User:4u1e/sandbox2
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[edit] Cars
| Chassis | Year | Designer | Number Built | Races | Points Scored | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FD series (01 - 03) | 1975-1976 | Richard Divila | 3 | 13 | 0 | FD signifies Fittipaldi-Divila |
| FD04 | 1976-1977 | Richard Divila | 4 | 24 | ?? | |
| F5 & F5A | 1977-1979 | David Baldwin | 6 | 31 | ?? | 'A' variant won one race in UK Aurora F1 series |
| F6 & F6A | 1979 | Ralph Bellamy | 3 | 7 | ?? | |
| F7 | 1980 | Harvey Postlethwaite | 3 | 14 | ?? | Updated Wolf WR7-9 series |
| F8 | 1980-1982 | Harvey Postlethwaite | 5 | 31 | ?? | Includes C and D variants |
| F9 | 1982 | Richard Divila | 1 | 3 | 0 | F8 with revised suspension |
[edit] Organisation
Initially the team was based in a small garage across the road from the Interlagos circuit, the same facility that the Fittipaldi brothers had used to base their various constructor activities in the 1960s.
Wilson and Emerson Fittipaldi were the team owners, although Emerson had no other formal role in the first year other than to act as a consultant to the team. Jo Ramirez was the team manager and ??? Itoh?, Emerson’s mechanic from his Lotus days was hired as chief mechanic. There was a small workforce of no more than 16?? which built the cars designed by Richard Divila, including many of the components as local supplies were difficult – particularly since imperial units had to be used. Only the engine, gearbox, tyres (and a few other things) were imported from the UK. Ramirez located a small workshop in Reading in early 1975 to be used as the team’s base for the European season.
When Emerson joined the team as lead driver in 1976, Wilson stopped driving and became ??? full time – much of his time was spent in raising funding for the team. Although the first FD04 was built in Sao Paulo, the remainder were built at the team’s Reading base, although the design and most of the components were still made in Brazil before being shipped over for final assembly.
At the end of 1976 Richard Divila stepped down?? As Technical director (reason??, feeling he was too inexperienced to fulfil the role properly and needed support) although he continued to work for the team until its demise in 1982. The F5 was designed by ex-Lotus man Dave Baldwin, although he left the team before the season started. At the end of 1977 Jo Ramirez left the team, which was restructured, with the recruitment of Peter ???? to act as team manager, taking on elements of work that had previously been carried out by Wilson Fittipaldi, Ramirez and?????
For 1978 the F5 was re-designed by freelance designers X&Y of FLY studios. Components were manufactured by (Hesketh??) to their designs and assembled with others arriving from Brazil at the teams new facility at Slough?? BY this time the workforce was up to ????? 1979’s disastrous F6 was designed by another (freelance??) ex-Lotus designer, Ralph Bellamy, before being rejigged after one uncompetitive outing, again by FLY studios. This arrangement persisted until the end of 1979 when the team bought the remains of Walter Wolf’s Wolf Racing team, based in nearby Reading.
The team took on Wolf’s designer Harvey Postlethwaite and ran updated versions of his 1979 Wolf WR7-9 series cars for the first part of the season. Postlethwaite produced the new F8 design for mid season the basic design of which would see the team through to its demise at the end of 1982. Emerson stopped driving at the end of 1980 and joined Wilson as head of the team. Emerson looked after the racing team in the UK, while Wilson looked after funding brack in Brazil. Divila stepped back into the Technical Directors shoes after Postlethwaite left at the end of 1981, producing the F9 with redesigned suspension towards the end of the 1982 season.
