Forti
| File:Forti logo.gif | |
| Full name | Forti Corse |
|---|---|
| Base | Alessandria, Italy |
| Founder(s) | Guido Forti Paolo Guerci |
| Noted staff | Giacomo Caliri Cesare Fiorio Sergio Rinland George Ryton Giorgio Stirano |
| Noted drivers | Luca Badoer Pedro Diniz Andrea Montermini Roberto Moreno |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 1995 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 27 (23 starts) |
| Constructors' Championships | 0 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 0 (Best: 7th, 1995 Australian Grand Prix) |
| Pole positions | 0 (Best: 19th, 1996 Brazilian Grand Prix) |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Final entry | 1996 British Grand Prix |
Forti was an Italian racing team chiefly known for its brief, and unsuccessful, involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades, with some success. The team graduated to F1 as a constructor and entrant in 1995 and continued into 1996, before succumbing to financial problems mid-season. The team competed in a total of 27 Grands Prix, scoring no points, and is chiefly remembered as one of the last truly privateer teams to race in an era when many large car manufacturers were increasing their involvement in the sport.[1]
Establishment and Early Years
The team was founded by Italian businessmen Guido Forti and Paolo Guerci in the late 1970s[2] and was based in Alessandria in northern Italy.[1] It was initially run in lower categories such as Formula Ford and Formula Three, both at Italian and European levels. The team was well equipped and Forti Corse soon became a regular winner. Forti drivers Franco Forini, Enrico Bertaggia and Gianni Morbidelli (who would all go on to drive in F1) were able to win Italian F3 titles in the 1980s.[2][3] Teo Fabi and Oscar Larrauri also raced for the team in its formative years.[2]
Formula 3000
For 1987, Forti Corse moved up to Formula 3000 with less immediate success than experienced in F3.[2] The main reason for the 1987 misfortunes was a the decision on which chassis the team should use to compete with. Instead of using customer Lolas, Marchs or Ralts, all of which were produced by established companies who had many years' experience of designing and building such cars, Forti stuck with Giampaolo Dallara, who had just penned a brand-new Formula 3000 machine. Forti Corse was the first team to use this machine, which was dubbed the Dallara 3087 (and which later would make a single appearance in Formula One for the BMS-Dallara team as their own F1 car was not ready for the first race of the 1988 season). A combination of an inexperienced team and an untested car was not a suitable platform for any success, and so it was no wonder that Forti did not score any points in its first F3000 year; the team did not even manage to attend every race.[2] The team used the first year to gain valuable experience in F3000, and this helped the team to perform better in the following seasons (of course, a change to Lola chassis was helpful, too).[2] In 1990, Gianni Morbidelli scored Forti's first victory in a F3000 race,[2] and although no Forti driver was ever able to win a championship title in this category, the team turned out to be a strong force in F3000.[1] From 1991 onwards, Forti concentrated solely on F3000, and ran drivers such as Emanuele Naspetti, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Andrea Montermini (who would race for the team in F1) and Hideki Noda (who would lose out to Montermini for the F1 seat).[2] Indeed, this was Forti's most successful season in F3000, with Naspetti a strong contender for the championship (which was won by Christian Fittipaldi). Although the team's form dipped over subsequent years, by 1994 Forti was the most experienced team in the championship.
Complete Formula 3000 Results
(key) (Results in bold indicate pole positions.)
Formula One
Preparation
Naturally, as the team became more successful, Forti started thinking about the next logical move upwards, into Formula One. Of course, there had been some discouragingly recent examples of teams which graduated from F3000 into Formula One and failed more or less immediately. In preceding years, examples of unsuccessful teams of this nature included Coloni and Onyx. But on the other hand, Eddie Jordan had shown that the great step forward could be made successfully with an impressive performance in the 1991 Formula One season. Forti considered a solid financial base to be the most important factor for success. So, in 1991 he started working on his Formula One adventure. By 1993, through Diniz, he met Carlo Gancia, an Italo-Brazilian businessman.[1] Gancia became a co-owner of the team, buying Guerci's shares, and finally managed to ensure a respectable budget for Formula One by late 1994.[2] He also hired several experienced personnel, including Sergio Rinland and former Ferrari team manager Cesare Fiorio.[2]
The Forti FG01 car
So it became clear that Forti Corse would be a part of Grand Prix racing in 1995. Financed by various Brazilian enterprises which were brought in by Abílio dos Santos Diniz, the father of Forti driver Pedro Diniz,[4] the team was guaranteed financial stability in the short term, with a first year budget of around £7.5 million.[1] In fact, a three-year contract with Diniz and his backers was signed.[5] But of course, the team had to start with a self-designed car. This turned out to be the main obstacle for Guido Forti, as he insisted on having a reliable car built instead of a fast one. And that was precisely what he received. His first F1 car was an out-dated, overweight and very slow machine, and has been described as nothing more than "a revised F3000 car".[6]
The Forti FG01 had many influences. Its roots dated back to 1991 when former Brabham designer Rinland left the British team before the season ended. Rinland set up Astauto Ltd. in Tolworth, England, hiring several of his former collaborators from Brabham when the team closed its doors. Brabham sold the building and wind tunnel at Chessington to Yamaha, facilities that Astauto rented to develop the new Fondmetal GR02, which was designed and built by June 1992, just six months after it was commissioned by Gabriele Rumi. The Fondmetal GR02 was a natural successor of the Brabham BT60, in concept, as it was conceived by the same design team. Due to Fondmetal's own severe financial troubles, the GR02 was run only in a few races before this team was closed, too. When in late 1994, Forti bought the remains of the Fondmetal Team, acquiring all the spares of the GR02 in the process, the team turned to Rinland to purchase the design of what would have been the 1993 F1 car design by the Astauto Design Team after the collapse of the Fondmetal team. At that time, Rinland was living and working in California on a new ChampCar project. Forti sent his Chief Designer and former Astauto employee Chris Radage to California to gather all the technical information, data and drawings from Rinland, returning to Italy to design and develop the new Forti FG01. Rinland joined the team in early 1995 for a short period as Technical Director, once he had returned to Europe.[7] Rinland assisted experienced Italian engineer Giacomo Caliri in designing and building the car.[8] However, it was rumoured that the GF01 was little more than a re-working of the GR02.[1]
Thus the GF01 did not promise much in terms of performance. It was angular and bulky, with no sleek lines; it had a plump nose, initially no airbox, and was overweight and under-powered, using a small Ford ED V8 customer engine largely financed by Ford do Brasil.[1] The team was also running the only car to have a manual gearbox in the 1995 F1 season.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
The 1995 season
Forti's first number one driver was rookie Pedro Diniz who had raced for Forti in F3000, but without much success. However, he was guaranteed a seat as his family and sponsors were paying a significant amount of the team's budget.[5] The second driver was his more experienced compatriot Roberto Moreno, who had last competed in F1 back in 1992 when he had a disastrous year in the infamous Andrea Moda team. However, his seat was initially only guaranteed on a race-by-race basis,[7] as Portuguese driver Pedro Lamy was also considered,[9] as well as several other experienced Brazilian drivers including Christian Fittipaldi, Mauricio Gugelmin and Gil de Ferran.[1] It was speculated that whoever joined the team would be contractually bound to be number two to Diniz,[10] and that his father had insisted on an all-Brazilian driver line-up.[6]
At the beginning of the season, the cars were embarrassingly slow, despite a healthy amount of testing.[5] Diniz finished 10th in the season-opening Brazilian GP, but was seven laps down on winner Michael Schumacher. In Argentina, this situation became worse, as, although both drivers finished, they were both nine laps down on winner Damon Hill at the end of the race (with Diniz ahead) and neither were classified, as they had failed to complete 90% of the race distance. The drivers' similar fastest laps during the race were over ten seconds slower than Schumacher's race fastest lap, and almost five seconds slower than the next slowest runner's fastest lap (Domenico Schiattarella in the Simtek).[11] Imola was similarly poor, as both drivers were seven laps down (with Diniz again ahead) and brought up the tail of the field. Forti were already the butt of paddock jokes,[5] and were far slower than the other (and poorer) backmarkers: Pacific, Simtek, and Minardi. However, the budget enabled improvements to be made to the car. During the season, its weight was reduced by a significant 60 kilograms, and a semi-automatic gearbox, an airbox and redesigns of the front wing, sidepods and monocoque were introduced by the team.[5] The personnel count also doubled during the course of the season.[5] This resulted in a gradual improvement in pace throughout the year, and there were no more failures to be classified.
Indeed, the team's finishing record was good for rookies at over 50%, helping Diniz to establish a reputation as a steady, dependable driver.[5] Forti were elevated when Simtek folded after the Monaco GP, and Pacific's lack of finance and development enabled Forti to start matching them from the half-way point of the season.[5] At the German GP, both Fortis outqualified both the Pacifics, and this happened on two further occasions during 1995. Forti's improvement was also aided by Pacific taking on two slow pay-drivers to ensure that they finished the season, and regular driver Bertrand Gachot being race-rusty on his return for the last two races of the year.[1] At the final race of the season, at Adelaide Forti seemed to have established a firm base for the 1996 season, emphasised by Moreno qualifying within 107% of pole position for the first time - a crucial result, as this percentage of the pole time would be used to determine non-qualifiers in 1996 - and Diniz scoring the team's best result in F1, with a reliable run to seventh place, ahead of Gachot in the Pacific. Under the current points system, this would have seen Forti score two points. Nevertheless, despite not scoring any points, Forti finished a de facto 11th in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Pacific and Simtek by virtue of better finishes outside of the points.
The 1996 season
With a solid base to build on and a healthy budget, 1996 looked good for Forti.[5] The team negotiated for the most powerful and expensive Cosworth V8 engines in late 1995 to replace the elderly EDs.[12] However, the team was dealt a devastating blow when Pedro Diniz signed for the more competitive Ligier team, taking Martin Brundle's vacated seat as the latter moved to Jordan. Diniz's sponsors, including Parmalat and Marlboro, all left; the budget was significantly dented. For a time it seemed that the team would not compete in 1996 at all,[13] and its survival was constantly questioned.[4] The new car was delayed, and the team was forced to use the uprated FG01B car for the start of the season with the only slightly more competitive Ford Zetec-R V8 engine (instead of the "JS" it had been negotiating for),[14] and to rely on temporary sponsors. Despite this loss, the team got on with the business of racing. Roberto Moreno had been dropped (he retired from F1) after failing to beat Diniz the previous year, and the team signed Minardi and Pacific refugees Luca Badoer[15] and Montermini to drive for the team (although Noda was also considered),[16] both drivers bringing a small amount of personal backing to the now-beleaguered team. Pacific had folded during the off-season, and it was clear that Forti would be some way behind the rest of the field in the slow FG01B.[14] Predictably, both drivers failed to make the new 107% cut in Melbourne and thus did not qualify, but then both drivers surprisingly managed to qualify in Brazil and Argentina, scoring a 10th and an 11th place finish between them. Badoer, however, made a mark in Argentina for all the wrong reasons. He barrel-rolled his car having hit, of all people, Diniz, who was attempting to lap him, and was forced to scramble from the upturned car whilst the marshals looked on. Both cars then failed to qualify at the Nürburgring. For the race at Imola, the new Forti FG03 chassis was ready. It had been designed by George Ryton, who had become Forti's Technical Director after moving from Ferrari in April.[17] Both drivers judged it a significant improvement over the old car, with increased aerodynamic downforce and directional sensitivity,[14] but there was only one FG03 available, and Montermini failed to qualify in the old car. Badoer, however, qualified last, but comfortably within the 107% cut-off, and only 0.7s behind Ricardo Rosset in the Footwork. Badoer finished 10th and last, but had suffered reliability problems in the new car and was two laps behind Pedro Lamy's Minardi. Both drivers qualified in Monaco, but Montermini crashed in the wet warm-up session and did not start the race, whilst Badoer struggled in the slippery conditions and took out Jacques Villeneuve as he was being lapped by the Williams. He was fined $5000 and received a two-race suspended ban.[18] For the Spanish GP, the cars appeared in a new green-and-white livery,[14] as Guido Forti had acquired a new financial partner in Finfirst's Shannon Racing Team, which acquired 51% of the team and appeared to ensure its survival.[19] With all the off-track confusion, both drivers again failed to qualify. However, in the Canadian and French Grands Prix, both Fortis made it to the grid, Badoer even outqualifying Rosset in Montréal. However, Forti had lost their good 1995 reliability record, as these starts only resulted in four retirements. By this time, Forti's financial problems were becoming increasingly urgent in nature. Both cars retired with "engine problems" at the French GP, although it was widely rumoured that this was due to the team running out of engine mileage as it went into debt with engine suppliers Cosworth.[20]
Bankruptcy and withdrawal from Formula One
Shannon was not paying the money it had allegedly promised Guido Forti, and he took the company to court over the matter.[14][19] As the team ran out of money, it was doubtful whether they would turn up at the British GP.[20] In the end, the team took part, only for the cars to complete a handful of laps each. This was because they were becoming increasingly in debt to Cosworth and were running out of engine mileage, only having enough to make a token effort at participation.[14][21] The team made it to Hockenheim, but both cars remained unassembled in the pit garages throughout the weekend. With the prospect of heavy FIA-imposed fines for missed races looming, Forti withdrew his team from the sport. The team did not make an appearance at the Belgian GP,[22] nor at any further point in the championship. Badoer and Montermini were left without drives, and the promising FG03 chassis would no longer race. By the time Shannon won the court case in September, the team had ceased to exist.[23] Ironically, Guido Forti had signed the 1997 Concorde Agreement shortly before his team's demise, which could have given his team a chance of surviving if it had made it into 1997.[14] Forti's withdrawal from F1 also marked the end of a team which had enjoyed success Formula 3000 and other minor categories. It is generally agreed that Forti may have succeeded if they had their 1995 budget and the FG03 car at the same time, and that Diniz's departure meant that they stood little chance of survival,[6] but the team has become just another story of a small, backmarking team unable to finance its aspirations;[14] a true privateer effort in an era of increasing domination by the large car manufacturers.[6] Forti is often cited along with Pacific and Simtek as prime examples of this tendency.[1][6]
Complete Formula One results
(key)
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Points | WCC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Forti FG01 | Ford ED V8 | G | BRA | ARG | SMR | ESP | MON | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | EUR | PAC | JPN | AUS | 0 | NC | |
| Pedro Diniz | 10 | NC | 15 | Ret | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 13 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 17 | Ret | 7 | ||||||
| Roberto Moreno | Ret | NC | 16 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 16 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 14 | Ret | 17 | Ret | 16 | Ret | Ret | ||||||
| 1996 | Forti FG01B Forti FG03 |
Ford Zetec-R V8 | G | AUS | BRA | ARG | EUR | SMR | MON | ESP | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | JPN | 0 | NC | ||
| Luca Badoer | DNQ | 11 | Ret | DNQ | 10 | Ret | DNQ | Ret | Ret | DNQ | DNP | ||||||||||||
| Andrea Montermini | DNQ | Ret | 10 | DNQ | DNQ | DNS | DNQ | Ret | Ret | DNQ | DNP |
References
- All F1 results are taken from formula1.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j F1 Rejects article, retrieved October 29 2006.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Grandprix.com profile, retrieved February 17 2007.
- ^ "Gianni Morbidelli joins Ferrari". Grandprix.com. 1991-11-01. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b Tremayne, David (1996). Formula One - a Complete Race by Race Guide. Parragon. pp. p. 95. ISBN 0-7525-1762-7.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h i Henry, Alan (ed.) (1995). AUTOCOURSE 1995-96. Hazleton Publishing. pp. p. 71. ISBN 1-874557-36-5.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help);|pages=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b c d e Ménard, Pierre (2006). The Great Encyclopedia of Formula 1 (3rd Edition). Chronosports S.A. pp. Vol. 2, p. 626. ISBN 2-84707-123-7.
{{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b "Rinland joins Forti". Grandprix.com. 1995-03-27. Retrieved 2006-01-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Forti - getting ready for action". Grandprix.com. 1995-02-06. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Pedro Lamy for Forti?". Grandprix.com. 1995-04-10. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Tremayne, David (1996). Formula One - a Complete Race by Race Guide. Parragon. pp. p. 67. ISBN 0-7525-1762-7.
{{cite book}}:|pages=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Henry, Alan (ed.) (1995). AUTOCOURSE 1995-96. Hazleton Publishing. pp. p. 103. ISBN 1-874557-36-5.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help);|pages=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Forti bids for new Ford V8". Grandprix.com. 1995-10-02. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "...Forti to follow". Grandprix.com. 1995-12-04. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c d e f g h Henry, Alan (ed.) (1996). AUTOCOURSE 1996-97. Hazleton Publishing. pp. p. 92. ISBN 1-874557-91-8.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help);|pages=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "Forti signs Badoer". Grandprix.com. 1996-02-26. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Noda close to Forti". Grandprix.com. 1996-01-15. Retrieved 2006-11-24.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Ryton to Forti". Grandprix.com. 1996-04-01. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Henry, Alan (ed.) (1996). AUTOCOURSE 1996-97. Hazleton Publishing. pp. p. 147. ISBN 1-874557-91-8.
{{cite book}}:|first=has generic name (help);|pages=has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ a b "The end of the road for Forti?". Grandprix.com. 1996-07-29. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b "Forti - times are hard". Grandprix.com. 1996-07-08. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Shambles at Forti". Grandprix.com. 1996-07-15. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Forti disappears". Grandprix.com. 1996-08-26. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Forti chaos". Grandprix.com. 1996-09-02. Retrieved 2007-01-13.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
See also
External link
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