ATS D1

ATS D1

Constructor:	ATS Racing Team
Designer:	John Gentry Gustav Brunner
Predecessor:	ATS HS1
Successor:	ATS D2
Technical specifications
Chassis:	aluminum
Tires:	Goodyear
statistics
Driver:	10. Keke Rosberg
First start:	US Grand Prix East 1978
Last start:	1978 Canadian Grand Prix
Starts Victories Poles SR 2 - - -
World Cup points:	-
Podiums:	-
Leadership laps:	-

The ATS D1 was the second Formula 1 car of the German motorsport team ATS Racing . It was created in two copies and was only used for two races in the 1978 Formula 1 season . It did not reach the finish line.

background

Auto Technical Special Accessories (ATS) , founded in 1969, is a manufacturer of automotive accessories that primarily produces light alloy wheels. In the early 1970s, under the leadership of its co-owner Günter Schmid, the company began sponsoring motor sport events for advertising purposes. After ATS had initially promoted individual racing drivers in smaller motorsport classes such as Formula V , Schmid established his own racing team, which competed in Formula 2 in 1976 and in Formula 1 from 1977 . While ATS had used a foreign-made car on its Formula 1 debut with the Penske PC4 , the team became an independent designer in 1978. The first self-constructed car, the ATS HS1 , was largely based on the Penske PC4, which in turn was a replica of the March 751 from 1975.

In the 1978 Formula 1 season , the Lotus team dominated , having "revolutionized Formula 1" with the consistent implementation of the ground effect . The ATS HS1, which was considered obsolete in its conception, was not yet designed according to the standards of the ground effect and could not be converted in such a way that a suction effect could have arisen under the side pods. In the summer of 1978 Schmid commissioned the British designer John Gentry to develop a Groundeffect racing car. In a few weeks, Gentry and his assistant Gustav Brunner , who was working here for the first time on a Formula 1 car, drew and constructed the ATS D1, the first of which was presented to the public at the Dutch Grand Prix .

Dutch racing driver Michael Bleekemolen tested the car ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort . He was supported by Gijs van Lennep , among others . The test drives were "disastrous". The team management then decided not to use the car for the time being and to improve the design further. In the following weeks, a second chassis was built, which received detailed modifications. It was used in the last two races in 1978.

construction

The ATS D1 is seen in the motor sport literature as a mere further development of the ATS HS1 and is placed in line with the Penke PC4. Gentry and Brunner based the conception of the D1 on the successful Lotus 79 . Like this, the D1 had a wide track and wing profiles in the side pods. Unlike the Lotus, however, the ATS D1 was not consistently geared towards achieving a suction effect: there were various attachments to the car in the side pods, including the exhausts, parts of the suspension and the oil tank. They significantly disrupted the air flow under the side pods, so that a useful ground effect could hardly occur.

As in the previous model, an eight-cylinder naturally aspirated engine from Cosworth (type DFV ) served as the drive ; the power was transmitted via a five-speed transmission from Hewland .

Races

The ATS D1 was registered for the last two Formula 1 world championship races at the end of the 1978 season. The driver in each case was Keke Rosberg , who had become the team's top driver after Jochen Mass left . His team-mate at these races was Michael Bleekemolen, who still started the ATS HS1.

In the first race of the D1, the Grand Prix of the USA East in Watkins Glen , Rosberg qualified for 15th place on the grid. In qualifying he was faster than Didier Pironi in the Tyrrell or Patrick Tambay in the McLaren . Rosberg's team-mate Bleekemolen was 1.8 seconds slower in the old car and only made it to the penultimate starting position. In the race, Rosberg dropped out prematurely after 21 laps due to a break in the shift linkage. A week later at the Canadian Grand Prix , Rosberg only reached 21st and penultimate starting position; he was 3.5 seconds slower than Jean-Pierre Jarier, who was in pole position in the third factory Lotus . In the race, Rosberg drove 58 of 70 laps. Since the distance covered was too short, he was not counted.

After the 1978 season, the ATS D1 was not used again.

Race results in Formula 1

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
Automobile World Championship 1978																		0	-
K. Rosberg	10															DNF	NC

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

literature

• Adriano Cimarosti: The Century of Racing . 1st edition. Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 .
• David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001. Crowood Press, 2001, ISBN 1-86126-339-2 . (English)
• David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 .
• Ferdi Krähling, Gregor Messer: Sieg or Selters. The German drivers in Formula 1 . Delius Klasing, Bielefeld 2013, ISBN 978-3-7688-3686-9 .
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1st 2nd edition. St. Sulpice 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 . (French)
• Doug Nye: The Big Book of Formula 1 Racing Cars . The three-liter formula from 1966. Rudolf Müller publishing company, Cologne 1986, ISBN 3-481-29851-X .

Web links

• Racing history of the ATS D1 on the website www.oldracingcars.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 23 f.
2. ^ David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 208.
3. ↑ Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing. 1st edition. Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 , p. 283.
4. ↑ ^{a b} David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001. Crowood Press, 2001, ISBN 1-86126-339-2 , p. 26.
5. ^ ^{A b} Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1st 2nd edition. St. Sulpice 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 , p. 136.
6. ↑ Doug Nye: The Big Book of Formula 1 Racing Cars . The three-liter formula from 1966. Rudolf Müller publishing company, Cologne 1986, ISBN 3-481-29851-X , p. 167.