The COAT - Round Two - McLaren MP4/2 vs Jordan 191

[crmalcolm]

The eleventh match in Round Two, and we have the McLaren MP4/2 up against the Jordan 191.

The McLaren was victorious in a 3-way in the first round against the Arrows A2 and ERA B-Type 3-0-1, whilst the Jordan took a tie-break win after a 5-5 result up against the Tyrrell 003.

McLaren MP4/2 (goodwood.com):
The McLaren MP4/2 is probably John Barnard’s masterpiece, even though he designed some pretty incredible Ferrari machinery later in his career. The MP4/2 won on its debut in 1984, added another 11 wins that season, six the following year and two more in 1986. On the way it secured two Constructors’ titles, and a Drivers’ crown for Niki Lauda (his third and final) and two for Alain Prost (his first two of four). Following on from the MP4/1’s innovative all-carbon chassis, the MP4/2 added a TAG-badged, in house financed, and Porsche-built turbocharged V6 to the mix. Combined it became a car so hard to beat, that at times the rest of the field would struggle to remain even on the same lap.

Amazingly the MP4/2 was actually pretty rubbish in qualifying trim, mostly because McLaren – financing their own engines – refused to run specific qualifying motors, when the rest of the competition did. Teams like Brabham were heading into qualifying with short-life BMW engines with the boost turned up to well over 1,500PS (1,100kW). But come race day, the McLaren was the car to beat. It wouldn’t be until Williams turned up with Honda power in 1986, that McLaren’s big Malboro-liveried beast would fall, and even then, thanks to the tenacity of Prost the MP4/2 still took the Drivers’ title one more time.

Jordan 191 (formula1.com):
The Jordan 191 is regarded as one of the most beautiful Formula 1 cars of all time, and whether or not you agree with that assessment, it’s undeniable that it is a thing of beauty.

That tall, narrow rear-wing overlooks a number of stunning details from designer Gary Anderson: those side air-intakes are flared towards the back of the car to reveal a drooping rear diffuser, while the airbox is oh-so-coolly swept forward like a wave. The front nose then curves towards a unique front wing design.

Naked carbon fibre adorned the car in testing form, before 7UP made a last-minute decision to sponsor the team – thus dressing the 191 in one of F1’s most famous liveries.

It was capable, but didn’t quite deliver on track, with Andrea de Cesaris twice taking the car to a best finish of P4 and Bertrand Gachot unceremoniously bowing out, mid-season, to give Michael Schumacher his F1 debut.

[S griffin]

Has to be the MP4/2. Just think had Lauda not pressured McLaren, through Marlboro, to bring out the TAG Porsche turbo before the end of 83, it probably wouldn’t have been a forgone conclusion in 84