![PescaroloKauhsen1975](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/PescaroloKauhsen1975.jpg)
Kauhsen was a
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
constructor from
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, founded by former sportscar driver
Willi Kauhsen. The team started in Formula Two in 1976, purchasing Renault cars, and raced with an assortment of drivers with limited success. Kauhsen then entered the
1979 Formula One season
The 1979 Formula One season was the 33rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1979 ''World Championship of F1 Drivers''FIA Yearbook 1980, Grey Section, page 84 and the 1979 ''International Cup for F1 Constructors''FIA Yearb ...
, spending 1978 designing their own chassis with Cosworth engines. They participated in two World Championship Grands Prix with
Gianfranco Brancatelli
Gianfranco Brancatelli (born 18 January 1950 in Turin, Piedmont) is a former racing driver from Italy.
Career
His racing career began in 1973, in the Formula Abarth series. In 1975, he advanced to Italian Formula 3 racing. Brancatelli entered 3 ...
, failing to qualify on both occasions, before the team was shut down.
Formula Two
Willi Kauhsen, who had raced
Porsches and quasi-works
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." "A ...
sports cars, founded his racing team in
Formula Two
Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009– 2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name ...
in 1976, buying the championship-winning Elf-Renault 2J Formula Two cars.
The cars, driven by
Michel Leclère
Michel Leclère (born 18 March 1946 in Mantes-la-Jolie, Yvelines) is a former motor racing driver from France. He participated in eight Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 5 October 1975, and scored no championship points.
Career
After winning ...
and
Klaus Ludwig
Klaus Karl Ludwig (born 5 October 1949) is a German racing driver.
Biography
He also known as ''König Ludwig'' ("King Ludwig") for his success in touring cars and in sports car racing.
In the 1970s, Ludwig drove for Ford in the Deutsche ...
,
were renamed to Kauhsen-Renaults and initially started successfully, with Leclère taking pole at the first race of the
1977 Formula Two championship at
Silverstone.
Continued modifications to the
chassis by Kauhsen however led to downturns in performance,
and the car's original performance turned to successive failures to qualify; the poor results making Ludwig leave the squad mid-season. The second seat was then rotated between
José Dolhem
Louis José Lucien Dolhem (26 April 1944 – 16 April 1988) was a racing driver from France, and the half brother (and also 1st cousin) of Formula One driver Didier Pironi (they had the same father and their mothers were sisters).
Dolhem was ...
,
Vittorio Brambilla
Vittorio Brambilla (11 November 1937 – 26 May 2001) was a Formula One driver from Italy who raced for the March, Surtees and Alfa Romeo teams. Particularly adept at driving in wet conditions, his nickname was "The Monza Gorilla", due to his ...
and
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost (; born 24 February 1955) is a French retired racing driver and Formula One team owner. A four-time Formula One World Drivers' Champion, from 1987 until 2001 he held the record for most Grand Prix victories until Micha ...
for the remainder of the season. Brambilla achieved a third place in the second heat at the
Misano Circuit
The Misano World Circuit (officially known as Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli or Misano Circuit Sic 58, and before 2006 called Circuito Internazionale Santa Monica) is a race track located next to the town of Misano Adriatico (Province of R ...
,
which was the team's best result in the Formula Two championship. Subsequent races saw a best result of 10th for Prost, and with successive retirements and failures to qualify Kauhsen gave up on the championship before the final races.
Formula One
Although unsuccessful in Formula Two, Kauhsen decided to enter Formula One in , and after failing to secure a deal to run the
Kojima cars used in the
1977 Japanese Grand Prix
The 1977 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 23 October 1977 at Fuji. It was the 17th and final race of the 1977 Formula One World Championship. At the time, this was the last Japanese Grand Prix due to traveling and financia ...
,
Kauhsen spent 1978 designing their own chassis. Bringing in designer Klaus Kapitza from
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
, Kauhsen planned to construct a copy of the
Lotus 79
The Lotus 79 is a Formula One car designed in late 1977 by Colin Chapman, Geoff Aldridge, Martin Ogilvie, Tony Rudd, Tony Southgate and Peter Wright of Lotus. The Lotus 79 was the first F1 car to take full advantage of ground effects aerod ...
,
a car that had dominated the 1978 championship due to the use of
ground effects. Apart from the chassis, Kauhsen bought the rest of the components from suppliers, including the
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. The name is an abbreviation of ''Double Four Valve'', the engine being a V8 development of the earlier four-cylinder FVA, which had fo ...
engine utilised by the majority of the teams at the time, and an outdated five-speed
gearbox
Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...
from
Hewland
Hewland is a British engineering company, founded in 1957 by Mike Hewland, which specialises in racing-car gearboxes. Hewland currently employ 130 people at their Maidenhead facility and have diversified into a variety of markets being particul ...
.
Having planned to follow the then-advanced use of ground effects by
Lotus, initial testing of the prototype revealed fundamental design issues; the designers failed to take account of the variable ride height of cars during braking and acceleration, stopping the ground effects functioning correctly.
These problems forced the team to redesign the entire car, bringing in drivers
Patrick Nève
Patrick Marie Ghislain Pierre Simon Stanislas Nève de Mévergnies (13 October 1949 – 12 March 2017) was a Belgian racing driver. He participated in 14 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 16 May 1976. He was notable for being the first drive ...
and
Harald Ertl to develop a new car with the limited funds available in the months before the Formula One season was to begin.
The problems in getting working ground effects on the chassis led to the team abandoning the concept, and returning to the older "wing car" that had been in prevalence before. These redesigns drained the team of funds; Kauhsen struggled to pay the entry fee for the championship, and only managed to acquire older tyres from
Goodyear.
After obtaining some sponsorship, and signing Italian driver
Gianfranco Brancatelli
Gianfranco Brancatelli (born 18 January 1950 in Turin, Piedmont) is a former racing driver from Italy.
Career
His racing career began in 1973, in the Formula Abarth series. In 1975, he advanced to Italian Formula 3 racing. Brancatelli entered 3 ...
, the Kauhsen WK004 made its début appearance at the first race of the
1979 British Formula One season
The 1979 British Formula One Championship (formally the 1979 Aurora AFX F1 Championship) was the second season of the British Formula One Championship. It commenced on 1 April 1979 and ended on 7 October after fifteen races. The Drivers' Championsh ...
in
Zolder
The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.
History
Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, ...
, albeit retiring early in the race due to engine issues. Kauhsen's first World Championship appearance was at the , using another redesigned car.
Brancatelli failed to qualify for the race, being the slowest out of the 27 entries, the closest competitor being three seconds quicker.
Running an updated car at the next race in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, Brancatelli again failed to qualify, with a broken clutch preventing an improvement in pace.
After the two successive failures, and a lack of funds, Willi Kauhsen withdrew from Formula One and closed the team.
The team's assets were purchased by
Arturo Merzario
Arturo Francesco "Art" Merzario (born 11 March 1943 in Civenna, Como) (erroneously registered as Arturio on his birth certificate) is a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 85 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting at the ...
,
and was merged with his own eponymous
Merzario
Merzario was a Formula One and Formula Two team and constructor from Italy. The team participated in 38 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix but scored no championship points.
Formula One
1977
Merzario was set up in 1977 by former Ferr ...
team, which had been having a similar lack of success with the A2 chassis. The Kauhsen WK was used as the basis for the
Gian Paolo Dallara
Gian Paolo Dallara (born 16 November 1936) is an Italian businessman and motorsports engineer. He is the owner of Dallara Motorsports, a company that develops racing cars.
Biography
Dallara was born in Parma.
Automotive and motorsport
He g ...
designed Merzario A4 car,
but this did not improve from the performance of either of the cars, failing to qualify at the remaining World Championship rounds. The A4's only racing appearance was at the non-championship
Dino Ferrari Grand Prix, finishing in 11th place.
Merzario later left Formula One at the end of 1979, and moved to the Formula Two championship.
Complete European Formula Two results
(
key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(
key)
References
{{Formula One constructors
Formula One constructors
Formula One entrants
Formula Two entrants
German auto racing teams
German racecar constructors
World Sportscar Championship teams