Goodbye to Ted Toleman, the man who launched Senna in F1

Disappearance

It went off at 86 years old after a long illness Norman Edward 'Ted' Toleman, British manager who entered the history of Formula 1 for having bet on a young Brazilian driver who would later write a real feat behind the wheel of one of his single-seaters: Ayrton Senna da Silva. Yet, even before this great chapter, his namesake team was far from the world of racing.

The early years

Born in South Africa in 1938Toleman began to deal with what was then a company founded by his father Albert engaged in the world of transport, particularly with the distribution of Ford cars in Great Britain. Having achieved good economic solidity, Toleman progressively approached the world ofsports car racing first with his father's participation in rally races, and subsequently with Ted's plan, together with his brother Bob, to increasingly enter the world of competitions.

The birth of Toleman

So it was that in 1977 Ted officially founded the Toleman team, despite the pain of his brother's death in a Formula Ford race. The following year there was a leap in quality Formula 2, first with March chassis. However, in 1979, Toleman decided to build the single-seaters in total autonomy, to the point of dominating the 1980 season. A triumph that pushed Ted Toleman to make the great decision for the 1981: that ofdebut in Formula 1. The dream was thus realized thanks to agreements with the FIA ​​and FISA, but the first year in the top series was nothing short of disastrous: having an unreliable single-seater with a lack of power, the team only qualified for two GPs, one of which in Monza. Performance was slightly better in 1982, with Derek Warwick who managed to set the fastest lap in Holland. The same driver, and in the same GP, also scored the team's first points along with other good placings the following year, but Toleman only made history in 1984.

Senna's miracle and exit from the scene

Ted Toleman hired the rising Brazilian star as his first driver Ayrton Senna, who helped write the team's best chapter in F1. Initially the author of two sixth places, the future three-time world champion came close to victory in Monte Carlo GP under a real downpour. Author of a memorable comeback, in which he gave more experienced drivers a hard time, Senna finished in the exhaustion of the McLaren of Alain Prost, who signaled to the stewards that the race would have to be stopped due to the conditions. Shortly before the potential overtaking, the race was in fact suspended (not without some controversy over the decision), thus denying Senna the opportunity for victory. In any case, the Brazilian gave Toleman the first podium of its history with a surprising 2nd placethen obtaining a third position in England and Portugal. In the 1985 the Brazilian then moved to Lotus, all while Toleman returned to its period of crisis in results. That very season, in fact, was the team's last in F1 before sale to Benetton, who would later write other works. Also involved in off-shore categories, Ted Toleman was the author of a book, also competing in one edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and three Paris-Dakar races. Married in the Philippines, he lived the last years of his life here.