The Spirit 101, designed by Gordon Coppuck and Tim Wright to house the V6 Honda turbo engine, is deeply revised in view of the 1984 season after the abandonment of the partnership with the Japanese giant. In extremis before the start of the new championship, John Wickham, owner of the Spirit stable, manages to make an agreement with Hart for the supply of the 415T turbo of the British tuner which is installed on the chassis of the 101 that had taken to the track in the last two races of the '83 championship, powered by Honda. Thus was born the Spirit 101B Hart but life for Spirit Racing, which made the power of the exuberant Japanese V6 Turbo its strong point, immediately becomes very hard and future prospects are transformed radically from being one of the teams in growth in the circus, having to fight day by day to find the money to survive.
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SPIRIT 101B, Huub Rothengatter, Monza Italian GP
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With no more sponsors and without a technical partner to bear the expenses for the evolution of the car, in 1984 only paying drivers were employed and the livery of the car changed often, according to the sponsor. Rumors in the paddock even speak of the hiring of Emerson Fittipaldi who, however, judging the car not very competitive, declines the invitation, dedicating himself definitively to Indy competitions. Even the name of the Italian Fulvio Ballabio, accompanied by a generous sponsor, fades after the FIA denies him the super license judging him too inexperienced. Thus it is the ex-Alfa Romeo Mauro Baldi who first shows up at John Wickham with enough money to "buy" the seat and he is the Spirit driver who takes to the track at the beginning of the season, at least until the Dutch rookie Huub Rothengatter does not show up with a higher scholarship than that of the Italian and grabs his seat, even if both drivers are registered on two occasions, while a car is deployed on the occasion of the European Grand Prix raced on the renewed Nurburgring track. for the French rookie Pascal Fabre.
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| SPIRIT 101B, Mauro Baldi, Jacarepaguà Brazilian GP |
In order to get points and visibility at the Detroit Grand Prix, the team even fielded a version of the car with the aspirated Ford Cosworth engine, a car called Spirit 101C, in the hope of being able to compete with the best single-seaters thanks to the lightness given by the aspirated V8 Ford. With this troubled situation obviously the season is a collection of non-qualifiers and retirements, with the exception of sporadic arrivals to the finish line.
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