{"id":721256,"date":"2020-12-22T11:19:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T11:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/?post_type=issue_content&p=721256"},"modified":"2020-12-30T06:45:34","modified_gmt":"2020-12-30T06:45:34","slug":"friends-reunited-derek-warwick-brian-henton-in-1980-f2-title-winning-tolemans","status":"publish","type":"issue_content","link":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/archive\/article\/february-2021\/93\/friends-reunited-derek-warwick-brian-henton-in-1980-f2-title-winning-tolemans\/","title":{"rendered":"Friends reunited: Derek Warwick & Brian Henton’s 1980 F2 title-winning Tolemans"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

Before we go back to the history, can we start with what it was like to drive the Toleman TG280 again after 40 years?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Derek Warwick, Toleman team driver:<\/strong> \u201cI was stunned how comfortable I felt. I was almost flat through Copse. The car was amazingly balanced, and I was pushing it. Unfortunately, I only had a short run and I would have loved to go out again. It was so easy to predict what it was doing, there was no snappiness. Just a bit of understeer, but I think that was the tyres more than the car. I didn\u2019t want to do it, to be honest. I know what I\u2019m like and I know I will push too much too soon! But I was nowhere near its maximum, and I was on top of it. It\u2019s put a big smile on my face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brian Henton, Toleman team driver:<\/strong> \u201cIt was quite an experience. I shouldn\u2019t say this, but I had to ask the mechanics how many gears it\u2019s got! I haven\u2019t been in anything so confined for years. But what was incredible was it all came back to me. I got so frustrated because I couldn\u2019t go quicker, the back end kept breaking away, lots of oversteer. I wanted to stop and adjust it, but there wasn\u2019t time. But the feel was great. What impressed me is that when I looked at the car it was like a miniature F1. You could see the design pedigree Rory [Byrne] created in those days, long before he produced his great F1 Ferraris. But I reckon old Warwick pulled a stroke on me. I\u2019m sure he got in that car earlier. He took off like a scalded cat! We were always so competitive back then. Now, even behind the camera car he kept sticking his nose in front\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\n \"DSC_8796\"\n
\n

Warwick (left) and Henton ride again; Henton would later complain that Warwick had a better engine…<\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

Okay, let\u2019s go back a bit. John, when did you join Toleman?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

John Gentry, draughtsman and race engineer:<\/strong> \u201cClose to the start of the season. I was at March previously, running the 792.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warwick:<\/strong> \u201cWe don\u2019t mention that car!\u201d<\/p>\n

Gentry:<\/strong> \u201cOddly, Marc Surer won the title in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warwick:<\/strong> \u201cIt came with about 200lb springs. It lolloped all over the place!\u201d<\/p>\n

Gentry:<\/strong> \u201cYeah, I didn\u2019t design it! Roger Silman got me involved in Toleman towards the end of 1979. Rory and I worked in a tiny office. Rory was drawing the bodywork and I did the rest. Rory obviously had some good ideas and I always think this car was an updated Ralt. Rory spent a lot of time at the military base at Shrivenham where they had a wind tunnel. Didn\u2019t we make the rolling road? That was the deal. Then we could really look at the aero stuff, and Rory got well into that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n \"DSC_8360\"\n
\n

Warwick and his Toleman TG280: like a hand and glove\u2026<\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

Chris Witty, team press and PR:<\/strong> \u201cBrian, you drove the March, the Ralt and the Toleman. Which was better?\u201d<\/p>\n

Henton:<\/strong> \u201cI think that Warwick\u2019s got a better engine than me in that one! [Much laughter] March with the 782 produced a classic owners\u2019 car, probably the best in their history in terms of a production-type car. You could tune it with the rollbars. Then we went on to the Ralt, which was more refined, but at the same time a bit agricultural with bits bolted on rather than designed. Performance-wise, the 782 was quite difficult to beat, but the Ralt was an equal competitor. Certainly, it was quicker than the 792, which, as Derek says, was a disaster. When we got the evolution of all that work and we came to 1980, the Toleman was better than any other F2 car that had been produced. The combination we\u2019d got with the alloy-block Hart and the chassis and the aero \u2013 and the team, which is as important as anything\u2026 Believe it or not, I get on with few people in my life, but I got on with Derek very well. We actually had quite a homogeneous team.\u201d During the season, Byrne engineered Brian\u2019s car and Gentry Warwick\u2019s. Inevitably, an internal rivalry sparked.<\/p>\n

Gentry:<\/strong> \u201cEverything would be fine. Sometimes, Brian, you\u2019d be quicker \u2013 and often, Derek, you\u2019d be quicker\u2026 Then warm-up comes. You, Brian, would pull in and go out again, then, lo and behold, go half a second quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warwick:<\/strong> \u201cAnd I\u2019d say, \u2018What the hell\u2019s going on there, then!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Gentry:<\/strong> \u201cIt was a slip of the pen!\u201d<\/p>\n

Henton:<\/strong> \u201cWe didn\u2019t have the sophisticated timekeeping they have now, but my ex-wife was a very good timekeeper and could time every car. We decided that whatever
\ntime we\u2019d do, we\u2019d put it down a second quicker than we were actually doing \u2013 because we were fighting! There were two teams: myself and Rory, and Derek and John. So this lot would be panicking, changing rollbars and so on, trying to work out where the lost time had gone! In fact, it was nowhere, it was all fictitious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Les Thacker, BP motor sport manager:<\/strong> \u201cMisano was an amazing race because it was the championship decider. Brian \u2013 Andrea de Cesaris slightly molested you and you came in with half the wheel missing. You drove six or seven laps at the end with a chunk out of the wheel. Do you remember that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n \"Melange\n
\n

1. Henton and Warwick raced these same cars at Silverstone in June 1980. On that occasion Henton had pole and fastest lap, but it was to be Warwick\u2019s day \u2013 his only win that season. Also in the field that day was Nigel Mansell, who finished 11th in a Ralt RH6\/80; 2. The TG280 was built by BS Fabrications in Luton, which had F1 experience in the 1970s; 3. <\/span>Hart\u2019s engine would outclass BMW in 1980; 4. Hart remained with Toleman throughout its Formula 1 adventure from 1981-85 with the 415T engine; 5. Despite Henton\u2019s Formula 2 success in 1980, he made little impact on F1 the following season, getting just one finish, at the Italian Grand Prix<\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

Henton:<\/strong> \u201cNo, I always seemed to have chunks coming off. It was quite an aggressive season! I remember when we were at Mugello, we\u2019d pulled that stunt putting out times that were half a second quicker than Derek\u2019s, and this was another defining race. We both took off and for the whole race Derek was right behind me. He\u2019d drop back a bit, his tyres would come in and he\u2019d come back for me, and I kept thinking, \u2018Sooner or later, he\u2019s going to have me \u2013 probably on the last lap.\u2019 But I held on. Afterwards Derek said, \u2018Bloody hell, I thought I\u2019d have you, but I just knew you had that edge,\u201d \u2013 which was the fictitious edge we\u2019d put out!<\/p>\n

Witty:<\/strong> \u201cThe thing is, they were about a minute down the road from everyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warwick:<\/strong> \u201cThis was the first works team I\u2019d ever driven for. Two years of Formula Ford and two years of Formula 3, we ran out of the back of the truck, and there was the disaster that was \u201979. Then, all of a sudden, I\u2019d died and gone to heaven at this works team. We had everything, the car was amazing and we had tyres coming out of our ears. It was just unbelievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Brian, how did you get the drive?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Henton:<\/strong> \u201cIt was Derek and Stephen South to start with. I was supposed to be going over to the States to race a Lola for Newman\/Haas. At five o\u2019clock in the morning, I was just getting up, the phone rang and it was Maggie Smith, who was running Paul Newman\u2019s racing operation. She said, \u2018Everything\u2019s on hold, I\u2019ll get back to you.\u2019 Which she never did. I\u2019ve waited 40 years and never had the call! I went back to my wife and said, \u2018It\u2019s all over, I\u2019ve lost that drive, I\u2019m not going to drive this year.\u2019 Then at eight o\u2019clock the phone rang: \u2018You know whose voice this is?\u2019 It was Alex. \u2018How quickly can you get to Brentwood? My legs are open, I\u2019m ready, I\u2019m going to get a good kick, but we want you to drive for the next season.\u2019 So I zoomed out to Brentwood. This is the crossroads of what life is about. Stephen South went out to drive that really difficult Lola and lost a leg [amputated after a crash at Trois-Rivi\u00e8res in Quebec, Canada], and I went on to win the Formula 2 Championship. It could have been exactly the opposite. It\u2019s almost fate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Derek, 40 years later, what does the 1980 season mean to you?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Warwick:<\/strong> \u201cIt\u2019s simple for me: without Alex and Les, I wouldn\u2019t have made it to F1 and had nothing of the career I had. Everything is down to those two guys. They put me in an amazing car, an amazing team with all the infrastructure and put me into F1. Without them, I was dead and buried.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n \"DSC_9688\"\n
\n

Avons in place of period Pirelli tyres, which helped give Toleman the edge in 1980<\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

And Alex, were you convinced after 1980 that Toleman was ready for F1?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Alex Hawkridge, Toleman team director:<\/strong> \u201cWell, I looked at it from the perspective of the team. We built up a top-line team and we had the talent, in my view, to go into F1. It was the FISA-FOCA war and there was all this stuff going around about how many teams there would be and which would be allowed to run. I only ever had two conversations with Bernie Ecclestone. The first, he told me I couldn\u2019t get an entry, and the second one he said, \u2018You can get an entry, but you have to use DFV engines,\u2019 which he happened to own. So I said to Bernie, \u2018If I was going into Formula 1 now, I\u2019d have a turbocharged engine and the DFV is obsolete \u2013 if not in practice, in theory.\u2019 We just went ahead without talking to Bernie again. We did our own thing. We probably should have taken a year to build a car rather than try and do it while we were racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Warwick:<\/strong> \u201cWe were super-confident, weren\u2019t we? We thought we could take the F2 car into F1. Remember that test we had with the F2 car fitted with the F1 engine with twin turbos? It was at Goodwood. I thought, \u2018Bloody hell!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Henton:<\/strong> \u201cIt was as quick as a bullet. I said at the time, \u2018I tell you what, if this is going to be the Formula 1 car\u2026\u2019 We were that optimistic! And then when I saw the finished project, it was slightly disappointing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rory has said of that time that he was making mistakes on the job. I suppose you all were.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Warwick:<\/strong> \u201cYes. None of the guys had come from other F1 teams. They were all from your team, Alex.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hawkridge:<\/strong> \u201cThey were self-made from Formula Ford.\u201d<\/p>\n

Witty:<\/strong> \u201cAnd we never went backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hawkridge:<\/strong> \u201cThat was the most impressive thing about Toleman. Every season, every session practically, we always improved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Toleman competed in F1 through four seasons, going from a team that struggled to even get close to qualifying for races in 1981 to becoming a podium finisher with a young Ayrton Senna in 1984. Although Toleman appeared on the grid in \u201985, it was really by now Benetton \u2013 the team had been sold to the Italian clothing company early in the year and the Toleman F1 affair was at an end.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hawkridge:<\/strong> \u201cThere were two things that helped make Senna look good in \u201984. First, we\u2019d never been able to get the same engine management systems as the other F1 teams, so we developed one with a little company called Zytek, of which I owned 30 per cent. They were ex-Lucas guys who had been working on engine management in the background, but Lucas weren\u2019t interested in proceeding with it. So we hired them alongside Brian Hart and gave them targets of what to achieve. It was the first engine-management system to use fibre optics instead of wiring, so there were no misfires because of interference with electrical fields in the engine. The other thing we needed was a turbo. No one would supply us, and we were running Garrett turbos which were off trucks. Sitting on top of the engine was the only way to cool it. Then, through contacts with IVECO and Roger Penske, we got hold of Holset turbochargers, which were state of the art. It was a better turbo than any other that existed. We put that on and found
\na second a lap.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with his fabled second place at the Monaco Grand Prix in 1984, Senna also finished third behind Alain Prost and Niki Lauda at the season finale at Estoril \u2013 effectively Toleman\u2019s final F1 race.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hawkridge:<\/strong> \u201cWe only got beaten by McLaren at the end of the season, and there were lots of factory teams in those days, so to finish on the podium you had to beat Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, BMW, Renault\u2026 It was bloody good, and with those bits it was brilliant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Number 7: <\/strong>Toleman TG280-05<\/strong>
\n<\/span>This was one of two cars Brian Henton used to win the 1980 European F2 Championship. Chassis 05 was the team\u2019s spare but, fitted with upgraded rear suspension, it was first raced by Henton at Silverstone and then for the remaining five races. Jim Crawford then ran 05 in 1981 as a private entry. It spent some years in Northern Ireland before being bought by Ray Rowan in 1987. The car then ran in the 1988 and 1989 British Sprint Championship driven by Nigel Bigwood. Terry Fisher bought the car in 2005 and restored it to works spec.<\/span><\/p>\n

Number 8: <\/strong>Toleman TG280-02<\/strong>
\n<\/span>This car was used by Derek Warwick throughout the 1980 European F2 Championship. It was sold to Austrian privateer Sewi Hopfer who raced it in the 1981 F2 season before selling it to fellow Austrian Walter Pedrazza in 1982. Pedrazza installed a Heidegger BMW into the back and campaigned the car in hillclimb events. It had a number of Hungarian owners and was brought back to the UK in poor condition in 2007. It was acquired by Mark Harrison in 2017 and fully restored with a Hart 420R.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Crazy gang spirit reeled in the wins<\/b><\/h2>\n

Designer Rory Byrne on Toleman\u2019s charge to the top<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"What was your relationship with Alex Hawkridge like? <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was 100 per cent supportive and we had a common understanding of what we needed to do to beat March. We saw things the same way and we\u2019ve continued to be the best of friends.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

What made you move from March to Ralt in Formula 2 in 1979? <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWe were customers, and to be honest [March co-founder] Robin Herd did his normal clever job of making us feel involved when actually giving us a lot of bum steers. I think we surprised them at our first race at Thruxton [in 1978] where Rad Dougall finished third. Robin realised we were a serious competitor and not just another customer. From then on, I received technical tips at the circuits on how to set up the car from Robin, but I realised that most of them didn\u2019t help us because he didn\u2019t want us competing. Fair enough, but I disregarded what he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew Thruxton, so we did well but at all the other circuits in Europe, we were finding our way. We weren\u2019t competitive mainly because we didn\u2019t know the circuits and I didn\u2019t know how to set up the car. It was a learning year. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we realised was if we were going to beat March, it wouldn\u2019t likely be in a March because Robin would make sure of that. It was Alex\u2019s decision to switch. I met Ron Tauranac at the Ralt factory and he was on his way to designing a ground-effect F2 car, the RT2. If we could get it to work it was going to be a step further than a March 782. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ralt RT2 was a complex car; the design had been for full ground effect and there were several new features on it which were new to Ron, and certainly new to me. It took us time to develop the car to a stage where we were happy to race it.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

How did the Toleman TG280 differ from the Ralt RT2? <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the aerodynamic principles remained because the TG280 was also a ground-effect car. In 1979 you were still allowed sliding skirts and the Ralt RT2 had them. It was getting those sliding skirts to function properly and not jam that delayed the running of the RT2. Then in 1980 they banned the sliding skirts. You could have ground effect but you were limited by the height of the bottom of the skirt. They couldn\u2019t be lower than 4cm from the ground, but there was another rule saying they couldn\u2019t be more than 1cm below the bottom of the driver\u2019s seat. So we dropped the driver\u2019s seat 1cm below the bottom of the car to get to that 4cm and had a bulge in the chassis under where the seat was to allow us to run lower with downforce.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe dominated the season because we were the only team to explore the rules and optimise the ground effect. I remember we were at Vallelunga when Barry Bland [who represented all the F2 teams\u2019 interests] said, \u2018You know everyone is saying your skirts are illegal.\u2019 At Vallelunga, cars were asked to be pushed over the scrutineering pit to check for skirt and ride height. So when the two Tolemans were pushed over the pit, who was there? Robin Herd! I will never forget the look on his face when he saw the underside of our cars with the bulge in it. It was just a picture \u2013 I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"GettyImages-52936221\"\n
\n

Byrne, left, was coaxed out of retirement in 1996 to join Ferrari<\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

Why did you switch from Goodyear to Pirelli? <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cGoodyears were prone to blistering and degradation, and during 1979 they changed the site of manufacture from the UK to the US and made a fundamental change to the tyre. The new tyre was faster on one lap but over a race, it wasn\u2019t. What we used to do at certain tracks to ease degradation was to use tyres from a stockpile of the older-spec tyres. You were worse off in qualifying but by the end of the race you were quicker. I was concerned that for the following year we wouldn\u2019t have the possibility to use any of our old Goodyears because we\u2019d used them all up. We decided we\u2019d be better off working with another manufacturer. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing the characteristics of Pirellis, I sat down with them, particularly Gianni Turchetti. They agreed to change the construction \u2013 the critical area, I remember, being the corner between the tread and sidewall. They did a lot of work and we made a lot of progress. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEven though the Pirellis were not up to scratch at the beginning of the season, we dominated because we had superior aerodynamics and by the time the others cottoned on to it and engineered their cars to suit, Pirelli was better than Goodyear, so we dominated the rest of the season.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"1980_7_4_Thruxton_F-2_2886_-3\"\n
\n

Henton worked closely with designer Rory Byrne<\/p>\n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n

What was your relationship with Brian Henton like? <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was not only a quick driver, he was super-competitive and technically knew an awful lot about the car, which in those days, with no telemetry or anything, was always a good thing. In 1980 I effectively ran Brian\u2019s car and John Gentry ran Derek\u2019s, and when you\u2019re running a driver then
\nyou have to be close out of necessity. We developed a good working relationship.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

And Brian Hart? <\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cBrian always appeared to us to be on the conservative side. He was a bit reserved about committing, which frustrated us at times but, in hindsight, when you consider the resources he had at his disposal compared to BMW, he did a fantastic job. His engine was a lot lighter than the BMW, which was worth quite a lot of lap time. I don\u2019t think we were that far off BMW in terms of power in spite of them having a huge budget.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"author":656,"featured_media":722853,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[118731],"tags":[36875,35185,811],"issue_decade":[122153],"issue_year":[126583],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/721256"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/issue_content"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=721256"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/721256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":723335,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_content\/721256\/revisions\/723335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=721256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=721256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=721256"},{"taxonomy":"issue_decade","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_decade?post=721256"},{"taxonomy":"issue_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.motorsportmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue_year?post=721256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}