Tyrrell 005

The Tyrrell 005 was the fifth car constructed by the Tyrrell Racing Organisation, and the first of the 'Mark II' design. Cars 002, 003 and 004 had all been functional copies of the original 001, only differing in details. 005 was from the same school of thought, but with the benefit of two years' experience and the use of a wind tunnel, an option not available in 1970. This was also the last model built by Tyrrell with only one chassis. Starting with the 006 series, the designation number would cover all chassis built to that design.

History[]

1972[]

The car was introduced to the press in May of 1972, in time to be shown to the sponsors at Monaco, but was never intended to run in that race. The debut was scheduled for Belgium, but with Jackie Stewart missing the race due to gastritis, the team decided to wait for his recovery. When Stewart returned in France, he decided to stick with his old 003 car, and let teammate François Cevert run 005. In the first session Cevert set a time that would have put him second on the grid, but soon after the car suddenly pitched into the guard rail under braking. Cevert suffered a wrist injury, and the car was too badly damaged to continue that weekend.

At Brands Hatch, the car had been repaired, and Stewart was at the helm. But after setting the fastest time of the session, the car went straight into the barrier at Druids, similar to the problem at France. The car was withdrawn from competition until further testing could find the problem, and the construction of the new 006 car was put on hold, too. A flaw in the rear suspension was finally located, and Stewart drove the car in Austria. But the car suffered from deteriorating handling, and after taking an early lead, Stewart fell to seventh at the flag. More testing revealed a similar, but not as severe, flaw in the front suspension, and after a modification the team went to Monza with optimism. But an attempt to use an extra-tall first gear in the new Monza chicanes backfired, as that configuration was never tested with a full fuel load, and the clutch broke with 100 meters of the start of the race.

Emerson Fittipaldi had clinched the 1972 title at Monza, so the Tyrrell team came to North America with the purpose of developing the cars for 1973. At Mosport they had the new 006 car, an updated copy of 005, for Cevert, but that weekend was seen as a testing trip for the new car. In the race, Stewart took the lead on lap four, and led by as much as a minute while taking a dominant victory, the first for the new design. The second was soon to come, as he recorded his final Grand Chelem, two weeks later in Watkins Glen. Cevert made it a Tyrrell 1-2 when he took the 006 to second in this race, and the team was very optimistic about 1973.

1973[]

The start of 1973 was not quite as successful. In Argentina and Brazil, both races were run under great heat. Stewart struggled with the tires, recording third in Argentina and second in Brazil. In South Africa, Stewart crashed the car after having a tire deflate in practice, requiring an overnight rebuild. He opted to take Cevert's 006 in the race, and would up winning the race in that car. Cevert was not classified after several pit stops for issues with the hasty rebuild.

When the teams returned to Europe, Tyrrell had a new car for Stewart, designated 006/2. 005 became the spare car, and was often seen in practice with experimental parts and bodywork. The car was not actually raced again until Canada, where it was a third entry, piloted by veteran driver Chris Amon. Amon finished 10th in Canada, driving with bodywork similar to the McLaren M23. At Watkins Glen, the car was withdrawn, along with the rest of the team, after the fatal accident of François Cevert.

1974[]

For 1974, the team was forced to press 005 back into service while the new model 007 was under construction. Stewart had retired from racing, and the new drivers were Jody Scheckter and Patrick Depailler, both with less than a full season's experience in F1. The two year old design, custom built for Stewart, proved to be a handful for the younger drivers. 005 was used by Depailler in the three southern races, recording finishes of sixth, eighth and fourth, before the car was retired for good.

After racing[]

005 was used in a display of Tyrrell cars for a number of years in the Donington Museum. The car was sold to a collector in the late 1980s, and has not been seen since.

Race Victories[]

Year	Event	Driver	Notes
1972	Canadian Grand Prix	Jackie Stewart
1972	United States Grand Prix	Jackie Stewart

Complete Formula One Results[]

Entreat	Tyre	Drivers	No.	1	2	3	6	7	9	10	11	12	14	15
1972
Elf Team Tyrrell	G	François Cevert					DNS
Elf Team Tyrrell	G	Jackie Stewart						DNS	7th	Ret	1st	1st
1973
Elf Team Tyrrell	G	Jackie Stewart		3rd	2nd
		François Cevert				NC
		Chris Amon											10th	WD
1974
Elf Team Tyrrell	G	Patrick Depailler	4	6th	8th	4th

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