Rebaque

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Team Rebaque was a Mexican Formula One entrant and constructor, based in Leamington Spa, UK. They participated in 30 Grands Prix, initially entering cars bought from Team Lotus, before finally building a car of their own. The Rebaque HR100 was entered for the team's final three races before the team's closure.

The team was founded by, and centred around, Hector Rebaque, a Mexican driver who first drove in Formula One in 1977 for Hesketh. Following his debut season he was dropped by Hesketh, and with no other team willing to take him on as a driver Rebaque decided to start his own team.

At the start of the 1978 Formula One season Rebaque agreed a deal with Team Lotus to buy their 1977 Type 78 model. He had very little experience, only having qualified for one race with Hesketh, and had a difficult year. Although he did score a point at the German Grand Prix, he also suffered the ignominy of being forced to retire from Brazilian Grand Prix owing to driver fatigue.

He continued the arrangement with Lotus for the 1979 season, this time buying the Championship winning Type 79 chassis. During the year he commissioned Penske to build a Rebaque chassis. The design of the car - by Geoff Ferris with input from John Barnard - was heavily influenced by the design of the Lotus 79, also incorporating some elements of the Williams FW07's sidepods. It was completed in time for the Italian Grand Prix that year, although it either failed to qualify or to finish the final three races of the year. The team was closed down at the end of the year. Rebaque himself moved to the Brabham team midway through the following season. To date Team Rebaque are still the only Mexican constructor to have contested a World Championship Grand Prix.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year Chassis Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Points WCC
1978 Lotus 78 Ford G ARG BRA RSA USW MON BEL ESP SWE FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA USA CAN 1 n/a
Hector Rebaque DNQ Ret 10 DNPQ DNPQ DNPQ Ret 12 DNQ Ret 6 Ret 11 DNQ Ret DNQ
1979 Lotus 79 Ford G ARG BRA RSA USW ESP BEL MON FRA GBR GER AUT NED ITA CAN USA 0 -
Hector Rebaque Ret DNQ Ret Ret Ret Ret 12 9 Ret DNQ 7
Rebaque HR100 Ford G Hector Rebaque DNQ Ret DNQ

[edit] References