Forti FG01

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Forti FG01 was the first Formula 1 race of the Italian racing team Forti Corse, which was introduced in 1995 at the start of the Formula 1 World Championship. The following year he appeared temporarily under the name FG01B. Forti was considered the slowest car of the grid.

4.1 1995
4.2 1996

Background

The team Forti Corse, founded in 1970 by Guido Forti took part in the International Formula 3000 Championship since 1987. Forti among the most consistent teams in this series. It achieved some victories, but never won the title. Since 1992, Guido Forti dealt with the rise in Formula 1 two years later opened up, mediated by the Brazilian racing driver Pedro Diniz, sufficient sources of funding that made the Formula 1 project implemented: Diniz ' father, a supermarket chain in Brazil possessed, and the businessman Carlo Gancia were ready to support Forti 1995. Guido Forti saw the biggest challenge in the necessity to construct their own car for the first time in team history. He put his first season as a learning year and was in the design of the car prevail over the reliability of the speed. The FG01, Fortis first Formula 1 car, fulfilled this requirement: In more than half of all the races of the year 1995, there came to the finish, but it was by far the slowest car of the starting field.

Genesis

In the motor sports literature, there is agreement that the FG01 was not a complete redesign. Rather, he used numerous concepts significantly older cars. Most observers incorporate in it a connection from Brabham and rear metal components and date its roots to the year 1991. One of the designers of the car was the Argentine engineer Sergio Rinland that had developed in the late 1991 Brabham a vehicle for the 1992 season. Designed as a Brabham BT61 car was an evolution of the 1991's model BT60Y. Lack of money at Brabham BT61 which was not realized. In early 1992, sold Rinland, who had in the meantime become independent with an operation called Astauto in the UK, the design with few changes to the Italian Fondmetal team by Gabriele Rumi, which she used in some races under the name Fondmetal GR02. Rinland worked in the summer of 1992 on a refinement for 1993, which was however not implemented because Fondmetal became insolvent in September 1992 and the racing was established. In summer 1994, Forti bought the two year old Rinland constructions. Rinland, former Osella designer Giorgio Stirano and former Minardi co-owner Giacomo Caliri revised the plans in the fall of 1994. This was the Forti FG01.

Technology

1995

The FG01 was a " very conventional car ." The suspension consisted of front and rear double wishbones and pushrods. Power was in the 1995 output version of an eight-cylinder engine from Ford (type ED), which was an evolution of a design created in 1991. He made about 630 hp in racing about 600 and in Qualifikationstrim. He was about 100 horsepower weaker than the twelve-cylinder engine from Ferrari. Comparable motors in 1995 were also used by Minardi, Simtek and Pacific.

The force was transmitted through a manually -switching transverse mounted six-speed gearbox. Forti was the only team that in 1995 not a semi-automatic transmission began. A semi-automatic transmission was tested in September 1995, however, there were, apart from qualifying in Japan never used. For a targeted development team lacked the money and the necessary infrastructure.

The weaknesses of the cars were next to the outdated engine, the aerodynamics and the high weight. In its original version, the FG01 had no airbox, but very wide sidepods. Visually, it resembled thus more like a Formula 3000 - as a Formula 1 car. For the first race of the year led Forti an airbox. The FG01 was also an overweight car. In the first race of the year 1995, the weight was more than 60 kg over the minimum allowable weight.

During the summer of 1995, the FG01 underwent several revisions. First, the side boxes have been revised later the car's weight has been reduced so much that it almost reached the minimum weight. For the Grand Prix of Spain, the car got a new high nose, and later there were new cooler, and in Germany the wheelbase was lengthened by 5 cm. In some sources, the revised vehicle is run as FG01 / 2, other sources refer to it as inaccurate FG02.

1996

Forti could not start with a new vehicle, the 1996 season. The departure of Pedro Diniz and the consequent withdrawal of its sponsors had financial difficulties of the team caused, which led to a delay in the completion of the new Forti FG03. Therefore, the team had to start the season with a revised version of the FG01, which was referred to as FG01B. The main difference was that the FG01B had the required start of the season since crash structure in the cockpit area. She was " plump fitted " and less elegant than that of the competing teams. They made the car turn more difficult. Unlike in the previous year continued Forti 1996 a more powerful eight-cylinder engine a. It included the models of Zytec -R series, which had been used in 1994 by Benetton and 1995 Sauber.

Neither in 1995 nor in 1996 had Forti enough money for test drives. Between races the FG01 were hardly moving. Thus, the races were to test drive.

Racing applications

1995

In the debut season Forti approached with the Brazilians Pedro Diniz and Roberto Moreno. According to the origin of the driver and the main sponsors of the car in the Brazilian colors of yellow, green and blue was painted. Moreno should be replaced by Hideki Noda in the autumn; the FIA, however, refused the Japanese racer Super Licence.

Among the tests before the start of the season just a FG01 was ready. The second car was first built on the Thursday before the Grand Prix of Brazil. In the first race of the year, Forti pilots went regularly from the last row in the race; only in the course of the summer, as the financially troubled Pacific team took with inexperienced Paydrivern to Diniz or Moreno could occasionally qualify for the second to last row. Diniz came during the season ten, Moreno eight times the finish. The best result of the team was Diniz ' seventh place in the final race of the year in Australia. Due to the low speed of the FG01 both drivers were rounded up several times in each race; usually their residue was the winner of five or six rounds in Argentina even nine. After the Grand Prix of Germany Damon Hill asked:

During the 1995 season Forti scored as Simtek and Pacific no world championship points. Since the British competition teams had different than Forti but reached no single positioning seventh, Forti was seen before Simtek and Pacific in the constructors' championship.

1996

The Formula 1 1996 season brought in addition to some technical rule changes, a new requirement of qualification: At the race, only the driver could compete whose qualifying times not more than 107 percent of the lap time of pole sitter was (so-called 107- percent rule ). This requirement was included at the behest of Bernie Ecclestone overlooking Forti into rules: Ecclestone kept slowly moving cars and weakly funded teams for an obstacle, trying to push them out of the formula 1. In fact, the 107- percent rule was a major challenge for Forti.

The team entered the 1996 season with the Italian riders Andrea Luca Badoer and Montermini. Both pilots managed twice each qualification, Badoer they missed two and three times Montermini. Montermini came with the FG01B at Imola in tenth, eleventh Badoer in Argentina.

In Monaco for the first time were both Forti - pilot on the newly developed FG03.

Results

342975