days, whilst buying Brabham in the same period. Monteverdi
brings Mike Earle back to the team. Monteverdi then buys out the
remaining shares owned by Earle and Chamberlain, and Alan Jenkins then
quit the team, only for Monteverdi to declare that he'd design the car
himself, as it can't be that hard... Mike Earle quits the team, and
Monteverdi moves the team to Switzerland. Stefan Johansson then got a
court injunction to stop the team moving till they paid him. Monteverdi
then changes the teams name from Monteverdi Onyx to Monteverdi, and
moves the team to Switzerland. The remaining staff from the Onyx days
quit. The team then quickly went pear-shaped and folded. A real sorry
mess!
Van Rossem, meanwhile, had the auditers crawling all over his organisation,
then his wife died in suspicious circumstances and his assets were frozen. The
Onyx affair was messy in the extreme, being passed to Monteverdi who
decided to design an F1 car himself as it can't be that difficult to
do(!). A shame - a promising team that was quite professional folded due
to dodgy sponsors. Hardly unique, though, and in the early 1990's there
were quite a few...
Brabham
=======
Brabham was just as confusing!
When Mike Earle and Jo Chamberlain quit Onyx the first time, they were
set to buy Brabham from Joachim Luhti who was in a little bit of trouble
(ahem). Several companies were interested in buying the team. Around
Christmas '89, Middlebridge was to buy the team, with Earle &
Chamberlain at the helm. They are soon moved in, but there was a problem
as the team was still owned by Joachim Luhti's Kingside Establishment
concern (which was belly up).
In early '90, Earle and Chamberlain are sacked from the team (they say
they quit). Peter Windsor holds several injunctions against the team and
refuses to lift them, making a sale very difficult (ahem). He finally
lifts it in March, and Middlebridge are set to take over the team. This
then falls flat again, when the liquidators of Kingside block the sale.
Sergio Rinland quits and moves to Tyrrell. The Onyx-Brabham-
Middlebridge-Monteverdi party then happens. Sergio Rinland rejoins
Brabham from Tyrrell... They then sign a deal with Yamaha for '91. In
August 90, Brabham was locked out of it's Chessington factory by
landlord (a certain Bernie C Ecclestone). Middlebridge is in trouble
over the heritage of a Bentley it bought for £6.8m. Finally, the team
gets back in it's factory.
In early '91, with testing of the Brabham Yamaha under way, the reports
were that the engine "sounded wonderful". Sadly, it lacked the vital
things an engine needs - power and reliability. A miriad of Japanese
sponsors deck the "new" car. The three year deal with Yamaha is ended
after a single year. The team is set to use Judd engines, and moves to
Milton Keynes. The Chessington factory, meanwhile, becomes Yamaha's
engine shop. The team sign a driver called Akihiko Nakaya, who doesn't
have a super licence, or any chance of getting one. Giovanna Amati is
then signed, and attempts to qualify the lump. In March '92, the team
failed to qualify both cars for the first time in it's history. The team
is up for sale again... There are said to be interest from South African
investors, and two groups from Japan.
CSS Promotions launched a court petition to wind up the Middlebridge
Group, which it believes owns the team. The petition is granted. They
then discover that Middlebridge doesn't actually exist, and doesn't own
the team. The team is owned by Motor Racing Developments Production Ltd,
which is owned by Alolique Group, which has all it's shares already
charged in Japan. There are no assets in the team, as all the equipment
is leased, and the factory is rented. The Official Receiver winds up
Middlebridge (which you remember doesn't exist) and hands the bill to
CSS...
The team is sold to a Japanese rock star, Damon Kagure, who launches an
appeal called "Brabham Aid" (you couldn't make this stuff up!). In mid-
92, the team is linked to a sale to a group of French investors, but the
sale is halted when no-one can work out who actually owns the team, and
what the team actually owns. A Dutch group then move into the frame...
This is all for nothing, when a group called Landhurst Leasing goes
belly-up. They loaned £6m to Brabham, and went into receivership.
Brabham is up for auction, and three bids are received. The receivers
then try and work out what they are auctioning, and can't work it out.
It appears all the team owns is the Brabham name and the logo - these
are now the property of the official receiver at Landhurst Leasing.
Alan Randall then buys these rights and promises to bring the team back
into F1 the following season. Galmer Engineering is to build the chassis
for the '93 season, they eventually stop when they realise there is no
money to pay for it. Randall has to call it quits, but promises to be
back. Brabham is called before the FIA to explain its non-attendance at
races. Randall says the team is nothing to do with him. He owns the
rights to the Brabham name, but it's not the same team. The FIA laughs a
lot, and latterly rejects their application for the following season
unless they pay the fines, or lodge a deposit for the next season. The
team is now owned by RM Racing Ltd, with Randall as chair. FISA throws
out the Brabham entry.
The Brabham family are rather miffed at all this, and register their
name as a trademark, and steadfastly refuse to allow it to be associated
with F1 teams.
March / Leyton House
====================
The Leyton House March team was owned by Akira Agaki. Prior to this the
team was owned by March Group. After the sale of the team, the F3000
team, the rights to the March name through '99, and part of the
manufacturing business (including RALT iirc), the March Group became a
financial services group, and latterly a shell company.
Charlie Moody moved into control of the team. In mid-90, the team sacked
Adrian Newey (basically blaming all the team's woes on him), who went to
Williams, and the rest is history... In late 90, the team fires Ian
Philips, and puts Mike Smith and Simon Keeble in control. A huge number
of the team quit to work for Fomet 1. John Gentry then joined the team.
At Phoenix '91, the car is sabotaged, and the wiring loom is cut. A few
weeks later Simon Keeble is sacked from the team. The Leyton House group
as a whole is in financial trouble, and a quarter of the staff are
sacked.
Akira Agaki was arrested in Japan over the Fuji Bank scandal, and the
team is under threat. Akira Akagi sells his stake in Ilmor Engineering
back to Ilien and Morgan. The team, meanwhile, is bought in a management
buy-out. The team is renamed March (with permission from Robin Herd).
The teams finances are very stretched, and the team is sold to a group
of investors including Bernard Bormans, Henny Vollenberg and Matt Aitken
(of Stock, Aitken and Waterman fame). The team has a single, minor
sponsor. Leyton House Management Ltd (the owners of March) also acquire
Brackley International Windtunnels Ltd and Leyton House Engineering.
A variety of pay-drivers walk through the turnstiles, in April 92, the
team is up for sale again. Rial (erstwhile team owner) moves in as
sponsor and partner. The team is sold to Franz Konrad. The team then
announce they have a major sponsor package for '93 after fighting off a
winding up order in the High Court. The team is put up for sale again,
when the money promised doesn't turn up. It was then sold to a Swiss
group called Lysis, who then deny buying it. They then sell the team
they claim they never bought to a Saudi Arabian party. The complex deal
never worked out, and Ilmor refuses the team credit. The team has no
engines. The team formally withdrew from F1, and put itself in the hands
of Rothman Pantall to rescue the team. Ivan Capelli launches a petition
against the team to wind it up, due to moneys owed. 41 members of staff
are laid off, leaving 5 in the team.
Minardi
=======
Minardi has a long (and somewhat convoluted) history. The team entered
F1 for the first time in the mid 80s. The team had a fairly uneventful
time owner wise until the 90s. When BMS Scuderia Italia and Fondmetal
(nee Osella) hit troubles, the various owners decided that instead of
fighting it alone, they'd try and pool their resources to create an
"Italian Super Team". Fondmetal pulled out at the last moment to go
elsewhere (see later in post), leaving BMS Scuderia Italia and Minardi
to merge, creating Minardi with Beppe Lucchini joining Giancarlo Minardi
as owner of the team. After a while, Lucchini reduced his interest in
the team and now concentrates on sports car racing, whilst Gabrielle
Rumi's Fondmetal Technologies took an interest in the team that they
refused before...
BMS Scuderia Italia - Dalara and Lola
=====================================
BMS Scuderia Italia, which was owned by Beppe Lucchini, entered F1 about
10 years ago with chassis designed and built by Dallara. The team had
moderate success at the hands of JJ Lehto and Alex Caffi, but then the
team made the double-disaster of taking on Ferrari engines (newly
released from Minardi) and a year later switching from Dallara to a Lola
chassis. It was this disastrous move that lead the team to merge with
Minardi.
In 1993, BMS Scuderia Italia was changing. It had previously
entered a Dallara chassis. In 1993, it changed to Lola chassis. All points
and benefits previously accrued belonged to Dallara, not to the team. It
becomes academic and never sorted out as March folded and the became top 10
no matter what.
Lola, now comprehensively ditched by Larrousse and BMS Scuderia Italia,
quit F1 and only returned later with the least-said-soonest-forgotten F1
team that must have the record as one of the shortest lasting teams of
all time.
Once Dallara had been left without a team, they did very little in F1
until last year, when Harvey Postlethwaite's team of ex-Tyrrell
engineers commissioned a test chassis from the Italian concern for
testing. That chassis was a success, but Honda decided to join forces
with BAR, and the data from that chassis is expected to be incorporated
into the Reynard designed BAR car for next season.
Reynard
=======
Reynard themselves have had a chequered history of being-in but not
being-in F1 this decade, with their design studies being variously used
by Benetton and Pacific. BAR, meanwhile, were born from the ashes of the
Tyrrell team. Tyrrell has a long and distinguished history in F1, and
hadn't really had many changes in ownership, other than the selling of a
share in the team to Harvey Postlethwaite, and for a while to Gabrielle
Rumi, which brings us back to Fondmetal.
Osella & Fondmetal
==================
First we need to go back a little bit further with the Osella team,
which entered F1 and struggled around the bag of the grid. Soon the team
found itself with a new sponsor - Gabrielle Rumi's Fondmetal wheel
business. The Italian soon took more interest in the team, and bought
out Enzo Osella. The team made some real progress, especially when they
had a chassis designed by TWR (who at the time had merged with Benetton)
and built by Fomet Technologies in the UK, run by Robin Herd. More of that
in a bit...
Up to 1990, Fondmetal (nee Osella) used an Osella based chassis. Fondmetal
in 1990 used a Fomet chassis (the same Fomet that became VL (UK)). Fondmetal
part owned Fomet at the time with Robin Herd - was it the same constructor?
In 1992, Fomet effectively had 2 cars in F1 - The Fomet 01 run by
Fondmetal/Osella, and the VL92 in the Venturi Larrousse team. This technically
isn't allowed. By Monaco, Fondmetal were running a new Fondmetal GR02 chassis
designed by TWR - who part owned Benetton Formula at the time... So, is the
car a Fondmetal or a TWR? If it's the latter, is that legal?
TWR
===
Now, I mentioned that the Fomet chassis was designed by TWR. TWR at that
time had merged with Benetton and Tom Walkinshaw was effectively in
control of the Benetton team. After a little disagreement with the FIA,
TWR were forced to disassociate themselves with Benetton, and they were
moved into a position with Ligier by Flavio Briatore, who now owned
Ligier and ran Benetton. The partnership of TWR and Ligier was an uneasy
one, and eventually TWR split from Ligier, and joined forces with
Arrows. Ligier, meanwhile, eventually was sold to Alain Prost, and
became Prost.
Arrows
======
Arrows hit problems with its Japanese owner, Footwork, who funded the F1
Porsche engine, and then had to quit in connection with financial
scandals in Japan.
Larrousse
=========
Though the individual with the worst taste in partners has to be the
charming Gerard Larrousse. He initially entered his team with Didier
Calmels who was shortly afterwards arrested and imprisoned for murdering
his wife in a crime of passion, which caused a scandal in France. He
then sold to ESPO of Japan who hit trouble and pulled out, he then
joined forces with Central Park of Japan which soon pull out. Next in
line was Venturi which promised much, but... Next came a deal with
Comstock (a real estate and waste management company), then came a Swiss
called Per du Hane joining them. Comstock boss Rainer Walldorf is then
wanted by police in connection with the murders of four men. It is then
discovered that he is really called Klaus Walz, and Comstock is believed
to be a front for the traficking of stolen cars. After a siege in a
hotel, Klaus shoots himself. Quote of the year had to be from Robin Herd
"We're in control but this will hurt the team. I'm amazed. They seemed
like nice people". The team next has a Czech called Vratislav Cekan as a
partner... the story goes on and on.
Larrousse also had a few problems with the FIA...
The basic jist was that up until 1990, Larrousse (nee LC Lola) entered it's
cars in the FIA World Championship as a Lola. In 1990, the team entered the
cars as a Larrousse. The car was designed by Gerrard Ducarouge, but built
by Lola in Huntingdon.
In Februrary 1991, the FISA (lead by Jean-Marie Balestre) "discovered" that
the car entered by Larrousse as a Larrousse was actually built by Lola. As
a result the FISA removed all of it's constructors points, threatened
explusion, and lost all travel benefits. Rather conveniently, this moved
Ligier from 11th to 10th in the constructors championship, and so they
gained travel money...
Larrousse appealed as it would lose all its sponsors and fold if it had to
pre-qualify and didn't have the travel money, and "sort of" lost the
apppeal. A compromise was reached where the "team" lost the points, but the
"constructor" kept the finishing positions. As a result, it moved to 10th
in the championship as the highest placed non-pointer as far as travel
benefits were concerned...
Fomet Technologies, as I said, was run by Robin Herd. Robin Herd had
originally set up Fomet not for Rumi, but for French team Larrousse, as
Larrousse UK. The French team had had a few problems with the FIA about
whether they "owned" constructors rights, as the car was built by Lola.
The solution to this was quite simple - they had to build a car in their
own name, and the easiest way to do this was to "own" a constructor
who'd build the car for them. Enter Robin Herd, who set up Larrousse UK,
latterly named a Venturi Larrousse UK when the car constructor joined
forces with Larrousse, as did the owners of the Central Park Modena
Lamborghini team for a while.
Over the winter of 1991, Larrousse was partly sold to Venturi, and Fomet
was (conveniently) renamed Venturi-Larrousse UK. As a result, for the first
time Larrousse officially enters a Larrousse chassis. The team, however,
gets no travel benefits as they belong to Lola, and not to the team.
--
Stephen M Baines http://www.motorsport.org.uk
Tra la la-la la laa! http://www.rosehill.org.uk
Emma
>
>OK, I've took the plunge, and raided a few of my old postings about the
>old rogues of late 80s early 90s F1... Prepare yourself for the
>
>FAQ of F1 Ratbags and Constructors ;-)
>======================================
LOL! Well that certainly brought back afew memories - Somehow I don't
think Bernie and Max would ever let f1 become that kind of circus
again...
--
Emma
The Chocolate Monster Work:- www.excaliber-vehicles.co.uk
Personal:- www.excalvehs.demon.co.uk/main.htm
"My skill level deserted me, and I ran out of talent"
Jason Plato - BTCC
Cesar D'Agord
Stephen M Baines
>Stephen M Baines wrote:
>> old rogues of late 80s early 90s F1... Prepare yourself for the
>>
>> FAQ of F1 Ratbags and Constructors ;-)
>> ======================================
>>
>> Apologies for any strange tenses, it's been cut and pasted from lots of
>> posts, and I got lost <G>
>
>Where's the Copersucar team?
I don't know anything about it that I could write, and it does say of
80s and 90s...
GD
>
>FAQ of F1 Ratbags and Constructors ;-)
>======================================
>
>appeal called "Brabham Aid"
>
>
>wanted by police in connection with the murders of four men. It is then
>discovered that he is really called Klaus Walz, and Comstock is believed
>to be a front for the traficking of stolen cars.
Its all good stuff, but the pity is that Bernie would never
let Hollywood make an F1 move about it.
Ping...@cojoneville.com
Damian Penny
Ping...@cojoneville.com wrote:
> I was thinking Copersucar.
At least they scored a point every now
and then. And I believe they were the
first team to give Keke Rosberg a
chance, so they weren't completely
useless.
Damian P.
Fredrik B. Knutsen
Spider wrote:
> On Tue, 21 Mar 2000 23:56:42 +0000, Stephen M Baines
> <{$stephen$}@motorsport.org.uk> wrote:
>
> >:)>Where's the Copersucar team?
> >:)
> >:)I don't know anything about it that I could write, and it does say of
> >:)80s and 90s...
>
> You'll get lots of mail on this one so I'll just say it was a team run
> by Emerson Fittipaldi and his brother. The best thing they ever did
> was hire Keke Rosberg but of course Emmo got the #1 treatment (yes
> they had *real* #1 and #2 in those days).
>
> The team folded when Emmo retired or the other way I guess.
>
> I think Doc bought out their supply of yellow paint.
Actually, they gave it to me FOC, saying I could probably build a quicker race car
than they could, so could I use that yellow paint? :-)
On a slightly amusing note, on a visit to Jack Knight's (provider of such things
as steering assemblies and transmission parts for most racing cars manufacturers)
some time in the very early Eighties, I spotted a none-too-subtle note by the cash
register, saying "The following companies are to be denied credit when buying
parts from us:" and pretty prominent on that list was Fittipaldi F1. They went
belly-up not long after that.
Doc
>
>
> //\\(o^o)//\\
>
> " Time is better spent not playing with trolls.................." - itieu
>
> "rasf1 is just an entertaining diversion from reality..." - Geoff Schuler.
>
> "If I were to attack, you would notice the difference." - Fredrik B.Knutsen
>
> "Once a cheater, always a cheater. :-)" - Borger Borgersen.
>
> "Political power games, with the enthusiast as the victim...." - Doc (Knutsen)
--
Doc Fredrik B.Knutsen
Cheek Racing Cars
www.cheekracing.com