The Shadow DN9 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, ...
car used by the
Shadow
A shadow is a dark area where light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object. It occupies all of the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross section of a shadow is a two-dimensional silhouette, o ...
team during the
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
and
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 ...
s. It is most famous for having been copied by the new
Arrows team for their
FA1. Arrows, formed by a disgruntled group of Shadow's staffers, were in the end prohibited from using the design.
Development
The Shadow DN9 was developed by
Tony Southgate
Tony Southgate (born 25 May 1940, Coventry, England) is a British engineer and former racing car designer. He designed many successful cars, including Jaguar's Le Mans-winning XJR-9, and cars for almost every type of circuit racing. He was res ...
, returning to Shadow 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 ...
. After racing the last three-quarters of the 1978 season, it returned for 1979. A new sponsor (Holland's
Samson shag tobacco) necessitated a new paintjob and a series of wind tunnel tests and subsequent aerodynamic improvements were carried out. New side skirts were introduced, helping to lower drag while doubling downforce.
Racing history
![Shadow DN9 2008 Silverstone Classic (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Shadow_DN9_2008_Silverstone_Classic_%28cropped%29.jpg)
The Shadow DN9 was introduced at the
1978 Long Beach Grand Prix for first driver
Hans-Joachim Stuck
Hans-Joachim Stuck (born 1 January 1951), nicknamed "Strietzel", is a German racing driver who has competed in Formula One and many other categories. He is the son of pre-WW2 racing driver Hans Stuck
Life and career
He was born in Garmisch-Parte ...
's use, although he did not start the race. Second driver
Clay Regazzoni
Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" Regazzoni (5 September 1939 – 15 December 2006) was a Swiss racing driver. He competed in Formula One races from 1970 to 1980, winning five Grands Prix. His first win was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his debu ...
got the new car for the race after (
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 ...
).
[Hodges, 2001, p. 210] Hawaiian driver
Danny Ongais
Danny Ongais (May 21, 1942 – February 26, 2022) was an American racing driver.
Ongais was the only native Hawaiian to compete in the Indianapolis 500. He competed professionally in motorcycle, sports car, CART, IndyCar, Formula One, and drag r ...
was also entered twice, by
Interscope Racing
Frederick Woodruff "Ted" Field (born June 1, 1953) is an American media mogul, record executive, entrepreneur and film producer.
He co-founded Interscope Records with Jimmy Iovine and founded Interscope Communications to develop and produce f ...
, but failed pre-qualifying on both occasions.
[ Ongais also tested at Silverstone, where he went faster than Lammers who was to become Shadow's second driver in 1979.]
A disappointing 1978 meant using drivers of a lower caliber for 1979, with rookie drivers Elio de Angelis
Elio de Angelis (26 March 1958 – 15 May 1986) was an Italian racing driver who participated in Formula One between and , racing for the Shadow, Lotus and Brabham teams. He was killed in an accident while testing the Brabham BT55 at the Paul ...
and Jan Lammers
Jan Lammers (Johannes Antonius Lammers, Zandvoort, 2 June 1956) is a racing driver from the Netherlands whose most notable claim to fame is victory in the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hours for Silk Cut Jaguar/ TWR, next to a four-season spell in Formula One ...
scoring only once, with de Angelis' surprise fourth place in the car's last race at the rainy 1979 United States Grand Prix. Interscope Racing, the privateer who had twice entered a DN9 in 1978, was the team fielding de Angelis, Shadow's ''de facto'' first driver.[ The choice of Dutchman Lammers was tied to the Shadows team's main sponsor, the Dutch Samson shag tobacco company.
]
Complete Formula One World 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.)
* 2 points scored in 1978 was with the DN8
Notes
References
*
*
{{F1 cars 1979
Shadow Formula One cars