If you wish to discover success in Formula 1, you’re going to wish one factor: A great staff with a great automotive. Driving talent is after all vital, however talent can’t shine with out dependable tools. Sometimes, the precise driver finds the precise staff at simply the precise time — like Michael Schumacher with Ferrari. Sometimes, although, you find yourself as a grasp moonlighter bouncing from staff to staff, like one Chris Amon.
Amon was a racer from New Zealand who competed with a record-setting 13 makes over the course of his 14-year F1 profession that ran from 1963 t0 1976. His ever-changing profession broke down like this:
- In 1963, Amon raced for Reg Parnell Racing, which fielded a Lola chassis with a Climax engine and a Lotus chassis with a BRM engine.
- 1964: Reg Parnell Racing, which fielded two Lotuses, one powered by a BRM engine, one utilizing a Climax engine.
- 1965: Reg Parnell racing with a BRM-powered Lotus, then Ian Raby Racing with a BRM-powered Brabham.
- 1966: Bruce McLaren Racing with a McLaren chassis and Ford engine, then Cooper Car Company with a Maserati-powered Cooper, and at last Chris Amon Racing with a BRM-powered Brabham.
- 1967-1968: Scuderia Ferrari with Ferrari chassis and Ferrari engines.
- 1970: March Engineering with a Ford-powered March chassis.
- 1971-1972: Equipe Matra, which constructed its personal chassis and engines.
- 1973: Martini Racing powered by Tecno engines and chassis, then Elf Team Tyrrell with in-house chassis powered by Ford.
- 1974: Chris Amon Racing with an Amon chassis and Ford Cosworth engine, then Team Motul BRM, which made its personal chassis and engines.
- 1975: Ensign, with in-house chassis powered by Ford.
- 1976: Ford Cosworth-powered Ensign chassis with Team Ensign adopted by Ford-Cosworth powered Wolf-Williams chassis from the Walter Wolf Racing staff.
It’s a fairly spectacular document for Amon, although maybe not in the way in which he’d have appreciated. The New Zealander grew to become recognized for his unhealthy luck, which regularly culminated in him swapping groups partway by means of the season, typically with subsequent struggles.
Amon by no means gained an F1 race, although he did handle to nab 11 podiums. In a 96-start profession, although, that’s not notably spectacular. As a end result, his finest end within the Drivers’ Championship was fifth in 1967, when he was racing for Ferrari.
Why so many swaps? Well, it goes again to unhealthy luck. Amon frequently suffered from mechanical issues that noticed him retire early from races. Then, he’d discover himself signed with a staff that couldn’t produce an F1 automotive for him, leaving him to compete in sports activities vehicles and hunt for different F1 rides. Even touchdown a coveted seat with the celebrated Ferrari staff occurred on the mistaken time: Amon signed on with a staff that prioritized engines initially of the aerodynamics period. He simply wasn’t capable of land in a aggressive automotive.
By the time he retired in 1977, Amon was reported as saying that he simply didn’t take pleasure in racing anymore and went again to New Zealand to run his household’s farm and make occasional appearances on tv.
Oh, and about that unhealthy luck? Amon didn’t imagine in such stuff. According to his biography, Forza Amon by Eoin Young, Amon thought-about himself to have fairly nice luck, contemplating he competed in a lethal period of F1 for over a decade with out as soon as struggling a critical harm. It appears that, as a trade-off, he simply by no means bought to drive a fast, dependable automotive.
Source: jalopnik.com
