Team Rebaque was a Mexican

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, ...

entrant and constructor, based in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following ...

, UK. They participated in 30 Grands Prix, initially entering cars bought from

Team Lotus Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport categories including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar, and sports car racing. More ...

, before finally building a car of their own. The Rebaque HR100 was entered for the team's final three races before the team's closure. The team qualified to race on 19 occasions, and achieved one World Constructors' Championship point with its best finish of sixth at the

1978 German Grand Prix The 1978 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 July 1978 at the Hockenheimring. Mario Andretti won the race from pole position, ahead of Jody Scheckter and Jacques Laffite. Report This was the debut race of future world champ ...

History

The team was founded by, and centred on,

Héctor Rebaque Héctor Alonso Rebaque (born 5 February 1956) is a Mexican former racing driver who raced in Formula One and CART IndyCar in the 1970s and 1980s. He also ran for his own Formula One team called Rebaque in 1978 and 1979. Racing career Rebaque par ...

, a Mexican driver who first drove in Formula One in 1977 for

Hesketh Hesketh may refer to: People * Baron Hesketh: the various barons or lords Hesketh, who lived at Easton Neston in Northamptonshire, England ** Lord Hesketh: the Conservative Party politician, formally titled Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Heske ...

. Following his debut season he was dropped by Hesketh, and with no other team willing to take him on as a driver Rebaque decided to start his own team. At the start of the

1978 Formula One season The 1978 Formula One season was the 32nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1978 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the International Cup for F1 Constructors,''World Championship of F1 Drivers 1978'' & ''International Cup f ...

Rebaque agreed a deal with

to buy their 1977

Type 78 The Type 78 is a Chinese-made 82 mm smoothbore recoilless gun designed to provide a rapid, direct fire support for the PLA infantry troops against targets such as light tanks, armoured vehicles, and bunkers. The Type 78 is an improved version of ...

model (JPS-15). He had very little experience, only having qualified for one race with Hesketh, and had a difficult year. Although he did score a point at the

German Grand Prix The German Grand Prix (german: Großer Preis von Deutschland) was a motor race that took place most years since 1926, with 75 races having been held. The race has been held at only three venues throughout its history; the Nürburgring in R ...

, he also suffered the ignominy of being forced to retire from the

Brazilian Grand Prix The Brazilian Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio do Brasil), currently held under the name São Paulo Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prêmio de São Paulo), is a Formula One championship race which is currently held at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace ...

owing to driver fatigue.

Rebaque HR100

He continued the arrangement with Lotus for the season, this time buying the Championship winning Type 79 chassis. During the year he commissioned

Penske Penske Corporation, Inc. () is an American diversified transportation services company based in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan. Roger Penske is the chairman of the privately held company, and Rob Kurnick is the president. Holding ...

to build a chassis, the Rebaque HR100. The design of the car - by

Geoff Ferris Geoff Ferris is a Northern Ireland football manager. He is the current Assistant Manager of Coleraine FC Coleraine Football Club is a semi-professional Northern Irish football club, playing in the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of the ...

with input from

John Barnard John Edward Barnard (born 4 May 1946, Wembley, London) is an English engineer and racing car designer. Barnard is credited with the introduction of two new designs into Formula One: the carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in with Mc ...

- was heavily influenced by the design of the Lotus 79, also incorporating some elements of the

Williams FW07 The Williams FW07 was a ground effect Formula One racing car designed by Patrick Head, Frank Dernie, and Neil Oatley for the 1979 F1 season. Design 1979 It was closely based on the Lotus 79, even being developed in the same wind tunnel at ...

's sidepods. It was completed in time for the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

that year, although it either failed to qualify or to finish the final three races of the year. The team was closed down at the end of the year. Rebaque himself moved to the

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...

team midway through the following season.

Complete Formula One results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * 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 ...

) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) * Lotus-Ford finished 1st in the 1978 Constructors' Championship, scoring 86 points, but the 1 point scored by Team Rebaque did not contribute to the total (only the best result for each constructor at each race counted towards the championship)
** Lotus-Ford finished 4th in the 1979 Constructors' Championship, scoring 39 points, but Team Rebaque did not contribute to the points total

History

Rebaque HR100

Complete Formula One results

References

Further reading