Forti FG03-96 - Motorsports Almanac
Forti FG03-96 - Motorsports Almanac
Forti FG03-96 - Motorsports Almanac
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ELECTRONICS<br />
Battery : FIAMM<br />
Instruments : Pi Research<br />
DIMENSIONS<br />
Wheelbase : 2981-2992 mm<br />
Front track : 1690 mm<br />
Rear track : 1585 mm<br />
Formula weight : 600kg including driver<br />
Fuel Cell : 130 litre ATL<br />
FORTI CORSE HISTORY www.f1rejects.com<br />
GOOD LOWER FORMULAE RECORD<br />
For the first few races in 1995, Formula One faced the rather amusing prospect of Simtek, Pacific and <strong>Forti</strong> all<br />
racing against each other at the same time. One of <strong>Forti</strong>'s drivers, Andrea Montermini, would come to drive for<br />
all three eventually! At the risk of grossly oversimplifying things, new teams in F1 tend to need three<br />
ingredients to succeed. They need money, organisational ability, and good drivers in a good car. Jordan and<br />
Stewart had it, but none of Simtek, Pacific and <strong>Forti</strong> managed to pull all of these together. Simtek had some<br />
money, good drivers in decent cars, but an inexperienced management rocked by the tragic events of 1994.<br />
Pacific had organisational ability by the bucket loads, but hardly any money, and, in 1995, some pretty poor<br />
drivers in a nice PR02 chassis. And yet, by complete contrast, when <strong>Forti</strong> started out they had money flowing<br />
out their ears, good organisational know-how, but an utterly shocking car. Guido <strong>Forti</strong>'s team had an excellent<br />
record in lower formulae. Immediately before they stepped up into F1, they had done well in F3000 in 1994,<br />
especially considering that they employed pay-drivers Hideki Noda and Pedro Diniz. Indeed, at the opening<br />
round of the championship at Silverstone, Noda and Diniz plonked their cars in 4th and 6th on the grid<br />
respectively. Noda went on to finish 3rd at Enna, and Diniz 4th at Estoril. So, when it came to management,<br />
<strong>Forti</strong> was no mug.<br />
CAR NOT FAR OFF A 1992 FONDMETAL<br />
Based in Alessandria in Italy, the team decided to step up to F1 in 1995, but it was a tough time for the smaller<br />
teams in the top flight. Money troubles were biting hard, and in recent times had already claimed Lotus and<br />
Larrousse, while Simtek and Pacific were staring down the barrel. However, <strong>Forti</strong> got this bit right by bringing<br />
paymaster Diniz, and his extensive Parmalat sponsorship, with them into the big league. For 1995 at least,<br />
money was no worry. Furthermore, Tom Prankerd tells us that alongside the deal to run customer Ford ED V8<br />
engines (the same as Minardi, Pacific and Simtek) came backing from Ford Brazil, so a target budget was<br />
around 7.5 million pounds. Alongside Diniz, F1 returnee Roberto Moreno was a surprise choice of co-driver,<br />
names such as Christian Fittipaldi, Mauricio Gugelmin and Gil de Ferran were bandied around as well. With<br />
the rest of the package in place, the team employed former Fondmetal designer Sergio Rinland and<br />
commissioned the FG01-95 design from him. As the design neared completion, there were dark mutterings<br />
that all the FG01 would be was a rehash of the 1992 Fondmetal GR02. The nosecone designs of the two cars<br />
would suggest that those rumours may not have been too far off the mark. Trouble was, while the Fondmetal<br />
GR02 was actually a pretty good car (allowing Gabriele Tarquini to outqualify Ivan Capelli's Ferrari at, of all<br />
places, Spa), by 1995 it was all just not good enough. Featuring the only manual gearshift left in pit lane, the car<br />
was an outright shocker in terms of weight (it was way too heavy) and aerodynamic efficiency, although<br />
reliability was OK right from the outset, except for a troublesome gearbox.<br />
NINE LAPS OFF THE PACE IN ARGENTINA<br />
This allowed the yellow and blue cars, with their stylish fluoro green wheels, to be thoroughly annoying<br />
mobile chicanes from the word go. Originally miles off the pace of even the Pacifics, changes were agonisingly<br />
slow in coming. It was only after Rinland departed mid-season that the aerodynamics improved, with a new<br />
shark nose introduced eventually. Attempts to fit a semi-automatic gearbox towards the end of the season got<br />
bogged down in torrid unreliability, and the plan was finally scrapped altogether. A record of their<br />
monotonous 1995 season proves the point. It started in Brazil, where Diniz in 25th spot was just under 8<br />
seconds off Damon Hill's pole time, with Moreno 23rd. While Roberto spun out of the race, Diniz finished in<br />
10th and last, but a whole 7 laps down. Things got worse in Argentina, where in the wet qualifying sessions,<br />
Moreno ended up over 11 seconds off David Coulthard's pole in 24th, and Diniz just under 13 seconds off in<br />
25th. Both then struggled home in the race, Diniz getting the better of Moreno, but they were a mammoth 9<br />
laps adrift and not classified. Domenico Schiattarella's Simtek, the last classified runner, was 5 laps ahead of<br />
them. At Imola they filled the last row, Diniz ahead of Moreno but 9.35s off Michael Schumacher's pole time.<br />
They then came home 15th and 16th, 7 laps down. Luca Badoer in 14th was only 4 laps down. The next race in<br />
Spain saw both cars retire, Pedro from a gearbox failure, Roberto from a water pump problem. Monaco was<br />
slightly better, with Diniz starting 22nd and Moreno 24th, the former finishing 10th, 6 laps adrift, and the latter<br />
crashing after 9 laps.<br />
A BACK ROW GRID SLOT NOT ALWAYS ASSURED<br />
By Canada Simtek was gone, and normal service was resumed with the <strong>Forti</strong>s on the back row, Diniz 24th and<br />
Moreno almost a second faster but still only 23rd. Once again Diniz suffered gearbox problems, while Moreno<br />
encountered, of all things, a blocked fuel line. In France, Diniz was taken out on the first lap after being hit by<br />
Pierluigi Martini's Minardi recovering from a spin, while Moreno dawdled home 16th, 6 laps down, while