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THANKS to his deep insights, huge concentration, stamina and
good fortune in being in the right place at the right time, Keith
Duckworth became a true maker of champions and one of the most
significant influences on world-wide motor sport in the 20th
Century.
To quote John Blunsden's introduction to his fine book The Power To
Win (Motor Racing Publications, 1983): "The decision of a large
multinational corporation to back the entrepreneurial flair of a
brilliant young designer and his talented team of engineers was to
bring each of them considerable rewards.
"But the chief beneficiaries of their long-lasting association have
been the ever-increasing number of people for whom motor racing has
been their livelihood and the countless thousands of spectators for
whom the sight of battle between professionally run teams of
well-matched cars and drivers continues to be of such absorbing
interest.
"They should all be grateful for that day when Ford and Cosworth sat
down together and decided to 'do an engine'."
The legend remained undimmed when, 23 years later, Duckworth died
last December after a short illness at the young age of 72.
Indeed, though Formula 1 progress made it inevitable that the DFV
could not remain the prime engine indefinitely, such is its enduring
popularity in the historic racing world that Cosworth resumed
manufacture in 2004.
The plaudits to Duckworth are legion, and it would be curmudgeonly
not to be bucked by descriptions of oneself such as "admired for not
accepting what you are told is fact, and taught all those close to
him to think". Or: "multi-talented, super-confident, deep-thinking,
forthright, stubborn, often combative, dismissive of fools,
gregarious in company, but dangerous in argument - a one-off in
every respect".
Metaphorically, if not literally, it was with these qualities
"strapped to their backs" that over the decades innumerable
household names were able to express their talents in their drives
for fame and fortune, most notably in Formula 1 and America's CART
and IndyCar racing.
That flawed genius Colin Chapman, whose Lotus cars ran rings around
so many august rivals for so many seasons, played a pivotal role in
the story. For it was Chapman who early on employed Duckworth and
Mike Costin, his lifelong friend and partner in establishing
Cosworth Engineering, itself destined to become legend and a moniker
much sought after by anyone with the imagination to see a car as
more than mere traffic jam fodder.
Duckworth soon struck out from Lotus on his own, while Costin
remained contracted to Chapman for rather longer.
A key event in the trio's stellar fortunes was the authorities'
decision to abandon the 11/2-litre Formula 1, itself the successor
to the 21/2-litre F1, and replace it with a 3-litre limit from 1966.
There were dark mutterings about wily Continental conspiracies to
thwart English garagistes, among them Chapman developing a penchant
for trouncing the grandes marques with his cheeky, nimble chassis
designs.
Certainly, Chapman viewed his imminent power unit options as less
than tantalising. So he began lobbying. He addressed the great and
the good at Britain's Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders,
probing the possibilities of some sort of national, or even
government resourced, engine programme. This might have been a goer
under Herr Hitler or Signor Mussolini but didn't really have prayer
in laissez-faire Britain.
More to the point, Chapman had already established a friendship with
Walter Hayes, a national newspaper editor recruited to head Ford's
PR in Britain. Hayes had the imagination to comprehend the potential
in Chapman's vision and the guile to shepherd the project through
the multi-national corporate minefield.
The upshot was that, in mid-1966 with a £100,000 contract from Ford
in his pocket, Duckworth began drawing his designs for a 3-litre V8
with twin overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, destined
for acclaim as the Ford Cosworth DFV - double four valve. The
contract stipulated provision of five engines for the following
racing season.
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1967 Dutch GP:
Jim Clark romps
through the
Zandvoort dunes
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Chapman,
Duckworth and
Clark enjoy their
moment of victory
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1967 - L-R: Bill Brown, Keith Duckworth, Mike
Costin and Ben Rood at Cosworth Engineering
1974:
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1972: 50th grand prix win -
Henry Ford II presents a trophy to Duckworth
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1974: 200th Ford Cosworth DFV -
Duckworth and Chapman in contemplative mood
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1967: Lotus 49 roll-out.
L-R: Maurice Phillipe,
Keith Duckworth,
Graham Hill,
Mike Costin,
Colin Chapman
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1986: 400th
Ford Cosworth DFV.
L-R: Costin, Duckworth
and Walter Hayes
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Duckworth became a hermit for nine months, focusing intently on his
brainchild for 16 hours a day away from the distractions of his
office, and losing 40 lbs in the process.
Little did anyone dream - including Duckworth, Chapman, Hayes and
Henry Ford II - where this enterprise would lead. The reality has
echoed some fantasy of derring-do from the Boy's Own paper.
Chapman's Lotus 49, sporting a DFV not only as propulsion but also
bolted to the cockpit and forming the car's rear chassis, made its
debut at the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. It certainly hit
the headlines as Jim Clark romped off around the sand dunes, scoring
a first-outing victory for car and engine.
Clark proved this was no mere flash in the pan by also winning in
Britain, the United States and Mexico.
After Clark's death in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim in early 1968,
it fell to Graham Hill to win that year's drivers' championship with
the DFV-powered Lotus, which took the manufacturers' title. And
wider availability of the DFV also brought wins for the Matra and
McLaren teams.
Cosworth went on to power a long list of driver and manufacturer
championship wins, making it the most successful engine manufacturer
in the history of Formula 1. The company replicated these triumphs
in a variety of other arenas such as IndyCar, Champ Car and sports
car racing, as well as rallying and motorcycling.
Continuous development of the DFV over 16 years saw its power
increased from an initial 405 bhp at 9,000 r/min to 510 bhp at
11,200 r/min, and its weight reduced from 365 lb to 340 lb.
Hill's fellow beneficiaries of the DFV came to include Jackie
Stewart, Jochen Rindt, Emerson Fittipaldi, James Hunt, Mario
Andretti, Nelson Piquet, Alan Jones and Keke Rosberg.
Ulimately, the DFV's tally amounted to 12 drivers' titles, 10
manufacturers' championships and 155 race wins during its 15-year
reign.
A parallel saga began across the Atlantic with the introduction in
1975 of the DFX, an alcohol-fuelled turbo-charged derivative of the
DFV that generated 720 bhp at 11,000 r/min. This became the weapon
of choice among the Championship Auto Racing Teams and IndyCar
fraternities, winning 151 races including 10 Indianapolis 500s
between 1976 and 1989.
Among those who owed their titles to the DFX were Rick Mears, Johnny
Rutherford, Mario Andretti, Al Unser and Bobby Rahal.
Wanting a share of Ford's near monopoly of glory in an increasingly
competitive automotive world, other major manufacturers essayed
Formula 1, among them Porsche, Renault, Honda, BMW, Mercedes-Benz
and more recently Toyota.
As Renault ventured onto the scene with its innovative turbo-charged
engines in 1977, there were knowing smiles as clouds of white smoke
all too frequently presaged the retirement of the team's cars. But
soon the French cars were winning races and the turbo era was well
under way. This gave rise to Cosworth's own 1,000 bhp 11/2-litre
turbo V6 as the DFV's dominance began to be eroded.
To calm things down, turbo 'hand grenade' engines were abolished
from 1989 and replaced by a 31/2-litre naturally aspirated formula.
Cosworth responded with the HB V8 that won 11 grands prix between
1989 and 1993. The HB also powered the Jaguar XJR14s that scooped
the 1991 World Sports Car Championship.
The momentum continued as Nigel Mansell won the CART/Indy title with
the XB engine in 1993, and Jacques Villeneuve followed suit in 1995.
As Michael Schumacher began his meteoric rise with the Benetton
team, he took his first title with the Ford Cosworth Zetech V8 in
1994.
Jackie Stewart's 'stairway of talent' led to the establishment of
Stewart Grand Prix, racing with Ford Cosworth power from 1997.
In 1998 Ford acquired Cosworth Racing as the prelude to the new CR-1
engine, supplied to Stewart for 1999. By mid season Ford had bought
out Stewart, and later announced the team would compete as Jaguar
Racing from 2000.
However, caught in the vortex of corporate politics, the venture was
not a success, and the outfit was sold to Red Bull at the end of
2004.
Let Keith Duckworth have the last word: "We thought it must be
possible to make an interesting living messing about with racing
cars and engines. That was the total objective behind the formation
of Cosworth." Not a bad result from a simple objective.
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