Page 1 of 2 Next >> Immediately after departing the Shadow Formula 1 team at the end of 1977, Alan Rees, Jackie Oliver, Dave Wass and Tony Southgate created Arrows, which was an abbreviation of their names. They were under the gun to produce a new car ahead of the opening races of the 1978 season to ensure the team was eligible for benefits like the travel fund.
Impressively, the new Arrows FA1 was ready in just 53 days. It debuted at round two but was immediately met with an official protest by the Shadow team. They claimed the car was a near copy of the Shadow DN9, which had also been designed by Southgate before his departure. The judge ruled that at least 40% of the cars were identical and ordered the four Arrows FA1s to be 'returned' to Shadow.
The verdict did not take the Arrows team by surprise as a brand new car was already under development. Dubbed the A1, it was launched the day after the court ruling. Having started the design process halfway through the 1978 season, Southgate had the advantage of taking the latest design trends into consideration. The most important of these was ground-effect aerodynamics pioneered by Team Lotus. Page 1 of 2 Next >>
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Immediately after departing the Shadow Formula 1 team at the end of 1977, Alan Rees, Jackie Oliver, Dave Wass and Tony Southgate created Arrows, which was an abbreviation of their names. They were under the gun to produce a new car ahead of the opening races of the 1978 season to ensure the team was eligible for benefits like the travel fund.