The 1990s are a special era in the Formula One if you look at the amount of teams that were interested to appear on the grid. Especially after the Turbo engines got banned and the atmospheric engine became the norm again it accelerate. We got new teams; Fondmetal, Forti, Life, Scuderia Italia and so on. However, the stories getting more interesting if you dive into those who were preparing their entry only to sideline their attempt and continue what they were doing.
One of these teams is the French Formula Project team that was successful in the French Formula 3 Championship. No, Formula Project was the team’s name!
Formula Project was established in 1989 by Emmanuel Luppé en Bruno Péquin located in Lessay. Their debut was in 1990 in the French Formula 3 Championship. They would win the championship with Éric Hélary. While Didier Cottaz won with Formula Project the championship in 1993. As the team became more successful, there were plans to boost their team to other championships. This idea arose in 1992 when Philippe Gache, one of their drivers, appeared on the entry list for the 1992 Indy 500. Gache entry was with Dick Simon Racing with support from Formula Project.
It seems to taste like more as Formula Project announced their intention to enter the IndyCar series in 1993 as a team, with high hopes and many dreams. Winning the Indy 500 in 1994 and winning the championship. This however never materialised it seems that they abandoned the plan in an early stage.
The IndyCars was not their only dream, they were also speculating to enter the Formula One before 1998. These talks emerged back to early 1991 when the team inaugurated their new factory in Lessay. Originally, they hoped that they could enter the Formula One in 1993, this turned later to debut before 1998 in the Formula One.
Sadly, Formula Project would not appear in the Formula One. It seems that the team left the Autosport via the backdoor at the end of the 1994 season.
