Onyx Grand Prix - 1989 Season

1989 Season

Despite all of the excitement and preparation, Onyx only just made it to their first Grand Prix. Their cars were only completed on the morning of their launch, before having to be hastily packed and sent off to Heathrow the same day for transportation to Brazil, the scene of the seasons first race. Having had no testing done to fine-tune the cars, neither car would make it out of pre-qualifying in the first 3 rounds. Things got worse as a testing accident completely destroyed one chassis prior to the race at Imola and at the race itself, brake failure on Johansson's car resulted in another car-destroying crash. But positive signs were beginning to show as Gachot just missed out on pre-qualifying in Imola, Johansson would do the same at Monaco before finally, Johannson would make it out of pre-qualifying in Mexico, setting the 6th fastest time in Saturday free practice before qualifying 21st for the race, ahead of the illustrious Nelson Piquet and respected drivers Pierluigi Martini, René Arnoux and Eddie Cheever. The car however, and expectedly, would suffer a mechanical failure in its debut race, but the signs were promising. More good news arrived at Phoenix with the return of Greg Field who replaced Dickson as Team Manager, and Johansson once again making the grid, qualifying 19th before a front suspension failure ended his day. Johansson was once again on the grid in Canada, this time 18th. Gachot had yet to make his first Grand Prix start, but he was getting ever closer.

But it was during this upswing that things started to look ominous. Van Rossem's lavish lifestyle and extravagance came to the fore, having purchased a US$20 million Gulfstream Jet 4 prior to the Phoenix Grand Prix. Johannson was also disqualified in Canada after a botched pit-stop saw him tear the air gun rig apart. Amidst all the dark clouds however, a sunny day arrived at the 1989 French Grand Prix. Both cars were ideally suited to the Paul Ricard circuit and comfortably finished 1-2 in pre-qualifying. They both had an even more impressive qualifying proper, with Gachot ending up 11th on the grid and Johansson 13th. Gachot ran with Alesi, who finished 4th, before a battery problem put him down to 13th, while Johansson scored the teams first points with a fine 5th place. The two points were now set to get the team out of pre-qualifying for the remainder of the season, but it came to nothing at the next round in Britain as Johansson failed to qualify and Gachot qualifying 21st before having his race blighted by handling problems. The Minardi's would finish 5th and 6th however, condemning Onyx to the ruthless world of pre-qualifying. Johansson would qualify in Germany, Hungary and Belgium with Gachot missing out in Germany. But the trouble flared up once again with Van Rossem and his flamboyancy as he had been quoted in the press as saying he was attempting to attract top drivers to the team and was in the process of investing US$40 million into Porsche's F1 engine project, while in reality and behind closed doors, Van Rossem was beginning to bemoan the cost of running a Formula One team and was even rumoured to be reluctant to pay the team's bills. Van Rossem went one step further by saying on Belgian TV that he will quit F1 if the Porsche engine deal falls through. Many saw this as an admission that he was tired of the sport and a reason to get out.

At the Italian Grand Prix, Gachot qualified for what would be his final race for the team while Johannson failed to make the grid. Gachot raised the ire of his erratic boss and was sacked for voicing his displeasure at the team's lack of testing and an apparent lack of faith in his driving. Finn Jyrki Jarvilehto was drafted in at the last minute as his replacement, but with little time to familiarise himself with the new car he failed to qualify for the next round in Portugal. But yet again it was Johansson that came to the fore and gave Onyx a reason to smile at the Portuguese Grand Prix. He decided not to change tyres during the race and after everybody else had made their pit-stops and following Mansell & Senna's collision, he was running an incredible 3rd before his tyres started to go. He was rapidly caught and passed by both Williamses but they soon retired and Johansson was left with a clear run home in 3rd, crossing the line with no fuel and just about driving on his rims. It was a great moment for the team but it would also turn out to be their last points finish. With Van Rossem reluctant to make funds available, development on the car was slow and Johansson would not qualify for the rest of the season, although Lehto would continue to improve, making the grid in Spain and Australia.

The team finished in a respectable 10th position overall in their début season, scoring 6 points, and rewarding them with not having to take part in pre-qualifying for the following season.