Prodrive
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Prodrive's logo |
Prodrive is a
motorsport and automotive
engineering group based in
Banbury,
United Kingdom. It designs, constructs and races
cars for companies and teams such as
Subaru and
Aston Martin. Its Automotive Technology division based in
Warwick provides road car design and engineering consultation for various car manufacturers.
In addition to its British base, the group has activities in
Germany,
Detroit and
California in the
United States,
Thailand and
Australia.
Prodrive was founded in
1984 by Ian Parry and
David Richards, who is now the chairman of the group. Their first involvement in auto racing was running rally teams for
Porsche,
MG and
BMW, all of whom it had various successes with. In
1987 they expanded into
touring cars, running BMW's
M3, in the
British Touring Car Championship. They were the outright
1988 champions, and class champions in
1989 and
1990. Since then, Prodrive has been almost continuously involved in touring cars, running campaigns for
Alfa Romeo,
Honda and
Ford.
In
1990, Prodrive began a long standing and highly successful relationship with
Subaru, running their rallying campaigns and helping them to 3 Drivers' and 3 Manufacturers'
World Rally Championships. Scotlands
Colin McRae, won the 1995 World Rally Championship for drivers, followed in 2001 by Englands
Richard Burns and in 2003 by Norways
Petter Solberg, all driving Subaru Impreza WRC's, prepared and run by Prodrive.
In
1999, investment group
Apax Partners bought 49% of the company.
Prodrive also runs specially-prepared
sports car racing versions of the
Ferrari 550 Maranellos in the GTS class of the
American Le Mans Series. The cars have been run since 2001, and in 2003 they beat the rival
Chevrolet Corvette C5R at the
24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race.
Following their success with Ferrari's 550, Aston Martin commissioned Prodrive to build a GT racing version of the
Aston Martin DB9, the DBR9. Prodrive will assist the works team, Aston Martin Racing, when they start competing in
2005. They will also build twenty cars for privateers.
In December
2001 Prodrive was brought in to manage the unsuccessful
Formula One constructor BAR. Richards was appointed as team principal of BAR, but after Honda increased its share in the team in late 2004, Richards was replaced in that role by Prodrive's managing director
Nick Fry.
In 2003 Prodrive bought Glenn Seton Racing and renamed it as Ford Performance Racing team for the 2003 Australian
V8 Supercar Championship. Prodrive also bought 51% in
Ford Performance Vehicles (
Ford Australia holds the other 49%).
In January
2006 Prodrive unveiled a two-seater sports car
Prodrive P2.
In March 2006, Prodrive announced its plans for a 200-acre (roughly over 800,000 square meters) motorsport facility called
The Fulcrum which will be based at the former Honiley Airfield at Wroxall in
Warwickshire, a non-metropolitan county in central
EnglandProdrive's statement in the planning application for the facility - which could house as many as 1,000 staff - boasted of
"a motorsport complex which could eventually house a new British Formula One team," further cementing Richards' intention to return to
F1 but only when the costs are reduced considerably, as he conceded before.
Until such time that the Honiley factory is operational, Prodrive will remain in their current location at their
Banbury headquarters.
As of August 3, 2006, Prodrive has won the support of the Warwick District Council planning committee for its planned development of The Fulcrum. The permission covers an advanced engineering research and development campus, a conference facility called the
Catalyst Centre and new access road, a roundabout, infrastructure, parking and landscaping.
All is not final yet, however, as the plans still have to be presented to the British government's new Department for Communities and Local Government, the body which looks after housing, urban regeneration, planning and local government.
On
April 28th,
2006, Prodrive were officially granted entry to
F1 when the
FIA announced the list of entrants to the
2008 Formula One World Championship. While a total of 22 teams applied for entry, the FIA had always maintained that, for reasons of both safety and practicality, only 12 teams would be granted entry, meaning only 1 new team would line up on the grid in 2008.
FIA president
Max Mosley was impressed by Prodrive's bid, which beat off stiff competition from the likes of
Carlin Motorsport, the
Jean Alesi-led McLaren-supported
Direxiv outfit,
BAR co-founder
Craig Pollock, former
Minardi owner
Paul Stoddart and ex-
Jordan Grand Prix team principal,
Eddie Jordan.
He revealed Prodrive have found the finances to support their bid, adding:
"Prodrive has the best combination of financial backing, technical capability and motorsport experience. Also, Prodrive's chief executive, David Richards, has experience as a Formula One team principal."
*Cropley, S (November. 9, 2004). Beauty and the beast.
Autocar pp. 44-51.
*Cropley, S (November. 30, 2004). Out, but not down.
Autocar pp. 72-73.
*
Prodrive's website*
Subaru world Rally Team Homepage
