Italian
motorsport has been thrown into mourning following the
news that Guido Forti, owner of the eponymous mid-1990s
Formula 1 team, passed away on Friday at the age of 72.
Forti had a long career as a team owner, starting in the
late 1970s, and running up to the middle of 1996, when
his F1 team, Forti Corse, folded mid way through its
second grand prix season as its limited funding dried
up.
Forti formed his race team with partner Paolo Guerci,
running cars in Italian and European F3, for drivers
such as Teo Fabi and Franco Forini (who won the Italian
F3 title in 1985). That was followed by titles for three
consecutive years from 1985-87 and those success saw
Forti beating the path into F3000 in 1987 with two of
the new Dallara single-seaters for Nicola Larini and
Nicola Tesini. However, the team would have to wait four
years before it notched up its first F3000 win which
came courtesy of Gianni Morbidelli, one of a string of
drivers to pass through Forti's doors that would make
the grade to F1. Touring car star, Fabrizio Giovanardi,
weighed in with four F3000 wins for Forti Corse.
Before he took up the challenge of F1 in 1995, a
transition that was facilitated by Carlo Gancia whom
Forti met through Diniz and whom subsequently bought out
Guerci's shares, Forti's cars had notched up nine F3000
wins.
The portents for F1 looked reasonably promising as Forti
retained the services of Pedro Diniz, who had driven for
his team in F3000 in 1994. The young Brazilian hailed
from one of Latin America's richest families and brought
substantial sponsorship from the region.
Forti's first F1 car, the
FG01-95, though, could hardly be described as
state-of-the-art and showed few flashes of promise 1995
season, mostly it was a long way off the pace. Forti
however secured a Ford ED 3.0 V8 engine supply for his
debut season and Sergio Rinland was commissioned to
design the FG01.
Diniz started the 1995 season with a 10th place finish
in Interlagos, although as that was the last classified
place and no less than 7 laps down. He would collect two
more top ten finishes in Monaco and Monza during a tough
year before the high point of the debut season came with
a 7th place finish in Adelaide.
However the team, which was based in Alessandria, Italy,
was dealt a big blow at the end of the year as Diniz
jumped ship to Ligier and that left Forti struggling for
funding to build and run the new FG03.
As well as Diniz, Moreno also departed, and in their
place for 1996 came Luca Badoer and Andrea Montermini,
while legendary Lancia rally boss Cesare Fiorio, who had
most recently had had unrewarding stints in charge at
Scuderia Ferrari and Ligier, was drafted in as team
manager. Forti also secured Ford's Zetec V8s to replaced
the outdated EDs.
After starting the second year with the woeful FG-01,
matters improved when the new FG-03 arrived and the team
was also able to appoint George Ryton as its Technical
Director. Finances were difficult though and matters
came to a head when he became involved with investor
Shannon Group, a mysterious organisation that seemed to
offer the struggling team a vital financial lifeline.
However the deal soon headed for the courts with Shannon
claiming it owned 51 percent of the team.
Forti turned up at Silverstone for the British Grand
Prix but with its engine supplier owed mounting money
and Fiorio having recently departed, the two FG-03s were
unable to take to the track apart from both drivers
turning in a couple of laps each in the full mileage
engines to avoid potential repercussions from the FIA.
That though would be the last appearance in the paddock
from the Italian outfit and out of the 10 rounds
contested before they dropped out, a long string of DNQs
were contrasted with just three classified finishes: a
11th in Interlagos and 10th in San Mario for Badoer and
a 10th in Argentina for Montermini.
The FG-03s, which in the closing races were repainted in
sponsor Shannons' distinctive red, white and green
colours, weren't seen again on the grid again and that
was to the end of Forti Corse's F1 adventure - and of
the team itself.
Guido Forti reappeared several years later in a team
managers role in Euro F3000, but that stint wrapped up
his paddock career.
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