Iso-Marlboro IR2

Iso-Marlboro IR2

The FW01, which is largely identical in construction, painted in 1974
Constructor:	Frank Williams Racing Cars
Designer:	John Clarke
Predecessor:	Iso-Marlboro FX3B
Successor:	Williams FW04
Technical specifications
Engine:	Cosworth
Weight:	578 kg
Tires:	Firestone Goodyear
Petrol:	Fina
statistics
Driver:	Howden Ganley Arturo Merzario Tom Belsø Gijs van Lennep Jacques Laffite
First start:	1973 Spanish Grand Prix
Last start:	1975 South African Grand Prix
Starts Victories Poles SR 25th - - -
World Cup points:	2
Podiums:	-
Leadership laps:	-

The Iso-Marlboro IR2 was a Formula 1 racing car that the British motorsport team Frank Williams Racing Cars built as a one-off in 1973 and competed in the Formula 1 World Championship in 1973 , 1974 and 1975 . The IR2 had three different model names within three years: The Iso-Marlboro IR2 in its debut year was followed in 1974 by the name Iso-Marlboro FW02 , and in 1975 it was registered as the Williams FW02 . From a technical point of view, the car was largely identical to the Iso-Marlboro IR1, built a little earlier, and the FW03 built a year later . From 1974 the IR2 served as an emergency vehicle for various paydrivers , some of which changed from race to race. At the Swedish Grand Prix , the car was even driven by three different drivers within one race weekend.

background

Frank Williams Racing Cars, a forerunner of the Williams F1 team , which is currently involved in Formula 1 , was founded in 1968 by former racing driver and racing car dealer Frank Williams . In the first years of Formula 1 involvement, Williams was purely a customer team, using racing cars from Brabham , March and De Tomaso . In 1972 , the Politoys FX3 was the team's first own racing car.

With the start of the automobile world championship in 1973, the Italian sports car manufacturer Iso Rivolta became the main sponsor of the Williams team. The company made famous in the 1950s for the Isetta microcar , which had been producing high-performance vehicles since 1963, acquired the right to label the racing cars used with its own name, but did not participate in the design or assembly of the cars. Iso’s connection to Williams was primarily about advertising: Iso was taken over in 1973 by a new owner who wanted to use Formula 1 to make the Milanese brand better known internationally.

After Williams initially used a slightly revised version of the FX3 under the name Iso-Marlboro FX3B in the first races in 1973, a new model family was launched at the Spanish Grand Prix , which was designed to meet the more stringent requirements for crash safety the sponsors Iso Rivolta and Marlboro was named Iso-Marlboro IR . In the course of time, three chassis belonging to this series were created, which were numbered consecutively. The IR2 is the second copy. It is the longest-running member of this model family.

nomenclature

The name IR used in 1973 is derived from Iso Rivolta and the cigarette brand Marlboro, which financed the development and use of the vehicle. When Iso fell into arrears due to economic difficulties at the beginning of 1974, Williams changed the model name to Iso-Marlboro FW02 (FW for Frank Williams). After Iso Rivolta's bankruptcy in 1975, the brand name of the model family was changed from Iso-Marlboro to Williams.

Technology and condition of the car

The examples of the model family IR were designed by John Clarke . In the autumn of 1973, Giampaolo Dallara revised the suspension geometry. The car is described as a model with a simple design, the body of which had angular lines that were perceived as strict. The monocoque was made of aluminum. Cosworth DFV eight-cylinder engines served as the drive , and power was transmitted via five-speed gearboxes from Hewland (type DG400). A problematic detail of the IR was the oil supply. It turned out to be ineffective and caused two engine damage on the IR2 / FW02.

Williams used Firestone tires in its debut year, and Goodyear tires in 1974 and 1975 .

Due to the team's financial difficulties in 1974 and 1975, the cars were inadequately maintained and repaired patchy. As the 1974 season progressed, there was a lack of money for necessary repairs and spare parts. In some races, broken plastic pieces were taped together; from the summer of 1974 onwards, Williams used tires from the Ferrari team several times. This had a negative effect on the competitiveness of the cars. In 1974 the FW02 was canceled in six races due to technical defects, in particular the wheel suspension and power transmission proved to be unstable. For individual work on the car, the Williams mechanics sought advice from employees of Ken Tyrrell , whose racing team was a top team at the time.

Races

In the early 1970s, Frank Williams used two vehicles more or less regularly. He took a two-pronged approach: One of the vehicles was registered for a regular driver for the entire season, while the second vehicle was rented out to changing drivers. In 1973 the IR2 was the regular driver's vehicle, while the IR1 was given to various paydrivers . After the introduction of the FW03 in spring 1974, the IR2 / FW02 took over the role of rental vehicle. A total of five pilots started with the IR2 / FW02.

1973: Iso-Marlboro IR2

In the 1973 Formula 1 season, the IR2 was driven exclusively by Howden Ganley . He competed with him at eleven grand prizes. He managed to qualify for every race; the best result was starting position 10 at the Monaco Grand Prix . After three failures, each of which was due to technical reasons, he crossed the finish line for the first time in Sweden . He finished eleventh, four laps behind. After that he managed to finish in half of all races. As a rule, he was lapped two, three or four times by the leader at the finish line. The Canadian Grand Prix was an exception . Here he finished sixth, just one lap behind, and secured his team a second world championship point after Gijs van Lennep 's sixth place in the Netherlands (in IR1). Ganley had an accident while training for the German Grand Prix after the brakes failed on his Iso-Marlboro. Since the badly damaged car could not be repaired before the race, the New Zealander had to forego the start. From Austria he had a newly built chassis available that retained the previous designation.

1974: Iso-Marlboro FW02

Made the second and last World Cup point for the IR2 / FW02 in South Africa: Arturo Merzario

In the 1973 Formula 1 season, the FW02 was mainly the vehicle for paying drivers. The regular driver of the year, Arturo Merzario , drove the FW02 in the first three races of the year. At the South African Grand Prix , Merzario qualified for third place on the grid. His qualifying time was just 0.2 seconds longer than the pole time of Ferrari driver Niki Lauda . This positioning was the best starting position for a Williams in a Formula 1 world championship run until then. In the race, Merzario finished sixth. With the start of the European season, Merzario switched to the newly built FW03, which should prove to be unreliable. In an accident at the Monaco Grand Prix , Merzario severely damaged the FW03. The repair dragged on over two months, so that Merzario had to temporarily fall back on the FW02 during this time, while the FW01 was reactivated for the paying drivers.

An unusual situation arose at the 1974 Swedish Grand Prix in Anderstorp . Here the FW02 was driven by three different pilots within three days. Williams initially reported the car to Merzario, who drove with him in Friday practice. Merzario had broken a finger in a sports car race in Imola the previous weekend , and Friday practice showed that he would not be able to endure a Formula 1 race with this injury. Frank Williams then gave the FW02 to the British racing driver Richard Robarts at short notice , who contested the qualifying training with him, but was so slow that he failed the pre-qualification. In order to take part in the Swedish Grand Prix with at least one car, Williams gave the FW02 for the race to Belsø, who had qualified for 22nd place on the grid with the sister vehicle FW01, but had seriously damaged his car as a result of an accident. Belsø finished eighth with the FW02. Belsø also drove the FW02 at the Spanish and UK Grand Prix . Both times he missed the qualification.

From the German Grand Prix , the French debutant Jacques Laffite took over the FW02. He drove the car in each of the remaining races. He regularly qualified, but did not finish in any race of the year. At the penultimate race in Canada he retired prematurely due to a puncture, but was classified as 15th because he had covered a sufficient distance before retiring.

1975: Williams FW02

In the 1975 season, Jacques Laffite started the first three races in the car now known as the Williams FW02. At the opening race in Argentina he retired due to a gearbox defect, in Brazil he crossed the finish line in eleventh place. At the beginning of the European season, Laffite took over the newly designed Williams FW04 , which was no longer technically related to the IR model family.

One last time the FW02 was entered for the Race of Champions , a Formula 1 race without world championship status, which was held on March 16, 1975 at Brands Hatch . In addition to Arturo Merzario, who drove the FW03, Williams reported the Italian Maurizio Flammini , who should start with the FW02. Flammini, who had no Formula 1 experience, damaged the FW02 so badly in a training accident that he was unable to take part in the race.

Re-use

The FW02 was not rebuilt after the accident at Brands Hatch. However, some components of the car have been recycled for the new FW04.

Race results (Formula 1 world championship races)

driver	Chassis designation	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	Points	rank
1973 Automobile World Championship																	1	10.
H. Ganley	Iso-Marlboro IR2				DNF	DNF	DNF	11	14th	9	9	DNS	DNF	DNF	6th	11
Automobile World Championship 1974																	1	10.
A. Merzario	Iso-Marlboro FW02	DNF	DNF	6th				DNS	DNF	9
T. Belsø					DNQ			8th			DNQ
R. Robarts								DNS
J. Laffite												DNF	NC	DNF	15th	DNF
Automobile World Championship 1975																	0	9.
J. Laffite	Williams FW02	DNF	11	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. Cars, tracks and pilots. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 .
• Maurice Hamilton: Frank Williams. The inside story of the man behind the Williams-Renault. Macmillan, London 1998, ISBN 0-333-71716-3 .
• David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 .
• David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars. Crowood Press, Marlborough 2001, ISBN 1-86126-339-2 (English).
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1st 2nd edition. Chronosports, St. Sulpice 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 (French).

Web links

Commons : Iso-Marlboro IR  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Racing history of the Iso-Marlboro IR1 / FW01 on the website www.oldracingcars.com

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Mel Nichols: Exotica's Black Sheep… or unsung trailblazer? In: Car. Issue 8/1974, ISSN  0008-5987 , p. 32 ff.
2. ↑ Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing. 1997, p. 253.
3. ↑ ^{a b} David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945. 1994, p. 121.
4. ^ ^{A b} Maurice Hamilton: Frank Williams. The inside story of the man behind Williams-Renault. 1998, p. 43.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1. 2000, p. 558.
6. ^ David Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. 2001, p. 113.
7. ↑ Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing. 1997, p. 255.
8. ↑ See Maurice Hamilton: Frank Williams. The inside story of the man behind Williams-Renault. 1998, pp. 50 and 68 f.
9. ↑ See Maurice Hamilton: Frank Williams. The inside story of the man behind Williams-Renault. 1998, p. 46.
10. ↑ In Belgium the throttle cable jammed, in Monaco the half-wave broke.
11. ↑ Merzario only crossed the finish line once in nine starts in FW03. Five of the eight failures were due to technical defects - power transmission, gas levels, fuel pressure, fire extinguishers and other defects in the engine area.
12. ↑ Statistics of the Race of Champions 1975 on the website www.chicanef1.com (accessed on October 11, 2013).
13. ^ David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945. 1994, p. 264.
14. ↑ One point was achieved with the IR2, another by Gijs van Lennep with the IR1.
15. ↑ One point was achieved with the FW2, three more by Arturo Merzario with the FW03.
16. ↑ Williams scored six world championship points with the FW04 in 1975.