Gordon Coppuck

Last updated

Gordon Coppuck
Born (1936-12-08) 8 December 1936 (age 86)
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s) Motorsport engineer and designer
Known for Formula One; (March, McLaren, Spirit)
Notable workCo-founder Spirit Racing

Gordon Coppuck (born 8 December 1936 in Fleet, Hampshire) [1] is a British racing car designer who was chief designer for McLaren and later worked for March and co-founded Spirit.

Born in December 1936, he attended Queen Mary's School for Boys before becoming an apprentice at the National Gas Turbine Establishment (NGTE). [2] In 1965 he followed his ex NGTE colleague Robin Herd to McLaren, working as his assistant. [3] In 1971 he became chief designer at McLaren, responsible for various models including the Indianapolis 500 M16 and world championship winning M23. [3] When McLaren merged with Ron Dennis's Project Four in 1980, Coppuck departed, rejoining Herd at March. [3] The following year he founded Spirit with March's Formula Two team manager John Wickham. [3] Spirit raced in Formula Two and then Formula One before Coppuck returned to March. [3] [4] Coppuck's nephew Frank Coppuck is also a racing car designer. [3]

Related Research Articles

McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team and the second most successful Formula One team after Ferrari, having won 183 races, 12 Drivers' Championships and 8 Constructors' Championships. McLaren also has a history of competing in American open wheel racing, as both an entrant and a chassis constructor, and has won the Canadian-American Challenge Cup (Can-Am) sports car racing championship. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team.

Ian Gordon Murray, is a South African-British designer of Formula One racing cars for Brabham and McLaren and the McLaren F1 high-performance road car. Founder and CEO of Gordon Murray Design and Gordon Murray Automotive he has subsequently designed and built a number of sports cars and a variety of other automotive vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Barnard</span> British engineer and car designer (born 1946)

John Edward Barnard, is an English engineer and racing car designer. Barnard is credited with the introduction of two new designs into Formula One: the carbon fibre composite chassis first seen in 1981 with McLaren, and the semi-automatic gearbox which he introduced with Ferrari in 1989.

Spirit Racing was a racing car constructor and racing team from the United Kingdom. Founded in 1981, it participated in the 1982 European Formula Two Championship, moved to Formula One in 1983, then competing in the 1988 F3000 season before finally folding at the end of that year. In 26 F1 races, its best finish was seventh at the 1983 Dutch Grand Prix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Newey</span> British engineer and car designer (born 1958)

Adrian Martin Newey, is a British Formula One engineer. He is the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing F1 team. Newey has worked in both Formula One and IndyCar racing as a race engineer, aerodynamicist, designer and technical director and enjoyed success in both categories.

Neil Oatley is a British design and development director in Formula One teams.

Nikolas Tombazis is a racing car designer who has worked in Formula One since 1992 for the Benetton, McLaren, and Ferrari teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren M26</span>

The McLaren M26 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Coppuck for the McLaren team, to replace the aging McLaren M23 model. The car was designed to be a lighter and lower car than its predecessor, with a smaller frontal area and narrower monocoque. Coppuck began design work in early 1976, with a view to introducing the car in the mid season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren M2B</span> 1966 Formula One racing car by McLaren

The McLaren M2B was the McLaren team's first Formula One racing car, used during the 1966 season. It was conceived in 1965 and preceded by the M2A development car. Designed by Robin Herd, the innovative but problematic Mallite material was used in its construction. The car was powered by Ford and Serenissima engines but both lacked power and suffered from reliability issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McLaren M7A</span> Formula One racing car

The McLaren M7A and its M7B, M7C and M7D variants were Formula One racing cars, built by McLaren and used in the world championship between 1968 and 1971. After two relatively unsuccessful years of Formula One competition, the M7A was used to score McLaren's first win at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix.

Frank Coppuck is a British engineer and racing car designer, who helped design the Pacific PR01 and PR02 Formula One cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pat Fry</span> British motorsports engineer (born 1964)

Patrick Fry is a British motorsports engineer. Primarily working in Formula One, he has previously held positions with the Alpine, McLaren, Ferrari, Manor Racing, and Benetton teams. As of 2023, Fry is the Chief Technical Officer for Williams Grand Prix Engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Herd</span> English engineer, designer, and businessman (1939–2019)

Robert John "Robin" Herd was an English engineer, designer and businessman.

Stephen Anderson Nichols is an American engineer who is best known as a car designer for many Formula One teams from the mid-1980s until 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penske PC1</span>

The Penske PC1 was a Formula One racing car developed and raced by Penske Racing during the 1974 and 1975 Formula One seasons. The car was designed by Geoff Ferris, and was raced by drivers Mark Donohue and John Watson. The PC1 entered and competed in 12 Grands Prix, and was replaced by the Penske PC3 in the 1976 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spirit 101</span>

The Spirit 101 was a Formula One car for the 1984 and 1985 Formula One seasons. The car was designed by Gordon Coppuck and Tim Wright.

Ralph Bellamy is an Australian retired motor racing car designer and engineer. He worked for various teams such as Brabham, Ensign, Fittipaldi, Lola and McLaren.

Luca Furbatto is an Italian Formula One engineer. He is currently the engineering director at the Aston Martin Formula One team.

Simon Roberts is an engineer who has held management positions with Formula One teams McLaren, Force India and Williams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">March 811</span> Formula One car

The March 811 is a Formula One car built by March Engineering and used by RAM Racing in the 1981 Formula One World Championship. Designed by Robin Herd, Gordon Coppuck, and Adrian Reynard, it was powered by the traditional 3.0 L (180 cu in) Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine. It initially used Michelin tyres, but eventually switched to Avon tyres at the 1981 French Grand Prix. It was March's first Formula One car since 1977.

References

  1. "Team Bosses: Gordon Coppuck". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  2. Nye, Doug (1988) [1984]. McLaren: The Grand Prix, Can-Am and Indy Cars (New ed.). Guild Publishing. p. 54. ISBN   0-905138-54-6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "PEOPLE: GORDON COPPUCK". grandprix.com. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  4. "CONSTRUCTORS: SPIRIT RACING". grandprix.com. Retrieved 17 May 2010.