Rial Racing
 |
|
| Full name | Rial Racing |
|---|---|
| Base | Fußgönheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany |
| Founder(s) | Günter Schmid |
| Noted staff | Günter Schmid, Gustav Brunner, Stefan Fober |
| Noted drivers |
 Andrea de Cesaris Christian Danner
|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| First entry | 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix |
| Races entered | 32 |
| Constructors' Championships |
0 (best finish: 9th, 1988) |
| Drivers' Championships |
0 |
| Race victories | 0 (best finish: 4th, 1988 Detroit Grand Prix and 1989 United States Grand Prix) |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| Final entry | 1989 Australian Grand Prix |
Rial is a German producer of light alloy wheels and rims, and was a Formula One constructor competing in the 1988 and 1989 seasons. Founded in the 1970s as a wheel rim producer, the company was bought by Günter Schmid, ex-owner of the ATS wheels company in 1987. Schmid followed the same strategy as he had at ATS, advertising the Rial wheel brand by entering Formula One as a constructor. Rial participated in 32 Grands Prix, entering a total of 48 cars. They scored six championship points, finishing a highest of ninth in the constructors championship in 1988. After leaving Formula One at the end of the 1989 season, the Rial Racing division was closed, and the company did not race again. Rial continues to manufacture wheels and rims from its factory in Fußgönheim.
Günter Schmid, ex-owner of the ATS company that competed in Formula One for eight years, bought Rial in 1987, ahead of the reduction in power of the turbo-engines in 1988, and set up a Formula One team at Rial's base in Fußgönheim. With old-ATS designer Gustav Brunner, Schmid produced the Rial ARC1, powered by a Cosworth DFZ engine, an updated model of the ubiquitous design of the pre-turbo seasons. The ARC1, nicknamed the "The Blue Ferrari" due to the similarities with the Brunner-designed Ferrari F1/87, featured a double wishbone pullrod suspension, with shock absorbers innovately placed horizontally against the chassis.Andrea de Cesaris, with Marlboro sponsorship was hired to drive the car, which proved strong in testing due to a small fuel tank.
At Rial's début race, the 1988 Brazilian Grand Prix, de Cesaris qualified 14th and reached sixth place in the race, but he ran out of fuel seven laps from the end. Mechanical failures occurred during the following races, and Rial twice breached regulations; for working on the car on-track and the drivers head being above the roll bar - necessitating a modification of the car. The fuel tank was again a problem in Canada where de Cesaris ran out of fuel in fifth place; however the next race in Detroit saw Rial finish in fourth place, scoring three points. After the French Grand Prix, the teams performance began to fall, and Brunner left the team after finishing 13th in their home race in Germany. Continuous mechanical problems and the fuel tank contributed to a six-race string of retirements, de Cesaris finishing the season classified 8th in Australia. The team finished in ninth place in the constructors championship, and Andrea de Cesaris was placed fifteenth in the drivers championship.
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