Keith Duckworth

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David Keith Duckworth (10 August 1933 – 18 December 2005[1]) was an English mechanical engineer. He is most famous for designing the Cosworth DFV (Double Four Valve) engine, an engine that revolutionised the sport of Formula One.

Early life and education

Duckworth was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, and was educated at Giggleswick School.

Duckworth served his two years of

pilot but was grounded for dangerous and incompetent flying and was reclassified as a navigator.[2] Duckworth claimed that allergy to medication he was receiving caused his flying problem - in civilian life he became a keen light aircraft and helicopter
pilot.

After completing his tour of duty, which he finished as a navigator, Duckworth studied engineering at Imperial College London, earning a BSc degree in 1955.

Early career

After university he began working for Lotus as a gearbox engineer. Given the task of fixing the 'Queerbox's' unreliability problems, he fell out with Chapman who would not support the cost of the fix that Duckworth felt was needed.[3]

Cosworth

DFV

Main article: Cosworth DFV

After only three years with Lotus, Duckworth, along with fellow Lotus employee Mike Costin, founded Cosworth, a racing engine design and development firm, in 1958. Costin was obliged to remain with Lotus, having recently signed a restrictive contract; for the first few years Duckworth worked essentially alone at Cosworth until Mike could join him. From the start the company was closely associated with the Ford Motor Company and Lotus, and the two companies found early success in the newly formed Formula Junior in the early 1960s. Not only did these successes finance Cosworth's move from Friern Barnet [4] to Edmonton, then to Northampton but they inspired Lotus founder Colin Chapman to persuade Ford to finance the production of Duckworth's DFV (double four valve) engine.

The classic DFV engine - Hewland gearbox combination, mounted in the rear of a 1978 Tyrrell 008.

Chapman's idea was to reduce weight by using the engine as a stressed part of the chassis, bolted straight on to the front monocoque tub, removing the need for a spaceframe around the engine and making it easier for mechanics to maintain the cars. This arrangement has been standard in F1 ever since.

The DFV made a famous debut in the third race of the

Österreichring circuit, where driver Martin Brundle
failed to qualify the underpowered car. By 1985 the DFV, now upgraded as the DFY, was rated at around 540 bhp (403 kW; 547 PS), though it was up against 950 bhp (708 kW; 963 PS) turbocharged cars and had generally become uncompetitive.

The DFV's last win was at the 1983 Detroit Grand Prix with Italian driver Michele Alboreto piloting his Tyrrell 011 to a surprise, but popular victory. The final podium finish by a DFV powered car came a year later in Detroit when Brundle drove his Tyrrell 012 to second place (Tyrrell were later disqualified from the 1984 season for technical infringements).

V6 Turbo

It was at the

Porsche engines, which were reportedly producing in excess of 1,000 bhp (746 kW; 1,014 PS). As a result, neither Haas Lola drivers Jones or Patrick Tambay were able to exploit the good Lola chassis due to the underpowered engine, scoring only 8 points for the season, with a best finish of 4th for Jones at the Austrian Grand Prix
(Tambay finished the race in 5th, the race also seeing the first points scored for the new engine).

The Duckworth designed GBA V6 was more successful in 1987, its final year of competition. With the Haas team leaving Formula One, the engine would be supplied exclusively to the Benetton team (who had used the BMW engine with success in 1986). The restriction of turbo boost to just 4.0 Bar in 1987 helped the Ford engine to be more competitive, although some unreliability had crept in with 9 engine or turbo related retirements during the season. Drivers Thierry Boutsen and Teo Fabi were able to claim one podium finish each during the season, at Austria (Fabi) and Australia (Boutsen), while Boutsen led his first Grand Prix when he briefly led the Mexican Grand Prix.

With turbo engines to be banned by the

DFR in 1988
.

Other Cosworth engines

The Cosworth DFV, and other engines based on the same design, became the standard in Formula One and many other types of racing and made Duckworth a very wealthy man. In 1980 he sold his majority stake in Cosworth for tax reasons but retained his position as chairman of the company; relinquishing the job to Mike Costin seven years later for health reasons. He was appointed 'President' of the company on his retirement, and remained interested in engines and engineering until his death.

Keith's son Roger joined his father's company and worked as a development engineer in the Road Engines division being a key part of the team that delivered the YB family of engines for the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and Ford Escort RS Cosworth vehicles. Roger left Cosworth in 1998 and founded Integral Powertrain Ltd with three of his Cosworth colleagues.

Death

Duckworth died in Northampton on 19 December 2005.[5]

References

  1. ^ Motorsport.com CHAMPCAR/CART: The passing of Keith Duckworth Archived 2010-06-23 at the Wayback Machine 2005-12-19
  2. ^ "Keith Duckworth". The Telegraph. 22 December 2005.
  3. ISBN 978-1845848958
    .
  4. ^ Such Sweet Thunder book
  5. ^ "Keith Duckworth". independent.co.uk. 28 December 2005. Retrieved 25 November 2021.

Further reading

  • Robson, Graham (2003). Cosworth: The Search for Power. London, Haynes Publishing Group,
    ISBN 1-84425-015-6
    .
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