Dave Wass and Jackie Oliver are the last remaining members of the original Ambrosio, Rees, Oliver, Wass, and Southgate lineup (from whose initials the name Arrows is derived), founders in 1978 of the British team based in Milton Keynes. Ahead of the 1986 season, Dave Wass, the team's chief engineer and designer whose long career began in the 1960s at BRM, struck a deal with British Aerospace to build a new chassis using the aerodynamic studies of the company, which already designed and manufactured defense systems and warplanes for the British army.
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| ARROWS A9, Thierry Boutsen Hockenheimring, German GP 1986 |
The new Arrows A9 still used the BMW M12/13 L4 turbo engine in a semi-official version managed by Swiss tuner Heini Mader, who was supplied with a detuned version of the Bavarian turbo engine. However, the A9’s development was extremely long and difficult, due to the fact that the partnership with British Aerospace, a public British company, was hindered by an endless wave of strikes and social tensions in Britain following the forced privatizations imposed by the Thatcher government. As a result, the 1986 season began with the two official drivers, Swiss Marc Surer and Belgian Thierry Boutsen, forced to continue using the older A8, slightly revised and updated to comply with the 1986 regulations that limited fuel tanks to just 195 liters.
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| ARROWS A8, Marc Surer Imola, San Marino GP 1986 |
The only A9 chassis, with a wheelbase of 2921 mm and a weight of 540 kg, was ready for the German Grand Prix, the tenth race of the season, and was entrusted to Boutsen. In qualifying, the Belgian posted a time three seconds slower than that of his new teammate, German Christian Danner, who had replaced the unfortunate Surer since the Canadian Grand Prix, after Surer was seriously injured in an accident during the "Rallye de Hesse" driving a Ford Escort RS200. The consequences of the crash were dramatic: his co-driver Michel Wyder lost his life, and the Swiss driver was forced to end his racing career.
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| ARROWS A9, Christian Danner Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1986 |
In its debut race, the new A9 was forced to retire on lap thirteen while running at the back. In the following race in Hungary, Danner took the wheel of the new A9 but also retired after just seven laps. In Austria, at the Zeltweg circuit, the Arrows A9 appeared on track for the third and final time, again driven by Boutsen, who retired after 25 laps, while teammate Danner finished sixth using the old A8. This situation definitively strained the relationship between Oliver and Wass, the main proponent and supporter of the A9 project. The British engineer immediately left the team and joined Benetton at the end of the season, becoming part of the design team alongside Rory Byrne and Pat Symonds.
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| ARROWS A9, Thierry Boutsen Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1986 |
Wass's departure also marked the immediate shelving of the "A9" project after only three races, with the rest of the season contested using the old A8. To replace Wass and design the new A10, Oliver hired a new and emerging engineer who had made a name for himself in 1986 by contributing to the aerodynamics of the Haas-Lola THL2, a 32-year-old from Manchester who had started as a mechanic at Williams. His name: Ross Brawn, who would go on to be a key architect of Benetton’s mid-'90s successes and Ferrari’s winning streak in the 2000s.
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