Ken Tyrrell
Encyclopedia
Robert Kenneth "Ken" Tyrrell (May 3, 1924 – August 25, 2001) was a British
Formula Two
racing
driver and the founder of the Tyrrell
Formula One
constructor.
during World War II
. After the war he became a timber
merchant; as a result, he is sometimes known as "Chopper". In 1952, at 28, he began racing a Norton-powered Cooper
in 500 cc Formula 3. In 1958, he advanced to Formula Two
in a Cooper
-Climax
, joining Cecil Libowitz and Alan Brown. A good but not great driver, he achieved a number of good placings and the occasional win.
Realising he was not going to reach the top, and recognizing his talents were better suited to team management, Tyrrell stood down as a driver in 1959, and began to run works Cooper Formula Junior
team using the woodshed owned by his family business, Tyrrell Brothers, as a workshop. By 1961, he was also managing the Mini Cooper
s, as well as deputizing for an injured John Cooper
in Formula One
.
Tyrrell was responsible for discovering Jackie Stewart
, whom he had race for his FJr team, after a test in 1963. Along with numerous lesser lights, he also approved Jody Scheckter
and motorcycle racing ace John Surtees
. Recognizing the value of the new Cosworth
DFV
, after a Lotus
win at Zandvoort
in its debut in 1967, with financial help from Elf
, Dunlop
, and Ford
, Tyrrell achieved his dream of moving to Formula 1 in 1968
, as team principal for Matra International
, a joint-venture established between Tyrrell's own team and the French
auto manufacturer Matra
. He persuaded them a DFV was good insurance against the failure of their own V12
, and the Matra MS10 resulted.
Stewart helped put the new team second in the Constructors' Championship for 1968
. The success led to Matra's Bernard Boyer creating the DFV-powered car Matra MS80
for 1969
, piloted by Stewart giving him his first World Drivers Championship and Jean-Pierre Beltoise
. Yet Matra insisted on focusing on their V12, leading Tyrrell to secretly employ Derek Gardner
, then at Ferguson
(whom he had encountered in trials with a four-wheel drive
Matra) to build what became the Tyrrell 001. It was quick, if a trifle unreliable, and spawned the much better Tyrrell 003
for 1971. This, in the hands of Stewart and new-hire François Cevert
, took eight wins during 1971 and 1972, and gave Stewart the 1971 World Driving Championship.
For 1972, Gardner tried inboard brakes on the 005 but proved unable to work out the problems, an odd failure, given BRM
(not noted for success in F1) had no trouble with theirs.
During his early years in F1, "Uncle" Ken, as he was affectionately known, reached the peak of his career. The 006
, with its tall airbox, appeared in 1973 and was better than the 005. However, Tyrrell was profoundly affected by the death of Cevert in practice for the 1973 U.S. Grand Prix
, leading to Stewart announcing his retirement, the World Championship already his. It was a season in which Tyrrell spent ₤
500,000, an astonishingly low figure compared to modern costs.
With the death of Cevert and the leaving of Stewart, Tyrrell in 1974 hired Scheckter and Patrick Depailler
, and Gardner gave them the less-twitchy 007. It was good enough for Scheckter to place seventh in the World Championship (tied with Jochen Mass
on 20 points), and for Depailler to be ninth in his rookie season and to continue to campaign the car during 1975. In the following years, the Tyrrell team slipped down the rankings to mid-field, despite having employed natural talents such as Scheckter, Depailler, and Ronnie Peterson
, as well as lesser lights like Jean-Pierre Jabouille
, in a third 007 in 1975.
Still, Tyrrell found the time to introduce new concepts for F1. In 1976, the Tyrrell team created the six-wheeled P34
, with four front wheels. The Gardner-designed single-seater achieved a race victory but it was abandoned after Goodyear
refused to develop the small tires needed for the car: they were too busy fighting the other tyre manufacturers in F1.
In the early 1980s, Tyrrell's fortunes declined to the point where he had to run his team run without sponsorship. Tyrrell still retained his eye for talent, bringing Michele Alboreto
and Martin Brundle
to F1, but was not able to retain them. Without the proper funding, Tyrrell was the only entrant with the Cosworth DFV at a time when all other teams had switched to turbocharged engines. Alboreto scored the engine's last win in 1983, but in 1984 the team was excluded from the championship after being found to have run underweight cars before adding ballast during pit stops. Tyrrell denied this and felt his team was being singled out for refusing to run more expensive turbos.
In the early 1990s Tyrrell relinquished much of the company's control to his sons and to Harvey Postlethwaite
, who was the first to introduce the high-nose concept in the 1990 Tyrrell. Jean Alesi
scored two second places in the car, and the team led a lap for the last time. Their final podium finish was in 1994 from Mark Blundell
, and their final points at the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix, with 5th position from Mika Salo
.
In 1997 the Tyrrell F1 team was bought by British American Tobacco
and Craig Pollock
to create British American Racing
. Tyrrell did not stay with the team for its last year under the Tyrrell name (1998), after Pollock insisted on hiring Ricardo Rosset
, whom Tyrrell regarded as inferior to the also-available Jos Verstappen
. On August 25, 2001 Ken Tyrrell died of cancer at the age of 77.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
Formula Two
Formula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...
racing
Auto racing
Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of cars for competition. It is one of the world's most watched televised sports.-The beginning of racing:...
driver and the founder of the Tyrrell
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
constructor.
Biography
Born in East Horsley, Surrey, Tyrrell served in the Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After the war he became a timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
merchant; as a result, he is sometimes known as "Chopper". In 1952, at 28, he began racing a Norton-powered Cooper
Cooper Car Company
The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...
in 500 cc Formula 3. In 1958, he advanced to Formula Two
Formula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...
in a Cooper
Cooper Car Company
The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Together with John's boyhood friend, Eric Brandon, they began by building racing cars in Charles' small garage in Surbiton, Surrey, England in 1946...
-Climax
Coventry Climax
Coventry Climax was a British forklift truck, fire pump, and speciality engine manufacturer.-History:The company was started in 1903 as Lee Stroyer, but two years later, following the departure of Stroyer, it was relocated to Paynes Lane, Coventry, and renamed to Coventry-Simplex by H...
, joining Cecil Libowitz and Alan Brown. A good but not great driver, he achieved a number of good placings and the occasional win.
Realising he was not going to reach the top, and recognizing his talents were better suited to team management, Tyrrell stood down as a driver in 1959, and began to run works Cooper Formula Junior
Formula Junior
Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI . The class was intended to provide an entry level class where you could use inexpensive mechanical components from ordinary automobiles...
team using the woodshed owned by his family business, Tyrrell Brothers, as a workshop. By 1961, he was also managing the Mini Cooper
Mini
The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...
s, as well as deputizing for an injured John Cooper
John Cooper (car maker)
John Newton Cooper was a co-founder, with his father Charles Cooper, of the Cooper Car Company. Born in Surbiton, Surrey, England, UK he became an auto racing legend with his rear-engined chassis design that would eventually change the face of the sport at its highest levels, from Formula One to...
in Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
.
Tyrrell was responsible for discovering Jackie Stewart
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...
, whom he had race for his FJr team, after a test in 1963. Along with numerous lesser lights, he also approved Jody Scheckter
Jody Scheckter
Jody David Scheckter is a South African former auto racing driver, the Formula One World Drivers Champion.-Career:Scheckter was born in East London, South Africa and educated at Selborne College.-Formula One:...
and motorcycle racing ace John Surtees
John Surtees
John Surtees, OBE is a British former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver from England. He was 500cc motorcycle World Champion in 1956 and 1958–60, Formula One World Champion in 1964, and remains the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels...
. Recognizing the value of the new Cosworth
Cosworth
Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...
DFV
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...
, after a Lotus
Team Lotus
Team Lotus was the motorsport sister company of English sports car manufacturer Lotus Cars. The team ran cars in many motorsport series including Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Ford, Formula Junior, IndyCar and sports car racing...
win at Zandvoort
1967 Dutch Grand Prix
The 1967 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Zandvoort on June 4, 1967.The race saw the debut of the Ford Cosworth DFV engine, in Jim Clark and Graham Hill's Lotuses.- Classification :-Notes:*Pole position: Graham Hill - 1:24.6...
in its debut in 1967, with financial help from Elf
Elf Aquitaine
Elf Aquitaine was a French oil company which merged with TotalFina to form TotalFinaElf. The new company changed its name to Total in 2003...
, Dunlop
Dunlop Rubber
Dunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...
, and Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, Tyrrell achieved his dream of moving to Formula 1 in 1968
1968 Formula One season
The 1968 Formula One season included the 19th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 1, 1968, and ended on November 3 after twelve races.-Season summary:...
, as team principal for Matra International
Tyrrell Racing
The Tyrrell Racing Organisation was an auto racing team and Formula One constructor founded by Ken Tyrrell which started racing in 1958 and started building its own cars in 1970. The team experienced its greatest success in the early 1970s, when it won three drivers' championships and one...
, a joint-venture established between Tyrrell's own team and the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
auto manufacturer Matra
Matra
Mécanique Aviation Traction or Matra was a French company covering a wide range of activities mainly related to automobile, bicycles, aeronautics and weaponry. In 1994, it became a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group and now operates under that name.Matra was owned by the Floirat family...
. He persuaded them a DFV was good insurance against the failure of their own V12
V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....
, and the Matra MS10 resulted.
Stewart helped put the new team second in the Constructors' Championship for 1968
1968 Formula One season
The 1968 Formula One season included the 19th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 1, 1968, and ended on November 3 after twelve races.-Season summary:...
. The success led to Matra's Bernard Boyer creating the DFV-powered car Matra MS80
Matra MS80
The Matra MS80 was the fourth Formula One car produced by Matra . The Ford Cosworth DFV-powered car took Jackie Stewart to the Formula One World Championship title in 1969....
for 1969
1969 Formula One season
The 1969 Formula One season included the 20th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 1, 1969, and ended on October 19 after eleven races.-Season summary:...
, piloted by Stewart giving him his first World Drivers Championship and Jean-Pierre Beltoise
Jean-Pierre Beltoise
Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. François Cevert was his brother-in-law ....
. Yet Matra insisted on focusing on their V12, leading Tyrrell to secretly employ Derek Gardner
Derek Gardner (motorsport)
Derek Gardner designed advanced transmission systems. He joined Formula One while employed by Harry Ferguson Research, developing four-wheel drive systems for Matra in 1969. He met Ken Tyrrell in 1970 and Tyrrell chose Gardner to design his chassis...
, then at Ferguson
Ferguson Research Ltd.
Harry Ferguson Research Limited was a British company founded by Harry Ferguson who was mostly known as "the father of the modern farm tractor"...
(whom he had encountered in trials with a four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive
Four-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...
Matra) to build what became the Tyrrell 001. It was quick, if a trifle unreliable, and spawned the much better Tyrrell 003
Tyrrell 003
The Tyrrell 003 is a Formula One racing car which was designed for the 1971 Formula One season by Tyrrell's Chief Designer, Derek Gardner. It was effectively the same car as Tyrrell 001, with a redesigned nose section, longer wheelbase and narrower monocoque. Tyrrell 003 was a one-off design, its...
for 1971. This, in the hands of Stewart and new-hire François Cevert
François Cevert
Albert François Cevert Goldenberg was a French racing driver who took part in the Formula One World Championship.-Family background:...
, took eight wins during 1971 and 1972, and gave Stewart the 1971 World Driving Championship.
For 1972, Gardner tried inboard brakes on the 005 but proved unable to work out the problems, an odd failure, given BRM
British Racing Motors
British Racing Motors was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945, it raced from 1950 to 1977, competing in 197 Grands Prix and winning 17. In 1962, BRM won the Constructors' Title. At the same time, its driver, Graham Hill became World Champion...
(not noted for success in F1) had no trouble with theirs.
During his early years in F1, "Uncle" Ken, as he was affectionately known, reached the peak of his career. The 006
Tyrrell 006
The Tyrrell 006 was a Formula One car designed and built by the Tyrrell Racing Organisation. It was introduced towards the end of . In the hands of Jackie Stewart it won the Drivers' Championship for the 1973 Formula One season, Stewart's third and final title. The car was first raced at the 1972...
, with its tall airbox, appeared in 1973 and was better than the 005. However, Tyrrell was profoundly affected by the death of Cevert in practice for the 1973 U.S. Grand Prix
1973 United States Grand Prix
The 1973 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 7, 1973 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.__FORCETOC__-Summary:...
, leading to Stewart announcing his retirement, the World Championship already his. It was a season in which Tyrrell spent ₤
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
500,000, an astonishingly low figure compared to modern costs.
With the death of Cevert and the leaving of Stewart, Tyrrell in 1974 hired Scheckter and Patrick Depailler
Patrick Depailler
Patrick André Eugène Joseph Depailler was a racing driver from France. He participated in 95 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 July 1972. He also participated in several non-Championship Formula One races.Depailler was born in Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme. As a child, he...
, and Gardner gave them the less-twitchy 007. It was good enough for Scheckter to place seventh in the World Championship (tied with Jochen Mass
Jochen Mass
Jochen Richard Mass is a former race car driver from Germany.He participated in 114 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on July 14, 1973 at the British Grand Prix...
on 20 points), and for Depailler to be ninth in his rookie season and to continue to campaign the car during 1975. In the following years, the Tyrrell team slipped down the rankings to mid-field, despite having employed natural talents such as Scheckter, Depailler, and Ronnie Peterson
Ronnie Peterson
Bengt Ronnie Peterson was a Swedish racing driver. He was a two-time runner-up in the FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship.Peterson began his motor racing career in kart racing, traditionally the discipline where the majority of race drivers begin their careers in open-wheel racing...
, as well as lesser lights like Jean-Pierre Jabouille
Jean-Pierre Jabouille
Jean-Pierre Alain Jabouille is a former racing driver from France.-Biography:A native of Paris, Jabouille was one of the last of a breed of Formula One drivers who were also engineers....
, in a third 007 in 1975.
Still, Tyrrell found the time to introduce new concepts for F1. In 1976, the Tyrrell team created the six-wheeled P34
Tyrrell P34
The Tyrrell P34 , otherwise known as the "six-wheeler", was a Formula One race car designed by Derek Gardner, Tyrrell's chief designer....
, with four front wheels. The Gardner-designed single-seater achieved a race victory but it was abandoned after Goodyear
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company was founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, SUVs, race cars, airplanes, farm equipment and heavy earth-mover machinery....
refused to develop the small tires needed for the car: they were too busy fighting the other tyre manufacturers in F1.
In the early 1980s, Tyrrell's fortunes declined to the point where he had to run his team run without sponsorship. Tyrrell still retained his eye for talent, bringing Michele Alboreto
Michele Alboreto
Michele Alboreto was an Italian racing driver. He is famous for finishing runner up to Alain Prost in the 1985 Formula One World Championship, as well as winning the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans and 2001 12 Hours of Sebring sports car races...
and Martin Brundle
Martin Brundle
Martin John Brundle is a British racing driver from England, known as a Formula One driver and as an F1 commentator for ITV Sport from 1997 to 2008, the BBC from 2009 to 2011 and Sky Sports from 2012....
to F1, but was not able to retain them. Without the proper funding, Tyrrell was the only entrant with the Cosworth DFV at a time when all other teams had switched to turbocharged engines. Alboreto scored the engine's last win in 1983, but in 1984 the team was excluded from the championship after being found to have run underweight cars before adding ballast during pit stops. Tyrrell denied this and felt his team was being singled out for refusing to run more expensive turbos.
In the early 1990s Tyrrell relinquished much of the company's control to his sons and to Harvey Postlethwaite
Harvey Postlethwaite
Harvey Postlethwaite was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the abortive Honda F1 project...
, who was the first to introduce the high-nose concept in the 1990 Tyrrell. Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi
Jean Alesi is a French racing driver of Italian origin. His Formula One career included spells at Tyrrell, Benetton, Sauber, Prost, Jordan and most notably Ferrari where he proved very popular among the tifosi...
scored two second places in the car, and the team led a lap for the last time. Their final podium finish was in 1994 from Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell
Mark Blundell is a Formula One, sports car, and CART racing driver. He was a Formula One presenter for the British broadcaster ITV until the end of the 2008 season when the TV broadcasting rights switched to the BBC....
, and their final points at the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix, with 5th position from Mika Salo
Mika Salo
Mika Juhani Salo is a Finnish racing driver. He competed in Formula One between and . His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans....
.
In 1997 the Tyrrell F1 team was bought by British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco
British American Tobacco p.l.c. is a global tobacco company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s second largest quoted tobacco company by global market share , with a leading position in more than 50 countries and a presence in more than 180 countries...
and Craig Pollock
Craig Pollock
Craig Pollock , is a businessman who was the manager of the Formula One driver Jacques Villeneuve throughout his top-level career, and team principal of the British American Racing team from to...
to create British American Racing
British American Racing
British American Racing was a Formula One constructor that competed in the sport from 1999 to 2005. BAR began by acquiring Tyrrell, and used Supertec engines for their first year...
. Tyrrell did not stay with the team for its last year under the Tyrrell name (1998), after Pollock insisted on hiring Ricardo Rosset
Ricardo Rosset
Ricardo Rosset is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 33 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 10, 1996...
, whom Tyrrell regarded as inferior to the also-available Jos Verstappen
Jos Verstappen
Johannes Franciscus "Jos" Verstappen nicknamed "Jos the Boss" is a Dutch racing driver. He is the most successful Dutch Formula One driver, and has also won races in A1 Grand Prix and Le Mans Series LMP2 races...
. On August 25, 2001 Ken Tyrrell died of cancer at the age of 77.
Sources
- Kettlewell, Mike. "Stewart: The Flying Scotsman", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles, Vol. 19, pp.2190-2. London: Orbis, 1974.
- Setright, L. J. K. "Tyrrell: A Shrewd Talent-spotter", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles, Vol. 21, pp.2417-20. London: Orbis, 1974.
- Twite, Mike. "BRM: High Hopes and Heartbreak", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles, Vol. 3, pp.246-51. London: Orbis, 1974.