Theodore

Theodore Racing was a Formula One constructor from Hong Kong founded by real estate magnate and millionaire Teddy Yip. They participated in 51 grands prix, entering a total of 64 cars. They scored 2 championship points.

History[]

In the early 1970s, amateur racer Yip met Sid Taylor and agreed to sponsor Vern Schuppan in Formula 5000. This led to Yip backing Schuppan in Formula 1 with Ensign in 1974. There followed further involvement in America with Schuppan and then support of Alan Jones in the US F5000 series in 1976. In Australia, Schuppan won the Rothmans International Series for Yip driving a Lola T332-Chevrolet in 1976. That year Yip established Theodore Racing. It was run by Taylor and entered an Ensign for Patrick Tambay in F1. After a difficult year in 1977, Yip commissioned Ron Tauranac to build him an F1 car. The car, called the Theodore TR1, was difficult and Eddie Cheever failed to qualify in both Brazil and Argentina but then Keke Rosberg took over and won the International Trophy at Silverstone in the wet, although he qualified for only one GP in South Africa. The car was abandoned in the mid-season. In the US, Yip supported Dan Gurney's Eagle team.

In 1979, Yip helped to fund Ensign but the car was not a success. The car was driven by Derek Daly, Patrick Gaillard, and Marc Surer but there were no points scored. At the end of the year Teddy also funded a British F1 programme with a Wolf WR6 for David Kennedy and helped Desiré Wilson to become the first woman to win a Formula 1 race - albeit a national event.

Yip bought the Shadow at the beginning of 1980, and Kennedy move to it, but the results was poor, the team was by then on its last legs, and in the mid-summer, Yip decided to retired to team and to rethink his involvement in racing and ended most of his other activities in order to concentrate on F1.

With Sid Taylor and Julian Randles he established Theodore Racing Ltd. and recruited Tony Southgate and team manager Jo Ramirez. The new car was dubbed the TY01 and was driven by Tambay at the start of 1981. In the mid-season Tambay was lured away by Ligier and Yip gave the drive to Marc Surer. The same car was developed in 1982 and it became obvious that small teams could not easily survive in the turbo era. Yip merged Theodore with Ensign and used the Nigel Bennett-designed Ensign N183 design as a Theodore. The team hired Johnny Cecotto and Roberto Guerrero but at the end of that season the team shut down and Mo Nunn moved to America, where he enjoyed great success as a race engineer through the 1980s and into the 1990s and eventually set up a successful team of his own in CART. 1983 also saw a guest drive in a Theodore by former Grand Prix driver Brian Henton at the non-championship 1983 Race of Champions where he finished a fine 4th, the highest a Theodore finished all season.

Yip had long since run a team each year at the Macau GP until the late 1980s and in 1983 was behind the switch from Formula Atlantic rules to Formula 3. The result was a huge success and Theodore Racing has won the event many times, notably with Ayrton Senna in the first year of F3.