Modena team
| Surname | Modena team |
|---|---|
| Companies | |
| Company headquarters | Modena |
| Team boss | Carlo Patrucco |
| statistics | |
| First Grand Prix | USA 1991 |
| Last Grand Prix | Australia 1991 |
| Race driven | 7th |
| Constructors' championship | 0 |
| Drivers World Championship | 0 |
| Race wins | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Points | 6th |
The Modena team was a Formula 1 racing team from Modena in Italy , which competed in the 1991 Formula 1 World Championship . The team made use of resources from the racing company Lamborghini Engineering . However , there was only an indirect connection to the sports car manufacturer Lamborghini . The central figure of the project was the long-time Ferrari engineer Mauro Forghieri , who headed Lamborghini Engineering, was responsible for the design of the racing car and the engine and made the strategic decisions on the race weekends. The team did not score any world championship points. It ceased operations after just a year.
Team history
Lamborghini engineering
The Modena team was closely associated with Lamborghini Engineering. Lamborghini Engineering was a subsidiary of the sports car manufacturer Lamborghini, which was part of the Chrysler group at the time and developed a twelve-cylinder engine for the new naturally aspirated Formula 1 under the direction of Mauro Forghieri. This engine, called 3512, was used by Larrousse from 1989 and also by Lotus in 1990 .
The GLAS project
In the course of 1989, the Mexican businessman Fernando Gonzáles Luna commissioned Lamborghini Engineering to develop a Formula 1 chassis, which he will use in Formula 1 in a Mexican team under the name GLAS (Gonzáles Luna & Associados) from 1991 wanted to. Lamborghini Engineering developed a chassis called Lambo 290, which was to be presented to the public at the 1990 Mexican Grand Prix . The Mexican Giovanni Aloi was planned as the driver . On the day of the planned performance, Gonzáles Luna disappeared without a trace. Some sources linked its disappearance to a possible fraudulent bankruptcy. Emilio Navarro, the head of Lamborghini Engineering, said, however, that Gonzáles Luna had met all financial obligations by then.
The structure of the Modena team
In the summer of 1990, Lamborghini Engineering and the parent company Chrysler decided to continue the project alone. In autumn of that year a partnership was established with the Italian entrepreneur Carlo Patrucco , a former manager of the sportswear manufacturer Fila . Patrucco had already tried in 1989 in vain to participate in the French racing team Larrousse. In autumn 1990 he founded the Modena team, which was independent from Lamborghini Engineering. Formally, Lamborghini Engineering only acted as a supplier and service provider: The Modena team received the car and the engine from Lamborghini Engineering; Lamborghini Engineering also organized the races. However, Patrucco had to secure the financing. A similar model was practiced at the same time by the BMS Scuderia Italia team and the racing car manufacturer Dallara . In fact, there were close personal ties between the Modena team and Lamborghini Engineering. The questions related to racing were largely decided by Mauro Forghieri , the technical director of Lamborghini Engineering and designer of the Lambo 290. Team managers in the preparatory phase were the engineers Marco Tollentino and Augusto Bovati employed at Lamborghini Engineering. For 1991, however, this task was entrusted to Jaime Manca Graziadei, who had previously been racing director at Minardi . Several employees unanimously confirmed that Mauro Forghieri made the essential decisions himself and severely restricted Graziadei's role.
The choice of the team name and the decision not to include the name Lamborghini was due to the uncertainties about the team’s chances of success in sport. According to Carlo Patrucco, a later renaming of the team using the name Lamborghini was planned in the event of success. However, the media often anticipated this step. As early as 1991, the team was incorrectly referred to as "Lambo Formula" or "Lamborghini" in several reports. The Modena team, however, made a contribution by officially designating the racing car to be used as the "Lambo 291".
Just one season
1991 was the racing team's only season. The Modena team did not score any world championship points. The non-qualifications clearly outweighed the race participation. A car of the team took part in a race only seven times. There were only four finishings, but 25 missed qualifications or pre-qualifications. Modena driver Nicola Larini thought the car was "undrivable". Team manager Jaime Manca Graziadei blamed a significant lack of organization for the unsuccessful season. The season was chaotic: “There wasn't a lot of organization, apart from what Mauro Forghieri thought it was. He hardly gave anyone else a chance to influence the development of the team. "
Regardless of the unsuccessfulness, there were plans for the 1992 season. The considerations provided that the Modena team should make itself largely independent of Lamborghini Engineering. Accordingly, considerations were directed towards not having any new chassis developed by Lamborghini Engineering or Mauro Forghieri. Rather, Carlo Patrucco made contact with the independent designer Sergio Rinland in October 1991 , who had a design office in Great Britain called Astauto and was supposed to design the car there for 1992. There was even talk of using a Judd engine instead of the Lamborghini engine for 1992 . When the financial resources became increasingly scarce in late summer, a merger with the Coloni team was finally under discussion. It didn't come to that; the Modena team was closed and liquidated at the end of 1991 with a high mountain of debt.
The Lambo 291
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For the 1991 World Cup, the Modena team registered a racing car with the name "Lambo 291". It was a slightly further developed version of the vehicle that was presented for GLAS in June 1990. The development work was done by Mauro Forghieri and Marco Tollentino. The latter designed the last Formula 1 cars for Alfa Romeo Motorsport in 1984 and 1985 and worked for EuroBrun from 1988 to 1989 . The Lambo 291 was a sleek car, the most noticeable features of which were low, semicircular side pods that carried numerous rounded and partially exposed radiator surfaces. Mauro Forghieri had not followed the trend set by Tyrrell of a high front section with a front wing hanging below; instead, the Lambo 291 had a conventional, steeply sloping nose. It became noticeable here that the basic concept of the car originated in late 1989 and had not been extensively modified since then. The engine installed was the twelve-cylinder from Lamborghini Engineering, which the French team Équipe Ligier also used this season .
The prototype was ready in the summer of 1990 and was tested a little later in Imola by the Italian racing driver Mauro Baldi , who had his last Formula 1 outing in 1985 for the Spirit team . Marco Apicella , who was primarily active in First Racing in the Formula 3000 in 1990 , undertook further test drives .
The 1991 season
The Modena team competed in all rounds of the world championship in 1991 using two cars. The drivers were Nicola Larini and Eric van de Poele . After two years at Osella, Larini combined the hope of a more competitive team with the change to the Modena team; for the Belgian van de Poele, on the other hand, who brought a number of national sponsors with him, it was the opportunity to find a way into Formula 1 after years in touring car racing and in Formula 3000 .
Both drivers were subject to pre-qualification in the first half of the season, where they competed with Coloni, Fondmetal , Jordan and Dallara / BMS Scuderia Italia. The expectations of the new team were high, because the Lamborghini engine was one of the most powerful engines in the field. With him, the French team Larrousse had finished the 1990 season in sixth place in the constructors' championship and was able to achieve a podium place with Aguri Suzuki .
At the opening race of the 1991 season in Phoenix Larini managed the pre-qualification and reached 17th place on the grid, leaving both Ligier, which were equipped with the same engine, behind. Larini was able to finish the first race and finished seventh, albeit five laps behind the winner Ayrton Senna . Van de Poele, however, could not pre-qualify. With a deficit of 15 seconds on the later pole time, he was last in the pre-qualification. He missed pre-qualification by more than six seconds. His average lap speed of 137 km / h was also the lowest of all drivers.
Larini's seventh place in the opening race was also the best result that the Modena team achieved in the season. In the other seven races up to and including the Grand Prix of Great Britain , Larini could not pre-qualify six times; his deficit on the later pole time was between six and nine seconds. That was mostly only enough to leave Pedro Matos Chaves behind in the outdated Coloni C4 . At the Mexican Grand Prix Larini drove out a time with which he would have passed the pre-qualification (but not the actual qualification); however, he was excluded from the race because of a non-compliant rear wing. Eric van de Poele was only able to qualify for a race once in the entire season. At the San Marino Grand Prix , he started from 21st place. On the last lap van de Poele was in fifth place, which would have meant two points in the constructors' championship for his team. Shortly before the finish line, however, the fuel pump failed, so Van de Poele's car remained within sight of the finish line. The following drivers passed van de Poele; he was ranked ninth.
Seventh and ninth places in the first half of the season were enough to free the Modena team from pre-qualification for the second half of the season. Eric van de Poele failed to qualify in all eight remaining races. Larini qualified for the Grand Prix of Germany , Hungary , Belgium , Italy and Australia , but dropped out three times (Germany, Belgium and Australia) and otherwise crossed the finish line outside of the points. At the Hungaroring , starting from 24th on the grid, he crossed the finish line in 16th, three laps behind. In Monza he finished 23rd on the grid and was again 16th, this time five laps behind.
As a result, the season was disappointing for the Modena team. A few years later, Nicola Larini said in an interview with auto motor und sport that the Lambo 291 was an almost undrivable car. Weight distribution, directional stability and susceptibility to vibrations would have made handling extremely difficult. In addition, the lightweight construction of the car presented a significant safety risk. Larini was happy not to have to get into this car after the last race in 1991.
Results
| season | chassis | driver | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | 16 | Points | rank |
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| 1991 | Lambo 291 |
N. Larini
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34 | 7th | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DSQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNF | 16 | DNF | 16 | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNF | 0 | - |
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E. van de Poele
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35 | DNPQ | DNPQ | 9 | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ | DNQ |
literature
- Adriano Cimarosti: The Century of Racing . 1st edition, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 .
- Patrice Burchkalter and Jean-Francois Galeron: Tout sur la Formule 1 1991 . Surrèsnes 1991, ISBN 2-87636-067-5 (French)
- Alan Henry: Auto Course 1991/92 . London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-87-2
- David Hodges: Lamborghini. The Legend . Smithmark Publishers, London 1998, ISBN 978-0765108463 .
- David Hodges: Racing cars from AZ after 1945 . 1st edition, Stuttgart 1993
- Hans-Karl Lange: Lamborghini. All sports cars since 1963. Verlagsunion Pabel - Moewig, Rastatt 1991, ISBN 3-8118-3063-5 .
- Lamborghini sports car after 1964. Type compass . Motorbuch Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-613-02645-7
- Anthony Pritchard: Lamborghini. The history of the supercars from Sant'Agata. Heel, Königswinter 2006, ISBN 3-89880-574-3 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ David Hodges: Lamborghini. The Legend . Smithmark Publishers, London 1998, ISBN 978-0765108463 , p. 77.
- ↑ NN: Heart of Glass? Motoring News dated June 27, 1990.
- ^ Alan Henry: Auto Course 1991/92 . London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-87-2 , p. 90.