DAMS GD-01

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DAMS GD-01
Xtrac/DAMS 6-speed sequential semi-automatic
Weight595 kilograms (1,312 lb)
FuelElf
TyresGoodyear
Competition history
Notable entrantsDAMS
Notable driversFrance Emmanuel Collard
France Érik Comas
Netherlands Jan Lammers
DebutTest car only
RacesWinsPolesF/Laps
0000
Constructors' Championships0
Drivers' Championships0

The DAMS GD-01 was an unraced Formula One car used by the French motorsport team, Driot-Arnoux Motor Sport (DAMS). The GD-01 was designed and built by a collaboration of DAMS and Reynard engineers from 1994 to 1995, and was intended to establish the team—which had achieved considerable success in lower categories—in Formula One (F1), the premier Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)-sanctioned level of racing. However, due to insufficient financial backing, the team never entered the championship, despite completing construction of the chassis and conducting limited testing.

Concept

DAMS was founded by

1994 drivers' championships with Érik Comas, Olivier Panis and Jean-Christophe Boullion respectively. Driot aimed to take the next step in the team's progression by moving up to F1, thus emulating the examples of the Jordan, Pacific and Forti teams, all successful Formula 3000 teams which graduated to F1 in the first half of the 1990s.[2]

In order to design and build a competitive F1 car, DAMS established a partnership with British constructor

Ligier designer Claude Galopin and Reynard employee Rob Arnott to lead the chassis design team.[2][3]

Construction

Construction of the GD-01 began in 1994, but progress was slow due to limited financial backing. Sponsorship proved hard to find due to the presence of two existing French teams in the sport—

Evin Law, to enter into negotiations with Driot over the possibility of Larrousse running the GD-01 instead of its planned Larrousse LH95 chassis—which it could not afford to build—or an updated LH94, which would be extremely uncompetitive due to modifications needed to comply with the rules. Driot refused to allow his chassis to be raced by another team unless he could have greater involvement; Larrousse eventually folded without contesting a single 1995 race.[4][5]

The chassis featured a triple bulkhead

Honda, but negotiations between the parties came to nought. The car's transmission was a six-speed sequential unit built specially for the team by British company Xtrac, which also supplied the team's differential. Xtrac gearboxes were also used in the Minardi M195 and Simtek S951 chassis in 1995.[4] The car's electronics were supplied by Pi Research, its Goodyear-supplied tyres fitted on Enkei wheels, and it was fuelled with Elf petrol.[1] Only one chassis was built.[7]

Launch and testing history

DAMS unveiled the GD-01 on the starting grid of the Circuit de la Sarthe in the late summer of 1995. The launch was attended by Driot, Galopin and Arnott, in addition to drivers Érik Comas, Emmanuel Collard and Jan Lammers.[2] The car was presented in a blue, white and yellow scheme with minimal sponsorship; the stickers present on the car were from technical partners such as Elf.[1] By this time, it was already obsolete as the monocoque did not fully comply with the 1995 regulations, but the team's engineers were confident that it could be modified in order to do so.[2]

The GD-01 was tested by Comas and Lammers at the

1997 season, but the continuing struggle to find financial backing, the increasing obsolescence of the GD-01's design, and the failure of the Simtek, Pacific and Forti teams to maintain an F1 team using the Cosworth ED engine, eventually persuaded him to abandon the venture altogether.[4]

Legacy

Throughout the development, construction and testing of the GD-01, DAMS maintained its International Formula 3000 team, which survives to this day in

Champ Car
, before filing for bankruptcy in 2002.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c Collins (2007), p. 14.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Collins (2007), p. 8
  3. ^ "People: Claude Galopin". grandprix.com. Inside F1. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Collins (2007), p. 9
  5. ^ "Larrousse: a deal with DAMS?". grandprix.com. Inside F1. 30 January 1995. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
  6. ^ Collins (2007), p. 10
  7. ^ a b c Collins (2007), p. 122
  8. ^ "Lammers for DAMS". grandprix.com. Inside F1. 25 September 1995. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
  9. ^ "DAMS misses the cut". grandprix.com. Inside F1. 27 November 1995. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
  10. ^ Collins (2007), p. 12

References

External links
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