Bio of Rory Byrne
The man behind the Ferrari machine
by Michael Bass
The Toleman team rose through the ranks of British club racing, arriving at the European Formula Two championship in the late 1970's. Toleman spent a period using manufacturers' cars, before appointing Rory Byrne, a South African engineer, to put together an F2 chassis in 1980, which took driver Brian Henton to the title.
The Toleman team graduated onto Formula One, with Byrne designing a car around a turbocharged Hart engine they had previously used in formula two. The TG191 was, to say the least, a disaster, but the team and engine supplier learned quickly from their problems and the car performed quite respectibly in the hands of Derek Warwick.
Progress continued into the 1983 season, and Byrne designed a car with two rear wings which were then widely copied by other participating teams that season. The TG184 and TG185 were much improved from previous models and these gained admiration from many on-lookers for the best-handling chassis.
Toleman was bought out by Benetton, and Byrne's TG185 became the basis of the TG186 and BMW engines replcaed the original Hart engines. Gerhard Berger scored his first win for Benetton in the 1986 Mexican Grand Prix. Byrne penned a series of Ford-powered Benettons before leaving the team to design Reynard's new Formula One car.
He found this an unfortunate project, and when it did not work out moved back to Benetton. However, Byrne used the basis of his Reynard work to design the B192, which was the first Benetton with a high-nose to increase under-car airflow. This design was the inspiration for the successful Benetton's of the mid nineties, evolving year-on-year to become the Benetton 194, which took Schumacher to a Drivers' Championship win for the first of his back-to-back titles. The B195 evolved from the B194, giving Schumacher another Driver's title, and Benetton the Constructor's crown.
Byrne stayed at Benetton for another year, whilst Schumacher signed a contract at Ferrari, but it was not long before Byrne and Ross Brawn were recruited for a job at Ferrari too. Byrne joined the Italian team for the 1997 season and jumped at the chance of designing the 1998 Ferrari contender... he is expected to remain with the team well into the new Millenium.
Article is written by and copyright (c) 1999 Michael Bass.
Michael is a reliable, kind and generous chap, who enjoys school to a reasonable extent. He is working hard to gain A-levels and start a career as a newspaper journalist. His hobbies include Formula One, photography, writing and bike riding, to name a few.
Views expressed in these articles do not necessarily coincide with the views of the F1 Rumors Team.
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