Tag Archives: Benetton

Wanted Four Black Round Things – Toleman Hart TG185

The story of the Toleman Hart TG185 goes back to 1980 when the Toleman Formula Two team decided to build their own Formula Two car the TG 280 and in the process swap from being a Goodyear to a Pirelli tyre customer, five years later when today’s featured car was built it became quite apparent to the detriment of Toleman that switching tyres suppliers was a less than amicable experience for Goodyear.

After securing the Formula Two championship at their first attempt Toleman, engine supplier Brian Hart and Pirelli did not hesitate to leap up to the top of the motor racing tree with a two car formula one team for 1981. After many trials and the odd tribulation an unknown Ayrton Senna joined the team for 1984 and the team what would be it’s best year scoring 3 podium finishes which contributed to the teams 16 points and 7th place finish in the World Constructors Championship.

Toleman Hart TG185, Silverstone Auction

On the way to that success Toleman made an acrimonious switch from Pirelli to Michelin tyres after the San Marino Grand Prix, but at the end of the 1984 season Michelin decided to quit Formula One with neither Goodyear or Pirelli now prepared to step up to the plate to help Toleman out.

Toleman’s preparations for the 1985 season went on regardless the new Rory Byrne designed TG185 was similar to the TG184 with a tidier body and revised suspension, the 1.5 litre 91.5 cui 4 cylinder turbocharged Hart motor produced around 800 hp and McLaren refugee John Watson was signed up with Spirit refugee Stefan Johansson to drive the new cars, in the end neither did John had a one off drive as a stand in for the injured Niki Lauda at McLaren before retiring from Formula One and Stefan got the second seat at Tyrrell for the first race of the season before being snapped up by Ferrari to replace René Arnoux in circumstances that remain unexplained to this day.

Toleman Hart TG185, Silverstone Auction

Meantime Italian knitwear moguls and Alfa Romeo’s primary Formula One sponsor Benetton were keen to expand their Formula One involvement by finding a drive for emerging talent Teo Fabi, Benetton bought the failing Spirit team who had a contract with Pirelli for a supply of tyres and reassigned it to Toleman after the first three races of the season.

Toleman ran a single entry for Teo for six races before Piercarlo Ghinzani was drafted in as a number two drive from the failing Osella team between them the teams only successes were a pole position start for Teo in Germany along with 14th and 12th place finishes for Teo in France and Italy respectively.

Toleman Hart TG185, Silverstone Auction

Things were not much better at Alfa Romeo where Ricardo Patrese and Eddie Cheever managed to finish eight times in non points paying finishes through out the whole of 1985.

At the season’s end Benetton ditched Alfa Romeo who withdrew from Formula One, while Benetton bought out Toleman and kept Teo Fabi who was joined by Gerhard Berger for 1986 in a restructured team that secured a supply of BMW engines for the new season.

The TG185 seen here at Silverstone Auction, sans Hart engine, was driven by Piercarlo Ghinzani at the end of 1985, prior to his return to Osella and was sold in the auction for £30,940 at the recent Silverstone Classic meeting.

Thanks for joining me on this “Wanted Four Black Round Things” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again for Mercedes Monday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Five F1 Classics – Silverstone Classic

In the last of this series celebrating the Silverstone Classic Silver Jubilee this edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” looks at five decades of Formula One cars.

OSCA G4500, Stephan Rettenmaier, Silverstone Classic,

Last year one of the highlights of the Maserati Centenary Trophy was seeing Stephan Rettenmaier exercising the 1951 V12 OSCA G4500, the only purpose built Formula One car built by the Maserati brothers, as opposed to the company bearing their name.

Lotus 25, Silverstone Classic,

Above Bob Dance far right is seen above fettling Andy Middlehurst’s #25 Lotus 25 chassis #R4, just as he did for Jim Clark over 50 (fifty) years ago.

March 2-4-0, Jeremy Smith, Silverstone Classic,

The March 761 was never raced in 2-4-0 configuration as seen above driven above by Jeremy Smith, but it probably helped nurture the interest of many a Scalextric racer into fully fledged Formula One fan.

Williams FW 08, Richard Eyre, Silverstone Classic,

In my humble opinion a Ferrari driver should have won, a Renault driver could have one drivers championship but a well deserving Williams driver Keke Rosberg did win the 1982 Formula One Drivers championship, driving an FW08 like the one seen with Richard Eyre at the wheel above, a six wheel version of the FW08 was also tested in 1981.

Benetton B192, Silverstone Classic,

Finally this year will see the appearance of Legends of Modern Formula One demonstrations featuring cars from the 3.5 litre Formula One era like Lorina McLaughlin’s ex Micheal Schumacher championship winning Benetton B192 seen above at the Silver Jubilee Silverstone Classic Press Day.

Entry to Silverstone Classic is by pre booked tickets only which are available from the website linked here.

Thanks for joining me on this “Five F1 Classics” Edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now.

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Silver Jubilee – Silverstone Classic

A couple of weeks ago I popped along to the Silverstone Classic Press Day to find out what will be happening at this years event that will be held on the 24th, 25th and 26th of July.

Benetton, Bentley, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

This years event will see Silverstone Classic celebrating it’s own Silver Jubilee and a programme of races and demonstrations which will include prewar sports cars like the 1928 4 1/2 Litre Bentley driven by Clive Morley and Duncan Wiltshire and demonstrations by early 1990’s Formula One cars like Lorina McLaughlin’s ex Micheal Schumacher championship winning Benetton B192.

Silver Sunday, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

One of the highlights of this years Silverstone Classic will be a parade for silver coloured cars of any age on “Silver Sunday“, might be tempted to enter my Golf IV for that one.

Maserati Quattroporte V, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Porsche, Maserati and Caterham Cars are official partners of this years event with Maserati having the honour of supplying the official pace car a Maserati Quattroporte V.

Lister Jaguar Continuation, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Above the first of the ten 2015 Continuation Knobbly Lister Jaguars is seen testing, this 1958 designed car is fully FIA compliant and should be taking part in the Stirling Moss Trophy for pre 1961 Sports Cars, I believe Stephen Bond may be the lucky owner of this one.

Alexis HF1, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Duncan Ragabliati holds the distinction of being the only driver to have competed in every Silverstone Classic since 1990 driving his 1959 #7 Alexis HL1 Formula Junior car seen above.

John Denis, Berliet Curtiss, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

During the course of the day I took the opportunity of going on a couple of rides around the track, firstly aboard John Denis’s Curtiss OX5 V8 powered 1907 Berliet which was seriously sensational while sitting over three feet up with no windscreen when pulling all of 1,400 revs, fourteen hundred, hanginig onto a grab handle behind the drivers seat, on the Hangar Straight.

Talbot 105, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Equally sensational was Nicholas Pellet’s 1931 Talbot 105 team car which finished 3rd in the 1932 Le Mans 24 Hour Race, the cornering abilities of this car on the smooth Silverstone circuit have to be experienced to be believed.

VW Type 2, Silverstone Classic, Press Day,

Along with three days of on track entertainment Silverstone Classic will be hosting live performances from Paul Young, Status Quo with tribute perfomances by Fleetwood Bacs and The ZZ Tops, in what promises to be the most full on advance ticket only Silverstone Classic yet.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Silver Jubilee’ edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psychoontyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow for Geoffrey Horton’s first concours d’elegance of the year. Don’t forget to come back now !

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HY-KERS Limited Edition – La Ferrari

La Ferrari, first seen in 2013 is Ferrari’s first hybrid production car of which the manufacturers say just 499 examples will be built.

La Ferrari, Goodwood Festival of Speed

This hybrid is based on the Enzo and track FXX models.

La Ferrari, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The carbon fibre moncoque was developed by Rory Bryne who was responsible for the design of Micheal Schumacher’s Formula One Championship winning cars at Benetton and Ferrari.

La Ferrari, Goodwood Festival of Speed

La Ferrari features an in house designed body, the first Ferrari road car body since the Bertone styled body for the Dino 308 GT4 not to feature any input from Pinninfarina.

La Ferrari, Goodwood Festival of Speed

La Ferrari is fitted with a 789hp V12 and a HY KERS, Hybrid Kinetic Energy Recovery System, battery powered electric motor that will deliver an additional 160hp for short periods, making La Ferrari the most powerful street legal Ferrari ever built.

La Ferrari, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Ferrari quoted performance figures include a rest to 62 mph time in under 3 seconds and top speed of 217 mph.

La Ferrari, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The price of La Ferrari is said to be more than GBP £1 million / USD $1.69 million.

Thanks for joining me on this “HY-KERS Limited Edition” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Promises Promises – Lotus Renault E21

In four short years Toleman Motorsport rose from sponsor of drivers in junior categories to becoming Champion Formula 2 constructors and by the end of 1980 they made an ambitious move into Formula One with turbocharged 4 cylinder Hart motors from their premises in Whitney in Oxfordshire. Over the next five years Toleman struggled to qualify for races for two year and then struggled to finish races for a further two years but high lights including three podium finishes in 1984 with rookie Ayrton Senna driving and Teo Fabi’s pole position at the German Grand Prix in 1985 showed enough promise for 1985 sponsor Benetton to buy the team.

Lotus Renault E21, Raikkönnen, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Under Benetton ownership the team from from Whitney raced for one season with BMW motors with which Gerhard Berger scored a single win in the Mexican Grand Prix before switching to Ford motors in a partnership which lasted until 1994 when Michael Schumacher won his first of two consecutive championships in 1994 despite two disqualifications and a highly contentious maneuver which eliminated his only championship rival in the season finale. By now the team had moved to premises in Enstone, Oxfordshire.

Lotus Renault E21, Grosjean, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

In 1995 Benetton secured a supply of Renault Motors with which Michael secured his second championship before moving to Ferrari. Benetton slipped from 1995 Constructors Champions into a graceful decline until 2001. A year earlier Renault bought Benetton out but refrained from renaming the team Renault until 2002 when their latest motor was fully competitive.

Lotus Renault E21, Prost, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Under Renault’s ownership the team from Enstone won two drivers championships with Fernando Alonso in 2005 and 2006 breaking Michael Schumachers five year strangle hold on the championship. Renault also became only the second French constructor after Matra in 1969 to win the Constuctors Championship in 2005 and 2006. Alonso left for an ill feted spell with McLaren in 2007 but returned in 2008 for a two year spell during which the team could not match McLaren or Ferrari for top honors.

Lotus Renault E21, Grosjean, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

After a scandal involving race fixing allegations in 2009 Renault moved swiftly to divest itself of it’s interest in the Enstone team and the Luxembourg group Genii Capital became majority owners of the team which in 2011 was rebranded Lotus Renault GP. In 2012 the somewhat underfunded Lotus Renault GP Team pulled off a coup by bringing Kimi Raikkönen back to Formula one after an enforced sabbatical which had seen his place at Ferrari taken by Alonso in 2010. Raikkönen’s return netted a single win in 2012 for the team now known simply as Lotus F1 at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Lotus Renault E21, Prost, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Last season promised much for Lotus F1 as Kimi Raikkönen took a comfortable win in the Australian Grand Prix and there was talk of a new backer being brought into the team. Kimi followed his win up with a string six second place finishes and until midway in the season looked to be a genuine contender for the title until the development of tyres decisively went to the advantage of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull. By the seasons end the promising backer had all but disappeared and it emerged that Lotus F1 were struggling to pay Kimi his promised bonuses to the point where Kimi had a back operation and missed the last two races of the season consequently dropping from 3rd to 5th in the seasons standings secure in the knowledge that for 2014 he would be returning to Ferrari to partner Fernando Alonso the man who usurped him at the end of 2009 !

Lotus Renault E21, Raikkönnen, British Grand Prix P2, Silverstone

Lotus F1 who name their cars with an E for Enstone were among the last to confirm a drive train deal for 2014 and the last to show their 2014 contender will start the season with Kimi’s team mate Romain Grosjean and Venezuelan Williams refugee Pastor Maldonado sharing the driving duties. 4 time champion Alain Prost’s son Nicholas is seen driving the unnamed car in the 3rd and final photographs during the Young Driver Day at Silverstone last year.

You can follow the fortunes of Lotus F1 on their website linked here, on their facebook page linked here and on their twitter feed linked here.

Thanks for joining me on this “Promises, Promises” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Added Warrington – CGA Engineering

Thanks to Tony ‘Giraffe’ Gallagher at The Nostalgia Forum I found myself going to Warrington with fellow TNFer and secretary of the Bristol Pegasus Motor Club Tim Murray. The purpose of the journey was to visit Colin Bennett and his sons who run CGA Engineering.

Colin who worked with Emerson Fittipaldi on a Brazilian excursion with the Lotus Formula 2 team in 1970 has run a huge variety of cars including March, Fittipaldi, Surtees, Williams and Ligier in a variety of British and European Series.

Benetton B191, CGA Engineering

After a welcome which included tea and donuts Colin let half a dozen TNFers loose in his workshops to nose and poke around a mouth watering selection of vehicles, amongst the many demonstrations was how easy it would be to fire up an ex Schumacher 3 .5 litre / 213.5 cui Benetton 191 chassis #6 powered by a Ford HB engine, we were one click of a switch away from having our ears blown off !

Lola T70, CGA Engineering

At the opposite scale of the age range Colin was rebuilding a Lola T70 carrying the chassis plate SL76/143, there is something appealingly Romanesque about those knockoff wheel hubs.

March 71B, CGA Engineering

Sitting outside the workshops was a Formula 2 spec March 71B chassis #71BM -08 painted at the behest of current owner Katsu Kubota in the colours carried by one of my hero’s Ronnie Peterson who won the 1971 European Formula 2 Championship for open wheel 2 litre / 122 cui vehicles.

March 761, CGA Engineering

Back in 1976 I was extremely privileged to see this March 761 in action on a wet day of practice at the Nurburgring. The sight of this car driven by Ronnie Peterson in a series of controlled slides through a series of off camber blind apex corners is something I shall never forget. Ronnie qualified 11th and unfortunately was involved in a first lap accident.

Nissan R90CK, CGA Engineering

I was at Le Mans in 1990 when this Nissan R90CK qualified 5th for the 24 hour classic unfortunately the car retired on the opening lap, like the March 71B and 761/6 today this car belongs to Katsu Kubota and is scheduled to appear at the Silverstone Classic meeting I blogged about yesterday.

Williams FW06, CGA Engineering

The design details of the Williams FW06 by Patrick Head won much praise in 1978, although the car did not win any Grand Prix it marked the emergence of Williams Grand Prix Engineering into what would become a dominant force in Formula One in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

I shall look forward to bringing you more detailed blogs of some of these cars after I have seen them running in the weeks and months ahead.

My thanks to Tony, Colin and his sons for a memorable day.

Thanks for joining me on this Warrington edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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