Group Racing Developments

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Group Racing Developments (short form: GRD ) was in Griston , Norfolk UK, based manufacturer of racing cars, the 1971-1975 seaters for the formulas 3 , 2 and Atlantic produced. Unlike its competitors, GRD did not have its own factory team on a permanent basis. GRD is a forerunner of the racing car manufacturer Van Diemen .

Company history

GRD was founded in 1971 as a subsidiary of the Norfolk Light Engineering Company. The reason for the establishment was the fact that Lotus , one of the most successful racing car manufacturers in the 1960s, withdrew from formulas 2 and 3 in 1971. The GRD founders expected that the remaining manufacturers March Engineering and Lola Cars would not be able to meet the demand for new racing cars on their own. GRD should therefore fill the gap that Lotus had left. GRD took on numerous former Lotus employees, including Mike Warner, Dave Baldwin and Derek Wild. The designer Jo Marquart also came from Huron. Regardless, GRD did not receive any factory support from Lotus. 1972 Lotus factory driver Dave Walker secretly carried out test drives for GRD. After this became known, Walker was suspended from Chapman for a Formula 1 race.

In the course of 1974 the company's economic situation worsened. The forecast sales figures for 1975 indicated a further negative development. In November 1974, GRD then stopped producing new vehicles. Three previous employees took over the business. A racing car they designed was sold to Van Diemen in 1975. In 1975 the company still offered a few kits. At the end of the year the company was closed.

vehicles

Formula 3

GRD 373 at the Solitude Revival 2019
GRD 374 at the Solitude Revival 2019

The Formula 3 vehicles from GRD were at times successful. In 1972 Roger Williamson dominated the British Formula 3 Championship with a GRD from Tom Wheatcroft Racing . In 1972, three separate championships were held in this class. Williamson participated in all championships. He won the Shell Super Oil British F3 Championship with 78 points, 34 points ahead of runner-up Colin Vanderwell . The BARC Forward Trust British F3 Championship won Williamson with two points ahead of Rikky von Opel , the BRSCC Lombard North Central British F3 Championship was Williamson fourth. In 1973 and 1974, however, the company was unable to build on the successes of 1972. GRD attributed this to the poor performance of Renzo Zorzi .

The following vehicles were created for Formula 3:

Formula 2

The Formula 2 GRD were less successful than the Formula 3 models. Tom Walkinshaw , Tetsu Ikuzawa and Hiroshi Kazato drove a GRD 272 in 1972 for the GRS team, which was independent but received factory support. They didn't get any points. Ikuzawa in particular had repeated difficulties qualifying for the races.

In 1973 three teams fielded GRD cars. Roger Williamson started for Tom Wheatcroft Racing with a GRD 273. He played the first five runs of the championship. In none of the races did he finish in the points, his best result was eighth place at the Jochen Rindt Memorial Trophy in Thruxton . Wheatcroft's involvement ended after Williamson's fatal accident, who was killed in a Formula 1 race in the Netherlands . Other GRD teams were GRS, DART Racing and the Swedish team Pierre Robert von Reine Wisell . In addition, some private drivers used GRD cars, including Jo Vonlanthen . From 1974 GRD no longer appeared in Formula 2.

Formula 2 vehicles from GRD:

Formula Atlantic

In 1972, GRD converted two copies of the 272 in accordance with the Formula Atlantic regulations. Martin Watson drove one of the cars in six of the total of 24 races in the British Formula Atlantic Championship . His best result was sixth place in the race at Brands Hatch on April 16, 1972. David McConnell drove the car once as did Roger Williamson, who was sixth in the last race of the season, which was also held at Brands Hatch. In 1973 Tom Walkinshaw drove a modified 273. His best result was sixth place in the race at Mallory Park on June 24, 1973. Other GRD pilots were Bev Bond and Robin Smythe ; the latter drove a revised 372, i. H. a Formula 3 car from 1972. Even in 1974, a few GRD cars appeared in Formula Atlantic; the most prominent driver was Dave Walker.

In 1975 the company was dissolved.

literature

  • David Hodges : Racing cars from A to Z after 1945. 1st edition Stuttgart (Motorbuch Verlag) 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Hodges: Racing cars from AZ after 1945, p. 111.
  2. ↑ Abstract of the history of GRD on the website www.f3history.co.uk (accessed July 25, 2013).
  3. ↑ http://www.f1rejects.com/drivers/walkerd/biography.html Dave Walker's biography on the website (accessed July 25, 2013).
  4. ↑ Overview of the British Formula 3 Championship 1972 on the website www.formula2.net (accessed on July 23, 2013).
  5. ↑ Not to be confused with the German racing car manufacturer GRS Motorsport , which appeared in Formula 2 in 1981.
  6. ↑ Overview of the British Formula Atlantic Championship 1972 on the website www.oldracingcars.com (accessed on July 25, 2013).