History of the Digitech team

1994 season

The team's debut season was perhaps not overly impressive, perhaps due to the fact that the drivers (Oliver Roberts and Lionel Vintenat) were the only drivers in the field using analog joysticks. The best result being a single podium finish.

1995 season

1995 started off in much the same way as 1994, but after only 4 rounds Lionel retired from racing and Oliver was mysteriously absent for rounds 6-8. The drivers clearly weren't comfortable with the car. All this changed when Oliver returned at Hockenheim...

After previously using an analog joystick, Oliver went back to using a normal digital joystick. The change in performance was impressive. Oliver managed to finish on the podium for 5 of the remaining 8 races, which included his first career win at the final race in Adelaide. This took Oliver up to 2nd place in the drivers' championship behind Rob Buis who dominated most of the season.

1995/96 season

Next season, it was all change team-wise. Due to the fact that the team no longer used analog joysticks, the name was changed to Digitech and a promising rookie driver, Alan Strang, joined the team to help with the championship challenge. The season started off pretty well for both drivers, including a win for Oliver at Phoenix. Oliver became the champion that season after 12 podium finishes, including 3 wins. It wasn't easy though - rival Rene Smit narrowly missed out, only 7 points behind. Rene's excellent performance helped give rival team Nightmare on Pit Lane the constructors' championship, with Digitech having to settle for 2nd place.

1996/97 season

In the 1996/97 season, Alan left to set up his own team and Robert Schaftlein took up the vacant seat. Robert managed a string of top 5 and top 10 finishes, until he was forced to retire at Silverstone. Michal Janak joined the team in time for Hockenheim, fresh from some good results with Magia-Chrysler. Michal did superbly finishing in the top 3 in all the remaining 7 races (including 3 wins). Meanwhile, Oliver continued his crusade, managing 12 pole positions and 11 wins, in all. All this produced Digitech's first constructors' title, and Oliver claimed the drivers' championship once again.

1997/98 season

No doubt, this is the team's finest season, so far. Both Oliver and Michal signed with the team for another year, and at the first race of the season (in Phoenix) things resumed as they had left off in the previous season... Another 1-2, with Oliver winning. But, Oliver faced a tough fight with Michal, who won all of the next 6 races. Although Michal was previously an average qualifier, he raised his game as the season progressed, securing 5 consecutive pole positions in the 2nd half of the season. Oliver put up a good fight, failing only 3 times to reach the podium, but it was simply not good enough to beat Michal. Michal won his first championship title, with the superb record of finishing all the races in the top 2, including 11 wins. The drivers' excellent performances secured the team's second constructors' title.

digitech@amigaf1.freeserve.co.uk