Mike Ralph and John Macdonald, owners of the British RAM team, after prematurely withdrawing from the 1985 season by skipping the last two races, desperately try to remain in Formula 1 by entering the 1986 World Championship. They do so thanks to funds provided by the federation to teams that participated in the 1985 season. RAM also loses its sponsor, Skoal Bandit, which had financially supported the British team over the previous two seasons. Without a sponsor and with a new completely green and white livery bearing only the word “Australia” on the sidepods, Ralph and Macdonald’s team takes part in pre-season testing.
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| RAM 03B, Mike Thackwell |
The driver
chosen to carry RAM’s flag in 1986 is New Zealander rookie Mike
Thackwell, who brings with him a very modest financial contribution
from the Australian Tourist Board (the team’s official name for the
championship is “RAM Racing for Australia”). Thackwell drives the
same car from the previous season, renamed RAM 03B, which only
undergoes a fuel tank modification, reduced from 220 liters in 1985
to the new maximum of 195 liters. The design by Gustav Brunner and
Sergio Rinland remains untouched, and with the old Hart 415T Turbo
engine still in its first version, rated at just 750 hp, the British
team enters the season-opening Grand Prix in Brazil. However,
reality proves far harsher than Ralph and Macdonald had expected.
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| RAM 03B, Mike Thackwell |
Upon
realizing that the limited funding from the small Australian sponsor
isn’t enough to even cover the team’s basic operating expenses,
RAM withdraws just before departing for the South American race. This
marks the definitive end of the team’s presence in top-level
motorsport. Thus ends the dream of Ralph and Macdonald as team
owners, a journey that lasted three seasons during which they failed
to score a single championship point. The best result remains an
eighth-place finish by Jonathan Palmer in the RAM 01 Hart Turbo.
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