Simtek Grand Prix, the racing team, was launched in 1993 and competed in the 1994 and 1995 seasons, achieving a best result of ninth place.

The company grew quickly and moved to its own facility, including a windtunnel, on the Acres Industrial Estate in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

Frenchman Jean-Marc Gounon was also considered, but already had commitments for the start of the season so eventually 33-year-old F1 rookie Roland Ratzenberger took the place.

[3] The company secured customer Ford HB V8 engines from Cosworth, and prior to the season starting, MTV Europe stepped in as title sponsors.

Wirth's initial design for the 1994 race car included active suspension, a technology used by Williams to win both the drivers and constructors championships in 1992 and 1993.

However, active suspension was banned prior to the start of the 1994 season, and so Simtek were forced to revert to a more conservative design, named the S941.

After rejoining the track, Ratzenberger decided the car wasn't damaged, and eager to ensure qualification for the race the next day began a flying lap.

At the Villeneuve curva while traveling at 190 mph (310 km/h) the front wing failed, causing Ratzenberger to lose control and the car crashed into a concrete wall.

[6] Only a day after Ratzenberger's death would another driver - three-time world champion Ayrton Senna - be killed in an accident during the race itself.

[7] The team only had one chassis to enter at the Monaco Grand Prix, and before the start, a minute's silence was held in memory of Senna and Ratzenberger with the second grid slot painted with the Austrian flag.

He escaped with only a broken toe and cracked left heel but was unable to race and his Simtek chassis was badly damaged.

He was replaced for the penultimate round in Japan by another pay driver Taki Inoue, but his race ended after three laps when he crashed into the pit wall.

After a challenging debut season the team finished with no world championship points but, convinced that Simtek could do better, Wirth decided to continue the Grand Prix programme.

[9] The second seat was kept by Domenico Schiattarella for the first half of the season, while Hideki Noda paid a deposit to secure the place for the latter races.

Following the race Wirth wrote, in one of his regular Usenet newsgroup postings, that "a major new backer of the team, with whom I had signed a contract before the season, has finally pulled out and left a large hole in our finances".

Negotiations with the potential backers and sponsors failed, and the companies that would pay for Hideki Noda to drive the Simtek were severely affected by the Kobe earthquake.