Theodore TR1

Theodore TR1

The Theodore TR1 was a racing car from the British racing team Theodore Racing , which was used in Formula 1 in 1978 . The car was technically outdated and is mostly described in the literature as a flop.

background

The Indonesian-born businessman Theodore "Teddy" Yip had been involved in British motorsport as a sponsor since the early 1970s. From 1974 to 1976 he supported Alan Jones , Brian Redman and Vern Schuppan's Formula 5000 outings . In 1977 Yip appeared for the first time in Formula 1, with the Theodore Racing Team initially being looked after by the British racing team Ensign . In 1978, Theodore reported the first racing car of their own, the TR1.

The car had already been developed in 1977 by Ralt , a British design office headed by former Brabham designer Ron Tauranac and Len Bailey. Both had developed the TR1 with a view to a possible works competition in Formula 1. When these plans could not be implemented for financial reasons, they sold the construction to Teddy Yips racing team, who after a year as a customer team has now become its own designer. However, the TR1 proved unsuitable, so that its use was ended before the end of the season. Theodore Racing contested the remaining races of the 1978 season with a Wolf WR3 and a WR4. After the end of the season, Theodore initially turned away from the Formula 1 World Championship before returning in 1981 with the Theodore TR2 and the TY01 .

construction

The Theodore TR1 was a “massive, entirely conventional car” that already looked outdated when it was presented. Observers found details of the 1971 Brabham BT34 in it. An unusual design element for the late 1970s was the water cooler located in the center of the vehicle nose, which required a wide front section and impaired aerodynamics. A 3.0 liter, eight-cylinder naturally aspirated engine from Cosworth served as the drive . The weight of the car is given as 610 kg; This made the TR1 the heaviest Formula 1 car of the 1978 season.

Theodore made two copies of the TR1.

Races

For the first two races of the 1978 season, Theodore reported the US racing driver Eddie Cheever . Cheever did not qualify in Argentina or Brazil . In Buenos Aires it was a second slower than the last qualifier, in Rio de Janeiro only a tenth of a second. After this race, Cheever moved to the Hesketh Racing team .

Winner for Theodore in a non-championship race: Keke Rosberg

His place with Theodore was taken by the Finnish debutant Keke Rosberg , who received the newly built second copy of the TR1 on his first appearance for the team at the South African Grand Prix . On the Kyalami Circuit , Rosberg qualified the TR1 for 24th place on the grid and started the race ahead of Eddie Cheever in the Hesketh 308 . In the race itself, Rosberg only got 15 laps, then a technical component broke. The official statistics record a failure due to a defective clutch , other sources report that the brakes have collapsed. As a result of this defect, Rosberg and Theodore crashed into a boundary wall. The car was badly damaged. Rosberg was uninjured, but inhaled escaping gasoline fumes and suffered irritation of the airways.

The next Formula 1 race was the BRDC International Trophy held two weeks later at Silverstone , which was not part of the world championship. The British works teams Brabham , Ensign, Lotus , McLaren , Shadow and Tyrrell joined her; Ferrari and Renault, however, stayed away from the race. Theodore again registered Keke Rosberg in TR1 for this event. In a field of 17 vehicles, Rosberg qualified for 12th place. In the race, Rosberg benefited from adverse weather conditions: In the pouring rain, 13 vehicles retired, including the Brabham, Lotus and McLaren factory cars. Only four vehicles crossed the finish line, two of them were used by private teams. Rosberg had led the race for a long time and crossed the finish line as the winner. It was the first and only victory of a Theodore in Formula 1.

However, these results cannot be repeated. At the Grand Prix of the USA (West) , Monaco and Spain , Rosberg regularly failed to pre-qualify, in Belgium he missed the main qualification. After the Spanish Grand Prix, Teddy Yip gave up the TR1. The team skipped the Grand Prix of Sweden , France and Great Britain in order to compete in the German Grand Prix with used cars from Wolf.

Results

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1978 Formula 1 season																		0	-
E. Cheever	36	DNQ	DNQ
K. Rosberg				DNF	DNPQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNPQ

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).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Auto Motor und Sport . No. 6, 1987, p. 288.
2. ^ Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1. 2000, p. 599.
3. ^ Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars. 2001, p. 223.
4. ↑ Heinz Prüller: The car was almost a decade behind its time. In: Auto Motor und Sport. No. 6, 1987, p. 288.
5. ↑ Ensign took up this concept again in 1979 with the N179, but gave it up again after three unsuccessful races.
6. ↑ Cimarosti: The Century of Racing. 1997, p. 289.
7. ↑ The Theodore TR1 on the website www.oldracingcars.com .
8. ↑ Auto Motor und Sport. No. 6, 1987, p. 288.
9. ↑ List of results of the International Trophy on the website www.racingsportscars.com