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| Full name | Hesketh Racing |
|---|---|
| Base | United Kingdom |
| Noted staff | Lord Hesketh Harvey Postlethwaite |
| Noted drivers |  James Hunt Alan Jones |
| Website | heskethracing |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 1974 South African Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 52 |
| Constructors' Championships | 0 |
| Drivers' Championships | 0 |
| Race victories | 1 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| Final entry | 1978 South African Grand Prix |
Hesketh Racing was aFormula Oneconstructor from theUnited Kingdom, which competed from 1973 to 1978. The team competed in 52 World Championship Grands Prix, winning one and achieving eight further podium finishes. Its best placing in the World Constructors' Championship was fourth in 1975. Hesketh gaveJames Hunt his Formula One debut, and he brought the team most of its success, and only win.Alan Jones also began his Formula One career in a privately entered Hesketh.
Lord Hesketh, in partnership withAnthony 'Bubbles' Horsley as driver, entered variousFormula Three events around Europe in 1972, aiming simply to have as much fun as possible. Due partly to Horsley's lack of experience, there were few results. Hesketh ran his race team out of the stables at hisEaston Neston family estate inNorthamptonshire.
Hesketh subsequently employed James Hunt, who had a reputation for being very fast but also for crashing frequently, and who was unemployed at the time.[citation needed] Hesketh took on Hunt as one of his drivers for F3.
The Hesketh team had a growing reputation for theirplayboy style, arriving at races inRolls-Royce cars, drinking champagne regardless of their results, and checking the entire team into five-star hotels. The team had a patch specially made for Hunt's driving suit which read: "Sex – The Breakfast of Champions".[1]
By the middle of the season, Hunt and Horsley had written off both of the team's Formula Three cars. Horsley decided to leave the cockpit, switching to the team's management. Hesketh rented aFormula TwoMarch car for the rest of 1972, and bought Hunt aSurtees Formula Two car for 1973. Hunt then wrote the car off at thePau Grand Prix. Hesketh worked out that the cost involved in competing in the top flight was hardly more expensive than F2, and decided to move the team up to Formula One.
Hesketh rented aSurtees TS9 for the non-championshipRace of Champions atBrands Hatch, with Hunt finishing third. This success led to the purchase of aMarch 731, with Hesketh also signing junior March Engineering designerHarvey Postlethwaite to modify the chassis, working from Hesketh'sEaston Neston estate. The car made its first appearance at the1973 Monaco Grand Prix, where Hunt ran sixth before the engine failed. He scored a point at the team's next entry, theFrench Grand Prix, improved to fourth for theBritish Grand Prix, and then third for theDutch Grand Prix. He then took second place in the season-closingUnited States Grand Prix.[2]
In 1974, Postlethwaite designed an all-new car for the team, theHesketh 308, which was ready for theSilverstone International Trophy, which Hunt won, making its championship debut at theSouth African Grand Prix. The car was strong, taking third place at theSwedish Grand Prix, theAustrian Grand Prix and theUnited States Grand Prix. For 1975, examples of the 308 were sold toHarry Stiller Racing, who gaveAlan Jones his grand prix debut.Polar Caravans also purchased a Hesketh chassis, while the works team modified the 308 for Hunt.[3] At the same time, Horsley was developing into an efficient and competent team manager and under his guidance, the team moved forward.[4]
Hunt won the wet-dry1975 Dutch Grand Prix, holding offNiki Lauda's dominantFerrari, and also led at theBritish Grand Prix and theAustrian Grand Prix, taking several placings on his way to fourth overall.[5]
In late 1975, Hesketh announced that he could no longer afford to try to produce the next British world champion, having raced without sponsorship, and ended his involvement with the team. Hunt was offered the lead drive atMcLaren, replacingEmerson Fittipaldi.[6]
Postlethwaite took his upgraded 308C design toWolf–Williams Racing. Horsley upgraded the 308 to the308D and continued as Hesketh Racing.Harald Ertl signed to drive the car, with the team's image landingPenthouse Magazine andRizla as sponsors.Guy Edwards joined in a second car from theBelgian Grand Prix onwards withAlex Ribeiro bringing in some funds later in the year. Ertl's seventh place at theBritish Grand Prix was the team's best result of the year. Future Williams engineerPatrick Head noted that the 308D had significant aerodynamic issues at the rear of the car which hindered performance.[7]
Frank Dernie designed the new308E chassis for the1977 season, withRupert Keegan driving alongside Ertl. Later in the season a third car was entered forHéctor Rebaque, with Horsley simply trying to bring in money to the team. Ertl left and was replaced byIan Ashley, but by now Keegan's was the only entry that usually made it to the grid, and his seventh place at theAustrian Grand Prix was the team's best finish of the year.
In1978 the team slimmed down to a single car, with backing fromOlympus Cameras. The car itself was barely upgraded, andDivina Galica failed to qualify for the first two races.Eddie Cheever then managed to get into theSouth African Grand Prix, retiring with a fractured oil line.Derek Daly was the next to try the car, and at the wetInternational Trophy atSilverstone, in his debut, diced for the lead withJames Hunt's McLaren before a stone cracked his visor and ended his race. However, in world championship events he failed to qualify for the next three races, after which the team folded.[8]
The Ibec-Hesketh 308LM, also later referred to as the "Ibec P6" and the "Ibec 308LM Cobra", is a one-offsports prototype racing car that was built in 1978, and was designed by Postlethwaite around many components of the Hesketh 308 Formula One car. The car was funded byLloyd's of London insurance brokerIan Bracey, who formed the Ian Bracey Engineering Company to oversee the project.
Unlike many privateer sports car entrants in the late 1970s, Bracey harboured serious hopes of winning the24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race. Rather than buy an only partially competitive off-the-peg chassis on which to build, Bracey commissioned former Hesketh chief designer Postlethwaite to design a brand new chassis around a detuned 3.0-litreCosworth DFV engine. Postlethwaite used his Hesketh connections to buy both front and rear suspension components from the F1 team, and the building of the car was commenced in the Hesketh workshops. However, as the Hesketh racing team's fortunes dipped, the Ibec chassis dropped down the priority list and eventually Bracey moved production toLyncar inSlough. Here, facing a tight deadline, the Lyncar team managed to complete the car in just over five weeks.[9]
The Ibec design had a main chassis formed by a riveted and bonded aluminiummonocoque, behind which the DFV engine andHewland FG400 gearbox were bolted as stressed chassis members. Suspension was bydouble wishbones at the front, with twintrailing arms, parallel lower links and single top links at the rear. The car was clothed in fibreglass bodywork which had been properlywind tunnel tested, and which proved highly effective at generating bothdownforce in corners and stability at high speed. The total cost of designing and building the 308LM was less than £100,000,[9] approximately £0.5 million at 2005 prices, more than most privateer teams, but far lower than many contemporary factory race programs.
The car's first competitive outing was, as planned, at the1978 24 Hours of Le Mans race, driven byIan Grob andGuy Edwards, with Bracey himself acting as reserve driver. Edwards's presence in the team had an additional benefit as his skills at sponsorship negotiation landed the small Ibec team with backing from the giantChrysler corporation, despite the 308LM beingFord-powered. Edwards qualified the Ibec in 13th position, at an average speed of 133 mph.[9] However, in the race itself the car suffered from mechanical troubles which dropped it to 42nd position after just a few hours. Despite recovering well from this early setback, in the 19th hour the DFV engine failed completely and the Ibec's race was over.
The Ibec P6 failed to qualify at LeMans in 1980 and failed to finish in 1981 (driven byTiff Needell andTony Trimmer). The car was converted for use in the UKThundersports championship during the mid-1980s.
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(key)
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Surtees TS9 | FordCosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ROC | INT | ||
| James Hunt | 3 | |||||
| 1974 | March 731 | FordCosworth DFV 3.0V8 | PRE | ROC | INT | |
| James Hunt | Ret | |||||
| 308 | Ret | 1 | ||||
| 1975 | 308C | FordCosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ROC | INT | SUI | |
| James Hunt | Ret | 8 | ||||
| Alan Jones | 7 | |||||
| 1976 | 308D | FordCosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ROC | INT | ||
 Harald Ertl | Ret | |||||
| Guy Edwards | Ret | |||||
| 1977 | 308E | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | ROC | |||
| Rupert Keegan | 8 | |||||
| 1978 | 308E | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0V8 | INT | |||
 Derek Daly | Ret | |||||
| Divina Galica | Ret |
