Last Hurrah - 2002 Reynard 02S
Don't bite off more than what you can chew
Adrian Reynard founded Sabre Automotive Ltd. in 1973, and years later would go on to enjoy success racing at lower formulae such as Formula Ford and Formula 3000. Having quality cars and craftmanship, Adrian decided to make the jump into bigger series, taking IndyCar by storm on the mid-90's.
Eventually, Lola and other marques would end up wiping the renamed Reynard Motorsport out of the top steps. The team would later go on to develop well-known machinery such as the wildly successful Dodge Viper GTS-R and the quirky looking Panoz Esperante. Other projects included a gas turbine project in alliance with Chrysler, similar to the likes of the Howmet TX and the Rover-BRM, dubbed "Patriot". Just like the Howmet and Rover, it achieved nothing and unlike the other two, it didn't even race.
Wanting to expand business, Adrian bought out Riley & Scott, an American sport car manufacturer. Then, development on Reynard's latest car, dubbed the 02S, begun. Initially conceived as a successor to the duff 2KQ, a car that was plagued with problems, ranging from bad aero to a chassis that flexed under load.
Development started in early 2001 with some basic wind tunnel testing. A few months later the first 02S chassis had passed crash tests for both LMP675 and LMP900, effectively homologating it for both categories. After that, things started to go downhill for Reynard. Nearing 2002, the rate of development slowed down exponentially, to the point of completely stopping at some points. However, Adrian and his team went on, although at a slower pace to soften the financial blow of developing an all-new car.
Everything seemed to be smooth sailing for Reynard, until Reynard Motorsport went into receivership in March 2002. Soon after, a company by the name of International Racing Management bought intellectual property for the 02S project. By July they were back to completing the project, and assisted by Zytek engineering, the final bodywork design elements were finished in a matter of months.
Originally meant to be powered by a Lehmann-Volkswagen engine, issues with organization cut those chances, and plans of an externally sourced turbocharged inline-four were made, to no avail. Given Zytek owner Bill Gibson's close involvement with the project, a Zytek engine was deemed the only logical choice, and the ZG348 3.4L V8 belting out 540hp got placed into the finished car. A custom gearbox was commissioned to Ricardo, who set out in developing a fully pneumatic paddle shift unit, only used by Audi in their R8.
After the first shakedown of the car in Snetterton, the car was shipped to Japan in late September. Once in Japan and with more testing data the car was then forwarded across the world to Road Atlanta in time for the 2002 edition of the Petit Le Mans. Despite showing promising pace during testing, bad luck struck when a water pipe went bust, forcing the car to an early retirement. However, not everything was bad for IRM and Zytek, as Casper Elgard set the fastest times on a rain soaked circuit.
After the initial despair at Atlanta, John Nielsen bought the sole chassis and renamed it the DBA 03S, taking initials from Den Bla Avis, a Danish classifieds site that sponsored the team. Then, he enjoyed relative success in the 2003 FIA Championship. After that, two more chassis were built, and the 03S got sold to Oxford-based Creation Autosportif. There, it was raced for three years, from 2004 to 2006. As for the other two units, one was kept by Zytek, whereas the other one was sold to Jota Sport, raced with Zytek's help.
All in all, the Reynard 02S was a huge step-up from the blundering disaster that was the 2KQ. It was en route to be a promising car, one that looked like it could put up a challenge to Audi's dominant R8, but it simply wasn't meant to be. A risky financial decision, paired with all the money required to make a car from the ground up, proved to be too big a task for the small Reynard team. Unfortunately, it ended in heartbreak for everyone involved. Despite IRM and Zytek coming in to finish the project, it was to no avail, as neither the original product nor the three final derivatives proved to be successful.
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Comments (1)
Great read! Love articles like this