To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' Abu Dhabi event, 30
November 2019.
Estimate:
$825,000 - $1,100,000
- Used by Michael Schumacher in the 1992 FIA Formula One World
Championship
- Driven by Schumacher to 3rd place in German and Italian Grands
Prix, and 4th in Great Britain
- Used as team spare car in Belgian, Portuguese, Japanese, and
Australian Grands Prix
- Immaculately presented, with correct specification LPE-built
Ford HB V8 engine
- Ideal for Boss GP and HSR Historic races and numerous
demonstration events
With its purchase of the ailing Toleman team in 1985, Italian
fashion giant Benetton acquired the services of arguably their
greatest asset�brilliant South African-born designer Rory Byrne.
After years of under-investment, Byrne finally had a meaningful
design budget at his disposal, his no-nonsense BMW Turbo-powered
B186 design handing his Italian paymasters a debut win in their
first full season of team ownership. For the next decade, Byrne's
genius would come to dominate Benetton's drawing office,
aerodynamic efficiency and relatively conservative technical
solutions being cornerstones of his design philosophy.
Having started the 1992 Formula One season with an updated 'B'
version of the previous year's B191 model, Benetton introduced
their new Byrne-designed B192 chassis from the fourth round
onwards, in Spain. Although broadly following the same design
parameters as the B191�with pushrod suspension in front and rear,
Ford HB V8 power, and a noticeable lack of either semi-automatic
gearbox or active suspension�it was immediately apparent that the
car was a considerable improvement on its elder siblings. Indeed,
lead driver Michael Schumacher duly rewarded the team with a
2nd-place finish on its debut behind Mansell's all-conquering
Williams-Renault. A 4th-place finish at Monaco and a further 2nd
place in Canada for Schumacher�accompanied by a 4th in San Marino
and a 5th in Monaco courtesy of teammate Martin Brundle�maintained
the new car's encouraging form and gave the team grounds for
optimism as they approached the second half of the season.
This particular chassis, B192-06, was used as Schumacher's
designated race chassis in the British, German, and Italian Grands
Prix, and latterly as the team's spare car in a further four Grands
Prix. At Silverstone, Mansell took pole by almost two seconds from
teammate Riccardo Patrese, who in turn was almost a second ahead of
3rd-placed Ayrton Senna's McLaren-Honda. Schumacher was a solid 4th
in B192-06, the potential matchup between Senna and him providing
the main talking point of the weekend, given the otherworldly pace
of the Williams-Renaults. As expected, Mansell cruised to his
seventh win in nine races, some 39 seconds ahead of Patrese, whilst
a frustrated Schumacher came home 4th in B192-06 behind teammate
Martin Brundle, having been delayed following an earlier
altercation with Stefano Modena's Jordan.
The prodigiously fast Hockenheim circuit was always likely to
highlight the power deficit of the Benetton's Ford HB engine
relative to the multi-cylinder Renault, Honda, and Ferrari power
units�and so it proved after qualifying for the German Grand Prix.
Once again, the Williams-Renaults were the class of the field,
although the McLarens of Senna and Berger were closer to the pace
than had been the case at Silverstone. The Ferrari of Jean Alesi
took 5th place on the grid with a phlegmatic Schumacher alongside,
once again at the wheel of B192-06. Racing in front of his home
crowd for the first time, Schumacher delighted them by passing
Alesi off the line and later benefitted from Berger's delayed pit
stop and a last-lap spin by Patrese to take a deserved 3rd place.
As was becoming customary by now, the race was won by
Mansell�taking him to the brink of an elusive first World
Championship�with Senna in 2nd.
Although Mansell had wrapped up the championship in Hungary�with
five of the 16 races on the calendar to spare�the teams travelled
to the picturesque Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium at the end
of August still with much to play for. The 'best of the rest'
battle between Senna, Patrese, and Schumacher was still very much
alive, and on this occasion, B192-06 was relegated to spare-car
duties, with B192-05 Schumacher's nominated chassis for the
weekend. A masterful drive�aided by some inspired pit work by his
team in response to the notoriously fickle Ardennes weather�led to
a brilliant debut Grand Prix win for both Schumacher and the B192,
the first for a German driver since Jochen Mass in 1975.
The final race in B192-06's relatively brief but illustrious career
was at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in mid-September. Given the
similarities in layout between Hockenheim and Monza, it was perhaps
not surprising that Schumacher once again found himself a
relatively lowly 6th after qualifying, with Mansell once again
having annexed pole comfortably�his eleventh of the season. After a
torrid first lap in which he selected the wrong gear at the start
and then had to pit for emergency repairs following a first-corner
collision, Schumacher once again confirmed his status as Formula
One's emerging talent with a brilliant drive to finish 3rd. For
only the second time that year, Mansell had to retire following an
electrical failure, leaving Senna to win the race comfortably from
Brundle in the sister Benetton.
The final three races of the 1992 season saw B192-06 once again
used as a team spare, with Schumacher ending the year a highly
creditable 3rd in the Drivers' standings�ahead of his hero, Ayrton
Senna, no less�and Brundle 6th. The relatively low-tech
evolutionary design approach of Rory Byrne and technical director
Ross Brawn had been thoroughly vindicated and would be repeated in
1993. Significantly, both the design team and the approach would
underpin Schumacher's World Drivers' Championships with the team in
1994 and 1995 as well.
Following the conclusion of its contemporary career, chassis
B192-06 remained with the Benetton team for some years prior to its
sale to accomplished UK-based Historic and BOSS Formula racer
Matthew Mortlock. His F1Sales.com operation sold the car to French
enthusiast Joel Riviere of Prestige Racing in March 2010, who in
turn sold it to the vendor in February 2017.
Beautifully presented in its original eye-catching Benetton/Camel
race livery, it retains a correct specification Langford
Performance Engineering Ford HB V8 engine and six-speed sequential
gearbox, and is ready for immediate use in the plethora of Historic
race and demonstration events for which it is eligible.
Please note the temporary import symbol incorrectly references the
EU. It should reference the UAE.
To view this car and others currently consigned to this auction,
please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/ad19.
