Sidepodcast

• Length: 4:00 
• Size: 3.7 MB 
• File: forgotten4.mp3 
• Transcript: forgotten4.pdf 
• Torrent: forgotten4.torrent 

Welcome to Forgotten F1 Teams – a mini series from Sidepodcast chronicling the rise and fall of teams that couldn’t stay the distance. This is the fourth show, we’ve already looked at Simtek, Pacific and Forti, but today we’re talking about Arrows.

Arrows Grand Prix came to life in 1977, founded by previous Shadow employees, Franco Ambrosio, Alan Rees, Jackie Oliver, Dave Wass and Tony Southgate – the surnames of whom spell out Arrows… sort of. Based in Milton Keynes, their Formula 1 entry was a bit of a rush job, with their first ever car being produced in just 53 days. Riccardo Patrese was brought on board to steer the car and the early signs were promising. They finished tenth in their first race in ‘78, almost won their second, and picked up some points in their third Grand Prix.

Unfortunately, the team didn’t have an easy start to life with some early controversies. Founder Franco Ambrosio had to leave the team after being found guilty of financial misconduct in Italy, and sent to prison. The team were then sued by Shadow for copyright on their chassis, which was upheld by the court. However, this didn’t stop them, as while the decision was being made over the the copied chassis, Arrows had built a brand new car, which then took to the track without them having to miss a race.

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• Length: 4:07 
• Size: 3.9 MB 
• File: forgotten1.mp3 
• Transcript: forgotten1.pdf 
• Torrent: forgotten1.torrent 

You’re listening to Sidepodcast, and this is the latest mini-series: Forgotten F1 Teams. I think it’s probably self explanatory but this is a series dedicated to profiling some of the forgotten teams. Forget about your Ferrari’s and your McLaren’s, what about those who didn’t make such an impact on the sport, but still have a story to tell? Those are the ones you’ll hear today. Thanks should go to Scott Woodwiss for suggesting the topic, and the teams, and we’ll dive right in with Simtek Grand Prix.

Simtek Grand Prix was born from Simtek Research Ltd, the name standing for Simulation Technology. The company founders were Nick Wirth and Max Mosley, both of whom had serious pedigree within motorsport. Mosley had been a team owner before with March, and Wirth was a mechanical engineering student who was snapped up by March as an aerodynamicist, working underneath Adrian Newey. When March was sold to Leyton House, Mosley and Wirth? both decided to leave, and joined forces to create Simtek. Originally, the company had a single office in Wirth’s house, but it was soon obvious they needed a bigger, more wind-tunnel shaped base, which they built in Oxfordshire.

Mosley had the connections that meant racing teams from all over the globe were interested in using their research technologies, but while keeping the clients satisfied, Simtek began designing an F1 car for BMW in secret. The plan never came to fruition, however, and BMW delayed entry to the sport.

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