So I was reading Wikipedia, and I found this quote;
Lacking an in-house engineering staff and conscious of how limited his timescale was, Wiggins contacted F3000 constructor Reynard Racing to design and build the new PR01 chassis, hoping to benefit from several years of research and development that Reynard had invested in their recently scrapped in-house F1 project. Unfortunately for Pacific, the Rory Byrne-led design team had gone to Benetton at the end of 1991 and Reynard had sold the design (still in form of paper drawings) to Ligier.
So what I see is that Reynard essentially "ripped off" Pacific. Had they not gone to Benetton and Ligier, I wonder if Pacific could have been a bit more successful in F1. There is no denying that with the Ilmor engines, they wouldn't have gotten far anyway, but it would have been better than using components from Reynard's F3000 chassis. What do you think Rejecters? Would it have made a difference if Reynard didn't leave?
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I'm not so sure, surely Wiggins would have known that Reynard no longer had the plans, afterall it had been 3 years since their own project was canned. To assume Wiggins never knew about Reynard selling the designs would be quite naiive in my opinion.
I don´t think Pacific would´ve done much better. Maybe they would have fought with Simtek for qualifying more regularly... Anyway, the 1994 Ligier wasn´t a very fast car. They only got the podium at Germany because of the mayhem and got some speed thanks to the Renault engine... But, anyway, if the plans were for the 1993 Ligier... The car would have been terribly outdated for 1994 anyway.
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They could, but Reynard was close to colapse and did the PR01 the cheapest they could do and the monocoque was weak. After the first day of practice at Sao Paulo both cars had ripped of the bottom wishbone mountings on each side. So the team worked through the night to put in blocks of aluminium that were the width of the bottom of the monocoque! Literally doing a bridge between the pick up points. Also it seems the the carbon fibre had passed its shelf life...so the car was a dog! And could have been better if the monocoque was stiffer. This might of helped them create a better car instead of the PR02 and attract sponsors! But you can't find them if you're not qualifying and you're always dead last in practice!
Am I right in saying that Pacific couldn't afford a better engine than the time-expired Ilmor units.
Monstrobolaxa wrote:They could, but Reynard was close to colapse and did the PR01 the cheapest they could do and the monocoque was weak. After the first day of practice at Sao Paulo both cars had ripped of the bottom wishbone mountings on each side. So the team worked through the night to put in blocks of aluminium that were the width of the bottom of the monocoque! Literally doing a bridge between the pick up points. Also it seems the the carbon fibre had passed its shelf life...so the car was a dog! And could have been better if the monocoque was stiffer. This might of helped them create a better car instead of the PR02 and attract sponsors! But you can't find them if you're not qualifying and you're always dead last in practice!
Reading this, I'm surprised the PR01 actually passed crash-testing, let alone start races 7 times out of 32 attempts.
Fetzie on Ferrari wrote:How does a driver hurtling around a race track while they're sous-viding in their overalls have a better understanding of the race than a team of strategy engineers in an air-conditioned room?l
Only time as Pacific really outpaced someone to take spot on the grid was Brazil, when Gachot was faster than Ratzenberger.
Imola: Barrichello injured and out of the race, therefore one place available Monaco: Williams and Simtek single cars, already getting both cars through. Helped up in the grid with Wendlinger's accident and consequent withdrawal of Sauber. Barcelona: Sauber had single car, which gave them one spot, Montermini's accident helped getting another Montreal: Simtek had single car, helped them to get one spot.
Aerond wrote:Anyway, the 1994 Ligier wasn´t a very fast car. They only got the podium at Germany because of the mayhem and got some speed thanks to the Renault engine... But, anyway, if the plans were for the 1993 Ligier... The car would have been terribly outdated for 1994 anyway.
In fact, for 1994 Ligier basically run the 1993 car, because they were short of money. It was called the JS39B, while the '93 model was the JS39.
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