The Rial ARC1 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, ...

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

manufactured and raced by Rial Racing for the

1988 Formula One season The 1988 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 42nd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1988 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1988 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested ...

. It was powered by a Cosworth DFZ V8 engine. Its best finish was at the 1988 United States Grand Prix when Andrea de Cesaris drove it to fourth place.

Development

Rial Racing was established by German industrialist

Günter Schmid Günter Schmid (13 August 1932 – 29 May 2005) was the founder and principal of the Formula One teams ATS and Rial Racing Rial is a German producer of light alloy wheels and rims, and was a Formula One constructor competing in the and seasons. ...

, who had previous experience of Formula One with ATS Racing, to participate in the 1988 season. He contracted former Ferrari engineer

Gustav Brunner Gustav Brunner (born 12 September 1950, in Graz) is an Austrian Formula One (F1) designer and engineer. He started his career in racing car design at the German-based constructor McNamara. He first entered F1 in a brief spell working for the AT ...

to design a car based around the Cosworth DFZ V8 engine.Nye, 1992, p. 313 The car, designated the ARC1, was similar in appearance in Brunner's

Ferrari F1/87 The Ferrari F1/87 is a Formula One racing car used by the Ferrari team during the 1987 Formula One season. The car was driven by Michele Alboreto (number 27) and Gerhard Berger (number 28) and replaced the Ferrari F1/86 used in 1986. F1/87 Form ...

and was known as 'the Blue Ferrari', though the ARC1 featured a different engine cover owing to different sized engine and fuel tank, as well as lower sidepods than the Ferrari due to not having to house turbochargers. Brunner gave the car a unique front suspension arrangement with its dampers positioned longitudinally at the height of the floor. Rial also developed its own gearbox for the ARC1. A total of three cars were built.

Racing history

Rial Racing ran a single entry throughout the season for the experienced but erratic Italian Andrea de Cesaris who also brought much needed money to the team through his personal Marlboro sponsorship. For the season opening race in

1988 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on April 3, 1988, at the renamed Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet in Rio de Janeiro. Following his 3rd World Drivers' Championship in the Jacarepaguá Circuit was named after l ...

, de Cesaris qualified 14th but retired during the race itself with engine trouble. At one stage, he was running in 6th place before he stopped for tires. De Cesaris had no problems qualifying the ARC1 for every race of the season and would regularly run in the midfield. Its best qualifying was 12th, achieved five times. Reliability though was poor and by the end of the season, he had only been classified in five races and even in two of these, he was not running at the finish due to running out of fuel (the ARC1 was known to have the smallest fuel tank of the atmospheric cars in 1988). However, one finish was fourth on the streets of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

where de Cesaris managed to stay out of trouble and quietly moved into the points as the crumbling track surface and the heat took its toll on the field. Finishing fourth in the last ever F1 race in Detroit earned the team three points.

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) † classified but not running at finish

Notes

References

* {{F1 cars 1988 Rial Formula One cars