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Asia Motor Technologies France

The company Asia Motor Technologies France, also known as Asiatech or AMT, was formed in 1999 when the founding family of a major Japanese multinational corporation mandated Dr. John V. Gano and Enrique Scalabroni to found a new Asia-themed F1 operation. Its objectives were to rival the Honda Mugen F1 engine program, create a F1 Team for sale to Asian investors, and to develop advanced road-car motor technology for Asian automakers. To aim for these objectives, the company took the unusual entry route into Formula One of first assuring a stable engine supply and only then developing a chassis.

In 2000, Asiatech acquired the Peugeot F1 engine factory in Velizy, south of Paris, retaining its 170 workers staff. The races results and retirement statistics of the 2000 F1 championship show that the Peugeot F1 engine had been the least reliable of that season. Trying to improve the situation, Asiatech initiated major management changes and new Japanese-style Q.C. quality control system.

Knowing that the cost that small teams could afford to pay for engines would detract from their budgets and further reduce their performance, in 2001, Asiatech supplied their V10 motors to the Arrows Formula One team free of charge. As mentioned by its main executives that year, the objectives of the company were not to be a commercial F1 engine supplier. The results with Arrows were what could be expected of a small team, towards the back of the grid. The following season, 2002, Asiatech decided to provide its engines to K.L. Minardi, again free of charge, hoping for better race results. While engineering progress resulted in improvements in reliability and reduced costs, the biggest racing success of 2002 was in the Melbourne race, where the Asiatech engine powered Mark Webber to his first points in his maiden race in his home circuit.

Following its original plan to enter an integrated engine/chassis Team in Formula One, Asiatech began work on its original F1 chassis in 2001 at its chassis design centre in Didcot, England, a former Williams site. A staff of 25 designers, engineers and mechanics developed the Asiatech F1 chassis to the point of a Wind Tunnel Model, which was publicly presented at the Monza race in 2002.

While both, the engine and chassis sides of the operation were progressing rapidly, the founding family and sole sponsor of Asia Motor Technologies, Asiatech, confirmed in the summer of 2002 that they would not be able to honor their guaranteed funding in the third year of operation. As outside sponsorship could not be raised for an F1 engine factory which did not yet have a competing F1 chassis, the company was forced to close at the end of 2002. Automobiles Peugeot agreed to take back the entire staff of the Velizy factory, including the new Asiatech hires and equipment.

In two seasons of operation, Asiatech transformed the F1 engine it had inherited from the least reliable to one of the most reliable engines in Formula One, primarily due to reduced breakage and introducing the innovative multi-race engine, which later became the F1 norm.