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DAMS and Formula 1


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#1 arcsine

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Posted 09 September 2003 - 20:00

Did Jean-Paul Driot's DAMS team once build an F1 car with the intention of entering the F1 World Championship? (back when they were racing in F3000)

Also what was the nature of René Arnoux's involvement with DAMS?

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#2 Marcel Visbeen

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Posted 09 September 2003 - 20:30

Originally posted by arcsine
Did Jean-Paul Driot's DAMS team once build an F1 car with the intention of entering the F1 World Championship? (back when they were racing in F3000)


In 1995 they seem to have build a chassis (DAMS GD01), it never raced.
Don't know much else but there must be someone with more info on this one.

#3 Marcel Visbeen

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Posted 09 September 2003 - 20:40

OK a little bit more then: Jan Lammers and Eric Comas were supposed to drive the car in 1986. They both tested it in 1985. There is a small picture on Lammers website, but it's really small:
http://www.janlammer...index.xsl&id=10

#4 cheesy poofs

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Posted 09 September 2003 - 20:42

Although not involved in the day-to-day operations, Arnoux was a shareholder of the team.
DAMS = Driot Arnoux Motor Sport

#5 petefenelon

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Posted 10 September 2003 - 00:46

Originally posted by arcsine
Did Jean-Paul Driot's DAMS team once build an F1 car with the intention of entering the F1 World Championship? (back when they were racing in F3000)

Also what was the nature of René Arnoux's involvement with DAMS?


They and Reynard designed and built it. Barry Ward of Reynard did most of the design work - but although he was primarily Reynard's transmission expert it apparently had a non-Reynard gearbox...

Tested with a borrowed DFR, IIRC, and was horribly slow. Then again, it was horribly ugly too. Slab-sided, stumpy thing.

#6 Geza Sury

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Posted 10 September 2003 - 06:05

Originally posted by Marcel Visbeen
OK a little bit more then: Jan Lammers and Eric Comas were supposed to drive the car in 1986. They both tested it in 1985. There is a small picture on Lammers website, but it's really small:
http://www.janlammer...index.xsl&id=10

The years of course were 1995 and 1996 ;) More about the DAMS car in the F1 entries that never made it thread :

Originally posted by FEV
The only DAMS F1 car built was really a bad one. Heavey and slow, its gearbox was fragile as cristal and the poor Jan Lammers and Erik Comas were really taken for fools at the one and only
public appearence of the car.

Originally posted by RDV
Following back on this posting saw several cars that I know, the Dams f1 was actually another of the offsprings of the reynard f1 , as was the pacific, the plans also were at ligier ( along with the wind tunnel model of the reynard..) gearbox on the Dams car was actually a minardi box , with shift software developed by Dams . Big heavy and more than a bit out -of-date.Had many problems shifting gears.... Must have been one of the very last cosworth dfv/x/c/whatever cars...


DAMS still have their own website. There's a better quality picture of the car's launch there. About the F1 project there's only a sentence:

1995: Design and build of a Formula 1 in partnership with REYNARD Racing Cars. End of the project after testing because of budget restrictions.



#7 Racer.Demon

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Posted 10 September 2003 - 12:07

Originally posted by Marcel Visbeen
DAMS GD01


Thanks, Marcel. That's the first time I've seen its type designation.

#8 EvilPhil

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Posted 10 September 2003 - 12:32

I believe that one of the reasons DAMS never raced in F1 after their F1 launch was because of the ever nearing Renault retirement from F1.