The story of the BAR team begins in 1997, the year in which Craig Pollock started considering setting up his own team to enter Formula 1 by taking over what remained of Tyrrell, a team that was on the brink of bankruptcy. During the 1997 season, rumors of a possible sale of Ken Tyrrell's team grew increasingly persistent, and behind this idea was none other than Pollock himself, already well known in the Formula 1 world as Jacques Villeneuve's sports manager. The two had met at College Beausoleil in Switzerland, where Pollock had befriended young Jacques, who had been sent there after the death of his father, Gilles. The British manager was already working behind the scenes to convince and involve Tom Moser, then head of British American Tobacco, the world’s second-largest cigarette manufacturer and already a longtime sponsor in Formula 1 with several of its brands, to fund the $26 million operation needed to acquire Tyrrell. Buying an existing team not only avoided the $40 million bond required by the federation for any new team wanting to enter the championship but also provided access to the financial benefits granted to teams that had competed in the previous season based on their results.
 |
| BAR 01, Jacques Villeneuve Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1999 |
The new corporate structure was announced in December 1997, and for this reason, the 1998 season, during which Ken Tyrrell continued to manage his team on a sporting level, was considered transitional, awaiting the team’s official debut in 1999 under the name BAR (British American Racing). The agreement stipulated that 50% of the shares would remain in the hands of the tobacco company, while the other 50% would be split equally among Adrian Reynard, Rick Gorne, and Pollock himself. Jacques Villeneuve was also involved in the operation, already confirmed as an official driver for 1999, though some industry journalists speculated he was directly involved in the team's ownership, a rumor that was never confirmed. The team’s headquarters were built in Brackley, Northamptonshire, while chassis construction was entrusted to Reynard Motorsport, which had prior experience having built the Pacific Racing chassis in 1994 and 1995, as well as long-standing expertise in F3000 and IndyCar. The new BAR team enjoyed a considerable budget, comparable to that of the top teams of the time, as well as a large technical staff, mostly recruited from Reynard Motorsport, working on the new BAR 01.
 |
| BAR 01, Mika Salo Catalunya-Barcelona, Spanish GP 1999 |
Adrian Reynard was appointed as Team Principal and promoted his trusted colleague Ron Meadows to Factory Manager. The design of the new single-seater was entrusted to Australian engineer Malcom Oastler, a long-time Reynard employee and designer of F3000 and IndyCar chassis for the company. For Chief Aerodynamicist, they hired Willem Toet, an Australian-British engineer born in the Netherlands with an impressive track record in top-level open-wheel racing, having held key roles at Benetton and Ferrari. A young, newly graduated Andrew Shovlin was hired for vehicle dynamics and control; he would remain in Brackley and is still with Mercedes AMG-Petronas F1 today. Another notable name on the roster was Jock Clear, now with Ferrari since 2014, who had built a brilliant career starting with Benetton, then Leyton House, before becoming race engineer for Johnny Herbert at Lotus, later for David Coulthard at Williams, and eventually Jacques Villeneuve’s trusted engineer, following him to BAR.
 |
| BAR 01, Ricardo Zonta Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1999 |
The new BAR 01 was a very conventional car with an innovative front wing featuring two side flaps and a new front suspension design with the pushrod directly connected to the wheel hub. The rest of the bodywork followed the typical lines of the latest Formula 1 cars. While waiting for the new Honda power unit, which would equip the Brackley cars starting in 2000, the car was fitted with the Supertec FB01 engine, a rebadged 1997 Renault RS9, no longer competitive against the latest Ferrari, Mercedes, and Mugen-Honda engines. Paired with the Supertec engine was a six-speed longitudinal semi-automatic Xtrac-derived gearbox, thoroughly reworked by Reynard. Alongside Jacques Villeneuve, the team signed Brazilian rookie Ricardo Zonta. Expectations for the car were high: two talented drivers, a wealthy ownership group, and an ambitious design led Reynard to boldly predict pole positions and race wins from the very start.
 |
| BAR 01, Jacques Villeneuve Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1999 |
On track, the car proved relatively fast, often qualifying mid-grid, and showed promise during races, for instance, in the Spanish Grand Prix, where Villeneuve briefly ran in third place ahead of the Ferraris before pitting. However, the car suffered from chronic reliability issues, with an endless series of mechanical failures, particularly on Villeneuve’s car, which retired from the first 11 races before finally seeing the checkered flag at the Belgian Grand Prix. Zonta fared slightly better but had to miss three races due to injury, replaced by Finnish driver Mika Salo, who achieved the team’s best result of the season with a seventh place at Imola. With these results, the fledgling British team ended the season at the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship with zero points. A special mention goes to the car’s unique livery. At its launch, BAR unveiled two identical cars with different liveries: one entirely yellow-and-blue, sponsored by State Express 555, and the other white-and-red, sponsored by Lucky Strike. The FIA deemed this non-compliant, citing regulations requiring identical liveries for both cars. BAR was forced to “correct” the design, combining the two schemes: yellow-and-blue 555 on the right side, white-and-red Lucky Strike on the left, separated by a fake zipper running longitudinally along the car up to a silver-painted nose.
Comments
Post a Comment