It’s that time of the week again: time for us to look at the past teams that made an exit from the sport of Formula One, having scored no points. This week, we remember Tec-Mec.
Tec-Mec was a short-lived team founded by Valerio Colotti, a former Maserati designer who was put out of work when the company ended its works involvement in motorsport. The team was financed by Lloyd Casner of Camoradi International (the official name of the entrant in Formula One).
The car was called the F415 and was a modified version of the successful Maserati 250F. Colotti, having been heavily involved with the development of the 250F was able to make modifications to the car to lighten it. The car was entered into the 1959 United States Grand Prix at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida.
Tec-Mec hired Brazilian driver Fritz d’Orey, who had raced the Maserati 250F at the French and British Grands Prix. The car qualified for 17th on the grid behind the Porsche of Harry Blanchard. The team’s hopes were shattered when the car stopped working due to an oil leak only six laps into the race.
Tec-Mec was sold at the end of the year by Colotti and the company moved to the Formula Junior series where they produced cars. The company never returned to Formula One.
Points are a difficult thing to obtain in Formula One. In this weekly series, we will look back the past teams who gave it their all, but fell short.
Points are a difficult thing to obtain in Formula One. In this weekly series, we will look back the past teams who gave it their all, but fell short.
