De Tomaso 801

De Tomaso 801

Constructor:	Scuderia De Tomaso
Designer:	Alberto Massimino
Predecessor:	De Tomaso F1
Technical specifications
Chassis:	Tubular frame
Wheelbase:	2410 mm
Weight:	459 kg
Tires:	Dunlop
statistics
Driver:	Nasif Estéfano
Starts Victories Poles SR - - - -
World Cup points:	-
Podiums:	-
Leadership laps:	-

The De Tomaso 801 (alternative name: De Tomaso 002 ) was a Formula 1 racing car produced by the Italian car manufacturer De Tomaso . The car entered several Grand Prix events in the early 1960s, but only appeared at two events, qualified for only one race, and eventually completed a single race lap. The 801 was immature and is considered to be the worst Formula 1 car of the 1.5 liter era.

background

Logo of the Scuderia De Tomaso

The Argentinian racing driver and businessman Alejandro de Tomaso founded an automobile workshop in Modena, Italy , in 1959 , in which he initially had racing cars for various classes and, from 1965, also street sports cars.

The De Tomaso 801 was de Tomaso's second attempt to build a Formula 1 racing car. The company had previously designed the Isis intended for Formula Junior and presented a Formula 2 vehicle that had not been used. From this model, called F2 , the De Tomaso F1 was derived, which appeared in some Formula 1 races from 1961. The F1 was created in several copies, which were combined with purchased engines from Alfa Romeo , Ferrari and OSCA . Neither version of the F1 was successful; many de Tomaso's drivers failed to qualify. Alejandro de Tomaso did not consider the engines used to be competitive and ultimately decided to build his own eight-cylinder engine. The new engine was installed in a chassis that was also redesigned and given the designation 801 (alternatively: 002). When it became clear that the 801 would also be a failure, De Tomaso began planning a successor, which would have an aluminum monocoque and be equipped with a self-constructed V12 engine. The considerations did not get beyond the stage of the first studies. De Tomaso returned to Formula 1 in 1970 with the model 505 as a partner of the British team Frank Williams Racing Cars .

The 801 was in De Tomaso's Modena factory until 2005 before it was sold.

construction

The De Tomaso 801 was designed by the former Ferrari designer Alberto Massimino .

Chassis and body

The chassis of the 801 largely corresponded to the design of the De Tomaso F1, which appeared in 1961. It had a tubular frame that corresponded to that of the F1 in the front area. In the rear area, additional cross struts were attached above the engine, the installation of which was made possible by the flat boxer engine . The chassis consisted of inner rocker arms on the front suspension and upper rocker arms and diagonal struts on the rear suspension. Massimino had already implemented a similar structure at Maserati in 1948 ; Colin Chapman later adopted the concept for some Lotus racing cars. The front disc brakes came from Girling , the rear from Amadori. The body of the 801 was manufactured by Fantuzzi .

Engine and power transmission

The engine of the 801 was a water-cooled eight-cylinder boxer engine with a displacement of 1481 cm³ (68 × 51 mm) and two overhead camshafts. Each cylinder had two spark plugs . The mixture preparation took place over four downdraft -Doppelvergaser of Weber . De Tomaso stated the output of the eight-cylinder engine as 170 hp, which was 25 to 30 hp below the values ​​of the Porsche and Ferrari engines. Observers doubted the accuracy of De Tomaso's information and suspected that the engine power was actually even lower. The power was transmitted by a five-speed gearbox designed by De Tomaso.

Races

Unlike its predecessors, which De Tomaso sold to other racing teams such as the Scuderia Serenissima and the Scuderia Settecolli , the 801 remained in the factory as a one-off. It was used exclusively by the Scuderia De Tomaso factory team . It first appeared at the 1962 Italian Grand Prix . The Argentine stock car driver Nasif Estéfano , who had previously only driven one Formula 1 race in a private Maserati 250F , was registered as the driver . The car did not work properly during training. Estéfano was rated with a lap time of over six minutes, while Jim Clark in the factory Lotus only needed 1:40 minutes to lap the track. After that, there were no more assignments in a Formula 1 world championship run. It is true that De Tomaso reported the 801 in the 1963 season at the Monaco , Great Britain and France Grand Prix ; however, the car did not appear at any of these races.

In 1963, the Scuderia De Tomaso reported the 801 with Nasif Estéfano for the Grand Prix of Rome in Vallelunga , a spring race that did not have world championship status. 19 drivers were registered for this race. Estéfano qualified the 801 for ninth place on the grid. He only covered one lap in the race; At the beginning of the second lap it was canceled due to a clutch defect. After that, the 801 was no longer reported.

Race results

Formula 1 world championship

season	team	driver	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	Points	rank
1962													-	-
	Scuderia De Tomaso	Nasif Estéfano							DNQ
1963													-	-
		Nasif Estéfano	DNA			DNA	DNA

Formula 1 races without world championship status

season	team	driver	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th
1963
	Scuderia De Tomaso	Nasif Estéfano					DNA			DNF

literature

• Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing , Motorbuch Verlag Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 .
• David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 (English).
• David Hodges: A – Z of Formula Racing Cars. Bay View Books, Bideford 1990, ISBN 1-870979-16-8 (in German: David Hodges: Rennwagen von A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 ).
• Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 (English).
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1 , 2nd edition, St. Sulpice, 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 .

Web links

• Image: De Tomaso 002

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 , p. 111.
2. ↑ Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 , p. 111.
3. ↑ Overview of the De Tomasos racing cars (accessed on January 28, 2017).
4. ↑ ^{a b} David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 78.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 , p. 110.
6. ↑ Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing , motor book publisher Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 , S. 182, 184th
7. ↑ Statistics of the Italian Grand Prix 1962 on the website www.motorsport-total.com (accessed on January 28, 2017).
8. ↑ Statistics of the 1963 Rome Grand Prix on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on January 28, 2017).