Throughout the 90's Tom Walkinshaw's Arrows outfit continued to transverse second half of the field in Formula 1. A few flashes of brilliance were marred by reliability issues and shoestring budgets. The sting from their involvement with self-styled Nigerian prince and convicted fraudster Mailik Ido Ibrahim was starting to heal, with a recent cash injection from some big sponsors at the dawn of the new millennium.
In fact 'Prince' Mailik Ido Ibrahim's involvement with Arrows is so farcical and humorous it is easy to overlook the financial devastation. Promising big money for 1999 for the desperate team, the grinning conman was simply enjoying the ride and vanished in a flash when Tom Walkinshaw began to itch to the fact that they hadn't yet received a penny. He later re-appeared years later in America trying the same stunt in NASCAR, landing him in a Texas jail.
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| The self-styled Prince and convicted conman Ibrahim |
Thankfully the team secured a new deal with UK mobile network giant Orange for the 2000 season. Things were further improved when Paul Stoddart's European Aviation was to provide even more money and logistical support. This climate of positivity was enhanced by a promising new car. Mike Coughlan and Sergio Rinland had penned a slippery design dubbed the A21. Breaking the lap record in pre-season testing it easily had the highest top speed of the field. With a strong driver line up of Pedro de la Rosa and Jos Verstappen good results seemed inevitable. Indeed the car proved to be quick, narrowly missing the podium on two occasions and putting in strong points finishes. However mechanical failures and an outdated Renault re-badged as Supertec engine robbed the team of decent results. The result was 7th in the Constructors Championship.
Hoping to build on a decent car design the 2001 car was simply an evolution. However when Supertec dropped out as engine supplier in the sport Tom Walkinshaw had to find a new engine contract. While the accounting books were looking better with new help, the team still could not afford an expensive customer engine contract. Mike Coughlan took a misguided judgement that the doomed Peugeot engine that was on the table would suit the new car. Perhaps from an engineering perspective this was true on paper, but the outdated design rebranded as 'Asiatech' was unreliable. In what was to be common place in modern F1, Walkinshaw took the decision to drop the talented Pedro de la Rosa in favour of money-backed rookie Enrique Bernoldi. With just 1 point scored the year was a disaster, leading to sponsor Eurobet terminating their contract. Further to this European Aviation's important financial and logistics support ended, with owner Paul Stoddart purchasing the Minardi team.
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| The design team pushing the limits at Monaco |
For the following season both Coughlan and Rinland decided to push the boat out with the new A23. The car featured a new 'twin keel' front end, a design first seen on the ill fated Honda F1 test program in '99 and later the 2001 Sauber C20. In an effort to claw back downforce from new front wing regulations, the car featured two 'keel's either side of front bulkhead. This allowed for free space for aerodynamics below the front of the car yet not compromising the lower suspension mounting points and thus its effectiveness. The design would set the tone for the next few years of F1 design, with the field split on the philosophy. While there were performance benefits there was also the added complexity of increasing the structural strength of the thin keels to ensure they didn't flex under suspension loads and thus lead to poor mechanical grip. The advantage soon dwindled in later years with the advent of more advanced front wing design, but the decision to adopt this in its infancy along with McLaren and Jordan was highly innovative.
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| The innovative 'twin keel' |
Thankfully the cursed Peugeot 'Asiatech' engine was gone and a new customer contract with Cosworth was signed. However question marks arose whether the team could afford this. The pressures on privateers in the sport were increasing exponentially. Big automobile manufacturers lavished rivals with enough money to run testing rigs and wind tunnels through the night or jet around the world for testing - all for a couple tenths of a second. Debts were mounting and new star signing Heinz-Harold Frentzen even accepted a 'modest' £500,000 to drive for the team. Tom Walkinshaw needed to find a way out or risk the team crumbling.
As the season got under way the A23 showed good potential. At the Malaysian Grand Prix Enrique Bernoldi was even able to fight back a charging Ferrari of Michael Schumacher for 3 laps. Frentzen went on to score solid 6 place finishes at Spain and Monaco. Off track however the dire financial situation was beginning to get public.
As the circus rolled into Silverstone engine supplier Cosworth had taken the team to court over debts to the tune of $4.7 million. An attempt by ski intructor-come businessman Craig Pollock to win investment failed to materialise. On the edge of the abyss the cars turned up a the next race in France, only to back off at the end of their qualifying lap and avoid entering the race. By doing so they had legally honoured their Concorde Agreement contractual terms of competing in every race. Putting mileage on an their remaining engines with little hope of points was a huge cost as there were no new engines available.
Favouring their chances at the next race in Germany at Hockenheim, a double retirement would prove the last race for the team. Appearing a few races later in the garage in Belgium, Tom Walkinshaw was waxing lyrical of a new purchase of the team by an American mining magnate. The cars never made it out of the garage and the FIA were enquiring why the team had missed the previous races, potentially forfeiting their share of any monies from the sport if judged to be insolvent. Sadly it was end of the road and the gates at the Leafield factory were shut.
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| The late Tom Walkinshaw |
An attempt to re-enter the sport for the following season was quashed. The designs and cars were raided by Paul Stoddart to aid his Minardi team. He later sold these on to the new Super-Aguri team for 2006. Former Arrows engineer Mark Preston along with other ex-employees would modify the cars for use that season with Super-Aguri also being based at the former Leafield factory. Tom Walkinshaw would move to Australia to manage in Touring Cars, a sport that he had successfully raced in Winning the 1984 European Championship. Sadly he would succumb to cancer in 2010 dying at 64 years old. Known to be a towering figure both physically and in accomplishment Walkinshaw's legacy is as colossal as the man himself.
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| The 2002 car living on 4 years later, albeit modified form as the Super Aguri SA05 |
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