Pacific PR01
 |
|||||||||||
| Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Constructor | Pacific Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Designer(s) | Paul Brown | ||||||||||
| Successor | PR02 | ||||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||||
| Suspension (front) | Push rod | ||||||||||
| Suspension (rear) | Push rod | ||||||||||
| Engine | Ilmor 2175A, 3478.7cc, 72-degree V10, naturally aspirated, Rear | ||||||||||
| Transmission | Pacific 6-speed | ||||||||||
| Fuel | Elf | ||||||||||
| Tyres | Goodyear | ||||||||||
| Competition history | |||||||||||
| Notable entrants | Ursus Pacific Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| Notable drivers | 33.  Paul Belmondo34. Bertrand GachotTD.  Giovanni LavaggiTD.  Oliver Gavin
|
||||||||||
| Debut |
1994 Brazilian Grand Prix, Autódromo José Carlos Pace. |
||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
| Drivers' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
The Pacific PR01 is a Formula One car, designed by Paul Brown for the 1993 season. However, due to financial problems, it did not race until 1994.
The car name PR01 is named after Pacific Racing, with 01 being their first year in Formula One. The PR01 was driven by Paul Belmondo and Bertrand Gachot for the whole season, with the test drivers being Oliver Gavin and Giovanni Lavaggi. Pacific lacked a single main sponsor for the 1994 season and the car ran with many different names on the sidepods, including Ursus.
Despite having power supplied by Mercedes-affiliated Ilmor, the Pacific team suffered from the perennial problem of many new Grand Prix teams, namely a lack of finances. The PR01 was designed for the 1993 season and ended up being seriously off the pace in 1994. More often it failed to qualify, with the car only ever making it to the grid seven times and never finishing a race.
The chassis featured a V10 engine from Ilmor.
Most of the PR01's aerodynamics and design as a whole was based on Reynard's stillborn car, due to be raced in 1992. Several very experienced personnel were involved in the project, including Rory Byrne, then recently from Benetton. During 1991, Reynard concluded that the project would not be ready, so the entire program, including the Enstone factory, was sold to Benetton. Reynard's aerodynamic research data was sold to Ligier and Pacific. The design was refined by Pacific with 'best guess' aerodynamics, as the car had undergone none of the vital wind tunnel testing required to refine the car's aerodynamics. The car had only a few dozen miles of track testing. No major upgrades were made and because of this it suffered from fundamental problems. Major modifications were meant to be carried out after the tragedy at Imola, but they never happened. Pacific did, however, modify the car on the plank of the suspensions, but this proved to be insufficient to improve the performance of the car. The team also introduced a low nose during the season.
...
Wikipedia