Theodore Racing

Theodore Racing(徳利賽車隊香港) was a Formula One constructor from Hong Kong founded by real estate magnate and millionaire Teddy Yip. They participated in 51 grands prix, entering a total of 64 cars. They scored 2 championship points.

History
In the early 1970s, amateur racer Yip met Sid Taylor and agreed to sponsor Vern Schuppan in Formula 5000. This led to Yip backing Schuppan in Formula 1 with Ensign in 1974. There followed further involvement in America with Schuppan and then support of Alan Jones in the US F5000 series in 1976. In Australia, Schuppan won the Rothmans International Series for Yip driving a Lola T332-Chevrolet in 1976. That year Yip established Theodore Racing. It was run by Taylor and entered an Ensign for Patrick Tambay in F1. After a difficult year in 1977, Yip commissioned Ron Tauranac to build him an F1 car. The car, called the Theodore TR1, was difficult and Eddie Cheever failed to qualify in both Brazil and Argentina but then Keke Rosberg took over and won the International Trophy at Silverstone in the wet, although he qualified for only one GP in South Africa. The car was abandoned in the mid-season. In the US, Yip supported Dan Gurney's Eagle team.

In 1979, Yip helped to fund Ensign but the car was not a success. The car was driven by Derek Daly, Patrick Gaillard, and Marc Surer but there were no points scored. At the end of the year Teddy also funded a British F1 programme with a Wolf WR6 for David Kennedy and helped Desiré Wilson to become the first woman to win a Formula 1 race – albeit a national event.

Yip bought the Shadow at the beginning of 1980, and Kennedy move to it, but the results was poor, the team was by then on its last legs, and in the mid-summer, Yip decided to retire the team and to rethink his involvement in racing and ended most of his other activities to concentrate on F1.

With Sid Taylor and Julian Randles he established Theodore Racing Ltd. and recruited Tony Southgate and team manager Jo Ramírez. The new car was dubbed the TY01 and was driven by Tambay at the start of 1981. In the mid-season Tambay was lured away by Ligier and Yip gave the drive to Marc Surer. The same car was developed in 1982 and it became obvious that small teams could not easily survive in the turbo era. Yip merged Theodore with Ensign and used the Nigel Bennett-designed Ensign N183 design as a Theodore. The team hired Johnny Cecotto and Roberto Guerrero but at the end of that season the team shut down and Mo Nunn moved to America, where he enjoyed great success as a race engineer through the 1980s and into the 1990s and eventually set up a successful team of his own in CART. 1983 also saw a guest drive in a Theodore by former Grand Prix driver Brian Henton at the non-championship 1983 Race of Champions where he finished a fine 4th, the highest a Theodore finished all season.

Yip had long since run a team each year at the Macau GP until the late 1980s and in 1983 was behind the switch from Formula Atlantic rules to Formula 3. The result was a huge success and Theodore Racing has won the event many times, notably with Ayrton Senna in the first year of F3.

On 23 October 2013 it was announced that the name Theodore Racing will be revived for the 2013 Macau Grand Prix to mark the 30th anniversary of Senna's victory in the Macau Grand Prix.

Indy cars
Theodore began participating in Indy cars in 1977 as a sponsor for the Simpson Sport team in the USAC National Championship starting off the season with a pair of McLaren M16C-[Offenhauser|Offenhausers]] for Simpson to drive as No. 38 and for Steve Krisiloff to drive as No. 39. At the season-opening Datsun Twin 200 at Ontario Motor Speedway with Simpson finishing in 9th and Krisiloff retiring due to clutch issues. Krisiloff would then leave the team. At the Indianapolis 500 Simpson would retire from driving and Formula One driver Clay Regazzoni would first drive the No. 38. The car was then destroyed in a practice crash by Regazzoni. Regazzoni would then manage to qualify the No. 39 in 29th place and would retire from the race with a fuel leak after 25 laps, finishing in 30th place. After Indianapolis Rick Mears would drive the car starting at the Schafer's 500 at Pocono International Raceway. Mears would get a best finish of 5th place at the Tony Bettenhausen 200 at Wisconsin State Fairgrounds Park Speedway. Mears would finish 20th in the final point standings. Theodore would return in 1979 to sponsor All American Racers in the SCCA/CART PPG World Series for # Eagle 79-Cosworth DFX driven by Mike Mosley. Mosley would get a best finish of 3rd place at the Indianapolis 500, where he would also set the fastest lap of the race. Mosley would finish 10th in points. In 1980 Theodore would return with AAR and Mosley. They would originally field the No. 48 Eagle 80-Cosworth DFX at the Datsun Twin 200 at Ontario Motor Speedway. In the race Mosley would retire in 19th place due to a broken cylinder. Starting at the Indianapolis 500 the team would replace the Cosworth engine with a Chevrolet V8. Mosley would qualify in 26th place and would retire after 5 laps due to a broken gasket, finishing in 32nd place. the Theodore/AAR team would appear again at the True Value 500 at Pocono International Raceway before parting ways. In the race Mosley would qualify in 4th place and would finish in 23rd place after retiring due to a burnt piston. Mosley would finish 41st in points. In 1981 Theodore would field their own car. They would first appear at the Indianapolis 500 (part of the USAC Gold Crown Series with the No. 33 Red Roof Inns McLaren M24-Cosworth DFX with Vern Schuppan driving. The car would qualify in 18th place and finish in 3rd place. The team would also show up at the Van Scoy Diamond Mines 500 at Pocono International Raceway. The car would start in 5th place and would retire in 17th place due to lost oil pressure. Schuppan would go on the finish 10th in the USAC standings. The team would also compete in the CART/PPG World Series, with Schuppan driving. The team would first show up at the Norton Michigan 500 at Michigan International Speedway finishing in 24th place due to a blown engine. The team would then partner with Thomas W. Barrett III for the AirCal 500K at Riverside International Raceway, the II Copa Mexico 150 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez and the Miller High Life 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. The team would replace the McLaren M24 with a March 81C for Riverside. Schuppan would get a best finish of 15th place at Phoenix and would finish 36th in points. At the 1982 Indianapolis 500 (counted toward the 1981–82 USAC Gold Crown Series) Theodore would field, with Bob Fletcher Racing a car for Desire Wilson, the No. 33 Eagle 81-Cosworth DFX. Wilson would fail to qualify. In 1983 Theodore would begin to supply factory-backed chassis for Tom Sneva and Kevin Cogan, fielded by Bignotti-Carter Racing. The chassis was practised by the two at the Indianapolis 500. Both would use a March 83C in the race, which Sneva won and Cogan finished in 5th place. Later in the season Cogan used the chassis with a Cosworth DFX at the Promi Veal 200 at Road America and the Escort Radar Warning 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Cogan would retire from Road America in 19th place due to an electrical problem and would finish 6th at Mid Ohio. Cogan would finish in 15th place in the final standings (most of the points were scored using a March chassis). The chassis would then get used by Ed Wachs Motor Sports for Jim Crawford. Crwaford would get a 4th place finish at the season-opening Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach. Crawford would then fail to qualify at the Indianapolis 500 and would start one other race, the Meadowlands Grand Prix at the Meadowlands Sports Complex, retiring in 21st place due to broken suspension. Crwaford would finish in 27th place in the final standings.

Complete Formula One results
1 Not entered as a Constructor.