1979 Ralt RT1 F2

Ron Tauranac sold his interest in Brabham to Bernie Eccleston and formed his own company named RALT with the intent of producing single-seater racing cars. The name 'RALT' was created after Ron and Austin Lewis Tauranac. Austin Lewis is the brother of Ron.

In 1975, Ralt began competing in Formula Atlantic competition with their RT-1. The car was also used in Formula Two and Formula Three competitions between 1975 and 1978. The RT1 competed in Formula Atlantic competition for many years, amassing 15 Championships. The only other marque to come close to that record is Swift who has won 8 Championships.

In 1979, Tom Glory drove an RT1 to its first Formula Atlantic Championship.

In 1979 the team created the RT2 which was designed for Formula Two competition. Three cars were constructed for the Toleman team; later, three more were constructed for privateers. One of the RT2 cars created was designed for CanAm competition.

The RT3 was a derivative of the RT2 and was created for Formula 3 competition. The RT4 was based on the RT2 and competed mostly in Formula Atlantic competition. The RT5 was a Formula Super Vee car similar in design to the RT3 and derived from the RT2. By this point in history, there were many Super Vee builders such as Royale, Anson, Lola, and Zink - to name but a few. The field of builders soon dwindled when RALT introduced its RT-5 in 1980. The series would continue until 1990, but every year except 1986 was won by a RALT RT-5. 1986 was won by Didier Theys in a Martini.

The RT-5 RALT had an aluminum monocoque chassis, fiberglass bodywork, and a wheelbase that measured 99.5 inches and weighed 1075 lbs. The cars were fitted with full ground effects with air foils. The engine displaced 1588cc and produced 180 horsepower. Mated to the engine was a Hewland 5-speed sequential gearbox. The cars were very modern and incorporated electronic control systems.

Production of the RT-5 continued until 1988; during that year only three examples were made. Those three were given a unique front suspension that had the springs and shocks positioned above the driver's knees. The system was very effective and many earlier RT-5 models were updated to this specification.

RALT cars continued to be constructed for the Formula series, including Formula 3000 and Formula 3, until the 1990s. Tauranac sold the company to March.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jul 2008

Company History

The first Ralt - RT1 was made ready for the 1975 season. It was a simple car designed to race in Formula 2, Formula 3 and Formula Atlantic. In 1975 came the first success - European Formula 3 Title for Larry Perkins. 1976 was the year when the first Formula 2 win was scored by Freddy Kottulinsky at Nurburgring and Ralt won the German Formula 3 Championship. More titles came in 1977 with the Italian and the Swedish Formula 3 Championships being added to the Ralt name. In 1978 Ralt drivers won the two British Formula 3 championships as well as the German, Swedish and the European crown in that category. One of the British Formula 3 Champions was Nelson Piquet in Ralt RT1. More championships went to Ralt in 1979 and 1980 in Formula 3, Formula Atlantic and Super Vee.

1980 saw the introduction of the new highly successful Ralt Formula 3 model - RT3. 1981 was the year in which Ralt won its first European Formula 2 title. A success that it achieved again in1983 and 1984. All through the 1980s Ralt dominated Formula 3, Formula Atlantic and Super Vee winning many championships around the globe. In 1983 the British Formula 3 Championship was won by Ayrton Senna driving a Ralt RT3. His success was repeated by Mika Hakkinen in 1990 with a Ralt RT34 and Rubens Barrichello in 1991 with a Ralt RT35. From 1992 until 1997 Ralt enjoyed total domination in the ÚS Formula Atlantic series with RT40 and RT41 models and that was only stopped after a change in the regulations turned Formula Atlantic into a one-make championship with the exclusive supply of the cars given to an American manufacturer.

At the end of 1997 Ralt started work on a new Formula 3 car project. The car was built in 1998 and tested throughout 1999. In year 2000 the Ralt F3/2000 took part in the newly organized ÚS Formula 3 Championship, it was the only Ralt in the series and it was on pole position for its first race and it also won the series.

In 2001 the decision was taken to continue in Formula 3 and that necessitated building an all-new car for the next three years (2002-2005). This resulted in our current model - F303.

Source - RALT Engineering LTD