Restov Racing
Restov Racing in Formula One
In late 1979, Jenkins Industries announced their intention to withdraw from the rFactor Formula One series. Seeing his chance, Edward Restov organised a takeover of the struggling team, and completely restructured it, replacing the ageing Williams chassis' with 1979 spec Renault engines and chassis'. Restov also managed to secure lucrative backing from Soviet oil giant Gazprom, ensuring the team would have healthy finances. He also managed to pull off a coup by signing the highly rated Elio de Angelis alongside Beppe Gabbianni. However, after struggling with the new regime, de Angelis was fired after just two races, being replaced by Gianfranco Brancatelli.
Also, in 2001, Restov entered the start-up Prost GP one-make series. The team raced with some success, becoming podium regulars in the early part of the season before dropping back.
Restov Racing in Touring Cars
In 2000, Restov announced a works deal with Jaguar to run the S-Type in the resurrected DTM series. The team struggled for consistency in the topsy-turvy 2000 season, but still finished 5th in the teams championship, with drivers Erik Comas and Alain Menu finishing 14th and 17th respectively. 2001 marked an upturn in the teams fortunes, with Comas becoming a podium regular in the under-developed Jaguar, and the team was able to take the fight admirably to the far superior Mercedes' and BMW's. Alas, in 2002, with new regulations coming into play that could have worked out in Restov's favour, Jaguar announced their withdrawl from the DTM, and with Restov unable to find another works deal, he too pulled out of the series, preferring to withdraw from near the top than to carry on and slip down the order.