25 – that's how many Grands Prix the short-lived Spirit team took part in. This British outfit was founded in 1981 by Gordon Coppuck and John Wickham, initially to compete in the European Formula 2 Championship, with a subsequent move to Formula 1 in 1983. During this brief period, from the British Grand Prix in July 1983 to the San Marino Grand Prix in May 1985, the Spirit team progressively disintegrated, first losing the technical and financial support of Honda, who chose to partner with Williams instead, and then co-founder Coppuck, who returned to work for March.
SPIRIT 101D, Mauro Baldi
Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1985
Without ever securing a main sponsor, the team, now solely run by Wickham, had to rely in 1985 once again on the limited funds brought by pay driver Mauro Baldi. He continued to race the sole Spirit 101D, a further, very slight evolution of the 101 project that had been used by the British team for three seasons.
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| SPIRIT 101D, Mauro Baldi Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1985 |
Equipped with the underpowered Hart 415T L4 Turbo engine and featuring a frankly embarrassing rear aerodynamic design, with no engine cover or streamlined shapes to generate even minimal additional downforce, the car was consistently stuck at the back of the grid.
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| SPIRIT 101D, Mauro Baldi Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1985 |
Baldi's personal sponsors ensured his seat in the 101D for the first four races only. From the fifth race in Canada, Canadian driver Allen Berg was supposed to take over. But this change never happened, as after the Imola race, John Wickham decided to accept an offer from Toleman, by then under the Benetton umbrella, to acquire what remained of Spirit, including the sporting rights, such as the 1985 tire supply contract with Pirelli.
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| SPIRIT 101D, Mauro Baldi Estoril, Portuguese GP 1985 |
In this way, the newly formed Italian team Benetton, still competing under the Toleman name in 1985 to retain the financial rights accumulated by the British team in 1984, secured a tire supply that would have otherwise been lost after Michelin’s exit and Goodyear’s refusal. Thus ends the sporting history of the tiny Spirit team, which disappeared from the racetrack for good, despite a final desperate attempt by Wickham to revive the team for the 1986 season.
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