ArrowTech ART
ArrowTech | |
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Full Name | ArrowTech-Acuri Autosport |
Base | Montreal, Canada |
Founder(s) | The Fox |
Team Principal(s) | The Fox |
Technical Director | Andrea Acuri |
Current Drivers | #15 - Mirko Bosevic #16 - Saeed Al Faisal |
Other Noted Drivers | Jari Kekkonen Nicolas Steele Daniel Melrose Daniel Martins |
Debut | 2011 F1RWRS British Grand Prix |
Races | 52 (120 entries) |
Constructors' Championships | 0 |
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
Race Wins | 0 |
Podiums | 5 |
Points | 72 |
Pole Positions | 1 |
Fastest Laps | 0 |
ArrowTech-Acuri Autosport, known simply as ArrowTech, is a Canadian F1RWRS racing team founded in 2011 by a man known only as The Fox as ArrowTech ART. It then merged with Acuri Autosport after the 2014 season and changed their name to their current one.
History
2011 Season
The team was founded by "The Fox," whose real identity, and the reason he keeps it secret are not known. The team began competition when it received permission for an entry at the 2011 British GP, hiring Jari Kekkonen and Nicolas Steele. Over the course of the 2011 season the team bounced back and forth in pre-qualifying though the team finished in the points on three occasions. Kekkonen scored consecutive points finishes at New South Wales and Surfers Paradise, the latter being his best finish of the year, 5th place. Steele could only score points once, on the team's debut at Silverstone and with only a single other finish to his name he was sacked and replaced by Portuguese driver Daniel Martins for the 2012 season.
2012 Season
The 2012 season started well for ArrowTech, with a major sponsorship deal secured with Bud Light, and new Lamborghini engines. Combined with the AT-02 chassis, Kekkonen and Martins still struggled with pre-qualifying, particularly in the first half of the season, but overall enjoyed a more successful year. Kekkonen scored on four occasions, though he was unable to repeat his best result from 2011, with a best finish of 6th at Brands Hatch. Martins meanwhile brought the team its best ever finish, which still stands to this day, with 2nd place at the Australian GP, though the Portugese driver failed to score at any other point during the season, failing even to finish in the top 10 at any other race.
2013 Season
Saying that the team was uncompetitive, Kekkonen left after 2012, and was replaced by three-time F1 world champion Daniel Melrose for 2013. The new AT-03 chassis was the most promising yet, and along with new engines from Ford, ArrowTech went from strength to strength. The team amassed more podium finishes, with Melrose matching the team's best result of second in only his third race for the team at Mexico, where Martins followed him home in third. It was comfortably ArrowTech's best ever race. Melrose collected a third place finish at Belgium, and Martins scored his second third place of the year in France. It was a far better season for the team, who ended up finishing a strong fifth in the constructors championship.
At the Dutch GP The Fox surprised the paddock by announcing that the team was up for sale, later clarifying that he would part with 50% of the team. Nigerian Prince Falik bought the 50% stake in ArrowTech, assuming control of the team's development and sponsorship, whilst The Fox retained control over chassis, engine and driver choice.
The Fox offered contracts to Martins and Melrose for the 2014 season, although Prince Falik was keen to sign up current championship leader Mark Dagnall. It was then confirmed that Melrose would leave the team at the end of the season, but he left with two races to go, filling the vacancy created at Castrol Jones Racing who'd fired Kay Lon. Melrose was replaced by Frenchman Sebastian Groves for the remainder of 2013.
A test was run following the end of the 2013 season to determine who would secure seats at ArrowTech for 2014. Those confirmed in the ArrowTech test were Mirko Bosevic, Saeed Al Faisal, Dave Simpson, Kay Lon and Issac Evans (a test driver for the F1RLFS Cup team Engine Failure Racing).
2014 Season
Eventually, The Fox cut the tension loose and signed Bosevic to a 1-year deal. There was a campaign after Prince Falik was released from prison to have Daniel Martins become a pay-driver, but it was rejected by the F1RWRS council. The team switched to Peugeot engines.
In Monaco, against the varying conditions, Mirko Bosevic scored ArrowTech's first pole position. It was rather varied in the race, as Bosevic finished fourth, but it did give the team a huge confidence boost.
Despite the consistency of the car, the team has trouble scoring points. Martins has already announced he was stepping down from his position at the team, the rumours speculated Rosco Vantini, Alberto Cara and Nathanael Spencer to the second seat.
In the North Sea GP, the team gained their first double points finish since the 2013 French Grand Prix, with Martins 5th and Bosevic 6th.
Buyout of Acuri Autosport
Following their dismal showing after the North Sea GP, ArrowTech experienced financial troubles, along with that of Andrea Acuri's team. Initially, The Fox sold the rights to the team name to Acuri, but later bought out the team, chassis and engines from Acuri for the 2015 season. The result is a merged team with The Fox managing the team while Acuri holds the commercial rights to the name, and also holding the position of Technical Director.
The buyout occurred after Acurigate, in which Acuri Autosport was attacked twice by Danish terrorists. The team lost money as a result (among other things), so The Fox bought out the team to improve the financial outlook for both teams (since Acuri had a boatload of sponsors at the time). The team was renamed ArrowTech-Acuri Autosport and will still retain the ArrowTech history, name, stats, etc. The name change will come into effect as of the end of the Japanese GP (but the constructor name will still be ArrowTech)
2015 Season
Shortly after the buyout, Martins was then replaced for the 2015 season by Saudi Arabian Saeed Al Faisal, who was originally rumoured for driving in 2014. Mirko Bosevic was signed on for another season alongside Al Faisal. It is obvious that Al Faisal was hired for his sponsorship money. Other drivers considered were Rosco Vantini (who signed for Jones Racing), Alberto Cara, Nathanael Spencer, Jean-Luc Schiller and James Davies. Davies was offered the third driver role for the team, and said that he will accept that in the event that he does not obtain a seat. He eventually signed with Sunshine Infiniti. Phil McCracken was also hired as test driver, but it is unlikely that he will be upgraded to a race seat considering he has not obtained a Super Licence yet. Eventually Sebastian Groves was signed as third driver for the team.
F1RWRS Results
Year | Chassis | Engine | # | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | CC | Pts |
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2011 | ArrowTech AT-01 | Cosworth CR-6 3.0 V10 | BAV | GER | SAX | LUX | BEL | GBR | ENG | KEN | NED | TAS | AUS | NSW | SUR | CHN | USA | 17th | 11 | |||
24 | Jari Kekkonen | 9 | 14 | 16 | DNPQ | 12 | DNPQ | 6 | 5 | DNPQ | DNPQ | |||||||||||
25 | Nicolas Steele | 5 | 13 | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNS | DSQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | DNPQ | |||||||||||
2012 | ArrowTech AT-02 | Lamborghini | BAV | SAX | GER | LUX | BEL | NED | GBR | KEN | ENG | TAS | SUR | NSW | AUS | CHN | USA | 500 | =11th | 17 | ||
29 | Jari Kekkonen | DNPQ | 7 | DNPQ | Ret | 8 | DNPQ | DNPQ | 6 | DNPQ | 16 | 18 | 25 | 8 | 20 | 20 | 14 | |||||
30 | Daniel Martins | DNPQ | 14 | 12 | Ret | DNPQ | 17 | DNPQ | DNPQ | 17 | DNPQ | 20 | 23 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 11 | |||||
2013 | ArrowTech AT-03 | Ford HB IV | TAS | AUS | MEX | USA | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | NED | BEL | POR | MED | MAC | CHN | JPN | BRA | 5th | 30 | ||
36 | Daniel Martins | 8 | Ret | 3 | 7 | Ret | 3 | 9 | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | Ret | 7 | 12 | DNQ | |||||
37 | Daniel Melrose | 5 | 4 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 8 | 10 | Ret | 3 | 9 | Ret | 5 | 11 | |||||||
Sebastian Groves | 18 | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
2014 | ArrowTech AT-04 | Peugeot A7 | TAS | AUS | BRA | MEX | USA | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | BEL | ITA | MED | NDS | MAC | CHI | JPN | 8th | 13 | ||
9 | Daniel Martins | 10 | 13 | 6 | Ret | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 10 | 10 | 10 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 11 | 6 | |||||
10 | Mirko Bosevic | 14 | Ret | 10 | Ret | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 8 | 8 | 6 | Ret | 10 | 12 | |||||
2015 | ArrowTech AT-05 | Renault RS1 | TAS | AUS | MED | MON | MEX | USA | CAN | GBR | GER | BEL | AUT | ITA | NDS | CHI | JPN | BRA | 8th* | 1* | ||
15 | Mirko Bosevic | 6 | 8 | 13 | ||||||||||||||||||
16 | Saeed Al Faisal | 13 | 17 | 17 |