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 Maki Engineering.
Maki Engineering was a Japanese Formula One team founded by Kenji Mimura in 1974. It was the first Japanese Formula One team since Honda in 1968. With a Cosworth engine the team entered a single car into the British Grand Prix that year, but failed to qualify for the event with Howden Ganley.
At the following event in Germany, Ganley suffered a serious crash during practice on Friday. The car suffered a rear suspension failure and caused the car to swerve into the Armco barrier. The nose of the car was completely ripped off, leaving Ganley’s legs sticking out of the front. He managed to exit the car under his own power, but collapsed trackside with serious injuries to his legs and ankles. The injuries proved to be career-ending for Ganley.
With their only chassis badly damaged and their driver seriously injured, Maki disappeared from the grid to repair and modify the car. It was unlikely that the team would return to the sport, but they did at the Dutch Grand Prix the following year. The team was guaranteed a spot on the starting grid due to the lack of entries and the team hired Hiroshi Fushida for the event. Things were looking good for the team, with a new chassis and a new sponsorship from Citizen Watches. However, the team’s only engine stopped working in practice and the team was unable to start the race.
The team skipped the French Grand Prix, but returned to the British Grand Prix. However, this time the team would need to qualify for the event, which they did not. At the German Grand Prix, Tony Trimmer took over the car. However, he was not able to qualify for the three events that he was entered into. The team didn’t enter the United States Grand Prix, but also didn’t return for the 1976 season.
At the last Grand Prix of the 1976 season in Japan, Maki made an entry with Trimmer and a brand new chassis, likely in an attempt to gain attention from sponsors for future funding in front of the home crowd. However, the Brit was not able to qualify for the event, putting an end to the team’s Formula One future.
The team’s only real success was during a non-championship race in Switzerland in 1975 where Trimmer had finished in P13, the last of the running cars. However, this was not worth any points for the World Championship and the team never even started a championship race.
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.
