Embassy Hill

Last updated

Embassy Racing With Graham Hill
Full nameEmbassy Racing With Graham Hill
Base United Kingdom
Founder(s) Graham Hill
Noted drivers Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Brise
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones
Flag of Germany.svg Rolf Stommelen
Formula One World Championship career
First entry 1973 Spanish Grand Prix
Races entered41
Constructors Shadow-Ford
Lola-Ford
Hill-Ford
Drivers'
Championships
0
Race victories 0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
Final entry 1975 United States Grand Prix
Hill as a Formula One chassis constructor
Formula One World Championship career
EntrantsEmbassy Hill
First entry 1975 Spanish Grand Prix
Last entry 1975 United States Grand Prix
Races entered11
Race victories0
Constructors' Championships 0
Drivers'
Championships
0
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0

Embassy Racing With Graham Hill, commonly abbreviated to Embassy Hill, was a short-lived Formula One team started by two-time Formula One World Champion Graham Hill. The team debuted in 1973 with a customer Shadow DN1 car, and began racing as a constructor with its own chassis in 1975. The team had limited success in three seasons of racing, but everything was cut short by the death of Hill, Tony Brise and some of the team's top personnel in the crash of a light aircraft in the autumn before the 1976 season. The team was sponsored by Imperial Tobacco's Embassy cigarette brand and ran under various names during its time.

Contents

History

1972–73

Embassy Racing With Graham Hill first came into being when Graham Hill decided to leave his previous team, Brabham, unhappy with the atmosphere there. He announced in late 1972 [1] he was starting his own team, acting as owner and driver. Setting up shop in a warehouse based on an industrial estate in Hanworth, West London, Hill formed a small team of around 20 engineers and mechanics. Securing sponsorship from Embassy, Hill started operating a team with cars purchased from Shadow. Things did not go well that year: the team's best finish was ninth at Zolder, being the last finisher among 9 cars (the former World Champion also started 23rd of 23 cars that race). [2]

1974

The chassis for 1974 were bought from Lola, and designated as the Lola T370. Graham Hill drove throughout the season and scored a point at the 1974 Swedish Grand Prix, but this was to be the team's only point that season. The second car was driven by Guy Edwards, and later Peter Gethin and Rolf Stommelen.

1975

The T370 was still being used at the beginning of the 1975 season, until the team's new car was ready. The new car for 1975 was initially designated as the Lola T371, [3] but when designer Andy Smallman left Lola to work full-time for Embassy Hill it was renamed the Hill GH1. [4] Smallman's design drew heavily from the design of previous year's Lola cars. [1]

Unfortunately, the second race of the GH1 at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix [5] was marred by the collapse of Rolf Stommelen's rear wing mounting, which pitched his car into the crowd and killed four people. Stommelen was injured in the accident and did not return until the second half of the season. He had been leading the race comfortably before the crash. [6]

After failing to qualify at the 1975 Monaco Grand Prix, a race he had won five times, Hill no longer drove the cars himself, and his driving role was taken over by Tony Brise. Brise, considered a rising star, [7] finished sixth in the 1975 Swedish Grand Prix and qualified sixth for the 1975 Italian Grand Prix.

Alan Jones took over the second car for most of the races that Stommelen missed; Jones finished fifth place in the 1975 German Grand Prix.

François Migault and Vern Schuppan were also behind the wheel of the second Hill that year.

Hill GH2

The GH2 was the first Formula One car that Andy Smallman designed from scratch specifically for Graham Hill's team, and it was intended for use in the 1976 World Championship season. [8] It was intended to replace the previous model, the Hill GH1, which had started life as the Lola T371. The GH2 used the ubiquitous Cosworth DFV engine, and featured a much smaller and streamlined chassis which resembled the Brabham BT44 and McLaren M23. Tony Brise began testing in the late summer of 1975 at Silverstone, and the times indicated the team could hope for a successful season. During the final test session at Paul Ricard in November 1975, the GH2 was performing well, being much faster than the GH1 and set up changes had made the car easy to drive. The test successful, the team packed up and flew back to England. [9]

After the deaths of Graham Hill, Tony Brise, Andy Smallman and Ray Brimble in November 1975, the GH2 project came to a halt. However, a GH2 was still built and is now in a British automobile museum.

End of the team

On the evening of 29 November 1975 Graham Hill was piloting an Embassy Hill Piper Aztec light aircraft from France to London. His passengers were team manager Ray Brimble, team driver Tony Brise, designer Andy Smallman and mechanics Terry Richards and Tony Alcock. They were returning from Circuit Paul Ricard where they had been testing the Hill GH2 car being prepared for 1976. They were due to land at Elstree Airfield before onward travel to London to attend a party. Shortly before 10pm the plane hit trees beside a golf course at Arkley in thick fog. In the ensuing crash and fire everyone on board was killed. [10] [11] As the team now only consisted of Allan Turner, the deputy team manager, and two mechanics it was impossible to continue. [12] [13] Most of the team's assets were purchased by Walter Wolf and merged with those of Hesketh Racing and Williams to form Wolf's new team. [14]

Complete Formula One results

(key)

YearChassisEnginesTyresDrivers123456789101112131415PointsWCC
1973 Shadow
DN1
Ford V8 G ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE FRA GBR NED GER AUT ITA CAN USA --
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Ret9RetRet10RetNC13Ret141613
1974 Lola
T370
Ford V8 F ARG BRA RSA ESP BEL MON SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA CAN USA --
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Ret1112Ret876Ret13139128148
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Guy Edwards 11RetDNQ1287Ret15DNSDNQ
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Peter Gethin Ret
Flag of Germany.svg Rolf Stommelen RetRet1112
1975 Ford V8 G ARG BRA RSA ESP MON BEL SWE NED FRA GBR GER AUT ITA USA --
Lola T370 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill 1012DNQDNQ
Flag of Germany.svg Rolf Stommelen 1314
Lola T371 7
GH1 Ret16Ret311th
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Vern Schuppan Ret
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones 1316105
Flag of France (lighter variant).svg François Migault NCRet
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill DNQ
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Tony Brise Ret67715Ret15RetRet

Formula One Non-Championship results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearChassisEngineDriver123
1973 Brabham BT37 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 ROC INT
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill Ret
1974 Lola T370 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 PRE ROC INT
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill NCRet
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Guy Edwards 9
1975 Lola T371 Ford Cosworth DFV V8 ROC INT SUI
Flag of Germany.svg Rolf Stommelen 9
GH1 12
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Graham Hill 11

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Hill</span> British racing driver (1929–1975)

Norman Graham Hill was a British racing driver and team owner, who was the Formula One World Champion twice, winning in 1962 and 1968 as well as being runner up on three occasions. Despite not passing his driving test until 1953 when he was already 24 years of age, and only entering the world of motorsports a year later, Hill would go on to become one of the greatest drivers of his generation. Hill is most celebrated for being the only driver ever to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport, an achievement which he defined as winning the Indianapolis 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Formula One World Drivers' Championship. While several of his peers have also espoused this definition, including fellow F1 World Champion and Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve, the achievement is today most commonly defined as including the Monaco Grand Prix rather than the Formula One World Championship. By this newer definition, Hill is still the only driver to have ever won the Triple Crown, winning at Monaco with such frequency in the 1960s that he became known as "Mr. Monaco". Hill crashed at the 1969 United States Grand Prix and was seriously injured, breaking both his legs and ending his season. Although he would recover and continue to race until 1975, Hill's career would never again reach the same heights, and the Monaco Grand Prix victory earlier in 1969 would be his last victory in Formula One.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lola T370</span>

The Lola T370 was a Formula One car designed by Andy Smallman and used by Embassy Hill in the 1974 season and the early part of the 1975 season. After an unsuccessful 1973 with a customer Shadow DN1, the Embassy Hill team commissioned its own cars from Lola. The T370 was largely based on Formula 5000 designs, and looked similar to Lola's F5000 cars, although it sported an extremely large airbox. Embassy Hill had two cars for Graham Hill and Guy Edwards. The car was tested well before the end of 1973 in readiness for the January start to the 1974 season.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graham Hill plane crash</span> Multiple fatality aircraft crash

On 29 November 1975, former Formula One champion and team owner Graham Hill died when the Piper Aztec light aircraft he was piloting crashed near Arkley in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, while on approach to Elstree Airfield. The other five passengers on board, forming the core of his Embassy Hill Formula One team, were also killed.

References

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  11. Graham Hill, 46, Retired Racer, In Fatal Crash Piloting His Plane. UPI News Service. 1 December 1975 (Monday) New York Times archive
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  14. "Embassy Hill". RetroGP. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2020.