Richard Divila

Ricardo Ramsey "Richard" Divila (30 May 1945 – 25 April 2020)[1] was a Brazilian motorsports designer.[2] He worked in Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Three, Formula 3000 and sports car racing.

The Fittipaldi FD01, Divila's first F1 car, seen here restored and driven by its original pilot, Wilson Fittipaldi.
The Fittipaldi FD04 was Divila's last design for Fittipaldi. It is seen here during the 1976 season with two-time world champion Emerson Fittipaldi at the wheel.

Life and career

Divila was born in São Paulo. He had a very close relationship with Wilson and Emerson Fittipaldi. He started by designing Formula Vee and various sports cars for them in Brazil in the 1960s. When the brothers established the Fittipaldi Automotive team in Formula One he became the technical director and designed the team's first three cars. These three cars had the name "FD" based on Fittipaldi's "F" and Divila's "D" like the Brabham's "BT" (Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac). He remained with the team until it closed down in 1982.

Afterwards, he worked for many teams in many categories - in particular with Ligier in Formula One and with Nissan in various sports car series. Between 1988 and 1989 he designed a Formula One car for Lamberto Leoni, a former F1 driver who intended to enter his FIRST GP team in the 1989 championship. Although the team had contracts with Judd and Pirelli as engine and tyre suppliers, and with Gabriele Tarquini as a driver, the team did not race that year. It was Divila's last chance to see an F1 car designed by him racing, especially as his designs were altered to become the L190 run by the short-lived Life Racing Engines.

From the 1990s, he worked for some Japanese racing teams such as Nismo, SARD, and Dome.

He died in France, aged 74.

References
  1. "Richard Divila". oldracingcars.com. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  2. Teaters, Matthew (2009-03-06). Formula One Famous Failures. Trafford Publishing. pp. 62–. ISBN 9781425185282. Retrieved 16 January 2013.


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