Scirocco Powell Racing Cars

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The Scirocco Powell Racing Cars team was a Formula 1 team that competed in the 1963 and 1964 world championships.

In the early 1960s, getting into Formula 1 seemed easy. Chassis and engines were relatively easy to get, and there were hardly any barriers to entry. But this appearance was deceptive. In order to have long-term success in Formula 1, you needed patience, technical knowledge and, above all, financial stamina.

In 1962, the American Hugh Powell tried to get his friend, the racing driver Tony Settember , to gain a foothold in the top monoposto class. Powell initially invested considerable resources in the British Emeryson team. After conflicts with designer Paul Emery and the second driver in the team, John Campbell-Jones , they split up before the end of the season. Powell and Settember then decided to found their own team for 1963 , which was to compete in American racing colors under the name Scirocco-Powell .

In a shed behind a London pub designer built Hugh Aiden Jones the Scirocco 01. The car had a simple space frame similar to the Emerysons but possessed unlike those of a modern V8 engines of BRM Since the completion was delayed, had the Team to race in Pau with an Emeryson from the previous year.

The first white and blue painted Scirocco made its debut with Settember at the wheel at the Belgian Grand Prix . After an accident he retired five laps to go, at which point he was eighth. In the other races the car was completely unsuccessful, only at the Grand Prix of Austria , which was not part of the championship , Settember was able to achieve second place against weak competition. Even Ian Burgess , who before the Grand Prix of Great Britain joined the team as second driver, no countable results achieved. Due to the persistent failures Powell was finally no longer willing to invest any more money, and so the racing team was dissolved at the end of the season. The Scirocco racing cars were sold to Tim Parnell , who officially registered one of them under the team name Equipe Scirocco Belge for the Belgian André Pilette , in parallel to his own team . In Belgium , Pilette was able to qualify the car, now known as the Scirocco 02 , and drove in the rear of the field until the engine failed . After Pilette had failed to qualify for the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring , he decided not to make any further appearances.

Outside the formula, the Scirocco team also competed in the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1962 , with a Chevrolet Corvette and Tony Settember as one of the drivers . The race ended in failure for the team after 150 laps.

literature

  • David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945, 1st edition Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
  • Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing, 1st edition Stuttgart 1997 ISBN 3-613-01848-9