Simtek was an engineering consultancy firm and Formula One racing team.
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12 Facts About Simtek
2.
The Formula One engineering consultancy arm, Simtek Research, was founded in 1989 by Max Mosley and Nick Wirth.
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3.
Simtek Research was founded in August 1989 by Nick Wirth and Max Mosley aiming to provide a cost-effective design, research and development service to the highest possible standards.
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4.
Simtek's clients included the FIA, F1 constructors Ligier and numerous Formula 3000 and Indycar teams.
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5.
In 1990 Simtek designed a Formula One car for BMW who were making plans to found a works team.
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6.
In 1993, Simtek were commissioned to design a car for the new Bravo Grand Prix team, but the plans were scrapped after the sudden death of Bravo's project backer, Jean Francois Mosnier.
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7.
However, active suspension was banned prior to the start of the 1994 season, and so Simtek were forced to revert to a more conservative design, named the S941.
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8.
Simtek's death was the first at a Grand Prix weekend in 12 years.
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9.
Brabham's decision to continue racing, in part resulted in Simtek making a collective decision to continue racing and "For Roland" was painted on the airbox of the car, to show their reason for continuing.
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10.
Simtek finished the race ninth, the team's best finish of the season, in part down to high attrition but finishing ahead of Mark Blundell's Tyrrell which was still running.
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11.
Simtek was replaced for the penultimate round in Japan by another pay driver Taki Inoue, but his race ended after three laps when he crashed into the pit wall.
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12.
Simtek was replaced by Jos Verstappen, who was seeking more experience after an incident-filled season at Benetton in 1994.
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