Hill GH1
.jpg)
The Hill GH1 was a Formula 1 racing car , built and used in 1975 by Team Hill .
Development history and technology
The Hill GH1 was originally the Lola T371 , which was still being developed by Lola . The designer Andy Smallman was assigned by Lola to the Embassy Team of Graham Hill to drive the further development of the car. The GH1 was a conventional modular racing car with the tried and tested Cosworth V8 engine in the rear. The car had double wishbones at the front and double lower and single upper handlebars and longitudinal struts at the rear. There were also external struts. The DFV motor got an FGA-400 gearbox from Hewland .
Racing history
The new Graham Hill team had next to no time to establish themselves. Rolf Stommelen had a serious accident while in the lead in a GH1 at the Spanish Grand Prix in 1975 when the rear wing broke. Three spectators and a marshal were killed when the GH1 came to rest behind the guard rails. The substitute von Stommelen, who later became Formula 1 world champion Alan Jones , achieved fifth place at the British Grand Prix , the best placing for the GH1 in a run to the world championship. The highly talented Tony Brise already achieved the first point for Graham Hill's team with a sixth place at the Swedish Grand Prix . The French François Migault and the Australian Vern Schuppan also drove the GH1 in 1975. Hill himself tried to qualify for the GH1 at the Monaco Grand Prix . It was to be the end of his long Formula 1 career as a driver - a start with a vehicle that bore his own name. The attempt failed. As 21st of the training, Hill missed the start authorization by just one place. In the constructors' competition, the team finished eleventh at the end of the season.
The successor to the GH1 was to be the Hill GH2 . However, when Hill, Brise and Smallman crashed in a plane in November 1975, the project came to an abrupt end.
Literature and Sources
- David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , pp. 116 and 117.
