Haas Lola

Team Haas ( USA) Ltd.. was a motor racing team that participated in 1985 and 1986 to 19 races of the Formula 1 World Championship. The team was based in the UK, but sailed under American license. He scored six world championship points during his one and a half year commitment. Haas used for the model name of its cars the traditional name Lola, even if the British racing car manufacturer actually had no or little influence on the cars of the team. With Haas, the former World Champion Alan Jones came after a two and a half year break back into Formula 1.

Team History

The team Haas was founded by the Americans Carl Haas and Teddy Mayer. Haas was since the late 1960s, the exclusive importer for Lola racing cars in the U.S. and led from 1983 with actor Paul Newman under the name of Newman / Haas Racing team in one of the North American Champ Car series. Mayer had run from 1970 to 1982, the Formula 1 team McLaren. For the 1985 Champ Car season Haas won the American food giant Beatrice Foods as a sponsor of his team. At the same time it was agreed that Beatrice should support the expansion of the racing team in Formula 1 financially.

Haas and Mayer founded a company based in Heathrow British design office called FORCE ( Formula One Race Car Engineering ), which as of December 1984, a Formula 1 chassis was developed. Responsible designers were Neil Oatley, John Baldwin and Ross Brawn; 1986 worked in the short term and Adrian Newey for FORCE. The team itself moved premises in Colnbrook, a town south of London, was established in the 1970s, which at the time already chaired by Teddy Mayer McLaren team.

Initially, Haas tried to turbo engines of TAG; However, an agreement foundered on the opposition of McLaren, which insisted on exclusive supply. As well as discussions with Renault failed Haas ordered several four-cylinder engines at Hart Racing Engines, which were intended as a temporary solution until a more powerful alternative would result. The engine question cleared up in spring 1985. The Beatrice Group, which in the 1980s, the car rental company Avis was mediated contact between Haas and the car manufacturers Ford, a major supplier of Avis. Ford, at that time owner of the British engine producer Cosworth Let there since 1983 to develop a six -cylinder turbocharged engine, which should be used starting in 1985 in Formula 1. In May 1985, Haas and Ford agreed that the Haas team should get the Cosworth engine three years exclusively. The completion of the motor was planned for the late fall of 1985, the first race to be held at the opening race of the 1986 season. This schedule ultimately could not be followed. The completion of the engine was delayed until the first months of 1986, so that Haas had to earn his first Formula 1 race engines with customers of Hart. Overall Haas drove five races with the hard - and 14 race with the Cosworth engine.

In racing conditions showed that the conservative -designed cars of the team did not reach the technical level of leading racing teams and neither the hard nor the Cosworth engines had the necessary reliability.

Already in the early summer of 1986, the end of the racing team became apparent. This was due on one hand the sporting results that behind the - lagged behind expectations, on the other hand, the economic difficulties of the team - unrealistically high. At the beginning of 1986, the original three-year association with Beatrice was broken prematurely after a few months earlier the Beatrice management had been replaced and the new leadership had no interest in motorsport sponsorship. Beatrice Haas compensated for the early exit. The compensation amount was sufficient to complete the 1986 season; for the 1987 season but a new sponsor would have been required, the Haas did not find. In October 1986, Haas set then shut the team. A month later, he sold the Force office and the engine contract with Ford to Bernie Ecclestone, the then owner of the Brabham team. Ecclestone was particularly interested, therefore, to the engine, because his former engine supplier BMW had announced the setting of its Formula 1 program at the end of the season 1987: The Cosworth engine was replaced in 1988 with Brabham BMW four-cylinder. Ultimately, however Ecclestone decided not to use the Cosworth engine; he gave the engine contract instead of the Benetton team further that reached him in 1987 with 28 world championship points.

Lola?

The Haas team has been linked repeatedly with the British racing car manufacturer Lola Cars. The cars have been reported under the name " THL ", which should be interpreted as an abbreviation of "Team Haas Lola". In addition, the six points that reached the 1986 team in the Constructors' Championship, Lola were attributed.

In the Motorsport literature there is broad agreement about the fact that the Haas models were largely constructed THL1 and THL2 of FORCE. Lola was in the development - depending on the source - either not at all or only involved in a few details.

The inclusion of Lola's in the name of the car was irrespective of Carl Haas wanted. It was primarily for marketing reasons. Haas tried to make the seriousness of his project clearly. In this regard, he promised himself from the established names Lola a greater effect than newly founded by the FORCE studio. In the literature, the THL models are therefore also known as Lola -badged cars (German as: "cars with Lola Emblem " ) referred. In this context, the presence of the Lola founder Eric Broadley at the presentation of the first THL is seen.

Team name

The message of the team was regularly under the name Team Haas (USA). Regardless of the team in the contemporary reporting was repeatedly referred to differently. This is also reflected in the recent literature motorsport. Thus, this issue also includes entries as the Haas Lola, Beatrice, Beatrice - Lola Lola and FORCE. These designations take part, the initial main sponsor, in part, the - on racing car manufacturer Lola - not involved in the team organization. As a team name they were not factory used.

Racing History: The individual annual

Formula 1 season 1985: Debut with hard - engines

The team Haas debuted at the 12th race of the 1985 season, the Italian Grand Prix in Monza. Emergency vehicle was the Lola THL1. It was powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder engine from Hart. Hart's four-cylinder engines, which were based on a Cosworth block of the 1960s, were considered in 1985 as maxed out and were among the weakest and least reliable engines of the season. The only driver was Alan Jones.

The debut season of the team was unsuccessful. Haas took part in four races, but never reached the goal. In Monza, Jones qualified with a backlog of close to ten seconds behind the pole sitter Ayrton Senna for the 25th and penultimate launch site; slower was only Philippe Alliot in the comparable engine RAM03 the financially strapped RAM team. In the race, Jones fell after 25 laps due to an engine from damage. The cause was a clogged by flying waste cooler, which led to overheating of the engine.

The following race in Belgium was from Haas. Instead, the team undertook testing in the UK. The last European race, the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, Jones also finished ahead of schedule; this time a stone had damaged a radiator. For the Grand Prix of South Africa, Jones qualified for 18th place - the best qualifying result of his team this year -; However, the race itself he did not participate. Officially was a flu as the reason for his absence; in fact, he did not want to go in South Africa for political reasons. At the end of the season in Australia finally Jones fell after 19 laps due to an electrical defect from.

Formula 1 season 1986: Exclusive Cosworth Turbo

Team Haas began the Formula 1 1986 season again with hard - engines. Haas was after the withdrawal of RAM Racing the last team that used these engines. The designer Brian Hart had revised its four-cylinder turbocharged engines during the winter break: Based on engine blocks of the 1984 configuration, received the 1986 specification, it redesigned camshafts, pistons and exhaust pipes. According to observers, this development brought a major improvement on the previous year. Haas retained the THL1 chassis for hard - engines. In addition to Alan Jones, who had remained on the team, Patrick Tambay was driving the second car.

The THL1 - Hart 1986 were more powerful than last year, but it still lacked the reliability. At the season opener in Rio de Janeiro Jones dropped out after five laps due to a defective ignition distributor, with Tambay, who was at that time in the points, led a faulty alternator to a premature end. In Spain, Tambay was seen with six laps behind in eighth; it was the only finish one THL1.

At the Grand Prix of San Marino for the first time the Cosworth turbo engine appeared (type TEC F1). It was a six-cylinder engine with an angle of 120 degrees, which was equipped with two Garrett turbochargers and used an injection of Ford. FORCE presented for the Ford Motor THL2 the ready, a racing car produced in triplicate, in which it was not a new construction, but a modified version of the THL1 in details.

Making its debut at Imola the THL2, which was being driven by Jones, Tambays THL1 was clearly inferior. In qualifying, Jones was almost three seconds slower than Tambay in the old car with the engine hard. During the 1986 season the THL2 suffered like its predecessor, a lack of reliability. Jones fell ten times prematurely at 14 races with the car out, Tambay at 13 races as often. However, there were also some stage finishes in the points: the Grand Prix of Austria Jones was fourth, and the subsequent race in Italy he came in sixth place. Tambay occupied Austria in fifth place.

In warm-up for the Grand Prix of Canada Tambay had an accident as a result of a driving error. He retired to injuries to the feet, the basis of which he could attend a week later in Detroit in the race neither in Montréal. Haas tried to replace him for the race in the USA by Michael Andretti, the son of former world champion Mario Andretti; However, the young American was no super license. Ultimately, took over Eddie Cheever in this race the second car of Haas.

Overall Haas scored six 1986 World Cup points and was ranked eighth in the constructors' championship. Thus, the team was present Ecclestone Brabham team, which had been run with BMW engines just two points.