“Racing in its purest form”

Belgian Thierry Boutsen, made his Formula One debut at the 1983 Belgian Grand Prix with the Arrows team. He remained with the team for three seasons before moving to Benetton.

The 1985 Arrows A8, was designed by Dave Wass and utilised an aluminium-composite tub behind which was mounted the BMW M12 turbocharged engine. The engines were maintained by Swiss engine guru Heini Mader.

Thierry Boutsen: “I remember my Arrows-BMW F1 in 1985: 1500cc turbo, 1200 bhp, qualifying tires, aluminium chassis, steel brakes, no traction control, no electronic aides, no radio, no pit stop, no team orders, 225 litres fuel tank… this was pure, hard racing !!”

Best result for the amicable Belgian and for this A8 in 1985 was a podium finish at Imola, where he placed third but was later moved to second when winner Alain Prost’s McLaren was disqualified for being underweight. Elio de Angelis was declared the winner (picture here-under).