Paul Jeffrey
Premium
Former high profile designer and team principle Mike Gascoyne will return to Formula One next month, taking up a role with the new two seater Formula One programme run by Paul Stoddart.
Gascoyne was last seen in Grand Prix racing heading up the now defunct Caterham F1 Team, however with years of experience at teams such as Jordan, Toyota and Renault under his belt, the often controversial Englishman has joined up with another outspoken former Grand Prix regular, Paul Stoddart, to work on the impressive new two seater car that has been making an increasingly regular appearance at Formula One events this season.
Gascoyne, 54, will be taking up the role of Technical Director, and has been brought in by former Minardi owner Stoddart to work on the now aging Formula One two seater car ahead of a planned full season of demonstrations from 2018.
As part of the planned increase in fan interaction following the takeover of the sport by American company Liberty Media, Stoddart and his small team of engineers, running a former Tyrell Grand Prix 2 seater car for lucky passengers at the Australian Grand Prix race weekend, has been tasked with updating the car and team with a view to regularly attending race meetings during the current Grand Prix season.
Stoddart and co have already done a remarkable job expanding their operation to over 30 individuals, including snapping up a number of assets of the now closed Manor Grand Prix team, in order to form what is essentially the 11th team on the modern Grand Prix grid.
However select appearances during 2017 are just the tip of the iceberg for the new 'F1 Experience', with the car and personnel, with activity taking place now as they ramp up development in preparation of a full schedule of activity across all F1 race weekend meetings next year.
In order to improve the experience for passengers, and produce a more authentic experience, the team have engaged the services of the experienced Gascoyne to bring the former 1998 Tyrell car more visually in line with modern Grand Prix machines.
Whilst still an exclusive experience, Liberty Media and Stoddart are looking to open up the opportunity to sample Formula One at first hand with the new programme, offering media, competition winners and fans watching out at the track the chance to get in the passenger seat of one of these incredible cars.
Such a simple yet incredibly effective idea, the 2 seater programme is just another example of the positive difference to fan interaction made by Liberty Media since taking over control of the sport from Bernie Ecclestone last year.
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Fancy a go in a two seat F1 car? Do you prefer this design, or the 1 x 2 side by side passenger car from Arrows back in 2008? Let us know in the comments section below!
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