Simtek Research Ltd. was founded in the summer of 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth, both of whom had left March following its acquisition by Akira Akagi's Leyton House. The name "Simtek" is a contraction of "Simulation Technology," and the primary goal of the new partnership was to offer design, research, and development services in the field of motorsport and beyond, targeting primarily external clients, without the initial ambition of forming a racing team. To this end, the two partners made a significant investment by building a wind tunnel at their operational headquarters in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. Thanks to Mosley's connections, Simtek was immediately involved in 1990 in designing a Formula 1 car for BMW, in anticipation of a possible entry into F1 by the Bavarian manufacturer. However, the project was soon aborted when BMW reconsidered. Nevertheless, that initial collaboration helped Simtek gain a strong reputation in Munich, to the point that they were commissioned to develop BMW touring cars for the 1991 DTM championship. This marked the beginning of a rapid rise, and by the end of 1992, Simtek's client list included the FIA, the French government, and Team Ligier, for whom Simtek designed and installed a wind tunnel in Magny-Cours, as well as various collaborations and consultancy services for teams competing in Group C races, the American Indy series, and Formula 3000.
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| SIMTEK S941, David Brabham Aida, Pacific GP 1994 |
In 1993, when Max Mosley was elected president of the FIA, he sold all his shares to Wirth, who became effectively the sole owner and managing director of Simtek. Meanwhile, an initial foray into Formula 1 had already begun in 1992, when the project abandoned by BMW was picked up by the newly formed Italian team Andrea Moda, which brought the S921, designed by Simtek, to the track. Despite the poor performance of the S921, Wirth was not discouraged and even entered talks with the French team Bravo to design an F1 car for 1993. However, those plans were quickly derailed by the sudden death of team owner Jean Mosnier.
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| SIMTEK S941, David Brabham Magny-Cours, French GP 1994 |
The real opportunity finally came in August 1993, with the prestigious name of Jack Brabham. The Australian champion was looking for a team to help his son David enter Formula 1 and reached an agreement with Wirth to create his own team. Meanwhile, they secured financial backing from the television network MTV as the main sponsor. Thus, MTV Simtek was born, with Nick Wirth as both owner and technical director. To design the new Simtek S941, they hired Paul Crooks, who had previously worked with Ligier and had gotten his start in F1 with Toleman and Benetton.
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| SIMTEK S941, Roland Ratzenberger Aida, Pacific GP 1994 |
The S941, in truth, was not an entirely new concept but was derived from the Andrea Moda S921 of 1992, which itself had been based on BMW’s 1990 project. Given this background, the car was not off to a promising start, especially as it was initially designed to accommodate active suspension systems, which were later banned by new regulations. This forced Wirth and Crooks to modify the project mid-development, which had clear repercussions on the limited budget and tight schedule. With very few testing kilometers on track, an outdated chassis and suspension system, and an underperforming engine, the aging Ford-Cosworth HBD6, the S941 turned out to be very slow and uncompetitive. David Brabham was hired as the lead driver, with Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger as his teammate. In the season opener in Brazil, both cars lagged significantly behind, lapping more than five seconds slower than the front-runners.
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| SIMTEK S941, David Brabham Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1994 |
Things improved only marginally in the second race and took a tragic turn in the third, at Imola, where Ratzenberger died in a terrible accident during qualifying, caused by a structural failure of the car. After racing the Monaco Grand Prix with Brabham as the sole driver, Simtek replaced the late Austrian with Italian driver Andrea Montermini, who himself suffered a serious crash during his debut in Spain, also due to a structural failure, breaking a leg. He was subsequently replaced by Frenchman Jean-Marc Gounon, followed by Italian Domenico Schiattarella and Japanese driver Taki Inoue, both of whom were new to F1. Unsurprisingly, the season was a disaster, ending with zero points. The best result was a ninth place by Gounon in France.
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