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Raceland Gold Edition made by Spark. Exclusive model.
The change in regulations from the previous turbo machines to the new generation of naturally aspirated 3.5 litre engines for the 1989 Formula 1 season attracted the incredible number of 20 teams with 39 drivers. As there were only 26 places on the grid, 13 fixed drivers had to go through a merciless pre-qualification on Friday morning. Only the four fastest of them were admitted to practice. At Rial, this was the case for newcomer Volker Weidler, while team-mate Christian Danner was set for qualifying on the basis of last year's results. A frustrating ordeal for a young talent like Weidler.
The Rial ARC2 was equipped with a 75° Cosworth V8 customer engine. Cosworth supplied their new works DFR exclusively to Benetton in 1989. As the 1985 Formula 3 champion, successful F3000 and DTM driver, the young German had everything he needed for Formula 1. But as a rookie with an inferior car, Weidler was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Having failed eight times in pre-qualifying, he made it into qualifying at Hockenheim and the Hungaroring but not into the race. Then Volker Weidler threw in the towel. He got his revenge with a Le Mans victory for Mazda in 1991.