To Test One's Metal

[fondmetal-fond]

My mate said that Fondmetal did some work on the Le Mans - conquering Audi R-8/10 series. Now, though he is not as heavily biased towards this firm as I am, I was wondering if anyone knows and can confirm or deny this. If you don't know positively, feel free to assert aggressively on the side of Fondmetal, e.g. "It is well known that Fondmetal designed and built all of the MP4/4, including Senna" etc

If this rumor is confirmed, we will have to creatively construct a system of points under which Fondmetal becomes the greatest constructor ever in Formula 1.

[shinji]

Google is your friend.

Both versions of the R8 had a carbon fibre monocoque, and the entire body was likewise of lightweight but very strong Kevlar. Audi engaged the Italian specialist Fondmetal as its technology partner for the aerodynamics, which are vitally important in Le Mans. The chassis of the R8C was developed in conjunction with Audi's British subsidiary rtn (racing technology norfolk) based at Hingham near Norwich.

http://www.supercars.net/cars/2346.html

[Phoenix]

And I thought Fondmetal only made alloy wheels and mediocre F1 cars...

[fondmetal-fond]

And I thought Fondmetal only made alloy wheels and mediocre F1 cars...

MEDIOCRE??

If we: a) Assign each LeMans victory 500,000 GP Constructors points
b) Extend Fondmetal involvement up to the Audi R-15 program as well
c) Extend Fondmetal involvement to the Bentley EXP program
d) Not recognize LeMans victories by Ferrari, Porsche, Renault, Mercedes, Mclaren, Matra, Jaguar, BMW, as well as the contributions to LeMans cars by teams such as Williams, Lotus, March (e.g. Not consider anything that does not fall within the period 2001-2008)...

then, Fondmetal becomes the greatest Formula 1 constructor of all time!!
Unless I'm missing something and actually Lola or Pescarolo or Dome take away that prize...

[noisebox]

The irony of Fondmetal was that their final F1 car was actually half decent, but then they ran out of money. A bit like Simtek.

[dragonsteincole]

And wasn't their last F1 car turned into a GT car in 1997?

BEST TEAM EVAR!

[RejectSteve]

The irony of Fondmetal was that their final F1 car was actually half decent, but then they ran out of money. A bit like Simtek.

Or Forti.

And wasn't their last F1 turned into a GT car in 1997?

Sports prototype, I suppose, as it still didn't have a roof or doors. Those wheel arches destroyed the design.

[Phoenix]

And I thought Fondmetal only made alloy wheels and mediocre F1 cars...

MEDIOCRE??

If we: a) Assign each LeMans victory 500,000 GP Constructors points
b) Extend Fondmetal involvement up to the Audi R-15 program as well
c) Extend Fondmetal involvement to the Bentley EXP program
d) Not recognize LeMans victories by Ferrari, Porsche, Renault, Mercedes, Mclaren, Matra, Jaguar, BMW, as well as the contributions to LeMans cars by teams such as Williams, Lotus, March (e.g. Not consider anything that does not fall within the period 2001-2008)...

then, Fondmetal becomes the greatest Formula 1 constructor of all time!!
Unless I'm missing something and actually Lola or Pescarolo or Dome take away that prize...

I was only referring to their F1 self-branded machines. In fact, I didn't know anything about their other projects (thanks for instructing me).

[fondmetal-fond]

And I thought Fondmetal only made alloy wheels and mediocre F1 cars...

MEDIOCRE??

If we: a) Assign each LeMans victory 500,000 GP Constructors points
b) Extend Fondmetal involvement up to the Audi R-15 program as well
c) Extend Fondmetal involvement to the Bentley EXP program
d) Not recognize LeMans victories by Ferrari, Porsche, Renault, Mercedes, Mclaren, Matra, Jaguar, BMW, as well as the contributions to LeMans cars by teams such as Williams, Lotus, March (e.g. Not consider anything that does not fall within the period 2001-2008)...

then, Fondmetal becomes the greatest Formula 1 constructor of all time!!
Unless I'm missing something and actually Lola or Pescarolo or Dome take away that prize...

I was only referring to their F1 self-branded machines. In fact, I didn't know anything about their other projects (thanks for instructing me).

I was sort of joking in the above post. They ARE MEDIOCRE in both F1 and other projects as well - it just so happens they did consultancy work for a team (Audi) that was obviously going to be very successful in LeMans. The "ranking" system I wrote sort of shows this - only the Audi R-8 bolsters their record. I think the only sports car where they went completely solo was some sort of "Interserie" type one-off of their Formula 1 car - a "hastily adding wheel arches to make the open wheeler legal in the category" sort of effort. It was only moderately successful.

[Phoenix]

I was sort of joking in the above post. They ARE MEDIOCRE in both F1 and other projects as well - it just so happens they did consultancy work for a team (Audi) that was obviously going to be very successful in LeMans. The "ranking" system I wrote sort of shows this - only the Audi R-8 bolsters their record. I think the only sports car where they went completely solo was some sort of "Interserie" type one-off of their Formula 1 car - a "hastily adding wheel arches to make the open wheeler legal in the category" sort of effort. It was only moderately successful.

Don't remind me that monstrosity. It appears in some of my worst nightmares along with the Ferrari F310 and the March 711.