Hesketh Racing

Hesketh Racing was a Formula One constructor from the United 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 gave James Hunt his Formula One debut and he brought the team most of its success. Alan Jones also began his Formula One career in a privately entered Hesketh.

Hesketh

Full name	Hesketh Racing
Base	United Kingdom
Noted staff	Lord Hesketh Harvey Postlethwaite
Noted drivers	James Hunt Alan Jones
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

Formation

Lord Hesketh, in partnership with Anthony 'Bubbles' Horsley as driver, entered various Formula 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 his Easton Neston family estate.

Hesketh subsequently employed James Hunt, who had a reputation for being very fast, but also for crashing frequently, and who, at the time, was unemployed. Hesketh took on Hunt as one of his drivers for F3.

The Hesketh team had a growing reputation for their playboy style, arriving at races in Rolls-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".

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 a Formula Two March for the rest of 1972, and bought Hunt a Surtees Formula Two car for 1973. Hunt then wrote the car off at the Pau 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.

Formula One

James Hunt era

James Hunt in the Hesketh in 1975

Hesketh rented a Surtees TS9 for the non-championship Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, with Hunt finishing third. This success led to the purchase of a March 731, with Hesketh also signing junior March Engineering designer Harvey Postlethwaite to modify the chassis, working from Hesketh's Easton Neston estate. The car made its first appearance at the 1973 Monaco Grand Prix, where Hunt ran sixth before the engine failed. He scored a point at the team's next entry, the French Grand Prix, improved to fourth for the British Grand Prix, and then third for the Dutch Grand Prix. He then took second place in the season-closing United States Grand Prix.[1]

James Hunt's Hesketh 308 being driven by his son, Freddie, in 2007.

In 1974, Postlethwaite designed an all-new car for the team, the Hesketh 308, which was ready for the Silverstone International Trophy, which Hunt won, making its championship debut at the South African Grand Prix. The car was strong, taking third place at the Swedish Grand Prix, the Austrian Grand Prix and the United States Grand Prix. For 1975, examples of the 308 were sold to Harry Stiller Racing, who gave Alan Jones his grand prix debut. Polar Caravans also purchased a Hesketh chassis, while the works team modified the 308 for Hunt.[2] At the same time, Horsley was developing into an efficient and competent team manager and under his guidance, the team moved forward.[3]

Hunt won the wet-dry 1975 Dutch Grand Prix, holding off Niki Lauda's dominant Ferrari, and also led at the British Grand Prix and the Austrian Grand Prix, taking several placings on his way to fourth overall.[4]

Post-Hunt

A Hesketh 308E in 1977's Penthouse Rizla Racing livery.

A Hesketh 308D on show at the Donington Grand Prix Exhibition

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 at McLaren, replacing Emerson Fittipaldi.[5]

Postlethwaite took his upgraded 308C design to Wolf–Williams Racing. Horsley upgraded the 308 to the 308D and continued as Hesketh Racing. Harald Ertl signed to drive the car, with the team's image landing Penthouse Magazine and Rizla as sponsors. Guy Edwards joined in a second car from the Belgian Grand Prix onwards with Alex Ribeiro bringing in some funds later in the year. Ertl's seventh place at the British Grand Prix was the team's best result of the year. Future Williams engineer Patrick Head noted that the 308D had significant aerodynamic issues at the rear of the car which hindered performance.[6]

Frank Dernie designed the new 308E chassis for the 1977 season, with Rupert Keegan driving alongside Ertl. Later in the season a third car was entered for Héctor Rebaque, with Horsley simply trying to bring in money to the team. Ertl left and was replaced by Ian Ashley, but by now Keegan's was the only entry that usually made it to the grid, and his seventh place at the Austrian Grand Prix was the team's best finish of the year.

In 1978 the team slimmed down to a single car, with backing from Olympus Cameras. The car itself was barely upgraded, and Divina Galica failed to qualify for the first two races. Eddie Cheever then managed to get into the South African Grand Prix, retiring with a fractured oil line. Derek Daly was the next to try the car, and at the wet International Trophy at Silverstone, in his debut, diced for the lead with James 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.[7]

Sports cars

The Ibec-Hesketh 308LM, also later referred to as the "Ibec P6" and the "Ibec 308LM Cobra", is a one-off sports 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 by Lloyd's of London insurance broker Ian 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 the 24 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-litre Cosworth 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 to Lyncar in Slough. Here, facing a tight deadline, the Lyncar team managed to complete the car in just over five weeks.[8]

The Ibec design had a main chassis formed by a riveted and bonded aluminium monocoque, behind which the DFV engine and Hewland FG400 gearbox were bolted as stressed chassis members. Suspension was by double wishbones at the front, with twin trailing arms, parallel lower links and single top links at the rear. The car was clothed in fibreglass bodywork which had been properly wind tunnel tested, and which proved highly effective at generating both downforce in corners and stability at high speed. The total cost of designing and building the 308LM was less than £100,000,[8] 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 the 1978 24 Hours of Le Mans race, driven by Ian Grob and Guy 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 giant Chrysler corporation, despite the 308LM being Ford-powered. Edwards also qualified the Ibec in 13th position, at an average speed of 133 mph.[8] 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 308LM also failed to finish at its one further Le Mans outing, in the 1981 event, driven by Tiff Needell and Tony Trimmer, before the car was converted for use in the UK Thundersports championship during the mid-1980s.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WCC
1973	March 731	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8		ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA			N/A^1	N/A^1
			James Hunt						9		6	4	3		Ret	DNS	7	2
1974	March 731	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8		ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA			N/A^1	N/A^1
			James Hunt	Ret	9
	308					Ret	10	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	4	3			15	6th
			Ian Scheckter												DNQ
1975	308 308B 308C	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8		ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA				33	4th
			James Hunt	2	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	1	2	4	Ret	2	5	4
			Alan Jones				Ret	Ret	Ret	11
			Torsten Palm					DNQ		10
			Harald Ertl											8	Ret	9
			Brett Lunger												13	10	Ret
1976	308D	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8		BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA	JPN		0	NC
			Harald Ertl		15	DNQ	DNQ	Ret	DNQ	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	8	Ret	16	DNS	13	8
			Guy Edwards					DNQ			17	Ret	15			DNS	20
			Rolf Stommelen												12
			Alex Ribeiro															12
1977	308E	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8		ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN	JPN	0	NC
			Rupert Keegan					Ret	12	Ret	13	10	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	9	8	Ret
			Harald Ertl					Ret	DNQ	9	16	DNQ
			Héctor Rebaque							DNQ	DNQ	DNQ		Ret	DNQ	DNQ
			Ian Ashley												DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	17	DNS
1978	308E	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8		ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USA	CAN		0	NC
			Divina Galica	DNQ	DNQ
			Eddie Cheever			Ret
			Derek Daly				DNPQ	DNPQ	DNQ

^1 – Not entered as a constructor.

References

1. "Good Lord... The remarkable tale of Hesketh Racing". www.classicdriver.com. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
2. "1974 Hesketh 308 Formula One | Monaco 2014". RM Sotheby's. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
3. Fox, Charles (1 August 2000). "The Luminous Life of James Hunt". Car and Driver. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
4. "When the playboys beat the big boys - remembering Hesketh's amazing Zandvoort win". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
5. Donaldson, Gerald. "Hall of Fame: James Hunt". Formula1.com. Retrieved 13 December 2018.
6. "Patrick Head". Motor Sport Magazine. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
7. "A Brief History of Hesketh Racing". RetroGP. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
8. Meredith, L. 1996. Special Brew. Motor Sport. LXXII/10 (October 1996), 1088–1090