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Ken Tyrrell
Robert Kenneth "Ken" Tyrrell<ref name="Setright1">Setright, L. J. K. "Tyrrell: A Shrewd Talent-spotter", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Vol. 21, p.2417.</ref> (May 3, 1924 – August 25, 2001) was a British Formula Two<ref name="Setright1"/> racing driver and the founder of the Tyrrell Formula One constructor.
Biography
Born in East Horsley, Surrey,<ref>The Independent: Obituaries - Ken Tyrrell</ref> Tyrrell served in the Royal Air Force during World War II. After the war he became a timber merchant; as a result, he is sometimes known as "Chopper".<ref name="Setright1"/> In 1952,<ref name="Setright1"/> at 28,<ref name="Setright1"/> he began racing a Norton-powered<ref name="Setright1"/> Cooper in 500 cc<ref name="Setright1"/> Formula 3. In 1958, he advanced to Formula Two in a Cooper-Climax, joining Cecil Libowitz and Alan Brown.<ref name="Setright1"/> 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,<ref name="Setright1"/> Tyrrell stood down as a driver in 1959, and began to run works Cooper<ref name="Setright1"/> Formula Junior team using the woodshed owned by his family business, Tyrrell Brothers, as a workshop. By 1961, he was also managing the Mini Coopers, as well as deputizing for an injured John Cooper in Formula One.<ref name="Setright1"/>
Tyrrell was responsible for discovering Jackie Stewart, whom he had race for his FJr team, after a test in 1963.<ref name="Setright2">Setright, p.2418.</ref> Along with numerous lesser lights, he also approved Jody Scheckter and motorcycle racing ace John Surtees.<ref name="Setright1"/> Recognizing the value of the new Cosworth DFV, after a Lotus win at Zandvoort in its debut in 1967,<ref name="Setright2"/> with financial help from Elf, Dunlop,<ref name="Setright2"/> 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.<ref name="Setright2"/>
Stewart helped put the new team second in the Constructors' Championship for 1968. The success led to Matra's Bernard Boyer creating a DFV-powered car for 1969, piloted by Stewart and Jean-Pierre Beltoise.<ref name="Setright2"/> 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)<ref name="Setright2"/> to build what became the Tyrrell 001.<ref>Setright, p.2418-9.</ref> It was quick, if a trifle unreliable, and spawned the much better Tyrrell 003 for 1971.<ref name="Setright3">Setright, p.2419.</ref> This, in the hands of Stewart and new-hire François Cevert, took eight wins during 1971 and 1972, and gave Stewart the World Driving Championship.<ref name="Setright3"/>
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.<ref name="Setright3"/><ref>Twite, Mike. "BRM: ", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Vol. 3, pp.246-51.</ref>
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.<ref name="Setright4">Setright, p.2420.</ref> 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.<ref>Kettlewell, Mike. "Stewart: The Flying Scotsman", in Northey, Tom, ed. World of Automobiles (London: Orbis, 1974), Vol. 19, p.2192.</ref> It was a season in which Tyrrell spent ₤500,000,<ref name="Setright4"/> 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.<ref name="Setright4"/> 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.<ref name="Setright4"/> 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.<ref name="Setright4"/>
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.
| Preceded by: Lord Hesketh |
BRDC President 2000 |
Succeeded by: Jackie Stewart |
See Also
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.
