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Simtek (Simulation Technology) was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team. The
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, ...
(F1) engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by
Max Mosley Max Rufus Mosley (13 April 1940 – 23 May 2021) was a British racing driver, lawyer, and president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), a non-profit association which represents the interests of motoring organisations and ...
and
Nick Wirth Nicholas John Peter Wirth (born 26 March 1966) is an automotive engineer and the founder and owner of Wirth Research. He is also the former owner of the Simtek Formula One team, a former aerodynamicist at March and former technical director at ...
. It originally was involved in many areas of Formula One, including
wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...
construction and chassis building for third parties. Simtek Grand Prix, the racing team, was launched in 1993 and competed in the 1994 and 1995 seasons, achieving a best result of ninth place. With large debts and a lack of sponsorship money, Simtek went into voluntary liquidation in June 1995.


Simtek Research

Simtek Research was founded in August 1989 by
Nick Wirth Nicholas John Peter Wirth (born 26 March 1966) is an automotive engineer and the founder and owner of Wirth Research. He is also the former owner of the Simtek Formula One team, a former aerodynamicist at March and former technical director at ...
and
Max Mosley Max Rufus Mosley (13 April 1940 – 23 May 2021) was a British racing driver, lawyer, and president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), a non-profit association which represents the interests of motoring organisations and ...
aiming to provide a cost-effective design, research and development service to the highest possible standards. Initially working out of an office in Wirth's home, the company grew quickly and moved to its own facility, including a windtunnel, on the Acres Industrial Estate in Banbury, Oxfordshire. Simtek's clients included the
FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...
, F1 constructors
Ligier Ligier (() is a French automobile and minibus maker created by former racing driver and rugby player Guy Ligier (1930–2015), specialized in the manufacturing of microcars. Ligier is best known for its involvement in the Formula 1 World Champio ...
and numerous
Formula 3000 Formula 3000 (F3000) was a type of open wheel, single seater formula racing, occupying the tier immediately below Formula One and above Formula Three. It was so named because the cars were powered by 3.0 L engines. Formula 3000 championships ...
and
Indycar INDYCAR, LLC, is an American-based auto racing sanctioning body for Indy car racing and other disciplines of open wheel car racing. The organization sanctions five racing series: the premier IndyCar Series with its centerpiece the Indianapolis ...
teams. In 1990 Simtek designed a Formula One car for BMW who were making plans to found a works team. The project was aborted, and BMW instead entered the German Touring Car Championship (
Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM) was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide. The original DTM had resumed racing with producti ...
) in 1991, the BMW 3 Series cars being run by Simtek engineers. The BMW F1 car design was revived, updated and sold to
Andrea Moda Formula Andrea Moda Formula was a Formula One team that competed during the 1992 season. Its founder was Italian shoe designer Andrea Sassetti and the name came from Andrea Moda, Sassetti's company. The team participated in nine World Championship ...
to compete in the 1992 season. In 1992, after becoming president of the FIA, Mosley sold his share in Simtek to Wirth. In 1993, Simtek were commissioned to design a car for the new Bravo Grand Prix team, but the plans were scrapped after the sudden death of Bravo's project backer, Jean François Mosnier.


Formula One


1994

In August 1993, Nick Wirth took the decision to enter Formula One with his own team for the 1994 season. Triple world champion
Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Brabham was a R ...
became a shareholder in Simtek Grand Prix, and his son
David Brabham David Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian professional racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians t ...
was signed as a driver before the end of 1993.
Andrea de Cesaris Andrea de Cesaris (31 May 19595 October 2014) was an Italian racing driver. He started 208 Formula One Grands Prix but never won. As a result, he holds the record for the most races started without a race victory. A string of accidents early in ...
and
Gil de Ferran Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...
, both carrying sponsorship money, were initially considered for the second seat but negotiations broke down. Frenchman
Jean-Marc Gounon Jean-Marc Gounon (born 1 January 1963) is a French racing driver. He raced in Formula One in and , participating in a total of 9 Grands Prix and scoring no championship points. He is the father of fellow racing driver Jules Gounon. Career After ...
was also considered, but already had commitments for the start of the season so eventually 33-year-old F1 rookie
Roland Ratzenberger Roland Ratzenberger (; 4 July 1960 – 30 April 1994) was an Austrian racing driver who raced in various categories of motorsport, including British Formula 3000, Japanese Formula 3000 and Formula One. Having had sporadic success throughout t ...
took the place.
Charlie Moody Charlie may refer to: Characters * "Charlie," the head of the Townsend Agency', from the ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise * Charlie, a character on signs for the CharlieCard, a smart card issued by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority * ...
, a former
Leyton House Leyton House Racing was a Formula One constructor that raced in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. It was, in essence, a rebranding of the March team which had returned to F1 in . Leyton House, a Japanese real estate company, had been the team's marque ...
manager, was appointed Simtek's team manager. The company secured customer Ford HB V8 engines from
Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industrie ...
, and prior to the season starting,
MTV Europe MTV Global (formerly as MTV Europe) is the international version of the American TV channel MTV, a 24-hour music and entertainment TV channel that began broadcasting on August 1, 1987, as part of the worldwide MTV network. Initially, MTV serve ...
stepped in as title sponsors. Wirth's initial design for the 1994 race car included active suspension, a technology used by Williams to win both the drivers and constructors championships in 1992 and 1993. However, active suspension was banned prior to the start of the 1994 season, and so Simtek were forced to revert to a more conservative design, named the S941. This design was heavy, initially included a fully manual gearbox compared to the semi-automatics being used by the frontrunning teams and the Ford HB engine was less powerful than the engines being used by the front-runners. The company employed 35 people, the fewest of any team competing in Formula One during 1994, and only 10% of the number employed by
Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...
. These deficits showed at the first race of the 1994 season. Brabham qualified in 26th and last place while Ratzenberger failed to qualify. Brabham finished the race 12th, but all cars behind him retired. The next race saw both Simteks qualifying but again occupying the back of the grid. Brabham retired early with an electrical failure, and Ratzenberger finished 11th, last of the cars still running. The next round was the
1994 San Marino Grand Prix The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the 14º Gran Premio di San Marino) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 May 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, located in Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One World Ch ...
. During the Saturday qualifying session, Ratzenberger left the track during an out-lap dislodging his front wing. After rejoining the track, Ratzenberger decided the car wasn't damaged, and eager to ensure qualification for the race the next day began a flying lap. At the ''Villeneuve curva'' while traveling at the front wing failed, causing Ratzenberger to lose control and the car crashed into a concrete wall. Ratzenberger suffered a
basal skull fracture A basilar skull fracture is a break of a bone in the base of the skull. Symptoms may include bruising behind the ears, bruising around the eyes, or blood behind the ear drum. A cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak occurs in about 20% of cases and m ...
, and was killed instantly. A time posted earlier in the qualifying session by Ratzenberger would have given him the 26th position on the grid. His death was the first at a Grand Prix weekend in 12 years. Traditionally, the team would have withdrawn from the event, but David Brabham decided to race on, in tribute to Ratzenberger and in order to raise the morale of a devastated Simtek team. During the
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
broadcast of the race, it was stated that Brabham was reluctant to race but was encouraged to race by officials who wanted to keep the field full. Brabham's decision to continue racing, in part resulted in Simtek making a collective decision to continue racing and "For Roland" was painted on the airbox of the car, to show their reason for continuing. The team only had one chassis to enter at the Monaco Grand Prix, and before the start, a minute's silence was held in memory of Senna and Ratzenberger with the second grid slot painted with the Austrian flag. In Spain,
Andrea Montermini Andrea Montermini (born 30 May 1964) is an Italian racing driver. Career Montermini raced in Formula 3 in 1989, taking second place in the Monaco GP support race and 4th in the Italian F3 Championship. He then moved up to Formula 3000, racing ...
drove for the team, but during the practice session crashed heavily. He escaped with only a broken toe and cracked left heel but was unable to race and his Simtek chassis was badly damaged. After another one car entry in Canada,
Jean-Marc Gounon Jean-Marc Gounon (born 1 January 1963) is a French racing driver. He raced in Formula One in and , participating in a total of 9 Grands Prix and scoring no championship points. He is the father of fellow racing driver Jules Gounon. Career After ...
became available to the team for the French Grand Prix. He finished the race ninth, the team's best finish of the season, in part down to high attrition but finishing ahead of
Mark Blundell Mark Blundell (born 8 April 1966) is a British racing driver who competed in Formula One for four seasons, sports cars, and CART. He won the 1992 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the ...
's Tyrrell which was still running. Both cars qualified for all the remaining Grands Prix, ahead of the Pacifics, and occasionally also Lotus and Larrousse. Brabham qualified in 21st for the Belgian Grand Prix, ahead of a Lotus, Larrousse, Footwork and Tyrrell car. Three races before the end of the season,
Domenico Schiattarella Domenico "Mimmo" Schiattarella (born 17 November 1967) is an Italian racing driver. He participated in 7 Formula One Grands Prix for Simtek, debuting on October 16, 1994, and finishing when the team folded the next year. He scored no championsh ...
took over Gounon's race seat finishing 19th. He was replaced for the penultimate round in Japan by another pay driver
Taki Inoue Takachiho "Taki" Inoue (井上 隆智穂 ''Inoue Takachiho'', born 5 September 1963) is a retired Japanese racing driver. Biography Inoue was born in Kobe. He competed in the British Formula Ford Championship in 1988, followed by a spell in All- ...
, but his race ended after three laps when he crashed into the pit wall. Schiattarella was reinstated for the final round at Adelaide, but both Simteks retired from the race with technical problems. After a challenging debut season the team finished with no world championship points but, convinced that Simtek could do better, Wirth decided to continue the Grand Prix programme.


1995

MTV Europe's sponsorship commitment was reduced for the 1995 season, but they remained title sponsors to the team. Rather than money, MTV paid Simtek with airtime on their television channel. This airtime was then sold by Simtek to its other sponsors for them to show
commercials A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...
. Cosworth again supplied engines to the team, with the more up-to-date Ford ED. These were combined with ex-Benetton gearboxes and Wirth designed a new chassis, the S951. David Brabham was made an offer by BMW to race in the British Touring Car Championship, and accepted. He was replaced by
Jos Verstappen Johannes Franciscus Verstappen (; born 4 March 1972) is a former (Formula One) racing driver. Verstappen was the German Formula Three champion and Masters of Formula Three winner in 1993. In Formula 1, Verstappen raced for seven different t ...
, who was seeking more experience after an incident-filled season at Benetton in 1994. The second seat was kept by Domenico Schiattarella for the first half of the season, while
Hideki Noda is a Japanese professional racing driver. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, débuting in the 1994 European Grand Prix, but did not score any championship points. He replaced Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse car for the last thre ...
paid a deposit to secure the place for the latter races. Both cars retired from the opening round, but the second round in Argentina brought much promise. Verstappen qualified 14th for the race and moved up to sixth by the first pitstop. A slow pitstop dropped him down the order and then his gearbox failed the following lap. Schiattarella finished ninth, equaling the team's best finish the previous season. Verstappen's gearbox also failed at the next race in San Marino. Schiattarella retired with suspension failure. Spain brought 12th and 15th-placed finishes for the team, but there were bigger problems behind the scenes. In the 18 months the team had been in existence, they had amassed £6 million worth of debt. At Monaco, neither driver completed a lap of the race due to another gearbox failure on Verstappen's car, and the marshals failing to recover Schiattarella's car after the first aborted race start. Following the race Wirth wrote, in one of his regular
Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...
newsgroup postings, that "a major new backer of the team, with whom I had signed a contract before the season, has finally pulled out and left a large hole in our finances". Wirth frantically tried to convince potential sponsors to come forward, threatening to shut down the team if none did so. In the event a sponsor could be found, existing sponsors
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
,
Russell Athletic Russell Athletic is an American clothing manufacturer based in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Currently a subsidiary of global company Fruit of the Loom, Russell Athletic was the main brand of Russell Brands, LLC. until its acquisition in 2006.
and
Korean Air Korean Air Co., Ltd. (), operating as Korean Air (Korean Air Lines before 1984), is the flag carrier of South Korea and its largest airline based on fleet size, international destinations and international flights. The present-day Korean Air ...
pledged to increase their own sponsorship commitments. The team did not appear at the Canadian Grand Prix, but were not fined by the sports commercial rights holders, FOM, for their absence. The CEO of FOM,
Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns ...
agreed that the team entered the championship intending to compete in 16 races and as the championship was extended to 17, they were permitted to miss one race. Negotiations with the potential backers and sponsors failed, and the companies that would pay for
Hideki Noda is a Japanese professional racing driver. He participated in three Formula One Grands Prix, débuting in the 1994 European Grand Prix, but did not score any championship points. He replaced Yannick Dalmas in the Larrousse car for the last thre ...
to drive the Simtek were severely affected by the
Kobe earthquake The , or Kobe earthquake, occurred on January 17, 1995, at 05:46:53 JST (January 16 at 20:46:53 UTC) in the southern part of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, including the region known as Hanshin. It measured 6.9 on the moment magnitude scale and had ...
. Prior to the next race, Simtek Grand Prix went into voluntary liquidation and the receivers,
Touche Ross Touché, Touche, Latouche, La Touche, or de la Touche may refer to: Sports * Touché (fencing), French for "touched", a term used to acknowledge a hit Arts and entertainment * ''Touché'' (Hush album), by Australian band Hush, 1977 * ''Touch ...
, were called in. The collapse of the Formula One team also forced Simtek Research to declare itself bankrupt. In total, 48 jobs were lost and with the team unable to be sold as a going concern, Simtek's assets were auctioned off.


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)


References


Losing Roland, by Nick Wirth
- Marshall Pruett, Racer, 30 April 2014


External links



{{Formula One constructors Formula One constructors Formula One entrants British auto racing teams British racecar constructors Engineering consulting firms Companies based in Banbury