Let’s take you back to 1988. The year that the Turbo engines became obsolete and the atmospheric engines returned on the grid. The reason was simple; the sport became too expensive because of the turbo engines. By banning the engines, the sport became less expensive and more lucrative for new teams who saw the opportunities. One of these teams was Rial Racing from Günter Schmid, who previously was active in the sport with his ATS team with some success. Success was there again in 1988 with Andrea de Cesaris in their ARC01, the last single-entry team that would score points.
A bit background information. Günter Schmid entered the Formula One with ATS back in 1977 first with the Penske designed car PC4. From 1978 onwards with their own design. The team debuted in the 1977 West USA Grand Prix at Long Beach where Jarier managed to score a point by finishing sixth! After a couple of years, Schmid pulled the plug out of ATS after the 1984 season. Interestingly, the package for 1985 looked promising for the team.
While ATS left, the Formula One never left Günter Schmid and he returned in 1988 back in the sport with RIAL Racing. Rial, like ATS, is an alloy wheels manufacturer also established by Günther. While most teams appeared with two cars on the grid, RIAL appeared with just one car on the grid. The ARC01, designed by Gustav Brunner based on his Ferrari F1/87 design therefore nicknamed “the blue Ferrari”.
The Brazilian Grand Prix was the décor for the first Grand Prix of the season. Andrea de Cesaris managed to qualify the ARC01 as 14th (In 1988, pre-qualifying didn’t exist yet). During the race, he drove for a while on P6 in the race, though had to retire due to engine troubles. The reliability of the ARC01 was poor. Andrea de Cesaris was only classified in five races. Two of these races Andrea did not finish the race as the fuel ran out. The ARC01 had the smallest fuel tank.
There was one race however where everything was “perfect” for the team. The insane Detroit Grand Prix of 1988. Andrea qualified his Rial as twelfth just behind late Philippe Streiff’s AGS. While Andrea was known for his driving style and nicknamed “de Crasheris” he managed to keep cool during the Grand Prix. While many drivers retired during the race mainly due to malfunction of the cars and collisions, he continued smoothly to P4 in the race! The fourth place gave RIAL Racing their first points of the season. Back then, it meant just three points. It would also be the last time a single-entry team managed to score points.
In 1989 RIAL Racing entered two cars on the grid. However, there were still teams on the grid with just one entry. Like EuroBrun (failed to qualify for any race), FIRST (Withdrew from Brazil and only returned as Life on the grid in 1990). Until 1992, there were single-entry teams on the grid with Fondmetal performing the best in 1991. When they finished 10th in Belgium.
