Rondel Racing was a British racing team that competed in the
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 retur ...
series between 1971 and 1973. The team was founded by two ex-
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 ...
mechanics
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...
and Neil Trundle. Rondel won five
European Championship races before being forced to close down in 1973 due to a number of factors including lack of money, loss of Motul support and
NatWest
National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...
Bank calling in a £5,000 overdraft over a workshop floor installed by Dennis.
Formation and 1971 season
![Brabhambt36](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Brabhambt36.jpg)
At the end of the 1970 Formula One season, driver and team owner Jack Brabham retired from the sport and sold his shares in 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 to
Ron Tauranac
Ronald Sidney Tauranac (13 January 1925 – 17 July 2020) was a British-Australian engineer and racing car designer, who with Formula One driver Jack Brabham founded the Brabham constructor and racing team in 1962. Following Brabham's retireme ...
. Jack Brabham's chief mechanic,
Ron Dennis
Ronald Dennis Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a British people, British businessman and Official British Business Ambassador for the United Kingdom. He is best known for his former role as owner, CEO, chairman and founder ...
and his friend and colleague, Neil Trundle, decided to form their own racing team. The Brabham BT36 cars initially used by the team were bought on hire purchase from Tauranac. However, Dennis was trying to find sponsorship. Through Ron's then girlfriend, who was the daughter of John Phelps, director of Phelps Antique Furniture in
Twickenham
Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...
, one of its regular customers
Tony Vlassopulos
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
, a barrister son of a Greek Shipowner, was asked to sponsor Rondel.
Vlassopulos asked his friend
Ken Grob, chairman of
Alexander Howden, insurance brokers in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
if he was interested in joining in. Grob said yes on the proviso that his young son
Ian Grob
Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...
could be part of the team, which was agreed. From that moment forward,
Tony Vlassopulos
Tony may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer
* Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...
became Dennis' first sponsor.
The name Rondel, came from the first name of Ron Dennis and a corruption of the last three letters of Trundle's name. Rondel were based in
Old Windsor
Old Windsor is a large village and civil parish, in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It is bounded by the River Thames to the east and the Windsor Great Park to the west.
Etymology
The name originates from old ...
,
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
.
For their first season the team attracted two-time Formula One World Champion
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver and team owner, who was the Formula One World Champion twice, winning in and as well as being runner up on three occasions (1963, 1964 and 1965). Despite ...
, who was impressed with the professionalism and attention-to-detail shown by the team. He was joined by his Brabham Formula One teammate Tim Schenken. Trundle was responsible for preparing Schenken's car whilst Dennis prepared Hill's car.
At the team's first race at
Hockenheim
Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...
, Hill won his heat and came second to
François Cevert
Albert François Cevert Goldenberg (25 February 1944 – 6 October 1973) was a French racing driver who took part in the Formula One World Championship. He competed in 48 World Championship Grands Prix, achieving one win, 13 podium finishes and 8 ...
overall.
Hill secured Rondel their first outright victory only a week later in the second round of that year's European Formula Two Championship at the BARC 200 event, held at
Thruxton in the UK.
Schenken achieved three second places finishes during the season. Mid-season the team entered a third car, driven by
Bob Wollek
Bob Wollek (4 November 1943 – 16 March 2001), nicknamed "Brilliant Bob", was a race car driver from Strasbourg, France. He was killed on 16 March 2001 at age 57 in a road accident in Florida while riding a bicycle back to his accommodation afte ...
. Wollek qualified for two races, achieving a best finish of sixth position. Due to his Formula One success, Hill had an 'A' grading, and was unable to score championship points in the races. Schenken and Wollek however were, with Schenken finishing in fourth place in the championship and Wollek in 20th.
1972 season
French oil company
Motul Motul may refer to:
* Motul (company), a French lubricant company
* Motul Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico
** Motul, Yucatán, a small city in Motul Municipality
* Motul de San José Motul may refer to:
* Motul (company)
Motul S.A. is a global Fre ...
agreed to sponsor the team from the 1972 season onward.
Tim Schenken
Timothy Theodore Schenken (born 26 September 1943) is a former racing driver from Sydney, Australia. He participated in 36 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 16 August 1970. He achieved one career podium at the 1971 Austr ...
, Rondel's highest scoring driver in 1971, remained with the team but due to two points finishes in the Formula 1 World Championship the previous season he was given an 'A' grading and was therefore unable to score points. Bob Wollek also remained with the team and
Carlos Reutemann
Carlos Alberto "Lole" Reutemann (12 April 1942 – 7 July 2021) was an Argentine racing driver who raced in Formula One from to , and later became a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party, and governor of ...
joined from Automóvil Club Argentina. Initially, it was intended Reutemann would compete full-time in the F2 series with Rondel, while the works Brabham Formula 1 team would draft him in when the race weekends did not clash. However, from the middle of the season Brabham fielded a third car allowing Reutemann to contest all the remaining F1 races causing him to miss the F2 race at Albi, France. Even so, he finished the championship in fourth position, equaling Tim Schenken's achievement for the team the previous season. Williams Formula One driver
Henri Pescarolo
Henri Jacques William Pescarolo (born 25 September 1942) is a former racing driver from France. He competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans a record 33 times, winning on four occasions, and won a number of other major sports car events including the ...
drove occasionally for the Rondel team, in part due to
Motul Motul may refer to:
* Motul (company), a French lubricant company
* Motul Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico
** Motul, Yucatán, a small city in Motul Municipality
* Motul de San José Motul may refer to:
* Motul (company)
Motul S.A. is a global Fre ...
's title sponsorship of both Williams and Rondel, and it was Pescarolo that gave the team their first victory of the season at the eleventh round held at
Pergusa
Pergusa is an Italian village of Sicily. It is a ''frazione'' of Enna, the administrative seat of the same-named province.
Geography
Pergusa lies in hills about 10 km south of Enna. Pergusa is reached by the ''Enna-Gela Road'', which allow ...
. Schenken gave the team their other victory in the championship finale in
Hockenheim
Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" () and Bertha Benz M ...
.
1973 season
For the 1973 season, Rondel aspired to be more than a customer car team and hired Ray Jessop to design their own car. The result was the
Motul Motul may refer to:
* Motul (company), a French lubricant company
* Motul Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico
** Motul, Yucatán, a small city in Motul Municipality
* Motul de San José Motul may refer to:
* Motul (company)
Motul S.A. is a global Fre ...
M1 which was named for the team's sponsor.
Up to five
Motul Motul may refer to:
* Motul (company), a French lubricant company
* Motul Municipality, Yucatán, Mexico
** Motul, Yucatán, a small city in Motul Municipality
* Motul de San José Motul may refer to:
* Motul (company)
Motul S.A. is a global Fre ...
M1's were fielded by the team in a race and as early as the round two of the championship, the car was victorious. Pescarolo won the race, with Wollek in second giving Rondel their first one-two finish. Partway through the 1973, the team moved to a new factory in Feltham, Middlesex.
Rondel's final victory came at the Norisring where Tim Schenken won the race, with teammates Tom Pryce and Henri Pescarolo in second and third position. The 1973 season saw a complicated points structure used, where races were divided into basic and complementary races with only a driver's first result from complementary races held in the same country eligible for points. This meant Tom Pryce was not awarded points for his second-place finish at the Norisring, having competed in a previous complementary race in Germany at the Hockenheimring.
For 1974, a Ray Jessop-designed F1 car was planned but the oil crisis in 1973 affected backer Motul's support. However, in truth, the funds were not there to support a F1 leap even with Motul involved. Dennis left immediately whilst Trundle continued with the already designed car from Jessop and Vlassopulos and Grob took over the ownership, with the car becoming the Token.
Legacy
Ron Dennis would go on to form three more racing teams, the last of which,
Project 4
Project Four Racing was a British Formula Two and Formula Three team. The team was founded in 1976 by former Brabham mechanic Ron Dennis. At the end of 1980, the team merged with the McLaren Formula One team.
The team name lived on in the desig ...
, merged with
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
putting Dennis in control of the F1 team. As of 2008, Dennis has led
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...
to seven Formula One World Constructors Championships and ten World Drivers Championships.
Neil Trundle moved to
Token
Token may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Token, a game piece or counter, used in some games
* The Tokens, a vocal music group
* Tolkien Black, a recurring character on the animated television series ''South Park,'' formerly known as ...
to run their
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, ...
car before moving to
Tyrrell to work on their six-wheeled
P34 car. Trundle rejoined Dennis at his Project 4 team in 1977. He left at the end of 1980 to run his own team in Formula 2,3 and FF2000. He joined McLaren in 1987 and was Chief Mechanic for 1988 and 89. As of 2019, Trundle is still at McLaren, working on McLaren's heritage vehicles.
Complete European Formula Two Championship 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)
* Graded driver, ineligible to score points
References
{{reflist
All race results are taken from the https://web.archive.org/web/20071011020230/http://www.formula2.net/
British auto racing teams
British racecar constructors
Formula Two entrants
Auto racing teams established in 1971
Auto racing teams disestablished in 1974