Doing
worse than in the 1986 season seemed impossible for the small Osella
team, yet in 1987 they managed to set yet another negative record
with 17 retirements in 17 starts. Italian driver Alex Caffi, who had
made his debut at the wheel of an Osella car during the 1986 Italian
Grand Prix in Monza, was chosen as the sole driver and entrusted with
the new Osella FA1I. This car shared the same technical foundation as
all previous Osella-Alfa Romeo models, whose original lineage could
be traced back to the 1983 Alfa Romeo 183T.
 |
| OSELLA FA1I, Alex Caffi Imola, San Marino GP 1987 |
In an effort to shift gears with his team’s performance, Enzo Osella handed the technical direction over to Ignazio Lunetta, replacing long-time designer Giuseppe Petrotta, who had previously overseen the single-seaters. The new engineer immediately set to work on an entirely new project, which would later result in the "FA1L", but for the 1987 season, he focused on yet another restyling of the FA1 model, now in its “I” version.
 |
| OSELLA FA1I, Alex Caffi Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1987 |
The two FA1Is he built were very similar to their predecessors, although with a shortened wheelbase by over sixty millimeters, now down to 2800 mm, and a new suspension design, both front and rear. Aerodynamics also saw significant refinement, thanks to the team’s first-time access to wind tunnel testing, first through Giampaolo Dallara, and later with Pininfarina.
 |
| OSELLA FA1I, Alex Caffi Imola, San Marino GP 1987 |
Despite the technical improvements, the car suffered from a deeply concerning lack of reliability, with its fatal flaw being the aging Alfa Romeo 890T turbo engine. Even with the maximum turbo pressure reduced to 4 bar, the 195 liters of fuel allowed to complete the race were entirely insufficient to satisfy the thirsty Milanese power unit, which had been designed back when refueling during the race was still allowed, and still relied on an outdated mechanical fuel injection system, entirely unsuitable for fuel management. As a result, Osella had to drastically reduce turbo pressure, leaving the engine struggling to reach even 600 horsepower.
 |
| OSELLA FA1G, Franco Forini Monza, Italian GP 1987 |
Given these circumstances, it’s no surprise that the car never once saw the checkered flag during the entire season, running out of fuel on three occasions and suffering engine or gearbox-related mechanical failures in every other race. The occasional appearances by two rookie drivers, Italian Gabriele Tarquini and Swiss Franco Forini, fared no better. They entered four races with the previous FA1G model, collecting three retirements due to mechanical failures and one failure to qualify.
Comments
Post a Comment