Enzo Coloni Racing Car Systems
Coloni is an Italian motor racing team from the Umbrian community Passignano sul Trasimeno, near Perugia, which was founded in January 1982 by Enzo Coloni under the name Enzo Coloni Racing Car Systems and 1987-1991 regularly to the races in the Formula 1 World Championship reported. In this racing class Coloni one of the teams with the least sporting successes. In two consecutive years, he did not succeed as the only team in Formula 1 history to qualify for a race. In the four and a half years of his application the team could only participate in 14 races, scoring a single World Championship point. A certain notoriety reached the team through a connection with the Japanese car manufacturer Subaru, the Enzo Coloni tried in 1990 for a short time to establish itself as engine manufacturers in Formula 1.
By 2012, the team was committed under the name Scuderia Coloni in the GP2 Championship, but withdrew at the end of 2012 from the series back.
- 2.1 1987: two races in debut year 2.1.1 preparations
- 2.1.2 The World Cup races in 1987
- 2.3.1 Initial situation
- 2.3.2 The World Cup races in 1989
- 2.4.1 Coloni and Subaru 2.4.1.1 Subaru and Formula 1
- 2.4.1.2 The alliance with Coloni
- 2.4.1.3 The World Cup runs in the Subaru - phase
- 2.5.1 Initial situation
- 2.5.2 The World Cup races in 1991
- 2.5.3 Renewed sale
- 4.1 All drivers of Coloni in Formula 1
- 4.2 Statistics in Formula 1
- 4.3 Results in Formula 1
"King of the non -qualified " - Background and Causes
Successes in smaller classes
The Team Enzo Coloni Racing Car Systems from 1982 to 1987 ' a fixed size " in the Italian Formula 3 Championship. 1982, in his final year as an active driver, team founder Enzo Coloni was master of this series; in the following years, the titles went to Colonis driver Alessandro Santin, Ivan Capelli and Nicola Larini. 1986 Coloni also participated in the International Formula 3000 Championship. Colonis driver Gabriele Tarquini scored here with an outdated March 85B seven championship points and finished the season in tenth place from the drivers' standings.
The year was used in Formula 3000 for Enzo Coloni only as preparation for promotion to the Formula 1, for which seemed to be an opportune time the 1987 season: From 1987, were - in contrast to last year, had to be in the down exclusively with turbocharged engines - alternatively readmitted naturally aspirated engines, and it was already clear that from 1989, all teams would have to compete with conventional naturally aspirated engines. These adopted in July 1986 rule change was to be expected, that the formula could be one again operated as before the turbo era with less financial outlay.
Statistics of failure
In Formula 1, the team soon reached its limits: the successes, the Enzo Coloni had achieved in smaller racing classes, he could not repeat in the highest class of formula racing. Between autumn 1987 and autumn 1991, his team reported 82 Grand Prix. During this time the team qualified only 14 races, and in total there were only four stage finishes, all of which were recorded in 1988. Colonis last race participation took place in Portugal in autumn 1989. In the following 35 races Coloni never survived the qualification; in 27 cases the team had already failed in the pre-qualification. No other team in Formula 1 has an equally long period of failure. Occasionally Coloni is therefore referred to as the "King of non -skilled ". Although familiar with the motorsport history teams like the German Willi Kauhsen Racing Team (1979 ) or the Italian team Racing Life ( 1990), which not only qualified once during their existence to a Formula 1 race; but all of them were not more than one season in Formula 1 is involved.
Causes
The main reason for the lack of racing success was the low financial strength of the team. Coloni was and remained the smallest and finanzschwächste team in Formula 1 While some of the other racing teams that first appeared in the early years of the so-called new Saugmotorära in Formula 1, had wealthy industrialists as partners or connections to established companies talked, Coloni was as pure family entirely dependent on external finance. This proved to be the weak starting position Colonis as problematic: International sponsors concentrated their commitment preferable to the larger, successful team, with which more media coverage was to be expected, and the national sponsors tried next Coloni five (1989 ) or six (1990 ) another Italian team. Enzo Coloni later explained that his years in Formula 1 was the only time in which it financially, the water had stood up to his neck. In 2012, he admitted in an interview that the rise had gone too quickly into the Formula 1.
The low economic power had a negative impact on the technical and logistical performance of the team. Even before the end of the first full Formula 1 season lacked the means to procure adequate class material. In technical terms, Coloni had to improvise increasingly. Technical Improvements could be since 1989 hardly develop or implement; the team lived in the last two years of its existence primarily on the substance. The cars were increasingly described as a hobbyist objects. Also, the staff was scarce: Again and again there have been periods in which the team consisted of only half a dozen employees, a fraction of employees working in a top team people.
Due to the thin financial ceiling Coloni was not able to undertake successful or established drivers, who usually demanded high fees. Instead Coloni went regularly with Paydrivern at the start, the shopped with their own or provided by personal sponsors means, but it had little or no Formula 1 experience. Five of the eight reported between 1987 and 1991 pilots celebrated their Formula 1 debut with Coloni, two more - Gabriele Tarquini and Roberto Moreno - had previously denied only one or two races for other teams. Only Bertrand Gachot was when he signed with Coloni, look back on the experience of a nearly complete Formula 1 season.
These justified in the team itself difficulties external circumstances were added, the successful racing applications difficult. This includes in particular the high level of competition density at the beginning of the new Saugmotorära. In view of the expected cost reduction as a result of the ban Turbo numerous other teams registered now located next to the Coloni Formula 1. Belonged to them, AGS (1986 ), March and Larrousse (both 1987) and EuroBrun, BMS Scuderia Italia and Rial (both 1988). 1989 finally came no less than 20 teams in the Formula 1 World Championship against each other, as many as in any other year. This made, as a rule, only 26 vehicles were registered for the race, a strict selection in the qualification and pre-qualification required in most cases the weakest established teams have had the slightest chance. Without race participations but there was no media presence, thus the interest of potential sponsors further reduced, so that less money was available to adequately prepare the car and the team.
The individual seasons
1987: Two races in debut year
The Team Enzo Coloni Racing Car Systems SpA made his Formula 1 debut at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 1987.
Preparations
In early 1987, began Roberto Ori, a former Dallara- designer, with the development of a Formula 1 car for Coloni. The Coloni FC187 was the first racing car designed and built the team itself; in smaller classes Coloni had used regular customer vehicles larger manufacturers such as March or Ralt. Ori constructed a conventional vehicle, which was intended for prolonged use. In addition, the design already took into account the rule changes for 1988, for example, the pedals were behind the Vorderachslinie, which in 1987 was not prescribed. When driving in Italy prepared in Nova Cosworth DFZ engine naturally aspirated, who with about 610 hp to the weakest engines of the grid was used.
End August 1987 launched the yellow painted FC187 to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola for the maiden voyage. Enzo Coloni drove the first round itself; later took over Colonis current Formula 3 driver Nicola Larini cockpit. Previous attempts Colonis to win the former Formula 1 World Champion Keke Rosberg for the first tests had been unsuccessful. In the test runs in Imola Coloni gained little experience: Since the FC187 suffered numerous defects and mechanics spent considerable time on repairs, Larini hardly got to ride.
Coloni was planning in 1987 to take part in a car at some European autumn races. As a driver he had initially intended Emanuele Pirro, who in the early summer but opted for the project Middleware Bridge Trussardi, which seemed to be technically and financially better off. Later Coloni tried to Franco Scapini. His efforts failed, however, because he did not receive a Super License. Ultimately, called Coloni Nicola Larini as a regular driver for the 1987 season.
The world championship races in 1987
In his first appearance at the Italian Grand Prix, the team was not yet fully operational. The car was completed, but not yet voted and also " full of teething problems". As a consequence, Larini not qualified to FC187. With hardly matched FC187 missing nearly two seconds on the qualification and twelve seconds to the pole time of Nelson Piquet; only Pascal Fabre in AGS JH22 was even slower. The following race in Portugal was Coloni out as planned, to make the car race-ready. At the next race in Spain, Larini qualified as the last of the race, where he succeeded despite the nominally weaker Saugmotorautos to position themselves ahead of the two turbo -powered Osella by Alex Caffi ( Osella FA1I ) and Franco Forini ( FA1G ). Larini but finished the race did not finish; already in the eighth round broke the suspension, so it turned out the first rider of the race. The subsequent overseas races in Mexico, Japan and Australia had Coloni out again, because the cost of getting were too high. The team focused instead on private tests that were carried out in October by Gabriele Tarquini and in December of Luis Pérez- Sala.
1988: A two-part season
The year 1988 was for Coloni for the first full Formula 1 season. The team reported as emergency vehicle the Coloni FC188 with a Cosworth engine, which was re-prepared at Nova engine. With him it was a slightly revised version of the FC187, which originated in triplicate. The first car was identical to the 1987 FC187, the two vehicles were later rebuilt during the year according to the known construction plans.
As in the previous year, reported Coloni in 1988 only a driver. The Italian race driver Gabriele Tarquini had been after the test drives in October 1987 committed as a substitute for the changing to Osella Larini. Enzo Coloni had at the turn of 1987/88 certainly had had plans for a second car under Kris Nissen and Jean -Louis Schlesser; none of the mentioned driver was however able or been willing to teach as required by Coloni entry fee in the amount of 2.5 million U.S. dollars.
In the first five races of the year succeeded Tarquini regularly to qualify. In domestic Imola he reached the 17th starting position, with whom he had established competition teams such as Tyrrell and Ligier behind. The finishes, however, were not initially be reached; repeatedly collapsed the mechanics. Both in Brazil and in Monaco broke the suspension, in Imola prevented a throttle cable -clamping the progress. The first finish succeeded Tarquini in the fourth race of the season in Mexico, with five laps down in 14th place in Canada, it was much better; here Tarquini was eight residue with only two rounds and was thus in points nearby. This finish was the best result in Formula 1 history Colonis.
After this race, the team collapsed. In Detroit, France, Britain and Germany Tarquini failed four times in a row at the pre-qualification; he was in each case by far the slowest. It was only in August for the Hungarian Grand Prix, he managed again the qualification; Here he came in 13th with five laps to the finish. In Belgium, Tarquini qualified as 22, but fell for a steering defect in the last third of the race from.
In the late summer of 1988, Enzo Coloni took the negative development as an opportunity to strengthen his team. He managed to poach from his Provencal competitors AGS three key employees: the long-standing AGS designer Christian Vanderpleyn, the design engineer Michel Costa and the team manager Frédéric Dhainaut. These employees have been incorporated in August 1988 in the existing Coloni team. You should immediately start working on a new car for 1989, while Roberto Ori revised the FC188.
To mark the one-year anniversary of Formula 1 Grand Prix of Italy presented Coloni the modified model, which received the designation FC188B. Had These were in substance to the known FC188, the revised cooler and a modified wing work received. The weight of the car had been reduced according to factory specifications by 15 kilograms. The modifications made Colonis cars but not faster. In five appearances in FC188B to Tarquini only once qualified. At the Grand Prix of Portugal he went finish last race and finished in eleventh and second to last with five laps to the finish. It was the last finish of a Coloni in Formula 1
Enzo Coloni had initially wanted the responsibility for the lack of results in the fall at Gabriele Tarquini and his replacement by the wealthy Mexicans Yosele Garza operated, which would have given the team opened up new sponsor funds. A use Garzas but did not materialize because he received no super license.
1989: No finish
The second full season proved to be difficult for Coloni; at its end stood the existence of the team on the game. During the year, the team was able to participate in only five of the sixteen Grands Prix; the drivers mostly eliminated from the qualifying and the pre-qualification. With no race of the year 1989 Coloni crossed the finish line.
Starting position
1989, the conditions on the previous year had changed considerably.
The most significant technical rule change was the newly entered into force banning of turbo engines: naturally aspirated future had to use all of the teams. While financially the strongest racing teams usually had exclusive engine partner like Honda or Renault, the engines are sophisticated, high-performance ready set, smaller teams used usually customer engines of Judd and Cosworth, who were largely standardized and against the strongest engines had a power deficit of at least 100 hp. This difference shows that the intended with the ban on turbo engines approximation of engine performance and increasing the competitiveness of smaller teams had not been reached. At the beginning of the season were also individual engine concepts such as the twelve-cylinder W engine by Guy Nègre ( MGN ), another W - 12 engine of Franco Rocchi and a twelve-cylinder engine with a wide angle of bank Carlo Chiti on the market. Coloni was interested in the end of 1988 for the Rocchi engine, used in 1989 for cost reasons but ultimately still a conventional Cosworth engine, which was prepared by Langford & Peck in the UK. The most statistics refer to the engine as the Cosworth DFR, other sources claim, however, Coloni had only used revised DFZ engines.
Of considerable practical importance was the significant expansion of the grid. It was based on the one hand to the fact that in 1989 like never before competed with 20 teams so many racing teams in Formula 1; the other hand, urged the FISA for 1989 from each team the use of two cars. Because with the exception Euro Bruns followed all the teams this requirement, competed in 1989 a total of 39 vehicles by 26 grid positions. In order for a pre-qualification was required, which was held before the first free practice session on Friday morning. In her twelve vehicles competed against each other, and only the fastest four were allowed to participate in the timed practice. The pre-qualification documents the weakest according to the preseason teams and those teams who in 1988 used only one car, two cars in 1989 but reported: In this case, in any event, subject to the newly reported second car of the pre-qualification. This was also true Coloni: One of Colonis car had to mid-season a safe starting place, the second go had to pre-qualify from the outset.
The pre-qualification was a big challenge for many of the small private teams. This was also true for Coloni. This reflects a disadvantageous that Coloni had yet to deny the old FC188B the first race of the new season. Given the financial burden that was associated with the use of two vehicles, Coloni had not enough funds to quickly advance the development of an entirely new, current racing car. Its completion was delayed ultimately until spring 1989. FC188B The used hitherto, which fell on a design from the spring of 1987, were in 1989 no longer competitive. This had a direct impact on the second half of the season for which the participants in the pre-qualification were reconstituted according to the results of the first half of the season: As the initially-set driver with the FC188B reached no hard results in the first half of the season, he was defeated from August 1989 also of pre-qualification.
The world championship races in 1989
The driver choice for 1989 had taken early Enzo Coloni. The set cockpit he forgave Roberto Moreno, who had in 1987 clinched a world championship point for the little competition team AGS. For the second, the pre-qualification subjected Coloni chassis undertook the Frenchman Pierre -Henri Raphanel, had made its debut at last year Larrousse and was supported by the belonging to Silvio Berlusconi's TV channel La Cinq group of companies.
In the first two races Moreno failed to qualify, Raphanel failed already at the pre-qualification. They lacked each more than 6 seconds per lap or 40 km / h on the top teams. In the third race, the Grand Prix of Monaco, on the other hand, both drivers were able to qualify for a race entry Moreno went as 25th on the grid, Raphanel than 18, which he inter alia, the Tyrrell of Jonathan Palmer and the Benetton of Johnny Herbert behind allowed. In the race, but eliminated both Coloni after transmission damage prematurely.
The subsequent overseas races in Mexico, the United States and Canada were under the sign of the improvisation. The majority of the staff had remained in Italy in order to complete the new Coloni C3 ( and to save travel costs); as in the USA for example, only Enzo Coloni, three mechanics and the two drivers were present. This had a negative impact on competitiveness. In Mexico, were Moreno and Raphanel each by far the slowest: Raphanel missing about 16 seconds to the pole position, its top speed was 45 km / h less than that of Riccardo Patrese in the Williams FW12C.
At the Grand Prix of Canada debuted the Coloni C3. However, the team initially had completed only a car that inserting both drivers one by one. Raphanel moving the car without having it tested or tuned before, for the first time in the pre-qualification. He drove only two slow laps, which resembled a functional test, and missed the pre-qualification by 35 seconds. Later, he handed the car over to Roberto Moreno, who was on Friday outside the qualification in training on Saturday, however, only a residue of 4.1 seconds to the pole time of Alain Prost had. He had qualified the new car for the 26th starting position. In the warm-up Moreno was with the C3 fifth fastest in the race itself he drove the elftschnellste lap time. This power is generally seen as evidence of the high potential of C3. However, Moreno did not finish the race: After 57 of 69 laps he fell to ninth lying, as a result of transmission damage from. In the UK, Moreno qualified third on the grid 23, wherein he was only 3.3 seconds slower than Ayrton Senna, who had moved out with his McLaren pole position. Again, Moreno fell out after a gearbox failure. From the Grand Prix of Germany, the second C3 was finished. Raphanel however damaged the car in his first race so hard that it turned out for several weeks; in Hungary, he therefore had to participate again with the old FC188B at the pre-qualification.
In the second half of the season were subject to both pilots of pre-qualification. Roberto Moreno failed in seven of eight Grand Prix events at this hurdle; only for the Grand Prix of Portugal in late September 1989, he succeeded once more to qualify. His training time ranged 2.7 seconds behind the pole time for the 15th place. In the race, however, burst after 15 rounds of the engine. Raphanel never succeeded in the pre-qualification. For the Belgian Grand Prix, he was replaced by debutant Enrico Bertaggia. Enzo Coloni explained the substitution with the high accident rate Raphanels; in the media was, however, also pointed out that Bertaggia the team gave access to new sponsor funds. Bertaggia did not yield any improvement of sports performance. In the last six races of the year he was a regular Last of pre-qualification, some with significant residues. Making its debut at Spa- Francorchamps as he was 20 seconds slower than the last but one of the pre-qualification. Often Bertaggias trials of pre-qualification of technical problems were characterized.
The structural and personnel Define the team deteriorated severely in the second half of the 1989 season. Immediately after the completion of the C3 in June 1989 and some other leaving Christian Vanderpleyn engineers the team. Vanderpleyn explained his resignation by blatant lack of money which enabled neither a development nor the production of spare parts. Enzo Coloni occupied the place made vacant by the technical director not new, but took this job for the rest of the season itself since there was no further development. The only exception was a small update that, in September 1989, led by Gary Anderson, Moreno's race engineer in Formula 3000 on commission. After several wind tunnel tests Anderson constructed a new vehicle nose and new front wing. They were largely responsible for Moreno qualifying at the Grand Prix of Portugal. Increasingly, it also lacked spare parts. In the absence of test drives, but also given the lack of race practice, the cars could no longer be voted founded. For Enzo Coloni it was at this time all about, ever to compete in order to avoid a penalty in the event of the absence.
In November 1989, almost all of the staff left the team, and it looked as if it could no longer take the team in the 1990 season. In December 1989, salvation came through to Group Fuji Heavy Industries belonging carmaker Subaru.
1990: bailout by Subaru
The 1990 season should be a fresh start for his team after Enzo Colonis idea. In the winter of 1989/90 he managed the majority of his racing team at Subaru for sale. Colonis conjunction with Subaru was accompanied initially by optimistic reporting - a report headlined example: " Enzo III on the rise: The Coloni team upgraded tremendously to" -, and observers expected, together with the financial consolidation of the team also a noticeable improvement in athletic performance. The project was, however, soon to be a failure. It was stopped after half a year, and Coloni sat on racing his team continued alone.
Coloni and Subaru
Subaru and the formula 1
Subaru was engaged since the 1970s factory in rallying. Contrary to expectations, these activities led not to a significant increase in automobile production. After the competing car manufacturer Honda in the next decade numerous successes in Formula 1 had been able to achieve and reached worldwide response to Subaru decided his hand at the beginning of the new naturally aspirated era to a Formula 1 involvement. As Honda wanted to enter as a pure Subaru engine supplier in Grand Prix racing. First Subaru was considering to construct the engine itself; in the fall of 1987, the development order was, however, awarded to the run by Carlo Chiti Italian company Motori Moderni. Based on the product philosophy of the Japanese car manufacturer, the preferred boxer engines began in the passenger car sector, Chiti constructed during the year 1988 a V engine with twelve cylinders and a bank angle of 180 degrees. The engine was mostly in the aftermath - technically incorrect - referred to as a boxer engine.
The engine was completed in the spring of 1989. The connected with Motori Moderni Minardi team tested the engine several times in the summer of 1989, however, was not the face to poor performance prepared in 1990 it regularly use. In autumn 1989 Subaru and Motori Moderni searched for alternative teams that could bring the MM 3512 called engine at the start. Only Coloni, whose team was in resolution after unsuccessfully verlaufenen 1989 season, was ready for an alliance with Subaru. Enzo Coloni saw it as a way to save his Formula 1 racing team. A major incentive was the fact that Subaru was willing to continue to finance the racing and at the same time to pay off the accumulated debt in recent years for him.
The alliance with Coloni
The Italian - Japanese agreement was long-term and saw some basic structural changes.
The team was new, mostly non-Italian staff in many areas. As a team leader - a function that previously Enzo Coloni had seen - the former rally driver Yoshio Takaoka was used. Takaoka was operating out of a newly created, based in Bologna base called Subaru Technica Europe. Enzo Coloni was vice president of the company and responsible for daily business. Alvise Morin, a banker of American City Bank, who had no experience in motorsport, was appointed Managing Director. His task was to create a plan for the long-term development of the racing team. Paul Burgess, a former engineer of the team Onyx Grand Prix, was technical director, and Damon Chandler, who came from Leyton House, was a race engineer.
Among the long -term plans included the development of a new engine and a new car. Already in the contract the parties had become clear that Carlo rickets "Boxer engine " was not competitive: He was much more difficult than any other Formula 1 engines with 160 kg and made about 100 hp less than conventional Cosworth normally aspirated engines. Chiti since the end of 1989, therefore, was already working on Subaru initiative on a new V- twelve-cylinder with a narrow cylinder angle, which was not done early in the season, however. Subaru and Coloni intended to bridge the time until the completion of the new engine with the MM3512. For this as heavy as weak engine is not a new car should be built; rather, the team wanted to be content with a revised C3. In the meantime, Coloni should start working on a new car, which should be completed at the same time with the new V-engine.
These plans do not matured to realize; the joint project between Subaru and Coloni failed after only a few months. With the old car and the "Boxer engine " Coloni was not able to consist of only the pre-qualification, and gave a " disastrous picture". On the other hand, there was no reasonable hope of recovery. Contrary to the original planning took Coloni in the spring of 1990 no efforts to develop a new car. Although Subaru on the occasion of the Grand Prix of San Marino in May 1990 that the race in France in July, a new Coloni should be used with a new twelve- cylinder engine. However, these announcements were unfounded. According to reports former Coloni staff existed at that time little more than a couple of pencil drawings of a future race car. When these negative developments after the race at Imola apparently were Paul Burgess and Alvise Morin left the team. A few days later, Enzo Coloni was sacked. Subaru took over the remaining 49 percent of the team shares and paid out Coloni. Enzo Coloni, however, continued to try to use his influence in the team asserted. Some sources report that he refused in May 1990 to hand over the actual power of the keys to Subaru; so he put a Christian Vanderpleyn as interim team manager, while he flew to Japan to reach a reference solution with Subaru. However, nothing came of it. After three further unsuccessful race, Subaru decided to discontinue the project. End of June 1990, the Japanese company sold the team. The buyer was Enzo Coloni, who returned with it as the sole owner and team manager. Since Subaru had also assumed the liabilities of earlier years, Coloni was able to undertake a debt-free fresh start in summer 1990.
The question of why this project by Subaru and Coloni failed in the end, is not uniform. Subaru gave Enzo Coloni to blame for the failure and accused him money that was intended for development work, to have misused for their own purposes. Coloni other hand, stated, Subaru had not provided the agreed cash benefits. Other sources report of jurisdictional disputes between Enzo Coloni Subaru one hand and on the other hand. Most observers point out that rickets weak, heavier and wider motor did not have the level of Formula 1 and was not suitable to achieve competitive results. In contrast, said Bertrand Gachot, the driver of the team: " The engine is not so bad; but everything else ... "
The World Cup runs in the Subaru - phase
The team Coloni Subaru stepped up to the first seven races of the season in 1990. For all races this phase of the Coloni C3B has been reported as emergency vehicle. The C3C was a one-off. These were one of the two presented in the previous C3, which had been converted to the Subaru motor. The second C3 remained untouched at the factory and was rebuilt in the summer for C3C. The C3B, who had undergone numerous reinforcements in the area of the engine environment was considerably overweight. According to some sources the weight of the C3B was about 80 kg above the minimum allowable weight for other overweight was more than 110 kg. As power transmission served a transmission that Minardi had developed at the test drives in the summer of 1989.
Coloni did not manage to finish the C3B in time to allow before the season could be carried out extensive testing. After matching to press reports, the car was first assembled in the pit lane of Phoenix on Tuesday before the first race of the year. A functional test took place on Wednesday before the race - according to sources - either on the enclosed shopping mall parking lot or on the Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona, instead.
In the pre-qualifying for the first race of the year, the USA the Grand Prix in Phoenix, Gachot ran only slow Einrollrunde. A second fast lap he took them into my attack, but could not finish due to a technical defect. According to some reports the propeller shaft broke when accelerating out of the pit lane after another fell from the gear shift when accelerating the shift lever. The following events succeeded Gachot ( with the exception of the French Grand Prix) regularly, at least to cover a timed lap in the pre-qualification; the results were even then so bad that they never allowed to participate in the actual training time. If it went reasonably well, and the residue was on the respective pole time in the range of 10 to 11 seconds - so in Imola, Mexico and the United Kingdom - with other events he was 16 or 17 seconds ( in Brazil or Monaco), sometimes but for 23 seconds ( in Canada). Usually Gachot could be just the car of Life Racing and the EuroBrun ER189B by Claudio Langes behind.
Coloni back on their feet
From the Grand Prix of Great Britain Enzo Coloni was again the sole owner of the racing team, which was different than in previous years now as a Società responsabilità limitata ( Srl ), that is, as a corporate entity, written. Bertrand Gachot remained the team as drivers are given.
Since in such a short time no alternative was to put on the legs, Coloni was allowed to use again the C3B with Subaru -MM- engine for the race at Silverstone. However, each note had disappeared Subaru on the car. Again Gachot failed the pre-qualification.
Then the team Coloni C3C the began. The car was not a new development. With him it was the one copy of the two C3 produced in 1989, which had not been converted to the Subaru engine in early 1990. The C3C used a conventional eight-cylinder engine from Cosworth, which was prepared in the UK at Langford & Peck.
At its debut, the Grand Prix of Germany, the C3C was with the exception of the now yellow livery yet completely identical to the 1989 base version. In the following days the for a few weeks to Coloni returned engineer Christian Vanderpleyn revised aerodynamics of C3 as well as the suspension. The car also received a new floor. The new parts were installed in the week before the Grand Prix of Hungary on the vehicle. The Italian race car driver and entrepreneur Fulvio Ballabio then led through a short test drive; then the revised car appeared with Gachot at the Hungaroring.
With these modifications, the C3C was significantly faster than the C3 and C3B. At the Grand Prix of Hungary Gachot missed while again pre-qualification; this time, the residue was just 0.3 seconds on a qualifying time to participate in the training course. In addition Gachot was faster than Roberto Moreno and Claudio Langes in the car of the competition teams EuroBrun.
In the Belgian Grand Prix, his home race, Gachot was the first time the pre-qualification. In addition to the improvements to the car for it, especially thinning of the grid was responsible. After the team Onyx Monteverdi, who was not subject to pre-qualification, had set on racing after the Hungarian Grand Prix, the Equipe Ligier courts took over from Belgium Monteverdi among the seeded teams. The pre-qualification was therefore in future only be played between Gachots Coloni, Giacomelli's Life and the two EuroBrun. In Belgium, Italy, Portugal and Spain Gachot was regularly faster than its competitors, so he passed the pre-qualification in each case. In the last two races of the year in Japan and Australia, the pre-qualification even fell completely off because EuroBrun and Life had previously set on racing. But even if Gachot regularly passed the pre-qualification in the autumn of 1990 and he was of the view that it is " finally up" issue in the team, he failed exception in the remaining Grand Prix events of the year on the main qualification. There was still the C3C about 20 km / h too slow to achieve a race entry. At the end of the year Coloni had not participated in the Grand Prix.
1991: No pre-qualification
Starting position
Enzo Coloni had big plans for the 1991 Formula 1 season. In late autumn 1990, he had announced to launch a two- car team at the start. The basis for this optimism, the hope of the obligation of the first unsigned racer Andrea de Cesaris, who possessed sponsor funds from Marlboro. De Cesaris but not agreed with Coloni. Instead, he negotiated at the beginning of 1991 with AGS, but ultimately signed with the newly formed team Jordan Grand Prix. As a driver Coloni therefore remained alone the Portuguese Pedro Chaves, last season's champion of the British Formula 3000 Championship, which he had committed in the fall of 1990.
For Coloni meant the non- obligation de Cesaris ' that he did not get substantial financial resources. Chaves only brought a few small sponsors from Portugal, including the national energy company Galp and the Mateus Rosé wine brand; but they did not provide a substitute for the millions of cigarettes Philip Morris represents the new season could therefore again be only superficially prepared. At the beginning of his team of only six employees, mostly mechanics existed. Enzo Coloni took over as the financial situation during the year came to a head as early as 1989, again the role of race engineer.
In technical terms, there were no changes. The team announced the Coloni C4, which it described as new construction in a press release. In fact, the C4 was, however, only a revised version of last year C3C and probably used its monocoque constructed in 1989. Since Coloni no longer had its own development department, students of the University of Perugia had devised the few changes in a study work. When engine is a Cosworth DFR was used again, which was initially prepared by Langford & Peck. From the Canadian Grand Prix from a prepared hard engine was used.
The world championship races in 1991
Coloni was defeated in the 1991 season, again the pre-qualification. She had become necessary because competed with Jordan and the Modena team two new racing teams and a total of 36 cars competing for 26 starting positions. The pre-qualification proved to be an insurmountable hurdle for Coloni. In none of the 15 races that took part in the team, a Coloni driver was able to pre-qualify. In the first race of the year, Chaves was the one or the other time before Eric van de Poele (Modena team ) or before Olivier Grouillard ( Fondmetal Corse) position; since the Monaco Grand Prix, but he was almost regularly the slowest driver in the pre-qualification. The residue on a place, the person entitled to participate in the qualification was regularly more than two seconds, in individual cases, there were also five (San Marino ) or even eleven seconds ( Canada).
A major problem was the fact that Coloni could not vote suitable for racing their own car. For financial reasons, the team was only rarely able to test the C4. Apart from a short function test in Umbria Magione and the FOCA test at Imola in April 1990, no test drives were conducted so that no data were available that could help in the vote. To make matters worse, Chaves did not know many racetracks. Chaves later reported that he was often sent with a completely unprepared car on the track and the instruction was to make the best of it without damaging the car. But repair work on the car were not rare improvised. The problem was, after all, that the driver, the team manager and the mechanic could not communicate in a common language.
As in previous years, was the substance of the car not to Formula 1 level. Many parts were repaired outdated or poorly; the engine experienced since the early summer of 1990, no more revision. The reliability suffered from significantly. This meant that Chaves almost never was able to use the full 60 minutes that were available for the pre-qualification available. In most cases, he was able to leave the pit lane due to mechanical problems either only after a long delay - in Germany and Hungary, he was, for example, each due to a defective fuel pump more than 30 minutes idle in the box - or his car fell out prematurely due to technical defects. So broke both in San Marino and in Canada after a few laps the transmission or the power transmission. Since neither a car nor spare parts were available, every major fault, necessarily mean the end of efforts to pre-qualification.
In the second half of the season is no longer regularly maintained Cosworth engine was the main problem. For home race at Monza the team blew the engine is already warming up in the box; in the absence of a replacement engine Chaves could not even start in the pre-qualification. The low point was reached in the following race in Portugal, Chaves ' home race: Here, the engine suffered after ten rounds in the pre-qualification a valve damage. Again, Coloni had no spare engine, although Chaves had previously insisted. After this race Chaves finished his commitment to Coloni. For the subsequent Spanish Grand Prix Coloni failed to find a replacement driver - Luis Pérez- Sala had been addressed, but he refused - so the team had to skip this race. For the last two races of the year in Japan and Australia Coloni obliged the young debutant Naoki Hattori, who also failed in two attempts at pre-qualification. The flyaway funded the team mainly through private donations: Local race fans were allowed for a price of $ 250 per person affix their signature on the race car. Overall, Coloni was about 3000 prospects.
For both Chaves and Hattori for the single inserts in the formula remained the race for Coloni 1 Then they received no further racing opportunities in other teams more.
Renewed sale
Since the summer of 1991, Colonis finances were " in free fall ". Initially, there were reports of a possible merger with the Modena team; However, nothing came of it. Enzo Coloni therefore tried since July to sell his team. In September 1991, he finally found in the Italian shoe manufacturer Andrea Sassetti a buyer. Sassetti said to bring the team in 1992 under the name of Andrea Moda Formula at the start. Andrea Moda reported initially in 1992 a slightly revised Coloni C4B with Judd engine, but was excluded from participating in the first race of the season, because it was unclear whether Sassetti had bought in addition to the material Colonis its start authorization. After several weeks of negotiations and the establishment of a completely new car, the team was finally admitted to the Formula 1 World Championship back from the Grand Prix of Mexico.
The new beginning in smaller racing classes
→ Main article: Scuderia Coloni
As of the 1992 Enzo Colonis team that was now called Coloni Motorsport focused solely on the Italian Formula 3 Championship. Paolo Coloni, who was active as a driver for Coloni in the beginning, took over with time, supported by his father, the management of the family racing team. By 1996, Coloni was engaged in this championship. From 1997, Coloni Motorsport returned back to the International Formula 3000 Championship, in which it had already begun Eleven years earlier,. The team should be established in the following years to a fixed size in this class and at the beginning of the 2000s also enter a series of victories. In 2001, the Coloni Formula 3000 team Minardi and ran it parallel to his own team. As of 2005, Coloni Motorsport took the GP2 Series in part, the successor series of the formula 3,000. Between 2006 and 2009 the team was operated together with Giancarlo Fisichella under the name Fisichella Motor Sport International. In the summer of 2009, Fisichella and Coloni parted. Paolo Coloni was then once again the sole owner of the racing team, which he renamed the race in Valencia in Party Poker Racing Scuderia Coloni and later in Scuderia Coloni. Coloni ran 2005-2011, although a few victories; in the team standings however, there were at this time on the fifth (2006) no addition. 2011 won Colonis driver Luca Filippi three races and was runner up of the series; The team finished the season in seventh place team score.