Embassy Hill

Embassy Racing With Graham Hill, commonly abbreviated to Embassy Hill, was a short-lived Formula One team started by two-time Formula One World Champion Graham Hill. The team debuted in with a customer Shadow DN1 car, and began racing as a constructor with its own chassis in . The team had limited success in three seasons of racing, but everything was cut short by the death of Hill, Tony Brise and some of the team's top personnel in the crash of a light aircraft in the autumn before the season. The team was sponsored by Imperial Tobacco's Embassy cigarette brand and ran under various names during its time.

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History

1972–1973

Embassy Racing With Graham Hill first came into being when Graham Hill decided to leave his previous team, Brabham, unhappy with the atmosphere there. He announced in late 1972 he was starting his own team, acting as owner and driver. Setting up shop in a warehouse based on an industrial estate in Hanworth, West London, Hill formed a small team of around 20 engineers and mechanics.
Securing sponsorship from Embassy, Hill started operating a team with cars purchased from Shadow. Things did not go well that year: the team's best finish was ninth at Zolder, being the last finisher among 9 cars (the former World Champion also started 23rd of 23 cars that race).

1974

The chassis for were bought from Lola, and designated as the Lola T370. Graham Hill drove throughout the season and scored a point at the 1974 Swedish Grand Prix, but this was to be the team's only point that season. The second car was driven by Guy Edwards, and later Peter Gethin and Rolf Stommelen.

1975

The T370 was still being used at the beginning of the season, until the team's new car was ready. The new car for 1975 was initially designated as the Lola T371, but when designer Andy Smallman left Lola to work full-time for Embassy Hill it was renamed the Hill GH1. Smallman's design drew heavily from the design of previous year's Lola cars.

Unfortunately, the second race of the GH1 at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix was marred by the collapse of Rolf Stommelen's rear wing mounting, which pitched his car into the crowd and killed four people. Stommelen was injured in the accident and did not return until the second half of the season. He had been leading the race comfortably before the crash.

After failing to qualify at the 1975 Monaco Grand Prix, a race he had won five times, Hill no longer drove the cars himself, and his driving role was taken over by Tony Brise. Brise, considered a rising star, finished sixth in the 1975 Swedish Grand Prix and qualified sixth for the 1975 Italian Grand Prix.

Alan Jones took over the second car for most of the races that Stommelen missed; Jones finished fifth place in the 1975 German Grand Prix.

François Migault and Vern Schuppan were also behind the wheel of the second Hill that year.

Hill GH2

The GH2 was the first Formula One car that Andy Smallman designed from scratch specifically for Graham Hill's team, and it was intended for use in the World Championship season. It was intended to replace the previous model, the Hill GH1, which had started life as the Lola T371. The GH2 used the ubiquitous Cosworth DFV engine, and featured a much smaller and streamlined chassis which resembled the Brabham BT44 and McLaren M23. Tony Brise began testing in the late summer of 1975 at Silverstone, and the times indicated the team could hope for a successful season. During the final test session at Paul Ricard in November 1975, the GH2 was performing well, being much faster than the GH1 and set up changes had made the car easy to drive. The test successful, the team packed up and flew back to England.

After the deaths of Graham Hill, Tony Brise, Andy Smallman and Ray Brimble on 29 November 1975, the GH2 project came to a halt. However, a GH2 was still built and is now in a British automobile museum.

Embassy Hill plane crash

On the evening of 29 November 1975 Graham Hill was piloting an Embassy Hill Piper Aztec light aircraft from France to London. His passengers were team manager Ray Brimble, team driver Tony Brise, designer Andy Smallman and mechanics Terry Richards and Tony Alcock. They were returning from Circuit Paul Ricard where they had been testing the Hill GH2 car being prepared for 1976. They were due to land at Elstree Airfield before onward travel to London to attend a party. Shortly before 10pm the plane hit trees beside a golf course at Arkley in thick fog. In the ensuing crash and fire everyone on board was killed.BBC
This day in history-- 1975: Graham Hill killed in air crash.
/ref>Graham Hill, 46, Retired Racer, In Fatal Crash Piloting His Plane. UPI News Service. 1 December 1975 (Monday
New York Times archive
/ref> As the team now only consisted of Allan Turner, the deputy team manager, and two mechanics it was impossible to continue. Most of the team's assets were purchased by Walter Wolf and merged with those of Hesketh Racing and Williams to form Wolf's new team.

File:HillGraham1966Aug.jpg, Graham Hill
File:Shadow DN1 (Hill) 2008 Goodwood.jpg, Hill's Shadow DN1 being demonstrated at the 2008 Goodwood Festival of Speed.
File:Haynes International Motor Museum - IMG 1496 - Flickr - Adam Woodford.jpg, The Lola T370 of the 1974 season displayed at Haynes International Motor Museum
File:011 9tes ATM Unter der Bavaria - Oldtimertreffen auf der Theresienwiese Hill GH2 Formel I.JPG, The Hill GH2
File:Graham Hill 1974 British GP.jpg, Hill driving the Lola T370 at the 1974 British Grand Prix

Complete Formula One results

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Formula One Non-Championship results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

See also

* List of accidents involving sports teams

References

{{Formula One constructors

Formula One constructors
Formula One entrants
British auto racing teams
British racecar constructors
Auto racing teams established in 1973
Auto racing teams disestablished in 1975
1973 establishments in the United Kingdom
1975 disestablishments in the United Kingdom