Hi!
They ruled Sportscar racing in 1970/1971.
But their Mirage M6/GR7 were not on a par
with the Ferraris/Matras in 1972-1974.
Gulf suffered from unreliable DFVs, I have
read. But were there other reasons for their
lack of success?
Gulf Racing, post-917
Started by
island
, Apr 19 2000 20:54
3 replies to this topic
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#2
Statesidefan
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- 364 posts
- Joined: July 99
Member
Posted 20 April 2000 - 23:16
Don't know, but I saw a Mirage coupe at a vintage race once and it was stunning. Perhaps Don has a picture.
BTW. The JW/Gulf car did win LeMans in '75
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"The strategy of a Formula One race is very simple. It's flat out from the minute the flag drops." Mario Andretti 1976
BTW. The JW/Gulf car did win LeMans in '75
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"The strategy of a Formula One race is very simple. It's flat out from the minute the flag drops." Mario Andretti 1976
#3
Dave Ware
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- 998 posts
- Joined: March 00
Member
Posted 26 April 2000 - 01:34
The DFVs were the Grand Prix engines that were de-tuned so the would have a chance of lasting six hours (or 1000km.) Less HP, not as fast.
In '72 Ferrari was putting maximum effort on winning the Sports Car championship. Same for Matra (with the help of the French government) in '73, '74. Very hard to compete with those kinds of efforts.
D.
In '72 Ferrari was putting maximum effort on winning the Sports Car championship. Same for Matra (with the help of the French government) in '73, '74. Very hard to compete with those kinds of efforts.
D.
#4
BRG
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- 26,998 posts
- Joined: September 99
Member
Posted 26 April 2000 - 17:51
The Gulf Mirage effort was a story of underachievement. The ingredients seemed to be there, but they never seemed able to come up with the goods. Certainly the Ferrari team were a tough act to match, with at that time by far the best record in sportscars, with the experience, resources and drivers to win.
The DFV at that time was not intended for endurance use - it was after all the leading F1 engine of the day and presumably was at the technological cutting edge.
But more importantly, perhaps it was the loss of the Porsche factory back-up that really hit Mirage. All the technical and engineering support that had been automatic with the 917 programme had gone and those resources had to be found by Mirage in an environment where they were not available off the shelf. ten years later, after the F1 "kitcar" explosion, it was a very different picture - the grip of the factories had been loosened, and private teams and one-off constructors had a support industry on which they could draw.
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BRG
"all the time, maximum attack"
The DFV at that time was not intended for endurance use - it was after all the leading F1 engine of the day and presumably was at the technological cutting edge.
But more importantly, perhaps it was the loss of the Porsche factory back-up that really hit Mirage. All the technical and engineering support that had been automatic with the 917 programme had gone and those resources had to be found by Mirage in an environment where they were not available off the shelf. ten years later, after the F1 "kitcar" explosion, it was a very different picture - the grip of the factories had been loosened, and private teams and one-off constructors had a support industry on which they could draw.
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BRG
"all the time, maximum attack"
