Shannon Racing, or the Shannon Racing Team, was a short-lived

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

team that was briefly involved with the

Forti Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief and unsuccessful involvement in Formula One in the mid-1990s. It was established in the late 1970s and competed in lower formulae for two decades. ...

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, ...

team during the season. It was owned by a parent company known as FinFirst. Both entities were registered in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, but funded by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

backers.

Career

Shannon established an

International Formula 3000 The Formula 3000 International Championship was a motor racing series created by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 1985 to become the final preparatory step for drivers hoping to enter Formula One. Formula Two had become t ...

team in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, taking over the Danielson team and running drivers

Tom Kristensen Tom Kristensen (born 7 July 1967) is a Danish former racing driver. He holds the record for the most wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with nine, six of which were consecutive (from 2000 to 2005). In 1997, he won the race with the Joest Racing te ...

and

Luca Rangoni Luca Rangoni (born 23 September 1968 in Bologna) is an Italian auto racing driver. He is a married man with one son. Early career Like many racing drivers, Rangoni's first taste of racing was in karts, where he spent four years. He made his deb ...

, and was also active in

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One driv ...

. Kristensen took a

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

and fastest lap in the F3000 team's second race, but the campaign was cut short as Shannon entered

part-way through the season. The team was known to be keen to move up to F1, and was expected to enter the season, but instead chose to buy 51% of the financially struggling

team prior to the

1996 Spanish Grand Prix The 1996 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 2 June 1996 at the Circuit de Catalunya. This race, Michael Schumacher's first Ferrari victory, is generally regarded as one of his finest. In the torrential rain, he produced a stu ...

. The deal resulted in the Forti cars switching from a yellow to a green, white and red livery. The deal, however, fell through and resulted in a dispute between Shannon and

Guido Forti Guido Forti (10 July 1940 – 11 January 2013) was the founder and team manager of the now-defunct Formula One team Forti. Forti co-founded his "Forti Corse" racing team with businessman Paolo Guerci in the late 1970s, initially running in ...

over ownership of the team, with Forti alleging non-payment. The case went to court and resulted in the team running out of money and withdrawing from Formula One, meaning that Shannon's eventual victory was essentially meaningless. By the end of the season, the teams run by Shannon in other formulae had also ceased to exist.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 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 ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One results (as owner of Forti)

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

*{{cite book, editor-last =Henry, editor-first =Alan, editor-link=Alan Henry, title =

AUTOCOURSE ''Autocourse'' is a series of annuals covering motor racing, and Formula One in particular. The annuals cover a long period of the sport's history, from 1951 to the present day, and, as such, are highly collectible. History The first edition o ...

1996-97, publisher =Hazleton Publishing, year =1996, isbn =1-874557-91-8 Irish auto racing teams Italian auto racing teams German Formula 3 teams International Formula 3000 teams