Shannon Racing


Shannon Racing, or the Shannon Racing Team, was a short-lived motorsport team that was briefly involved with the Forti Formula One team during the season. It was owned by a parent company known as FinFirst. Both entities were registered in the Republic of Ireland, but funded by Italian backers.

Career

Shannon established an International Formula 3000 team in 1996, running drivers Tom Kristensen and Luca Rangoni, and was also active in Formula Three. Kristensen took a pole position and fastest lap in the F3000 team's second race, but the campaign was cut short as Shannon entered Formula One part-way through the season.
The team was known to be keen to move up to F1, and was expected to enter the season, but instead chose to buy 51% of the financially struggling Forti team prior to the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix. The deal resulted in the Forti cars switching from a yellow to a green, white and red livery. The deal, however, fell through and resulted in a dispute between Shannon and Guido Forti over ownership of the team, with Forti alleging non-payment. The case went to court and resulted in the team running out of money and withdrawing from Formula One, meaning that Shannon's eventual victory was essentially meaningless. By the end of the season, the teams run by Shannon in other formulae had also ceased to exist.

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

YearChassisEngineTyresDrivers12345678910TCPoints
1996Lola T96/50Zytek-JuddNURPAUPERHOCSILSPAMAGESTMUGHOC10th4
1996Lola T96/50Zytek-JuddTom Kristensen4Ret10th4
1996Lola T96/50Zytek-JuddLuca Rangoni610th4

Complete Formula One results (as owner of Forti)

YearEntrantChassisEngineTyresDrivers12345678910111213141516PointsWCC
1996Forti Grand PrixForti FG03Ford Zetec-R V8AUSBRAARGEURSMRMONESPCANFRAGBRGERHUNBELITAPORJPN0NC
1996Forti Grand PrixForti FG03Ford Zetec-R V8Luca BadoerDNQRetRetDNQDNP0NC
1996Forti Grand PrixForti FG03Ford Zetec-R V8Andrea MonterminiDNQRetRetDNQDNP0NC