Cosworth Founder Duckworth Passed away

[PukkaSilvia]

One of the founders of Cosworth, Keith Duckworth, has passed away last weekend at the age of 72.

"We are shocked and saddened to learn of our co-founder Keith Duckworth?s untimely death," read a statement from Cosworth Racing.

"Everyone at Cosworth sends their deepest condolences to Keith?s wife Jill and his children.

"Keith was a true innovator and a genuine legend in his lifetime, his name will live on as an integral part of both the Cosworth name and culture."

Duckworth, along with Mike Costin, started Cosworth in 1958 before going on to create the most successful Formula 1 engine in the history of the sport ? the three-litre V8 Cosworth DFV.

The engine won on its debut at the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix in the back of Jim Clark's Lotus and went on to dominate the sport until the advent of turbo-charged engines in the early 1980's.

Derivatives of Cosworth's DFV were still being used in F1 in the early 1990's.

Although Duckworth retired in 1988, his company has enjoyed a long and distinguished motorsport history.

While it was bought and owned by several different companies, after being sold to United Engineering Industries in 1980, Costin and Duckworth continued their involvement.

Cosworth's road car and racing divisions were split along the way and in recent years Cosworth Racing has designed and developed F1 engines for Ford's Jaguar team, as well building IRL engines for Chevrolet and supplying the entire Champ Car field.

Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkoven bought the company when Ford quit F1 at the end of 2004 ? allowing the company to continue supplying engines to Red Bull and Minardi.

In 2006, Cosworth will supply Williams as F1 returns to the legendary V8 format that made the company famous