Tecno

F3 cars at the Bologna factory.

The driving force behind Tecno were the Pederzani brothers, Luciano and Gianfranco, famous for their karts which they first produced in 1961, they were soon winning including taking the World Championship four times in succession between 1963 and 1966. In 1964 they produced their first single seater, a Formula 4 powered by a Ducati 250cc engine and in 1966 they produced their first F3 car. Over the next few years Tecno sold a lot of cars especially in Italy and France and in 1968 won almost half of all International races, success continued in 1969 in both F3 and F2 but began to tail off in 1970. By 1971 there were only a couple of victories and most F3 cars were raced in the Italian domestic series as F1 took all of Tecno's time, their efforts in Grand Prix racing in 1972/73 proving a total disaster that led to the company withdrawing from single seater racing.

Mugello 1967, Carlo Facetti at the wheel.

The first F3 car was based on Tecno's karting experience, it was a spaceframe design with the driver sitting far forward between the front wheels. Front and rear suspension was double wishbones and outboard springs/dampers, in addition there were twin radius rods at the rear. Unusually the fuel sat in a tank in the centre of the car, a Cosworth engine was fitted. The car first appeared at Mugello and finished fourth despite braking and damper problems. However the car never handled properly possibly as a result of the fuel tank/driver positioning.

Facetti again during the Temporada series using the early season central fuel tank car.

Initially Tecno persevered with a modified version of their central fuel tank car and a couple of experimental tubs were built early on in the year. In March they soon produced a much more normal car that used the same suspension as the previous years car but used a conventional tub design. The wheelbase was very short and the whole package was neat and small, the car was quick in a straight line and now went round the corners properly. At the end of the year Clay Regazzoni scored Tecno's first international win in Spain.

Reine Wisell opposite locking his way round Jarama.

The 1968 car was almost identical to the 1967 car and with nearly a season's development behind it this was the car to have in Europe. By the end of the season Tecno had won no less than 32 of the season's 65 major F3 races. So popular was the car that Tecno built over 50 during the year.

Jean Pierre Jaussaud in a Tecno 69 at
Brands Hatch.

Once again the 1969 car was virtually identical to the previous year's car, the major change was to make the steering lighter to use, otherwise it was just a case of improving minor details. Although the design was beginning to show its age its virtues of aerodynamic efficiency and controllability (once the driver had got the hang of it) meant it retained its popularity. Once again the car took 30 major wins with Ronnie Peterson taking no less than 15 himself.

Giovanni Salvati winning at Hockenheim in his
Tecno 70.

Yet again changes were minimal for 1970, smaller brake calipers were fitted to reduce brake disc distortion and there was the option of a strengthened rollover hoop which apparently made engine changing a bit of a chore. The bag tanks were mounted in special flared side pontoons and on occasions a full-width nose cone, based on the F2 design, was fitted There were still plenty of wins but Lotus, Brabham and Chevron were fighting back and results were more equally spread around.

This is Claudio Francisci at Interlagos in the Temporada series. The championship was still
being run to the 1-litre formula rules.

The works model, the TF71/3, was driven by Christian Ethuin but the wins dried up, the team were concentrating on F2 and more importantly F1. There were still plenty of privateers but they found it harder and harder to compete with the latest cars from the other manufacturers. This was the last year that Tecno produced any F3 cars.

Drivers

*1966*	TF/66 Pino Babbini, Giancarlo Baghetti, Carlo Facetti.

*1967*	TF/67 Ernesto Brambilla, Silvio Moser, Boley Pittard, Clay Regazzoni. TF/66 Carlo Facetti, Rosadele Facetti. ? Mauro Nesti.

*1968*	68 Pino Babbini, Mike Beckwith, Dieter Bentz, Franco Bernabei, Giuseppe Bianchi, François Cévert, François Chevalier, Chris Craft, "Droopy", "Dubis", Franco Galli, Cliff Haworth, Jean -Pierre Jaussaud, Gijs van Lennep, Demetrio Martino, François Mazet, Peter de Meritt, Manfred Möhr, Maurizio Montagnani, Mauro Nesti, Brian Newton, Luciano Nocca, Ronnie Peterson, Pino Pica, Clay Regazzoni, Rolf Scheel, Jean-Claude Véron, Reine Wisell.

*1969*	69 Bernhard Baur, Jean Blanc, M. Campanini, George Crenier, Jürg Dubler, Alain Franceschi, Giancarlo Gagliardi, Peter Gaydon, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, Mike Keens, Lars Lindburg, Freddy Link, François Mazet, Mauro Montagnani, Ronnie Peterson, Gianluigi Picchi, Bernard Plaisance, Jonas Qvarnstrom, Giuseppi Salvati, Renfold Unold. 68 Pino Babbini, L. Battisatello, Bernhard Baur, Giuseppi Bianchi, Patrick Champin, Giancarlo Gagliardi, "Gero", Egert Haglund, Cliff Haworth, Jean-Pierre Jarier, G. Tommasi, Vitturio Venturi, Ole Vejlund Philippe Vidal. 67 Graham Goodman, Peter de Merritt. ? Pablo Brea.

*1970*	70 Pino Babbini, "Gero", Jean-Pierre Jarier, Jean Max, Peter de Merritt, François Migault, Giovanni Salvati. 69 Jean-Pierre Cassegrain, George Crenier, Wilhelm Geiss, Mike Keens, Freddy Link, Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, Jean Johansson, Lionel Noghes, Rolf Skohag. 68 Giuseppi Bianchi, Max Bonnin, Alain Franceschi, Jean-Claude Guenard, Freddy Link, Fabrizio Noe, Hermann Unold.

*1971*	70/2 Claudio Francisci. 70 François Migault, Giovanni Salvati. 69 Mike Keens. ? Pino Babbini, Jean Blanc, "Canale", Christian Ethuin, Luigi Fontanesi, Wilhelm Geiss, Carlo Giorgio, Gérard Gourdon, Roberto Marazzi, Marcel Morel, Giancarlo Naddeo, René Scalais, Utz Schad, Armand Truffo, Vittorio Venturi.

*1972*	? Georges Ansermoz, Alceste Bodini, Georges Crenier, Falmini, Luigi Fontanesi, Carlo Giorgio, Roberto Manzoni, Dominique Martin, Libero Pesce, "Pibo", Wilfried Schmitz.

*1973*	? Georges Ansermoz, Alceste Bodini, Walter Neubauer.

*1974*	? Alceste Bodini, Walter Neubauer.

*1975*	? Alceste Bodini, Walter Neubauer.

*1976*	? Alceste Bodini.