Muscle Man
Ron Harrop continued to be in demand for his engineering prowess after hanging up his helmet, and in 1986 he came up with possibly his most famous innovation, the Harrop rear-end. He designed it on some napkins while flying to Europe to help Allan Grice’s Spa 24 Hour challenge. Radial tyres were new on the scene, and the Harrop rear-end provided vital negative camber on the VK’s live rear axle. Before long, everyone in Australia was running them.
Although his business was booming, Harrop missed being intimately involved in a single team. He wanted to benefit from his innovations and not share them with other teams. The chance arose in 1993 after a meeting with Tomas Mezera, who was not only driving but trying to run the then-struggling Holden Racing Team after the return to the UK of Win Percy.
“We were doing some work for HRT and Tomas came over one day to pick up some parts. I’d known Tomas for years and got talking to him and he wasn’t happy with a number of things. I said, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t mind coming and having a look and see what you’re up to.’ Tomas was rapt that I wanted to help out. So I went over and had a look and suggested what needed to happen, and I ended up doing the final three months of that year.”
Owner Tom Walkinshaw and Holden were actually on the verge of closing HRT, but Harrop outlined his plans for the future and they committed to another year. Ron signed on as chief engineer and stayed for six years, during which time HRT went from laughingstock to powerhouse.
Harrop worked on a retainer and HRT paid extra for components made by Harrop Engineering, many of which gave the team an edge and caused their rivals some grief, who in turn put pressure on the governing body to have them outlawed. This was exactly the sort of work Ron wanted to do, without having to share it.
