Ron Dennis and the Tag – Porsche project

From next year the Turbo engines will return, alongside the naturally aspirated ones, thus creating greater spectacle during the races, while in recent years the teams were mainly focused on the aerodynamic aspect of the single-seaters. The absolute first of these engines was at the end of the 70s thanks to the French Renault group which persevered in its project and then managed to achieve many successes in the 80s and demonstrated the reliability of these engines: the race for research into supercharged engines.

And so all the teams equipped themselves with these engines except McLaren, which was equipped with the reliable 3-litre naturally aspirated Cosworth engines but unable to compete with its rivals fitted with turbines. When the company was purchased by Ron Dennis in 1980, he continued with the use of aspirated engines, not fearing the smaller turbo engines (1500 cm³). In the first part of the 1983 season, the largest in engine capacity dominated without any major difficulties and McLaren scored points many times, even achieving a one-two in Long Beach with John Watson first and Lauda second starting from the back of the grid. But in the second part all the exuberance of the new engines came out and Ron Dennis tried to take cover by looking for someone who was willing to give him turbo engines, receiving only negative responses since all the major manufacturers were already busy with the other manufacturers , while Cosworth had no intention of abandoning the path already undertaken. What to do?

In a short time the English company set up a project that was impossible to implement in such a short time and this was due to the entry of Mansur Ojjeh as a shareholder of the group, owner of TAG, a well-known company specialized in the production of chronographs. Having received the financing, we turned to the Stuttgart company, Porsche, which was not willing to return to the top flight after the inconclusive seasons of the 60s but, given the large sum of money and the strange project, accepted the challenge. The entire program was placed in the hands of Hans Metzger, a German engineer, who took as a basis the turbo engines of the major manufacturers, which had a V-shaped architecture of 6 cylinders but not of 90° as he would have liked but of 80 °, at the suggestion of John Barnard, the then chief designer of McLaren. This ensured the chassis designers could make better use of the aerodynamic surface, significantly increasing the stability of the car at the rear: the TTE PO1 design seemed to work. Having carried out the first tests by Lauda himself, the Dennis-Barnard duo had established the debut of the engine at the beginning of the following season, but Lauda objected, judging this to be late:

“The 1983 GP season was in fact dominated by turbo cars (BMW, Renault, Ferrari) and McLaren was never in the running. I insisted on rapid use of the new engine to use the remainder of the unsuccessful season on a trial basis. Barnard objected, because he did not want to mount a compromise car for 1983, but rather field a completely new car in 1984. This corresponded to his perfectionism and his all-encompassing needs and used all his obstinacy to get his point across. He went so far as to stage one of his displays of smug self-assurance, typical of the genius technician who is alien to the world around him. I was sour and angry, because I understood that we were making a huge mistake. It's true that in 1984 we would have made our appearance with a great and completely new car, but we would have wasted half a season to identify childhood illnesses and in that way we could even forget about the world title. John Barnard held firm, stubborn as a mule and, therefore, I had no choice but to quietly fiddle and intrigue with Marlboro. I flew to Lausanne and submitted to the director in charge a picture of the situation as I saw it. As a result, Marlboro put pressure on Ron Dennis, which was perfectly possible under the contract. So much money was at stake that Ron was forced to surrender and, above all, John was forced to surrender too.”

This will damage the pilot's relationship with the entire group. In 1984 Dennis completed the series of coups by purchasing Prost, who had recently been dropped by Renault for reasons of incompatibility: it would only be the beginning of a winning streak.

In fact, in 1984 McLaren decisively dominated the championship, winning the drivers' championship with Lauda, ​​followed by half a point by Prost, also winning the constructors' championship. However, the engine was not the most powerful of the group, producing 715 hp in the race and 800 hp in qualifying (at a speed of 11.200 rpm). The strong point of the car was that it integrated perfectly with the chassis supplied by Hercules, a well-known aerospace company, making both driving and setting up the car simple. In 1985 Prost won the drivers' championship and McLaren won the constructors' championship again, again with the same engine, but with a double turbocharger capable of 850 hp in the race at 11.000 rpm. In 1986 he found a tough rival: the Honda V6 which proved to be superior on most occasions and only due to a series of fortuitous coincidences did Prost win the world title back. 1987 was the last year of this engine: with the arrival of Senna the English company obtained the Japanese engines, now on the wave of success.

The V6 TAG was transformed into a helicopter engine and a copy of it can still be admired in the Porsche museum in Stuttgart. It is worth remembering how it allowed the MP4/2 to establish a record of 12 victories in 16 GPs contested, erasing that of the legendary Lotus 79. This is not just the story of an engine, but of many men who committed themselves body and soul to their project despite adversity and in a short time they managed to realize a dream that seemed unachievable.

Andrea Villa