| Fondmetal | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Full name | Fondmetal |
| Base | Bergamo, Italy |
| Founder/s | Gabriele Rumi |
| Noted staff | Tino Belli Sergio Rinland |
| Noted drivers | Olivier Grouillard, Gabriele Tarquini, Andrea Chiesa, Eric van de Poele |
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Formula One World Championship career
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| Engines | Ford |
| Debut | 1991 United States Grand Prix |
| Races competed | 29 |
| Constructors' Championships |
0 |
| Drivers' Championships |
0 |
| Race victories | 0 (best finish: 10th x 2) |
| Pole positions | 0 (best grid position: 10th 1992 Mexican Grand Prix) |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Final race | 1992 Australian Grand Prix |
Fondmetal was a Formula One constructor from 1991 through 1992, as well as a Formula One engine supplier in 2000. Bergamo ( Bèrghem in Lombard, antiquated Wälsch-Bergen in German) is a town in Lombardy, Italy, about Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Sergio Rinland is an Argentine engineer best known for his work in Formula One. Olivier Grouillard (born September 2, 1958 in Fenouillet) is a Racing driver from France. Gabriele Tarquini (born in Giulianova, March 2, 1962) is a Racing driver from Italy. Andrea Chiesa (born in Milan, Italy on May 6, 1964) is a former Formula One driver from Switzerland. Eric van de Poele (born 30 September 1961 in Verviers) is a Belgian Racing driver and former Formula One driver Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following The 1991 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on March 10, 1991 in Phoenix Arizona. By season The Formula One World Drivers' Championship (WDC is awarded by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ( FIA) to the most successful Formula One The term " pole position " comes from the Horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole The 1992 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mexico City on March 22, 1992. In motorsport, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race The 1992 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Adelaide on November 8, 1992. The following is a list of constructors which have competed or plan to compete in the FIA World Championship. Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. The team scored no points in 29 races and was never classified in either World Championship.
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Team Fondmetal
The team was spawned by Gabriele Rumi's Fondmetal alloy wheels company. Rumi, a motor racing enthusiast, was a regular sponsor of Italian teams in various classes. In the 1980s, Fondmetal supplied some Formula One teams with wheels, and by 1985, the Fondmetal name appeared for the first time on an Osella Formula One machine. In the next few years, Fondmetal remained a reliable sponsor for Osella; in fact many times it was the only major one. In 1989, Fondmetal turned out to be Osella's main sponsor, when two bright Osella Fa1Ms in unusual white livery wore large Fondmetal letters on the hood. As the years went by, Enzo Osella was forced to sell some interests in his team to Fondmetal. In 1990, Fondmetal owned the majority of the team, and at the end of the year, Gabriele Rumi finally took over the whole operation.
Rumi transferred the team from Volpiano near Torino to his headquarter in Bergamo and ran it for one and a half years on his own. Bergamo ( Bèrghem in Lombard, antiquated Wälsch-Bergen in German) is a town in Lombardy, Italy, about He initially persevered with Osella's driver, Olivier Grouillard, until he tired of the Frenchman's reckless side and attitude problem, replacing him with Gabriele Tarquini. Osella is an Italian racing car manufacturer and former Formula One team based in Volpiano near Turin, Italy Olivier Grouillard (born September 2, 1958 in Fenouillet) is a Racing driver from France. Gabriele Tarquini (born in Giulianova, March 2, 1962) is a Racing driver from Italy. The new team was no more successful than in the Osella days, sometimes the results being even worse than those of its fellow back row contenders Coloni or AGS. Enzo Coloni Racing Car Systems, commonly referred to simply as Coloni, is an Italian Motor racing team and former Formula One Racing car Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives ("AGS" or Gonfaron Sports Cars) was a small French racecar constructor who competed in various racing categories
1991
For the 1991 Formula One season, Osella Squadra corse was gone; the team re-appeared as Fondmetal Corse. Initially, Fondmetal entered the FA1/ME which was a mere carry-over from last year (and in fact from 1989 as Osella had not been able to erect a new car in 1990). Driven by Olivier Grouillard, the blue and grey coloured machine was uncompetitive by any means. In the first two races of the season, Grouillard was slower than anybody. Although Fondmetal was able to use Cosworth engines prepared by Brian Hart from last years Tyrrell team, even Pedro Chaves in his Coloni was ahead of the Bergamo car. Racing career Beginning in 1958 Hart enjoyed a successful career as a driver in various single-seater formulae Lower Formulae (1958 - 1967 Tyrrell Racing first came into being in 1958 running Formula Three cars for Ken Tyrrell and local stars Pedro Matos Chaves, pron 'peðɾu 'matuʃ 'ʃavɨʃ (born in Oporto, February 27, 1965) is a Portuguese Racing driver Enzo Coloni Racing Car Systems, commonly referred to simply as Coloni, is an Italian Motor racing team and former Formula One Racing car In that hostile atmosphere, pre-qualification turned out to be impossible. But Rumi had high hopes for the European season. By the San Marino Grand Prix, a new car appeared, called the FOMET1. It was elaborated by a newly-founded think-tank in the UK called Fomet. The Bicester-based design office was headed by Tino Belli and founded by Rumi who thought that British input was necessary for gaining success. The FOMET 1 featured new aerodynamics , a new suspension and some other improvements, but apart from this, the new car obviously conserving its Osella roots. Finally, things improved a little, but not significantly. With the new car, Grouillard managed to be faster than the Coloni machine, but that does not mean that Fondmetal was able to pass pre-qualifying regularly. Only a handful of race participations were possible, but results were poor. In the end, Grouillard was replaced by former AGS man Gabriele Tarquini who finished twice (from three attempts) but no points were scored. Automobiles Gonfaronnaises Sportives ("AGS" or Gonfaron Sports Cars) was a small French racecar constructor who competed in various racing categories Gabriele Tarquini (born in Giulianova, March 2, 1962) is a Racing driver from Italy.
1992
At the end of 1991, due to some financial troubles, the British FOMET subsidiary where the designers had been working on a new Formula One car since the previous summer found its way into independence. Tino Belli sold the layout of the new car to the French Larrousse Formula One team which left Fondmetal without a new car for the next season. Formula One Lola chassis Larrousse & Calmels commissioned a car from Lola and the result was the LC87 a car designed by Eric Broadley and Ralph Instead, Gabriele Rumi commissioned Sergio Rinland from Astauto to design a new machine. Sergio Rinland is an Argentine engineer best known for his work in Formula One. Naturally, it was not ready for the season opening so for the first few races, last year's car had to do it again. Now dubbed GR01, it had seen few modifications; the major change was the installation of a Ford HB V8 engine (a carry-over from last year's Benetton machine) that came instead of the Lamborghini V12 or the Judd V10 that Rumi had preferred. Benetton Formula Ltd, commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from 1986 to 2001. The engine and the chassis did not go together well. There were some cooling troubles, and reliability was poor. The team appeared with two drivers, one being Tarquini, the other one being the Swiss debutant Andrea Chiesa. Andrea Chiesa (born in Milan, Italy on May 6, 1964) is a former Formula One driver from Switzerland. Tarquini showed speed, but the car was fragile.
Things should be better in late spring when the new chassis found its way on the circuits. The GR02 had nothing in common with former years´ Osellas and Fondmetals. The roots of its design dated back to late 1991 when Sergio Rinland was working for the Brabham team on the new Brabham BT61 that never saw the light of day. Origins The Brabham team was founded by Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac, who met in 1951 while both were successfully building and racing cars in their native Instead, the basic structures of this design were carried over to the 1992 Fondmetal. Hence, the GR02 had some qualities and indeed was well regarded by its drivers. However, results turned out to be disappointing, with minor problems often stopping the cars after they qualified well. The team had little funds so tests were few and development slow. Finishes were rare. Tarquini often qualified this car surprisingly high up the order, and at the Hungarian Grand Prix put in Fondmetal's best performance to qualify 12th. The 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hungaroring on August 16, 1992. Chiesa never got going, however, usually failing to qualify, and was replaced by Eric van de Poele for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Eric van de Poele (born 30 September 1961 in Verviers) is a Belgian Racing driver and former Formula One driver While he proved competitive, he also collided with Tarquini in Hungary, losing the Italian team's last chance of a points finish. Three races later in September 1992, the team withdrew, feeling the pinch of the worldwide recession and of scoring no results better than a pair of 10th places.
Fondmetal and Forti Corse
Before closing his factory down, Gabriele Rumi had commissioned Sergio Rinland to work on a 1993 Fondmetal. Sergio Rinland is an Argentine engineer best known for his work in Formula One. Plans for that machine were finished late 1992. A few years later, Rinland sold the plans to Guido Forti who started running a Formula One team called Forti Corse by 1995. Guido Forti (born July 10 1940) is the former team manager of the now-defunct Formula One team Forti. Forti Corse, commonly known as Forti, was an Italian motor racing team chiefly known for its brief and unsuccessful involvement in Formula One The team's FG01 still had several similarities to the 1992 Fondmetal GR02.
Fondmetal and Minardi
Rumi would return to Formula One in a more modest capacity in 1995, with Fondmetal sponsoring Tyrrell, and for 1996 would switch his support to Minardi. Lower Formulae (1958 - 1967 Tyrrell Racing first came into being in 1958 running Formula Three cars for Ken Tyrrell and local stars Minardi was an Automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. Fondmetal also owned a wind tunnel in Northern Italy that was offered to Tyrrell, Minardi and other teams. Lower Formulae (1958 - 1967 Tyrrell Racing first came into being in 1958 running Formula Three cars for Ken Tyrrell and local stars Minardi was an Automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. Rumi would gradually increase his interest in the Faenza outfit, becoming co-owner and chairman. Faenza is an Italian town and Comune, in the Province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated 50 km southeast of Bologna. However, Rumi had contracted cancer, and was forced to withdraw his backing in 2000 when the team was sold to Paul Stoddart. Paul Stoddart, born May 26, 1955, is an Australian millionaire airline magnate and former owner of the Minardi Formula One racing Rumi eventually died in May 2001.
Formula One results
| Year | Team | Driver | # of GPs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Fondmetal-Ford | Olivier Grouillard | 13 |
| 1991 | Fondmetal-Ford | Gabriele Tarquini | 3 |
| 1992 | Fondmetal-Ford | Gabriele Tarquini | 13 |
| 1992 | Fondmetal-Ford | Andrea Chiesa | 10 |
| 1992 | Fondmetal-Ford | Eric van de Poele | 3 |
| 2000 | Minardi-Fondmetal | Gaston Mazzacane | 17 |
| 2000 | Minardi-Fondmetal | Marc Gene | 17 |
External links
The 1991 Formula One season was the 42nd FIA Formula One World Championship season Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following Olivier Grouillard (born September 2, 1958 in Fenouillet) is a Racing driver from France. The 1991 Formula One season was the 42nd FIA Formula One World Championship season Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following Gabriele Tarquini (born in Giulianova, March 2, 1962) is a Racing driver from Italy. The 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following Gabriele Tarquini (born in Giulianova, March 2, 1962) is a Racing driver from Italy. The 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following Andrea Chiesa (born in Milan, Italy on May 6, 1964) is a former Formula One driver from Switzerland. The 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season Ford Motor Company is an American Multinational corporation and the world's fourth largest automaker based on Worldwide vehicle sales, following Eric van de Poele (born 30 September 1961 in Verviers) is a Belgian Racing driver and former Formula One driver The 2000 Formula One season was the 51st FIA Formula One World Championship season Minardi was an Automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. Gastón Mazzacane (born May 8, 1975 in La Plata) is a Racing driver from Argentina. The 2000 Formula One season was the 51st FIA Formula One World Championship season Minardi was an Automobile racing team and constructor founded in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. Early years Gené finished runner-up in the 1987 Catalan Kart Championship (National Class at the age of 13; he would win both this and the National Class Spanish KartDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic