Post by Kev Revmoon on Jan 11, 2011 21:22:39 GMT
Tuesday, 11 January 2011 00:00
Derek Gardner, the man who designed championship-winning Tyrrell Formula 1 cars and the revolutionary six-wheeler in the 1970s, has died at the age of 79.
Gardner, a transmission specialist, met Ken Tyrrell while working for Ferguson Research on the development of a four-wheel-drive system for the Tyrrell-run Matra F1 team.
When Tyrrell parted company with Matra in 1970, he initially used March chassis but asked Gardner to design him a bespoke F1 car.
A closely guarded secret, the Tyrrell 001 was built in the garage at Gardner’s home, breaking cover in September 1970 and – in Jackie Stewart’s hands – taking pole position on its debut at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The car was refined for the following year, when Stewart and Tyrrell swept all before them, winning the drivers’ and constructors’ titles.
Another pair of titles followed in 1973 with the Tyrrell 006, but Stewart’s retirement at the end of that year marked the start of a downturn in the team’s fortunes.
Gardner’s radical attempt to arrest that trend was the six-wheeled P34, which sought to use a larger total tyre contact patch and increased front downforce to improve cornering and braking performance.
The car’s moment of glory came in the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix, when Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler delivered a one-two finish for Tyrrell, but tyre development for the small front wheels didn’t keep pace and the car failed dismally in 1977.
Disheartened by the experience, Gardner turned his back on F1 at the end of that season and went on to work for powertrain company BorgWarner.
www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=49876
Derek Gardner, the man who designed championship-winning Tyrrell Formula 1 cars and the revolutionary six-wheeler in the 1970s, has died at the age of 79.
Gardner, a transmission specialist, met Ken Tyrrell while working for Ferguson Research on the development of a four-wheel-drive system for the Tyrrell-run Matra F1 team.
When Tyrrell parted company with Matra in 1970, he initially used March chassis but asked Gardner to design him a bespoke F1 car.
A closely guarded secret, the Tyrrell 001 was built in the garage at Gardner’s home, breaking cover in September 1970 and – in Jackie Stewart’s hands – taking pole position on its debut at the Canadian Grand Prix.
The car was refined for the following year, when Stewart and Tyrrell swept all before them, winning the drivers’ and constructors’ titles.
Another pair of titles followed in 1973 with the Tyrrell 006, but Stewart’s retirement at the end of that year marked the start of a downturn in the team’s fortunes.
Gardner’s radical attempt to arrest that trend was the six-wheeled P34, which sought to use a larger total tyre contact patch and increased front downforce to improve cornering and braking performance.
The car’s moment of glory came in the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix, when Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler delivered a one-two finish for Tyrrell, but tyre development for the small front wheels didn’t keep pace and the car failed dismally in 1977.
Disheartened by the experience, Gardner turned his back on F1 at the end of that season and went on to work for powertrain company BorgWarner.
www.itv-f1.com/news_article.aspx?id=49876