Tecno

Tecno
Long name	Tecno Racing Team
Base	Bologna, Italy
Founders	Luciano Pederzani Gianfranco Pederzani
Staff	Gordon Fowell, Alan McCall, David Yorke
Drivers	Nanni Galli, Derek Bell, Chris Amon
Debut	1972 Belgian Grand Prix
Races	10
Cons champ	0
Drivers champ	0
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Last race	1973 Austrian Grand Prix

Tecno was a Formula One constructor from Italy. It participated in 10 grands prix, entering a total of 11 cars, and scored one championship point.

History

Tecno started as a constructor of karts in Bologna, run by the brothers Luciano Pederzani and Gianfranco Pederzani. It soon moved up into car racing with Formula 3 (winning several championships in 1968) and Formula 2 chassis, the F2 being good enough to take the 1970 F2 championship in the hands of Clay Regazzoni.

Tecno was highly successful in junior formulae, and an interested sponsor in the shape of Count Rossi (of Martini and Rossi fame) was prepared to back the brothers in an attempt to build an F1 car and engine.

This made its first competitive appearance at the 1972 Belgian Grand Prix in the hands of Nanni Galli. The car was unremarkable, the engine a flat-12 very similar to the contemporary Ferrari unit, although apparently considerably less powerful. During that season, Galli shared the car with Derek Bell; neither managed to score points. Both chassis and engine were prone to breaking. Ron Tauranac, freelancing after selling Brabham, made some improvements to the car but performance did not improve significantly.

For 1973 Tecno found itself in the strange position of having two radically different cars, one of them backed by the team's sponsors and the other by the Pederzani brothers. Count Rossi had taken on experienced British racing manager David Yorke and driver Chris Amon (who had been unable to agree terms with March Engineering for the season). Yorke and Rossi commissioned a new chassis from designer Gordon Fowell, while the Pederzanis hired Alan McCall to design a new car for them. McCall left before the car was fully developed, just to add to the chaos. Tecno missed the early-season races and used the McCall car to little effect from Belgium on, and by the British Grand Prix both the Fowell "GorAl" car and the McCall car were available.

Having two different, underfunded and underdeveloped cars competing for scarce resources is hardly a recipe for success, and by mid-season there was a virtual civil war between the Pederzanis and Yorke and Rossi. Amon achieved the team's only point in the McCall car in Belgium. (He had severe difficulty even fitting into the cockpit of the GorAl car, which only ever appeared in practice - although Amon claimed that it had the potential to be one of the best chassis that he had ever raced.)

By the Austrian GP, he was disgusted with the whole mess and left the team, which subsequently folded - the Martini & Rossi money would go to Brabham in 1974, the Pederzani brothers retired from competition, and Amon finished the season guesting at Tyrrell.

In another manifestation of the poor luck and judgment for which Amon was legendary, he returned as a constructor in his own right in 1974, his designer being none other than Gordon Fowell.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Chassis	Engine(s)	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Points	WCC
1972	Tecno PA123	Tecno Series-P Flat-12			ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA				0	-
				Derek Bell						DNQ		Ret		DNQ		Ret
				Nanni Galli					Ret		Ret		NC	Ret
1973	Tecno PA123B Tecno E731	Tecno Series-P Flat-12			ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	1	11th
				Chris Amon					6	Ret			Ret	Ret		DNS