Theodore N183

The Theodore N183 by Roberto Guerrero (2019)

The Theodore N183 was a racing car that was used in the 1983 Formula 1 season by the British motorsport team Theodore Racing . He was the successor to Theodore TY02 .

background

The Theodore N183 was the last racing car that Theodore brought to the start in Formula 1. It was actually an Ensign N181 and was created after the merger of the British racing team Ensign with Theodore.

Parallel to the use of his own racing team, Theodores owner Teddy Yip also supported the independent Ensign team financially in 1981 and 1982 and enabled the racing team to move to larger factory buildings at the end of 1981, among other things. At the end of the 1982 season, which was unsuccessful for both Ensign and Theodore - both teams had only reached one finish outside of the points - Yip took over the Ensign team and merged it, as he had done two years earlier Shadow had done with his own racing team. The new team operated from the former Ensign base and used the infrastructure there, but was nevertheless registered for the Formula 1 World Championship under the name Theodore Racing.

The components that Theodore took over from Ensign also included the Ensign N181, a Formula 1 car that Nigel Bennett designed and that Ensign launched in 1982 with Roberto Guerrero . The Ensign N181 was built in 1982 in just one copy. This unique piece was given the name Theodore N183 for 1983, giving up the previous Theodore nomenclature. In the course of the 1983 season, two more cars with the same name were built based on the example of the first vehicle.

technology

The first Theodore N183 (MN16) was identical to the Ensign N181. The car was not changed in the winter of 1982/83 and was used for four races over the course of the season as it had been in 1982. The two replicas (MN17 and MN18) corresponded to this scheme; Nigel Bennett, however, constructed a cockpit reinforcement made of carbon materials , which reduced the car's twisting ability. A naturally aspirated Cosworth engine still served as the drive, the competitiveness of which was limited in view of the increasing spread of turbo engines.

Races

Unlike in previous years, Theodore used two vehicles in 1983. The drivers were Roberto Guerrero and the former motorcycle world champion Johnny Cecotto , who made his Formula 1 debut here. Cecotto used the MN18 chassis almost entirely. Guerrero started the season with the newly rebuilt MN17, but had to fall back on last year's MN16 chassis for the five following races after he had seriously damaged this vehicle in an accident at the French Grand Prix .

Johnny Cecotto missed qualifying four times with the N183; on the other hand he achieved a world championship point for his team with sixth place at the Grand Prix of the USA West in Long Beach. Guerrero only crossed the finish line four times and didn't get any points.

During the summer of 1983, the team's financial difficulties increased. For the European Grand Prix on the Brands Hatch Circuit Theodore brought only one car at the start, then the team found on racing an entirely. It no longer took part in the season finale in South Africa .

The best result of the N183 was achieved by Brian Henton in March 1983, who competed for Theodore in the Race of Champions (Formula 1) that was not part of the world championship . Henton finished seventh here.

Results

season	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	Points	rank
1983 Formula 1 season																	18th	6th
R. Guerrero	33	NC	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNPQ	DNF	NC	DNF	16	DNF	DNF	12	13	12
J. Cecotto	34	14th	6th	11	DNF	DNPQ	10	DNF	DNF	DNQ	11	DNPQ	DNPQ	11

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 .
• 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

• Statistics of the Theodore N183 on the website www.oldracingcars.com
• Image: Johnny Cecotto in Theodore N183 1983

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hodges: Rennwagen von A – Z after 1945. 1994, p. 87.
2. ^ Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. 2001, p. 81.
3. ↑ Theodore's own Formula 1 cars were named TR1 and TR2 in 1978 and 1980, and from 1981 to 1982 they were called TY01 and TY02.
4. ↑ The term "MN16" refers to the 16th chassis of the Ensign team. Ensign's founder and team boss Morris "Mo" Nunn gave the vehicles they used a type designation, which was composed of the class (Formula 1) and the year (81 for 1981). In addition to this type designation, each individual chassis was given a consecutive number that began with the initials Nunns. After Theodore took over the Ensign team, Teddy Yip continued this tradition for the Theodore N183.
5. ^ Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. 2001, p. 224.
6. ^ Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. 2001, p. 246.
7. ^ Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1. 2000, p. 600.