Leyton House Racing 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
Constructor may refer to:
Science and technology
* Constructor (object-oriented programming), object-organizing method
* Constructors (Formula One), person or group who builds the chassis of a car in auto racing, especially Formula One
* Construc ...
that raced in the
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
and
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
seasons.
It was, in essence, a rebranding of the
March team which had returned to F1 in . Leyton House, a
Japanese real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
company, had been the team's marquee sponsor since that year, and went on to buy the team in 1989. Drivers
Ivan Capelli
Ivan Franco Capelli (born 24 May 1963) is an Italian former Formula One driver. He participated in 98 Grands Prix, debuting on 6 October 1985. He achieved three podiums, and scored a total of 31 championship points. From 1998 until 2017 he was a ...
and
Maurício Gugelmin, who had been with March since 1987 and 1988 respectively, continued with the team under its new guise.
Origins
In 1986, Akira Akagi's driver
Akira Hagiwara
was a Japanese racing driver.
Career
Born in Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, Hagiwara was a graduate of the Tokai University in Tokyo. He started his racing career at age 21, driving a Nissan Sunny, and eventually progressed to the Japan ...
died when he crashed a Mercedes 190E touring car during a test session at
Sportsland Sugo. Then Akagi went to Imola for the F3000 race, where he met Ivan Capelli's manager Cesare Gariboldi. Akagi wanted to have Capelli driving for him in the
1986 Japanese Formula Two Championship
The 1986 Japanese Formula Two Championship was contested over 8 rounds. 12 teams, 19 drivers, 2 chassis and 3 engines competed.
Results
:it:Formula 2 giapponese 1986
Final point standings
Driver
For every race points were awarded: 20 point ...
in place of Hagiwara. Capelli finished his partial Japanese season with a third place at Suzuka. Akagi gave Capelli extra prize money for his efforts and he also gave Capelli more money to continue in Europe. With his F3000 car now bearing Leyton House colours, Capelli won the Austrian GP support race on his way to the
1986 International Formula 3000 Championship title. Akagi offered him US$200,000 for a full F2 season in Japan in 1987, but Capelli and Gariboldi told him they were ready to move up to Formula 1 and asked Akagi to sponsor him in F1 for US$4 million instead. Akagi agreed and Gariboldi went to
Robin Herd of
March Engineering to get a car built for Capelli and have it painted in the Leyton House cyan.
Robin Herd recruited
Ian Phillips to be the team manager.
1987 season as Leyton House March Racing Team
The 1987 March F1 car was really just a March 86B F3000 chassis modified to accommodate a bigger fuel tank and with revised aerodynamics, mated with the Ford-engine, named March 87P. At the first race, the
1987 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 12 April 1987 at the Jacarepaguá Circuit in Rio de Janeiro. The race, contested over 61 laps, was the sixteenth Brazilian Grand Prix and the eighth to be held at Jacarepaguá, a ...
, March had a team of just 17 people, including Mr Akagi, his girlfriend, his translator and Capelli's father.
Engine tuner Heini Mader didn’t yet have a full-spec Cosworth DFZ ready, so the team used a World Sports Car Championship-spec engine that wasn’t very powerful. On the straights the turbos were coming past at least 60mph faster. The car blew its final DFZ engine in the warm up and Capelli did not start the race. The
March 871
The March 871 was a Formula One racing car designed by the March Racing Team and driven in the 1987 Formula One season. The car was powered by a Cosworth DFZ V8 engine, and was driven by the 1986 International Formula 3000 champion, Italian Iv ...
was introduced in
San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
. Capelli scored his first point at the
1987 Monaco Grand Prix
The 1987 Monaco Grand Prix (formally the 45e Grand Prix de Monaco) was a Formula One motor race held on 31 May 1987 at the Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo. It was the fourth race of the 1987 Formula One World Championship.
The 78-lap race was wo ...
. In the end he finished the season 19th in the Drivers' Championship and 4th in the Jim Clark Trophy.
1988 season as Leyton House March Racing Team
![Ivan_Capelli_1988_Canada](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Ivan_Capelli_1988_Canada.jpg)
In August 1987,
Adrian Newey came to March F1 and designed the
March-Judd 881 for Capelli and Maurício Gugelmin to drive. The car was a real success, scoring 22 points in 1988, including a second place at the
1988 Portuguese Grand Prix
The 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 25 September 1988 at the Autódromo do Estoril, Estoril. It was the thirteenth race of the 1988 Formula One World Championship. The 71-lap race was won by Alain Prost, driving a Mc ...
. It was the only normally aspirated car to lead a race in anger. During the season when Capelli passed the all-powerful McLaren-Honda turbo of Alain Prost on lap 16 during the Japanese Grand Prix (Prost missed a gear out of the chicane which allowed Capelli to lead over the line. Honda power told though as the Judd V8 could not match it for straight line speed). The team discovered later that Ivan had caught the off-switch with his glove and killed the engine.
This was the first time since 1983 that a naturally-aspirated powered car had led a Grand Prix. The aerodynamics and ultra-slim monocoque of the 881 were copied by most of the grid in 1989 and the car launched Newey as a superstar designer.
1989 season as Leyton House March Racing Team
In May of 1989 the publicly-owned March company sold off its F1 team and the rights to produce F3000 cars to Akagi. The racing team thus became a manufacturer. From a staff of 19 in 1987, the team grew to 120.
Cesare Gariboldi died in January following a road accident, thus the team named the chassis with a prefix CG in memory of him. The March CG891 was introduced at the Monaco Grand Prix, the March 881 having served duty for the March Racing Team in the first two races of the year. Gugelmin qualified in 14th while Capelli was 22nd on the grid. Both drivers failed to finish although Capelli was still classified in 11th. This was the Italian's first of only two classified finishes all year, the other coming in Belgium, where he placed 12th. Gugelmin's best finish was seventh, achieved three times; in Belgium, Japan and Australia. Although neither Gugelmin or Capelli scored a points finish with the GC891, the team finished the 1989 Constructors' Championship in 12th, having achieved four points. This was due to Gugelmin's third place with the 881 at the opening race of the year, the Brazilian Grand Prix.
At the French Grand Prix, after a start-line accident forced Gugelmin to use the spare car for the race, he went on to achieve the fastest lap of the race although unclassified at the finish, nine laps behind the winner. The French race had been particularly promising for the team; Capelli had run as high as second at one stage but retired with engine problems.
Many of the March CG891's reliability problems was due to the casing used for the inboard gear cluster; this proved to have some flex and resulted in some gearbox failures in the first part of the season until the walls of the casing were made thicker. Some other failures were due to the electrical paraphernalia of the Judd EV, with only the odd piston and valvegear issues.
1990 season
For the 1990 season, the team used the
CG901 chassis, designed by
Adrian Newey and powered by a
Judd V8 engine. There was an aerodynamic issue to do with the Southampton wind tunnel, causing the team to struggle:
the first six races of the year saw both Capelli and Gugelmin fail to qualify in
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
and
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, while Gugelmin also missed out in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. Newey was fired as a result, but not before making changes to the car which would result in a remarkable turnaround at the
French Grand Prix. There, Capelli and Gugelmin qualified seventh and tenth respectively, before running first and second for much of the race, largely due to the team's decision not to pit for tyres. Gugelmin eventually retired with an engine failure, but Capelli continued to lead from
Alain Prost in the
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
until three laps from home, when a misfire forced him to let the Frenchman past; second place was still a popular result.
The improved showings continued over the next few races: Capelli ran third in
Britain before his fuel pipe broke, then finished just outside the points in seventh in
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 ...
. Gugelmin finished eighth in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
, then scored a point for sixth 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 ...
, finishing just ahead of Capelli. Thereafter, however, the season petered out.
Off track, at the Brazilian GP Ian Phillips had been taken ill with meningitis. Leyton House was also running into financial problems. Akagi was reducing the budget constantly and brought in an accountant, Simon Keeble. When Ian Phillips had meningitis Keeble suddenly assumed power. Keeble and Adrian Newey fell out in a big way. Newey already had an offer from
Williams and, encouraged by Ian Phillips, accepted it. Phillips made his return at the Hungarian GP, but at the end of the year accepted an offer to join the new
Jordan F1 team for 1991.
Team manager Harry Mandel also resigned, while Newey was replaced as technical director by
Gustav Brunner
Gustav Brunner (born 12 September 1950, in Graz) is an Austrian Formula One (F1) designer and engineer. He started his career in racing car design at the German-based constructor McNamara. He first entered F1 in a brief spell working for the AT ...
. Several other engineers, brought over from March, also departed that year.
Capelli's six points from France gave him equal 10th in the Drivers' Championship, while Gugelmin's point from Belgium placed him 18th. The team originally finished 7th in the Constructors' Championship, but were later promoted to 6th when the
Larrousse
Larrousse Formula One was a motorsports racing team founded in 1987 by Didier Calmels and former racer Gérard Larrousse, originally under the name Larrousse & Calmels. It was based in Antony, in the southern suburbs of Paris. It was renamed La ...
team were disqualified for declaring the
Lola chassis they had used to be their own.
1991 season
![Gugelmin US gp 1991](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Gugelmin_US_gp_1991.jpg)
For 1991, Brunner and Chris Murphy designed the
CG911 chassis, while the team switched from the Judd V8 engine to the new
Ilmor
Ilmor is a British independent high-performance motor racing engineering company. It was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Mic ...
V10. As in 1990, the team struggled early on in the season: Capelli retired from the first nine races despite running in the top six in
San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
; Gugelmin also struggled to finish during this period but did manage seventh in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
. A steady drive in
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...
brought Capelli and the team a point for sixth; the Italian driver then ran in the top six again in
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
before spinning off. Gugelmin, meanwhile, finished the last five races, recording two more seventh places in Portugal and
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
![Ivan Capelli 1991 USA](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Ivan_Capelli_1991_USA.jpg)
In September 1991, team owner Akira Akagi was implicated in a financial scandal involving the
Fuji Bank
The was one of Japan's major banks during the post–World War II era. It combined with Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank and the Industrial Bank of Japan in 2000 to form Mizuho Financial Group, and changed its name to Mizuho Corporate Bank in 2002 after t ...
and was arrested. Akagi's associate Ken Marrable took over the running of the team, but money was now short. With two races remaining, Capelli stepped down to make way for
Karl Wendlinger. At the time, Wendlinger was competing in the
World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and No ...
for
Sauber-
Mercedes
Mercedes may refer to:
People
* Mercedes (name), a Spanish feminine name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or last name
Automobile-related
* Mercedes (marque), the pre-1926 brand name of German automobile m ...
; in this context, it is notable that the Ilmor V10 was used by Sauber when they made their F1 debut two years later (with Wendlinger one of the drivers) and that Ilmor became the F1 engine manufacturing arm of Mercedes-Benz.
The point from Hungary placed Capelli 20th in the Drivers' Championship, and the team 12th in the Constructors' Championship. For , Capelli would sign for Ferrari while Gugelmin left for
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
.
Later
The team was sold to a consortium including Marrable, Brunner, lawyer John Byfield and Dutch motorsport businessman Henny Vollenberg. For the 1992 season it reverted to the March name, perhaps in an effort to distance itself from the controversy surrounding Akagi and the Leyton House company. Wendlinger stayed on, joined by
Paul Belmondo; the Austrian driver finished fourth in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. However, money remained tight and Belmondo was eventually replaced by
Emanuele Naspetti
Emanuele Naspetti (born 24 February 1968) is a racing driver and entrepreneur from Italy.
Career
Karting
He made his racing debut at the age of 12 and spent seven years in karting (1980-1986), participating in more than 200 races and achievin ...
, while Wendlinger made way for
Jan Lammers, a friend of Vollenberg, returning to F1 after a ten-year absence.
Attempts to sell the team during the winter of 1992 failed and despite nominating Lammers and
Jean-Marc Gounon to drive in , there was not enough money and the team folded in early 1993.
On August 8, 2018, founder Akira Akagi died.
レイトンハウス創始者、赤城明氏の急逝に寄せて
Motorsport.com Japanese version August 11, 2018
Complete Formula One results
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
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* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
References
External links
Leyton House Racing at the Grand Prix Encyclopedia
Chequered Flag Motorsports's profile of Leyton House
{{Formula One constructors
Formula One constructors
Formula One entrants
Japanese Formula 3 Championship teams
British auto racing teams
British racecar constructors
International Formula 3000 teams