Hesketh 308

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 308B in the hands of James Hunt's son, Freddie, in 2007.

The Hesketh 308 and its derived sister model the 308B were Formula One racing cars designed by Harvey Postlethwaite for Hesketh Racing to compete in the 1974 and 1975 World Championships. The 308 replaced the ageing March 731 chassis that the team had been using since coming into Formula 1 the previous season, and was loosely based on the March design. It was powered by the Ford-Cosworth DFV and featured innovative rubber springs as opposed to coil springs and wishbones when the car was first launched. When these were discovered to give a lack of feel to the driver, they were replaced by a standard suspension set-up. Originally, Lord Hesketh had plans to fund and have built a V12 engine to accompany the car, but this never came to pass, and the DFV V8 was used exclusively. Four chassis were built over the three seasons the car competed, with two for James Hunt specifically.

James Hunt loathed car testing, but the team did not have a test driver, so Hunt was forced to work on setting the car up alone. His efforts were worth the time however. The team scored a stunning victory in the 1974 International Trophy race at Silverstone and went on to take several podium places throughout the season. Hunt was in a position to win the Argentine and British Grands Prix, but his inexperience put paid to his chances in the two races. Hesketh was supplied with Firestone tyres, but towards the end of the season the performance started to drop off, so the team switched to Goodyear. This meant the suspension and steering had to be redesigned to cope with the new tyres.

For 1975 the 308 was updated to 308B specifications, with revised bodywork and repositioned oil radiators. The car was even more competitive and Hunt challenged for the victory in Argentina and Brazil before he broke his and the team's duck at the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix. It would be the team's only win however. He rounded off the season with several solid placings which helped Hesketh finish fourth in the constructors' championship. Sadly, the team folded up at the end of the season as Lord Hesketh could not afford to keep financing his unsponsored team, and Hunt moved to McLaren for 1976.

The 308 and 308B cars were sold on to privateer teams who achieved little success. Perhaps the most famous post-Hunt Hesketh driver was Guy Edwards who arranged sponsorship with adult magazine Penthouse for 1976, which gained considerable exposure for the team. Edwards tried hard with the car, but did not score any points. He was however involved in rescuing Niki Lauda from his burning Ferrari at the 1976 German Grand Prix.

v • d • e Hesketh Racing Founders: Alexander Hesketh | Anthony Horsley    Chief Designers: Harvey Postlethwaite | Frank Dernie Cars Formula One cars: 308 | 308B | 308C | 308D | 308E Sports cars: Ibec-Hesketh 308LM