With the consolidation of the Brazilian Endurance Championship and the Mil Milhas around a unified regulation in the early 2000s, several Brazilian constructors ventured to build their own cars to challenge the imported GTs. The year 2005 was particularly fertile in this regard, with many models under development for the main class. From this period come the Alfran 450A of Urubatan Helou, the Minelli Bluebird prototype with an Alfa V6 engine, and the DIMEP R1 of the Pimenta family. While these three cars were completed and at least able to go to the track, a fourth project from the same period is more obscure: the Ayres 001 developed by Adilson Ayres, “ASA”.
The Creator
Adilson Ayres’ career in motorsport began in the 1970s, when he worked for driver Pedro Victor Delamare in Divisions 3 and 4 and in Formula Ford and Vee. His excellent work earned him a recommendation to join the Fittipaldi family, where he was the first to arrive at the team in late 1973 as an assistant mechanic. There, he helped complete the finishing touches on the workshop, where he also received Yoshiatsu Itoh, Ricardo Divila, and several other names who formed the foundation of Fittipaldi F1, before working on the construction of the FD01 and subsequent models.
Ayres stayed with the Fittipaldi team until 1976, when he left to become a two-time Super V champion with the Gledson team alongside Chiquinho Lameirão and Nelson Piquet.
He went abroad with Piquet, working with him in Formula 3 until returning to Brazil in 1981.
Back in the country, he continued working at Super Vê with names like Dárcio dos Santos, Élvio Divani, and Alfredo Guaraná Menezes. Using a Polar chassis, he developed a new aluminum fairing utilizing the wing effect, which secured the Formula 2 Brazil title for Guaraná Menezes and earned him the nickname that followed him for the rest of his life: “ASA” (Portuguese word for wing).
He continued working in motorsport, including developing the Super Compact prototype for Nelson Piquet in the second half of the 1990s.
The Ayres 001 prototype
Returning to the Brazilian Endurance Championship, during 2004 “ASA” announced that it would be working on its first in-house prototype. One of the model’s distinguishing features would be its monocoque chassis made of Alclad Duralumin, a material widely used in aviation.
The model would be equipped with a Nissan twin-turbo V6 engine coupled to a 5-speed Hewland DG300 transaxle. Furthermore, the car would have push-rod suspension with adjustable stabilizer bars from inside the cockpit at the front and rear, three-way Penske shock absorbers, and Brembo carbon brakes on all four wheels. The wheels would be 13” with a 9.5” width at the front and 12” at the rear, and the bodywork would be constructed of carbon fiber and Kevlar, resulting in a car weighing only 560 kg. Incidentally, there was much secrecy surrounding the bodywork, which would have advanced aerodynamics allowing the car to lap Interlagos in under 1 minute and 30 seconds, according to Adilson Ayres’ projection.
Unfortunately, there was no further news about the development of this car, nor was it ever completed. In 2019, news emerged that Adilson was working on a proposal for the P1 class of Endurance Brasil, but no further information about the project was released. In the mid-2020s, Ayres suffered a stroke that led to a deterioration of his health. Asa passed away on December 6, 2024, leaving an important legacy for Brazilian motorsport.
Editor’s note
When I started writing about Brazilian motorsport here on the site, I had a few things in mind: first, to bring technical content inspired by the excellent publications of Mulsanne’s Corner covering the creativity and development of Brazilian prototypes, since media coverage of Brazilian racing engineering was (and still is) extremely limited. I was also inspired by the discussions of the defunct Autoracing Forum, which I followed when I was still an engineering student, where I read the conversations of great names in Brazilian motorsport such as Luiz Fernando Cruz, Jaime Gulinelli, Né de Andrade, Ivo Snelzwar, and many others whom I am surely doing the injustice of not mentioning, but who are just as important as those mentioned. I also remember the excellent reports by Sérgio Fonseca for dailysportscar.com covering Brazilian endurance races, and especially one mentioning the four Brazilian prototypes that were under development. This reading led me to set a personal goal of covering the history of these four cars here on the site, a cycle that is completed with today’s publication!
You might also be interested in:
2005 Braspress Alfran 450A / Absoluta ABS01
The Absoluta ABS01 prototype is a project by João Alfran, and was originally built in 2005 for Urubatan Helou’s Braspress team. Now the project is given new life by Ney Faustini, to compete in the competitive P2 category of Endurance Brasil.
2008 GT Race Cars GeeBee R1
Developed at the turn of the 2000s, the GT R1 has a rich history, both on and off the track.
2005 Minelli Bluebird
Developed by Minelli Racing for drivers Aluísio Albuquerque and Vicente de Paula, the BlueBird never officially competed.
Sources
10 de novembro de 2004 – Trinta anos nesse dia. Available at: https://dana.com.br/social/nossos-projetos/equipe-fittipaldi-de-f1/10-de-novembro-de-2004/.
A turma dos bastidores – Imprescindíveis na equipe Fitti-1. Available at: https://dana.com.br/social/nossos-projetos/equipe-fittipaldi-de-f1/a-turma-dos-bastidores/.
Mundo Motor: Adilson Ayres criou asas e voou. Available at: https://www.conexaovale.tv.br/noticias/mundo-motor/1531967.
UM NOVO ELDORADO PARA PILOTOS BRASILEIROS. Available at: https://autoentusiastas.com.br/2019/06/um-novo-eldorado-para-pilotos-brasileiros/.
New Brazilian Prototypes. Available at: https://www.dailysportscar.com/archive/subscribers/news/other/2005other/other781.htm.
Um carro para derrotar os importados. Available at: http://www.speedonline.com.br/public_html/montatela.php?
