Hesketh 308 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Hesketh 308 and its derived sister model the 308B are Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

racing cars designed by Harvey Postlethwaite

Harvey Postlethwaite

Harvey Postlethwaite was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the abortive Honda F1 project...

for Hesketh Racing to compete in the and World Championships. The car gave James Hunt

James Hunt

James Simon Wallis Hunt was a British racing driver from England who won the Formula One World Championship in . Hunt's often action packed exploits on track earned him the nickname "Hunt the Shunt." After retiring from driving, Hunt became a media commentator and businessman...

his first first World Championship win in the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix

1975 Dutch Grand Prix

The 1975 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on June 22, 1975. It was the 24th Dutch Grand Prix. It was held over 75 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 318 kilometres....

at Zandvoort

Circuit Park Zandvoort

Circuit Park Zandvoort is a motorsport race track located in Burgemeester van Alphenstraat 108, 2041 KP in the dunes north of the town of Zandvoort, in the Netherlands, near the North Sea coast line.- History :...

.

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

Cosworth DFV

The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...

and when the car was first launched featured conventional front suspension comprising double wishbones with outboard mounted coil-spring damper units. Postlethwaite was looking for a way of fitting simple, lightweight progressive springing to the car and latched onto the idea of using rubber springs after a friend involved in designing rubber damping for buildings in earthquake zones suggested the idea. Early tests in 1974 proved unsuccessful until a special non-creep rubber was developed by the Malaysian Rubber Producers Association

British Rubber Producers Research Association

The Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre, originally known as the British Rubber Producers' Research Association, carries out research into rubber and is funded by the Malaysian government....

. This was formed into springs by the Aeon Products company and following more productive testing results, fitted to the car from the 1975 Argentine GP. Originally, Lord Hesketh had plans to fund and have built a V12 engine

V12 engine

A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft....

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.

On its debut appearance at the 1974 Brands Hatch, Race of Champions

Race of Champions (Brands Hatch)

The Race of Champions was a non-championship Formula One motor race held at the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent, United Kingdom between 1965 and 1979, and again in 1983. It often attracted high quality entries from the Formula One World Championship. The first race was won by Mike Spence...

, Hunt put the car in pole position. The race was less successful and Hunt spun out in wet conditions on lap 4. The 308 made its first Grand Prix appearance two weeks later in South Africa. This time Hunt could only qualify 13th but moved up to fifth place from the start, successfully holding that position until drive shaft failure put him out of the race on lap 65. The following week, Hunt again managed pole position at the International Trophy

1974 BRDC International Trophy

The 26th BRDC International Trophy was a non-championship Formula One race held at Silverstone on April 7, 1974. The race was run in connection with a Formula 5000 event.- Classification :Note: a blue background indicates a Formula 5000 entrant....

race at Silverstone

Silverstone Circuit

Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...

in competition with several Grand Prix regulars. This time Hunt managed a stunning victory. From the start, Hunt dropped back with his clutch slipping and with the gear shift knob coming off in his hand. Gradually he overcame these difficulties and worked his way back to the front, eventually passing Ronnie Peterson

Ronnie Peterson

Bengt Ronnie Peterson was a Swedish racing driver. He was a two-time runner-up in the FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship.Peterson began his motor racing career in kart racing, traditionally the discipline where the majority of race drivers begin their careers in open-wheel racing...

's Lotus down the inside into Woodcote corner to retake the lead.

This early success for the 308 was not repeated, and as the Grand Prix season progressed, the car proved itself to be quick but unreliable, failing several times with a variety of transmission breakages. Hunt also found himself eliminated in accidents with Tom Pryce

Tom Pryce

Thomas Maldwyn Pryce was a Welsh racing driver, famous for winning the Brands Hatch Race of Champions, a non-championship Formula One race, in 1975 and for the circumstances surrounding his death...

, firstly in Holland where Pryce collided with him at the first corner, and then two weeks later in France – although this time Pryce was forced into Hunt after he himself had been hit by Carlos Reutemann

Carlos Reutemann

Carlos Alberto Reutemann , nicknamed "Lole", is an Argentine former racing driver , and later a politician in his native province of Santa Fe, for the Justicialist Party....

.
Hesketh continued to steer the team towards greater levels of professionalism, and towards the end of the season, Ian Scheckter

Ian Scheckter

Ian Scheckter is a former racing driver. He participated in 20 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on March 30, 1974...

was entered in a second car for the Austrian race. Although, largely thanks to engine trouble, Scheckter failed to qualify, some within the team felt that running two cars would do much to improve the teams chances for the following season.

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

1975 Argentine Grand Prix

The 1975 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Buenos Aires on January 12, 1975. It was the twelfth Argentine Grand Prix and only the second to be held on the lengthened six kilometre version of the race track that runs out toards Curvon Salotto around the lake which lies to the...

and Brazil

1975 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on January 26, 1975. It was the fourth Brazilian Grand Prix since its introduction in 1972. The race was memorably won by São Paulo native Carlos Pace driving a Brabham BT44B. It would be the only win of Pace's...

before he broke his and the team's duck at the 1975 Dutch Grand Prix

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

Guy Edwards

Guy Richard Goronwy Edwards QGM is a former racing driver from England. Although best known for his sportscar and UK Formula One career, as well as for brokering sponsorship deals, Edwards participated in 17 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on January 13, 1974...

who arranged sponsorship with adult magazine Penthouse

Penthouse (magazine)

Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...

for , 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

Niki Lauda

Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver and three-time F1 World Champion. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines and was manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years.- Early years in racing :Born in Vienna,...

from his burning Ferrari at the 1976 German Grand Prix

1976 German Grand Prix

The 1976 German Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at the Nürburgring on 1 August 1976, and is notable as the location of Niki Lauda's near fatal accident...

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Entrant	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Points	WCC
1974 1974 Formula One season The 1974 Formula One season was the 25th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1974 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1974 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers, contested concurrently over a fifteen race series which commenced on 13 January and ended on 6 October...	308	Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... V8 V8 engine A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft.... NA Naturally-aspirated engine A naturally aspirated engine is one common type of reciprocating piston internal combustion engine that depends solely on atmospheric pressure to counter the partial vacuum in the induction tract to draw in combustion air...	Hesketh Racing		ARG 1974 Argentine Grand Prix The 1974 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One race held in Buenos Aires on January 13, 1974.-Start-of-season preliminaries:It had been one of the most frantic close seasons ever with only Ronnie Peterson, Denny Hulme, Carlos Reutemann and James Hunt remaining with their teams. Emerson Fittipaldi...	BRA 1974 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1974 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on January 27, 1974.- Race summary :Emerson Fittipaldi took pole position for his home race from Carlos Reutemann. The start of the race was delayed as the track had to be swept clear of broken glass from over-exuberant...	RSA 1974 South African Grand Prix The 1974 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 30 March 1974.- Race summary :It was initially uncertain that the South African Grand Prix would go ahead due to the power crisis, but it did so, albeit belatedly in March...	ESP 1974 Spanish Grand Prix The 1974 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jarama on April 28, 1974.- Race summary :With James Hunt's Hesketh having won the International Trophy, the season was one of the most open ever, with four different drivers from different teams having won the first four races and a...	BEL 1974 Belgian Grand Prix The 1974 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nivelles on May 12, 1974.- Classification :- Notes :Pole position: Clay Regazzoni - 1:09.82Fastest lap: Denny Hulme - 1:11.31 on lap 37-Standings after the race:...	MON 1974 Monaco Grand Prix The 1974 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 26, 1974.- Classification :- Notes :Pole position: Niki Lauda - 1:26.3Fastest lap: Ronnie Peterson - 1:27.9 on lap 57-Standings after the race:...	SWE 1974 Swedish Grand Prix The 1974 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at the Scandinavian Raceway on June 9, 1974.The race was totally dominated by the two Tyrrell-Cosworth 007s of Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler. Depailler took pole position, however Scheckter beat him by 0.380 sec in the race, to score...	NED 1974 Dutch Grand Prix The 1974 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on June 23, 1974.- Classification :- Notes :Pole position: Niki Lauda - 1:18.31Fastest lap: Ronnie Peterson - 1:21.44 on lap 63...	FRA 1974 French Grand Prix The 1974 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon on July 7, 1974.- Race summary :To honor the 80th birthday of the ACF, a parade of vintage cars was organized with a selection of great drivers from the 20s and 30s up to the present day. The race itself was largely uneventful...	GBR 1974 British Grand Prix The 1974 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on 20 July 1974.- Classification :- Notes :Pole position: Niki Lauda - 1:19.7Fastest lap: Niki Lauda - 1:21.1 on lap 25...	GER 1974 German Grand Prix The 1974 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on August 4, 1974. It was the 36th German Grand Prix and the 33rd to be held at the Nürburgring complex of circuits. The race was won by Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni driving a Ferrari 312B3...	AUT 1974 Austrian Grand Prix The 1974 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on August 18, 1974.- Classification :- Notes :Pole position: Niki Lauda - 1:35.40Fastest lap: Clay Regazzoni - 1:37.22 on lap 46-Standings after the race:...	ITA 1974 Italian Grand Prix The 1974 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on September 8, 1974.- Classification :- Notes :Pole position: Niki Lauda - 1:33.16Fastest lap: Carlos Pace - 1:34.2 on lap 46...	CAN 1974 Canadian Grand Prix The 1974 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Mosport Park on September 22, 1974.- Classification :- Notes :Pole position: Emerson Fittipaldi - 1:13.188Fastest lap: Niki Lauda - 1:13.659 on lap 60*First race: Penske...	USA 1974 United States Grand Prix The 1974 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 6, 1974, at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York.__FORCETOC__-Summary:...	15	6th
				James Hunt James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt was a British racing driver from England who won the Formula One World Championship in . Hunt's often action packed exploits on track earned him the nickname "Hunt the Shunt." After retiring from driving, Hunt became a media commentator and businessman...			Ret	10	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	4	3
				Ian Scheckter Ian Scheckter Ian Scheckter is a former racing driver. He participated in 20 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on March 30, 1974...												DNQ
1975 1975 Formula One season The 1975 Formula One season was the 26th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1975 World Championship of F1 Drivers and the 1975 International Cup for F1 Manufacturers which were contested concurrently from January 12 to October 5 over fourteen races...	308B	Cosworth DFV Cosworth DFV The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine... V8 V8 engine A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft.... NA Naturally-aspirated engine A naturally aspirated engine is one common type of reciprocating piston internal combustion engine that depends solely on atmospheric pressure to counter the partial vacuum in the induction tract to draw in combustion air...	Hesketh Racing		ARG 1975 Argentine Grand Prix The 1975 Argentine Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Buenos Aires on January 12, 1975. It was the twelfth Argentine Grand Prix and only the second to be held on the lengthened six kilometre version of the race track that runs out toards Curvon Salotto around the lake which lies to the...	BRA 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1975 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Interlagos on January 26, 1975. It was the fourth Brazilian Grand Prix since its introduction in 1972. The race was memorably won by São Paulo native Carlos Pace driving a Brabham BT44B. It would be the only win of Pace's...	RSA 1975 South African Grand Prix The 1975 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on March 1, 1975. It was the 21st South African Grand Prix since the first Grand Prix was held in 1934 and the ninth to be held at Kyalami just outside of Johannesburg...	ESP 1975 Spanish Grand Prix The 1975 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Montjuïc circuit on April 27, 1975, remembered as one of the most controversial and tragic race weekends in the sport's history after the death of five spectators who were hit by the crashing Hill GH1 of Rolf Stommelen...	MON 1975 Monaco Grand Prix The 1975 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held in Monaco on May 11, 1975. It was the fifth race of the 1975 Formula One season. It was the 33rd Monaco Grand Prix since the race was first held in 1929...	BEL 1975 Belgian Grand Prix The 1975 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on May 25, 1975. It was the sixth round of the 1975 World Drivers' Championship. It was the 33rd Belgian Grand Prix and the second to be held at the Circuit Zolder...	SWE 1975 Swedish Grand Prix The 1975 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Scandinavian Raceway at Anderstorp on June 8, 1975. It was the sixth Swedish Grand Prix after it was first held as the Swedish Summer Grand Prix in 1933, and the third to be held at Scandinavian Raceway...	NED 1975 Dutch Grand Prix The 1975 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on June 22, 1975. It was the 24th Dutch Grand Prix. It was held over 75 laps of the four kilometre circuit for a race distance of 318 kilometres....	FRA 1975 French Grand Prix The 1975 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on July 6, 1975. It was the 53rd French Grand Prix and the third time the race was held at Paul Ricard. The race was held over 54 laps of the five kilometre circuit for a race distance of 313 kilometres.The race was won by...	GBR 1975 British Grand Prix The 1975 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on July 19, 1975. It was the 30th British Grand Prix to be held since the race was first held in 1926 and the 17th time the race had been held at Silverstone...	GER 1975 German Grand Prix The 1975 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on August 3, 1975. It was the 37th German Grand Prix and the 34th to be held at the Nürburgring. The race was held over 14 laps of the 22 kilometre circuit for a race distance of 319 kilometres.The race was won by...	AUT 1975 Austrian Grand Prix The 1975 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on August 17, 1975. It was the eighth Austrian Grand Prix and the sixth to be held at the Österreichring. It was held over 29 of the scheduled 54 laps of the six kilometre circuit for a race distance of 171 kilometres...	ITA 1975 Italian Grand Prix The 1975 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on September 7, 1975. It was the 45th Italian Grand Prix and the 41st to be held at Monza. The race held over 52 laps of the five kilometre circuit for a race distance of 300 kilometres....	USA 1975 United States Grand Prix The 1975 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 5, 1975 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York...		33	4th
				James Hunt James Hunt James Simon Wallis Hunt was a British racing driver from England who won the Formula One World Championship in . Hunt's often action packed exploits on track earned him the nickname "Hunt the Shunt." After retiring from driving, Hunt became a media commentator and businessman...	2	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	1	2	4	Ret	2
				Brett Lunger Brett Lunger Robert Brett Lunger is a former racecar driver from the United States. Lunger was educated in dancing schools in Wilmington, the Holderness School, and Princeton University. He dropped out of Princeton after three years to enlist for service in Vietnam. He was a political science major. At the...												13	13	Ret
			Custom Made Harry Stiller Racing Harry Stiller Harry Stiller is a retired British motor racing driver and former British Formula Three Champion. His racing career covered the years between 1958 and 1969 and he drove a variety of different classes of cars...	Alan Jones				Ret	Ret	Ret	11
			Polar Caravans	Torsten Palm Torsten Palm Torsten Palm is a former racing driver from Sweden.Palm participated in two Formula One World Championship Grands Prix with a rented Hesketh in 1975, failing to qualify for the first and then running out of fuel two laps before the end of the second - for which he was awarded tenth place. As a...					DNQ		10
			Warsteiner Brewery	Harald Ertl Harald Ertl Harald Ertl was an Austrian motorsport journalist and racing driver.-Career:Ertl was born in Zell am See and attended the same school as drivers Jochen Rindt and Helmut Marko, so he had an early relation to motorsports. In 1969 he bought a Formula 5, won six races, but also rolled at the Nürburgring...											8	Ret	9

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