Alfa Romeo 185T

The Alfa Romeo 185T (also Euro Racing 185T ) was a Formula 1 racing car, the Italian team Racing Euro brought to some races of the 1985 season at the start. He was reported for the Benetton team Alfa Romeo. The 185T was the last vehicle that appeared under the brand name Alfa Romeo in Formula 1. He was unsuccessful in terms of sport: the team reached him no World Championship points. After eight races Euro Racing replaced him with the reactivated predecessor Alfa Romeo 184T.

Background

The Italian state-owned Alfa Romeo was engaged since 1976 as an engine supplier for the Brabham team in Formula 1. Since 1979, Alfa Romeo entertained beyond a factory team, which was led by the self-employed Milan Team Racing EUR by the subsidiary Autodelta and from 1983 to 1982. Euro Racing constructed in 1983 on their own responsibility, emergency vehicles, while Autodelta was responsible for the development of engines. Since 1983, the team used a developed under the direction of Carlo Chiti own turbo engine type Alfa Romeo 890T, who in his debut year, two second places and a total of 18 world championship points earned his drivers. 1984 was less successful: The little engine was refined in comparison to the more modern engines from BMW or Porsche only partially competitive and proved to be unreliable. The high consumption of the eight- cylinder forced in 1984 to limit the boost pressure, which had a power reduction result.

For the 1985 season, in the meantime, each team began turbo engines, Euro Racing developed with the 185T a new chassis. But the combination of chassis and finalized by Autodelta version of the 890T engine proved to be unsuccessful.

Technology

Chassis

As a responsible designer of the 185T, the British engineer John Gentry is known mostly. However, Gentry worked only two months for Euro Racing: In November and December 1984, he designed the foundations for the 185T; then he left the Milan team. The detailed development of the new car took over then the Euro Racing engineers Mario Great Tino and Bruno Zava.

Technically, the 185T was an evolution of its predecessor, which dropped its part, developed by Gérard Ducarouge 183T from 1983. The most significant changes in the 185T compared to the 184T concerned the suspension and monocoque:

While the Zugstrebenaufhängung the 184T was unchanged on the front wheels, Gentry designed for the rear axle of the 185T, a new system of pushrods. The spring-damper units were positioned to lie transverse to the direction through the differential.

Gentry designed for the 185T, a new carbon fiber monocoque, which was flatter and lower than that of its predecessor. Unlike in the case of the 184T it turned the Milan aviation supplier Monofrini ago. The body has been redesigned in some details. The modifications were based on tests in the wind tunnel by Dallara.

The aerodynamics of the 185T was similarly problematic as its predecessor notwithstanding. In order to reduce the thermal load on the engine, the engineers enlarged accommodated in the side boxes cooler. This resulted in large-volume, shifted far forward side boxes who " defied the air flow ". In the spring the Euro Racing engineers modified the exhaust ports for cooling air. They were further back and enlarged. Thus, the cooling of the engine was improved; however, hindered the new shape of the side boxes, the flow to the rear wing, so that the output is affected.

The 185T was heavier than its predecessor. His weight was early in the season by 45 kg over the minimum allowable weight.

Motor

For the 1985 season, the 890T engine has been extensively revised for the first time since his debut. Responsible engineer was Gianni Tonti, who was the successor of Carlo Chiti started by Autodelta, which had made ​​in September 1984 automatically with the operating Motori Moderni and 1985 an engine for the Minardi team ready made ​​. Tonti replaced the used since 1983, that provided by an Alfa- Romeo - daughter Avio turbocharger by units of the KKK, which had in 1981 already used on the first prototype of the motor before a corporate policy decision was made in favor of Avio - loader. In addition, Tonti redesigned the mixture preparation in the winter 1984/85. First, the mechanical Spica injection was supplemented by a control system of Jofa which controlled the amount of fuel used analog and caused a reduction in consumption by 8 to 10 percent. Two races later, at the Grand Prix of San Marino, the 890T engines of the Alfa factory teams received an electronic fuel injection system from Bosch that conceptually the system used by BMW and TAG corresponded, but it was on the level of development in the summer of 1984. Thanks to these changes, the engine could be run bar to factory specifications in qualifying trim with 3.8 and in racing with 3.0. The engine's power amounted Autodelta with 900 hp and 720 hp in qualifying in the racing configuration. Alfa- driver Eddie Cheever thought this was exaggerated and instead went from 850 or 700 hp. This as a basis, the Alfa engine was missing up to 300 hp on the turbo engines from Honda.

Production

Euro Racing put forth a total of three copies of the 185T. The first vehicle was shown in February 1985 to Alfa Romeo's test track in northern Italy Balocco the public before it was four weeks later subjected to a first functional test in Imola. The second car was ready only at the opening race in Rio de Janeiro; a third car appeared for the Grand Prix of San Marino. A 185T was severely damaged during the Canadian Grand Prix by a fire that had triggered an unexploded turbocharger.

Racing applications

The team had great hopes in the 185T; Alfa Romeo Directorate expected in the 1985 season " at least one victory." These expectations were not fulfilled. Riccardo Patrese and Eddie Cheever, who had remained as a driver with the team qualified to the summer of 1985, almost exclusively for starting places in midfield; an exception was the Monaco Grand Prix, in which Eddie Cheever started from position four. In the race, the 185T proved to be inefficient and unreliable: Cheever was four, Patrese out five times. Each driver came with the 185T only three times to the finish without reaching scoring points. In addition to technical deficiencies, it was occasionally to driving errors: the Grand Prix of Portugal, the second race of the season, Cheever and Patrese collided after several attempts, to overtake each other, with each other, damaging their cars and also still pushed the controlled Nigel Mansell Williams from the race.

After the French Grand Prix in July 1985, the team was on the 185T. At the next race in the UK initially received a Cheever called the Alfa Romeo 184TB version of last year's car, from the Grand Prix of Germany also drove Patrese the old car.

Reviews

Gustav Brunner, 1984 at Euro Racing Patrese's race engineer, criticized the fact that the 185T has been designed " by a motor man " exclusively by motor-related aspects. The chassis and body design arrange themselves under the motor's needs. The show, among other things at the big boxes, which destroyed the aerodynamics of the car.

Riccardo Patrese went further in his criticism. With a distance of 15 years, he described the 185T in 2000 as the worst Formula 1 car he had ever driven.

Eddie Cheever called the car in the late summer of 1985, " an obese freak ", were futile attempts to improve.

Re-use

Alfa Romeo presented at the end of the season 1985 Formula 1 operation. Was not affected by the development of the new four-cylinder turbo engine from the Type Alfa Romeo 415T, which should be made available to an independent team in the 1987 season. Euro Racing tested the motor on behalf of Alfa Romeo in May 1986 in a modified 185T on our own path in Balocco; Driver was Alfas test pilot Giorgio Francia. In July 1986, Alfa Romeo entered into an agreement with the French Equipe Ligier, which should use the four-cylinder turbo engine in the 1987 season. Ligier designed for the engine finally Ligier JS29 to, which was first tested with the 415T in January 1987. Shortly before the first race of the season however, there was a rift between Alfa Romeo and Ligier, which was founded in the external representation with pejorative attitudes of Ligier drivers René Arnoux on the Alfa engine, was actually but due to a political decision of the Fiat group, the Alfa Romeo had taken over in 1986 and no further foothold in Formula 1 next to the required also in the group: Scuderia Ferrari. Alfa Romeo pulled the engine and offered him not to another team. Ligier then moved to Megatron engines.

Race Results

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