De Tomaso F2

The De Tomaso F2 was a racing car designed in 1960 by the Italian car manufacturer De Tomaso . It appeared in the fall of 1960 for one of the last races in the 1.5-liter Formula 2 and was launched four times in Formula 1 races without world championship status in the following two years . He reached two finishings. The one-off F2 is considered the prototype for de Tomaso's first Formula 1 car, which debuted in 1961 as the De Tomaso F1 .

background

The Argentinian racing driver and businessman Alejandro de Tomaso contested his last Formula 1 race in December 1959. He registered a Cooper T43 for the US Grand Prix , which he had equipped with an OSCA engine. In the same year he founded an automobile workshop in Modena, Italy , in which he had racing cars for various classes (and from 1965 also street sports cars) manufactured. The new brand's first vehicle was the Isis , a racing car intended for Formula Junior , which was a copy of the Cooper T43 used by Alejandro de Tomaso. On this basis, de Tomaso developed the F2, which became the F1 the following year. Both models were also Cooper copies. They were considered "unfit". The successor 801 , redesigned in 1962, was also unsuccessful, so that De Tomaso initially stopped his motorsport efforts at the end of 1963 before attempting a fresh start in 1970 with the 505 and Frank Williams Racing Cars .

construction

Cooper T43: Prototype of the De Tomaso F2

The De Tomaso F2 was conceptually and externally very similar to the Cooper T43. It had a tubular space frame . The suspension largely corresponded to that of Isis. It was an independent suspension with double wishbones and shock absorber struts all around. The body was also modeled on the Cooper.

Initially, a 1.5 liter inline four-cylinder engine from Alfa Romeo, tuned by Virgilio Conrero, served as the drive . Conrero had fitted the Giulietta engine with a new cylinder head and dual ignition . The engine was installed behind the driver. A manual five-speed gearbox from De Tomaso took over the power transmission. In 1961 the F2 received a four-cylinder engine from OSCA . For its last race in 1963, the F2 finally got an in-line four-cylinder Maserati engine .

Races

The F2 races were initially carried out by the works team; In 1963, the private driver Gastone Zanarotti finally registered the car for a race.

Formula 2

The Scuderia De Tomaso reported the F2 with Alfa Romeo engine for the first time in early October 1960 for the Modena Grand Prix , the fourth from last race of the Formula 2 season. The driver was Roberto Bussinello . He damaged the car so badly at the beginning of the training that it could not be repaired and Bussinello could not finish the training. He was rated as a non-qualifier, so that participation in the race was excluded. The car did not see any further Formula 2 outings.

formula 1

With the start of the Automobile World Championship in 1961 , the FIA transferred the previous Formula 2 regulations to Formula 1. The Formula 1 World Championship was now advertised for vehicles with a maximum 1.5 liter engine; the cars had to have a minimum weight of 450 kg. With the introduction of the so-called 1.5-liter Formula 1, Formula 2 was initially dropped; it was not revived until 1964.

In 1961 and 1962, the Scuderia De Tomaso, which in the meantime mainly dealt with the newly built F1 models, started the well-known F2 with an OSCA engine in three Formula 1 races that were not part of the world championship. First he appeared for the works team now called Isobel de Tomaso at the Grand Prix of Naples in May 1961. The driver was again Roberto Bussinello. In the race that no other works team competed in, he finished fifth, four laps behind. Four months later, de Tomaso registered the car for Gastone Zanarotti for the 1961 Modena Grand Prix . Zanarotti missed the qualification here, while Bussinello qualified in an F1 with an Alfa engine, also used by the works team. Six months later, the car was again registered for the 1962 Naples Grand Prix for Zanarotti, who also failed to qualify here.

In 1963 Zanarotti appeared again with the F2. He reported the car, which was now equipped with a Maserati engine, to the Grand Prix of Rome in Vallelunga . He finished ninth in the first run and eighth in the second. In the overall standings he finished eighth behind Roberto Lippi and Rovero Campello, who privately used two De Tomaso F1 chassis with Maserati and Osca engines.

Race results

Formula 2

season	team	driver	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23	24	25th	26th
1960
	Automobili De Tomaso	R. Bussinello																							DNQ

Formula 1 races without world championship status

season	team	driver	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23	24	25th	26th	27
1961
	Isobel De Tomaso	R. Businello											5
		G. Zanarotti																			DNQ
1962
	Scuderia De Tomaso	G. Zanarotti									DNQ
1963
	Gastone Zanarotti	G. Zanarotti								16

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 1-87097-916-8 (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 1899870393 (English).
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1 , 2nd edition, St. Sulpice, 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1899870393 , p. 100.
2. ↑ ^{a b c} David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 , p. 75.
3. ^ David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 78.
4. ↑ Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1899870393 , p. 111.
5. ↑ Statistics of the Modena Grand Prix 1960 on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on January 30, 2017).
6. ^ David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 272.
7. ↑ Statistics of the Naples Grand Prix on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on January 30, 2017).
8. ↑ Statistics of the Modena Grand Prix 1961 on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on January 30, 2017).
9. ↑ Statistics of the Naples Grand Prix on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on January 30, 2017).
10. ↑ Statistics of the 1963 Rome Grand Prix on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on February 1, 2017).