{"id":459591,"date":"2001-11-01T20:00:40","date_gmt":"2001-11-02T04:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=115892"},"modified":"2024-12-27T12:45:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T12:45:08","slug":"wood-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wood-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Harris-Costin Protos F2 – Wood Works"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harris-Costin Protos F2<\/h2>\n

Many of the drivers who progressed through the standard single-seater stages of racing in Europe in the \u201960s, \u201970s and \u201980s recall Formula 2 as the most enjoyable part of their racing careers. The cars were fast, they brought out the best in the drivers, and the driver\u2019s skill really counted when it came to results. True, it was a dangerous category, but the racing was invariably close, the fans loved it, and the atmosphere was friendly with less commercial pressure than was present in F1 racing.<\/p>\n

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Photo: Casey Annis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Formula 2 goes back as far as 1948, but a \u201cproper\u201d series for it didn\u2019t really exist until the European F2 Championship was created in 1967. It then ran for 18 years (over 210 races) with a vast number of important drivers taking part. From 1966 until 1971, the rules called for 1600 cc racing engines; from 1972 to 1975 it was for 2000 cc production-based engines; and finally, from 1976 until 1984, the rules specified 2000 cc racing engines with a maximum of six cylinders. March chassis dominate the list of successes, but Brabham, Ralt, Matra and Martini all had their day, powered by BMW, Cosworth FVA, Ford BDA, Hart 420R and Honda engines. F2 was a class for creative imagination \u2013 a class for making small engines, push lightweight chassis to high speeds.<\/p>\n

Enter the Protos<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The story of the F2 Protos is full of coincidences and accidents of timing, and has as many connections with aviation as it does with motor racing. A youngish Brian Hart (of later Hart F2 and F1 racing engine fame) had been racing a Lotus 35 in the one-liter F2 races in 1965 and 1966 and was looking for something interesting to drive in the following season. The new rules had been announced well in advance and Hart, always an innovator, wanted something that could really exploit the new rules. Hart had started racing in the late 1950s and by 1963 had won the prestigious Grovewood Award for promising up-and-coming drivers. He had driven for the Peter Sellers team and also for Colin Chapman. In addition to his driving prowess, he also had an engineering apprenticeship at de Havilland Aircraft to his credit and had worked for Cosworth in its early days.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>At the 1966 London Racing Car Show, Hart got into a conversation with aerodynamicist Frank Costin about the coming season. Costin was at the show to exhibit his Costin-Nathan sports car with its unique wooden construction chassis. He had been closely involved in the development of the Marcos with Jem Marsh (also with a wooden chassis), but his more significant credentials came from his 20 years spent in the aviation industry, where he had honed his skills and knowledge in two key areas: using wooden structures in aircraft and applying aerodynamic theory. Relatively little was understood about aerodynamics and racing cars in the 1950s and 1960s until Costin was called in to assist Colin Chapman on the Lotus Mk. VIII sports car by his younger brother Mike, who later became the \u201cCos\u201d of Cosworth. Frank Costin improved the Lotus and worked on several more of Chapman\u2019s designs, including the 1958 World Championship winning Vanwall.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Costin and Hart talked about how little thought had been given to aerodynamic application in single-seater racing, and this propelled Hart into introducing Costin to Ron Harris, a great racing enthusiast and entrant who harbored a keen interest in building and running his own cars. The consequence of the meeting organized by Hart was the commissioning of four wooden F2 chassis to be built for the 1967 season, with Firestone Tires agreeing to pay part of the development costs if the team would run the entire championship season.<\/p>\n