Brabham Full name Motor Racing Developments, Ltd. Base Milton Keynes, United Kingdom Founder/s Jack Brabham Ron Tauranac Noted staff Bernie Ecclestone Gordon Murray Ron Dennis Charlie Whiting John Judd Noted drivers Jack Brabham Dan Gurney Damon Hill Graham Hill Denny Hulme Niki Lauda Nelson Piquet Formula One World Championship career Debut 1962 German Grand Prix Races competed 402 Constructors' Championships 2 (1966, 1967) Drivers' Championships 4 (1966, 1967, 1981, 1983) Race victories 35 Podiums 120 Points 832 Pole positions 40 Fastest laps 43 Final race 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix

Formula One portal

Motor Racing Developments Ltd. Milton Keynes ( ˌmɪltənˈkiːnz often abbreviated to MK, is a large town The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE (born April 2 1926) is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One Ron Tauranac was the Australian designer for Formula 1 driver Jack Brabham from 1962 until Brabham's retirement as a driver at the end of the 1970 season Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930 near Bungay Suffolk, England) is the president and CEO of Prof (Ian Gordon Murray (born 1946 in Durban, South Africa) is a renowned designer of Formula One race cars and the famous Ron Dennis CBE (born June 1, 1947) is the Chairman, CEO and 15% owner of the McLaren Group. Charlie Whiting is FIA Formula One Race Director Safety Delegate Permanent Starter and head of the F1 Technical Department in which capacities he generally manages Judd is a name brand of engines produced by Engine Developments Ltd Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE (born April 2 1926) is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One Daniel Sexton Gurney (born April 13, 1931) is an American racing driver race car constructor and team owner Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE (born 17 September 1960 in London) is a retired World Championship winning British racing driver from England Norman Graham Hill ( February 15, 1929 – November 29, 1975) was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme OBE ( 18 June 1936 &ndash 4 October 1992) was a New Zealand car racer the 1967 Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (born February 22, 1949 in Vienna) is an Austrian Aviator, Entrepreneur Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (born August 17, 1952) more commonly known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver who was Formula Results from the 1962 Formula One German Grand Prix held at Nürburgring on August 5, 1962 Classification The German Grand Prix ( Großer Preis von Deutschland) is an annual automobile race By season The Formula One World Drivers' Championship (WDC is awarded by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ( FIA) to the most successful Formula One The term " pole position " comes from the Horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole In motorsport, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race The 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hungaroring on August 16, 1992. , commonly known as Brabham (IPA: /ˈbræbəm/), was a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Founded in 1960 by two Australians, driver Jack Brabham and designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four drivers' and two constructors' world championships in its 30-year Formula One history. Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE (born April 2 1926) is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One Ron Tauranac was the Australian designer for Formula 1 driver Jack Brabham from 1962 until Brabham's retirement as a driver at the end of the 1970 season The Formula One World Drivers' Championship (WDC is awarded by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile ( FIA) to the most successful Formula One By season As of 2008, Jack Brabham's 1966 drivers' championship remains the only victory by a car bearing the driver's own name.

Brabham was the world's largest manufacturer of customer open wheel racing cars in the 1960s, and had built more than 500 cars by 1970. Open-wheel car (Often single-seater car, in UK English describes cars with the wheels outside the car's main body and in most cases one seat During this period, teams using Brabham cars won championships in Formula Two and Formula Three and competed in the Indianapolis 500. Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, was a type of Formula racing. Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500, and historically known simply as "The 500" is an American In the 1970s and 1980s, Brabham introduced innovations such as the controversial but successful 'fan car', in-race refuelling, carbon brakes, and hydropneumatic suspension. Hydropneumatic is a type of Automotive suspension system, invented by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars as well as being adapted by other car manufacturers The team won two more Formula One drivers' championships in the 1980s with Brazilian Nelson Piquet, and became the first to win a drivers' championship with a turbocharged car. Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (born August 17, 1952) more commonly known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver who was Formula A turbocharger, or turbo, is an air Compressor used for forced-induction of an Internal combustion engine.

British businessman Bernie Ecclestone owned Brabham during most of the 1970s and 1980s, and later become responsible for administrating the commercial aspects of Formula One. Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930 near Bungay Suffolk, England) is the president and CEO of Ecclestone sold the team in 1988. Its last owner was the Middlebridge Group, a Japanese engineering firm. Midway through the 1992 season, the team collapsed financially as Middlebridge was unable to make repayments against loans provided by Landhurst Leasing. The 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season The case was investigated by the UK Serious Fraud Office. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO is an arm of the Government of the United Kingdom, accountable to the Attorney-General.

Origins

Jack Brabham was 40 when he won the F1 drivers' title in a 'Brabham' car. Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE (born April 2 1926) is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One

The Brabham team was founded by Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac, who met in 1951 while both were successfully building and racing cars in their native Australia. Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, AO, OBE (born April 2 1926) is an Australian former racing driver who was Formula One Ron Tauranac was the Australian designer for Formula 1 driver Jack Brabham from 1962 until Brabham's retirement as a driver at the end of the 1970 season For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Brabham was the more successful driver and went to the United Kingdom in 1955 to further his racing career. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located There he started driving for the Cooper Car Company works team and by 1958 had progressed with them to Formula One, the highest category of open wheel racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motor sport's world governing body. The Cooper Car Company was founded in 1946 by Charles Cooper and his son John Cooper. Open-wheel car (Often single-seater car, in UK English describes cars with the wheels outside the car's main body and in most cases one seat ^[1] In 1959 and 1960 Brabham won the Formula One world drivers' championship driving Cooper's revolutionary mid-engined cars. The 1959 Formula One season included the 10th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on May 10, 1959, and ended on December The 1960 Formula One season featured the eleventh FIA World Championship of Drivers, the third International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula A mid-engine layout describes the placement of an Automobile engine between the rear and front axles

Despite their lead in putting the engine behind the driver, the Coopers and their Chief Designer Owen Maddock were resistant to developing their cars. Brabham pushed for further advances, and played a significant role in developing Cooper's highly successful 1960 T53 ‘lowline’ car, with input from his friend Tauranac. ^[2] Brabham was sure he could do better than Cooper, and in late 1959 he asked Tauranac to come to the UK and work with him, initially producing upgrade kits for Sunbeam Rapier and Triumph Herald road cars at his car dealership, Jack Brabham Motors, but with the long-term aim of designing racing cars. The Sunbeam Rapier was the first of the " Audax " range of light cars produced by the Rootes Group. The Triumph Herald was a small two-door car introduced in 1959 by the Standard-Triumph Company of Coventry. ^[3] Brabham describes Tauranac as "absolutely the only bloke I'd have gone into partnership with". ^[4] To meet that aim, Brabham and Tauranac set up Motor Racing Developments Ltd. (MRD), deliberately avoiding the use of either man’s name. The new company would compete with Cooper in the market for customer racing cars; As Cooper were still Brabham's employers, Tauranac produced the first MRD car, for the entry level Formula Junior class, in secrecy. Formula Junior is a Formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI ( International Sporting Commission, the part of the FIA Unveiled in the summer of 1961, the 'MRD' was soon renamed. Motoring journalist Jabby Crombac pointed out that "[the] way a Frenchman pronounces those initials — written phonetically, 'em air day' — sounded perilously like the French word. Gérard "Jabby" Crombac ( March 7, 1929 in Zurich – November 18 2005 in Paris was a Swiss auto-racing journalist . . merde. "^[5] The cars were subsequently known as Brabhams, with type numbers starting with BT for 'Brabham Tauranac'. ^[6]

By the 1961 Formula One season, the Lotus and Ferrari teams had developed the mid-engined approach further than Cooper, where Brabham had a poor season, scoring only four points. Season summary The first year of the 15 litre formula was dominated by a well-prepared Ferrari team 1950s Colin Chapman established Lotus Engineering Ltd in 1952 at Hornsey, UK. Scuderia Ferrari is the name for the Gestione Sportiva the division of the Ferrari automobile company concerned with racing Having run his own private Coopers in non-championship events during 1961, Brabham left the company in 1962 to drive for his own team: the Brabham Racing Organisation, using cars built by Motor Racing Developments. ^[7][8]

Racing history - Formula One

Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac (1961–1970)

The 'Brabham Racing Organisation' entered the 'works' cars until 1968

Motor Racing Developments initially concentrated on making money by building cars for sale to customers in lower formulae, so the new car for the Formula One team was not ready until partway through the 1962 Formula One season. The 1962 Formula One season included the 13th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on May 20, 1962, and ended on December The Brabham Racing Organisation (BRO) started the year fielding customer Lotus chassis, in which Brabham took two points finishes, before the turquoise-liveried Brabham BT3 car made its debut at the 1962 German Grand Prix. 1950s Colin Chapman established Lotus Engineering Ltd in 1952 at Hornsey, UK. A livery is a Uniform or other sign worn in a non-military context on a person or object (such as an airplane or Vehicle) to denote a relationship Results from the 1962 Formula One German Grand Prix held at Nürburgring on August 5, 1962 Classification It retired with a throttle problem after nine of the fifteen laps, but went on to take a pair of fourth places at the end of the season. A throttle is the mechanism by which the flow of a fluid is managed by constriction or obstruction ^[9]

The Brabham BT3, the first Brabham Formula One design.

From the 1963 season, Brabham was partnered by American driver Dan Gurney, the pair now running in Australia's racing colours of green and gold. The 1963 Formula One season featured the fourteenth FIA World Championship of Drivers, the sixth International Cup for F1 Manufacturers and numerous non-championship Formula Daniel Sexton Gurney (born April 13, 1931) is an American racing driver race car constructor and team owner From the beginning of the 20th century until the late 1960s before sponsorship liveries came in use vehicles competing in Formula One, Sports car racing, ^[10] Jack Brabham took the team's first win at the non-championship Solitude Grand Prix in 1963. The Solituderennen (eng Solitude race) events and the 114 km Solitudering near Stuttgart were named after the nearby Castle ^[11] Gurney took the marque's first two wins in the world championship, at the 1964 French and Mexican Grands Prix. A marque ( French for "brand" ˈmɑrk is a Brand name especially in the Automobile industry The 1964 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Rouen-Les-Essarts on June 28, 1964. Results from the 1964 Formula One Mexican Grand Prix held at Mexico City on October 25, 1964. Brabham works and customer cars took another three non-championship wins during the 1964 season. The 1964 Formula One season included the 15th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on May 10 and ended on October 25 after ^[12] The 1965 season was less successful, with no championship wins. The 1965 Formula One season included the 16th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 1, 1965, and ended on Brabham finished third or fourth in the constructors' championship for three years running, but poor reliability marred promising performances on several occasions. Motor sport authors Mike Lawrence and David Hodges have said that a lack of resources may have cost the team results, a view echoed by Ron Tauranac. ^[13]

The FIA doubled the Formula One engine capacity limit to 3 litres for the 1966 season and suitable engines were scarce. The 1966 Formula One season included the 17th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on May 22, 1966, and ended on October Brabham used engines from Australian engineering firm Repco, which had never produced a Formula One engine before, based on aluminium V8 engine blocks from the defunct American Oldsmobile F85 road car project, and other off the shelf parts. Repco is an Australian engineering company Its name is derived from 'Replacement Parts Company' referring to one of its major lines of work The cylinder block or engine block is a machined casting (or sometimes an assembly of modules containing cylindrically bored holes for the Pistons of a multi-cylinder Oldsmobile was a brand of Automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. ^[14] Consulting and design engineer Phil Irving (of Vincent Motorcycle fame) was the project engineer responsible for producing an outstanding engine in such a short space of time. Vincent Motorcycles was a British manufacturer of Motorcycles in the United Kingdom from 1928 to 1955 However, few expected the Brabham-Repcos to be competitive,^[15] but the light and reliable cars ran at the front from the start of the season. At the French Grand Prix at Reims-Gueux, Jack Brabham became the first man to win a Formula One world championship race in a car bearing his own name. The 1966 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Reims-Gueux on July 3, 1966. Reims-Gueux was a triangular Motor racing road course near Reims, France, which hosted 14 French Grands Prix. Only his former team mate, Bruce McLaren, has since matched the achievement. Early life As an eleven year old McLaren contracted a disease in his hip which left his left leg shorter than the right It was the first in a run of four straight wins for the Australian veteran. Jack Brabham won his third title in 1966, becoming the only driver (as of 2007) to win the Formula One World Championship in a car carrying his own name (cf Surtees, Hill and Fittipaldi Automotive). The Surtees Racing Organisation was a race team that spent nine seasons (1970 to 1978 as a constructor in Formula One, Formula 2, and Formula 5000. History Embassy Racing With Graham Hill came first into being when Graham Hill decided to leave his previous team Brabham, unhappy with the atmosphere there Origins Wilson Fittipaldi was a midfield Pay driver with Brabham in Formula One in 1972 and 1973 In 1967, the title went to Brabham's team mate, New Zealander Denny Hulme. The 1967 Formula One season included the 18th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 2, 1967, and ended on Denis Clive "Denny" Hulme OBE ( 18 June 1936 &ndash 4 October 1992) was a New Zealand car racer the 1967 Hulme had better reliability through the year, possibly due to Jack Brabham's desire to try new parts first. ^[16] The Brabham team took the constructors' world championship in both years. ^[17]

For 1968 Austrian Jochen Rindt replaced Hulme, who had left to join McLaren. The 1968 Formula One season included the 19th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 1, 1968, and ended on Karl Jochen Rindt ( April 18, 1942 - September 5, 1970) was a German - Austrian racing driver McLaren, founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren (1937&ndash1970 is a Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, UK Repco produced a more powerful version of their V8 to maintain competitiveness against Ford's new Cosworth DFV, but it proved very unreliable. The DFV was an Engine produced by Cosworth originally for Formula One motor racing Slow communications between the UK and Australia had always made identifying and correcting problems very difficult. The car was fast — Rindt set pole position twice during the season — but Brabham and Rindt finished only three races between them, and ended the year with only ten points. The term " pole position " comes from the Horse racing term where the number one starter starts on the inside next to the inside pole ^[18]

Brabham BT33 Technically conservative Brabham did not produce a monocoque car until 1970. Monocoque, from the French for single ( mono) and shell ( coque) is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external

Although Brabham bought Cosworth DFV engines for the 1969 season, Rindt left to join Lotus. The 1969 Formula One season included the 20th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on March 1, 1969, and ended on His replacement, Jacky Ickx, had a strong second half to the season, winning in Germany and Canada, after Jack Brabham was sidelined by a testing accident. Racing career Jacky Ickx was introduced to the sport when he was taken by his father motoring journalist Jacques Ickx, to races which he covered The 1969 German Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Nürburgring on 3 August 1969 with Formula Two cars competing by invitation Results from the 1969 Formula One Canadian Grand Prix held at Mosport Park on September 20, 1969. ^[19] Ickx finished second in the drivers' championship, with 37 points to Jackie Stewart's 63. For other people of this name see Jackie Stewart (disambiguation. Brabham himself took a couple of pole positions and two top three finishes, but did not finish half the races. The team were second in the constructors' championship, aided by second places at Monaco and Watkins Glen scored by Piers Courage, driving a Brabham for the Frank Williams Racing Cars privateer squad. The 1969 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monaco on May 18, 1969 Classification The 1969 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 5, 1969 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course Piers Raymond Courage (b 27 May 1942, Colchester, England - d Not to be confused with Williams Grand Prix Engineering formed by Frank Williams and Patrick Head in 1977 and ^[20]

Jack Brabham intended to retire at the end of the 1969 season and sold his share in the team to Tauranac. However, Rindt's late decision to remain with Lotus meant that Brabham drove for another year. ^[21] He took his last win in the opening race of the 1970 season and was competitive throughout the year, although mechanical failures blunted his challenge. The 1970 Formula One season included the 21st FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on March 7, 1970, and ended on ^[22] Aided by number two driver Rolf Stommelen, the team came fourth in the constructors' championship. Rolf Stommelen ( 11 July 1943 - 24 April 1983) was a Racing driver from Siegen Germany.

Ron Tauranac (1971)

Brabham BT34. Graham Hill took his final Formula One win in the unique 'lobster claw'. Norman Graham Hill ( February 15, 1929 – November 29, 1975) was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World

Tauranac signed double world champion Graham Hill and young Australian Tim Schenken to drive for the 1971 season. Norman Graham Hill ( February 15, 1929 – November 29, 1975) was a British racing driver and two-time Formula One World Tim Schenken (born September 26, 1943) is a former Racing driver from Australia. The 1971 Formula One season included the 22nd FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on March 6, 1971, and ended on Tauranac designed the unusual ‘lobster claw’ BT34, featuring twin radiators mounted ahead of the front wheels, a single example of which was built for Hill. Radiators and convectors are types of Heat exchangers designed to transfer Thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling Although Hill, no longer a front-runner since his 1969 accident, took his final Formula One win in the non-championship BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone,^[23] the team scored only seven championship points. The International Trophy is a prize awarded annually by the British Racing Drivers' Club to the winner of a motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone Circuit is a Motor racing circuit in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, named after the village in the former England

Tauranac, an engineer at heart, started to feel his Formula One budget of around £100,000 was a gamble he could not afford to take on his own and began to look around for an experienced business partner. ^[24] He sold the company for £100,000 at the end of 1971 to British businessman Bernie Ecclestone, Jochen Rindt's former manager and erstwhile owner of the Connaught team. Bernard Charles "Bernie" Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930 near Bungay Suffolk, England) is the president and CEO of Connaught Engineering, often referred to simply as Connaught, was a Formula One and sports car constructor from Britain. Tauranac stayed on to design the cars and run the factory. ^[25]

Bernie Ecclestone (1972–1987)

The Brabham BT44 on display in 2003. The Brabham BT44 was an F1 car designed by Gordon Murray, Brabham 's chief designer The car was used in the 1974 and 1975 seasons. The 1974 Formula One season included the 25th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 13, 1974, and ended on The 1975 Formula One season included the 26th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 12, 1975, and ended on

Tauranac left Brabham early in the 1972 season after Ecclestone changed the way the company was organised without consulting him. The 1972 Formula One season included the 23rd FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 23, 1972, and ended on Ecclestone has since said "In retrospect, the relationship was never going to work", noting that "[Tauranac and I] both take the view: 'Please be reasonable, do it my way'". ^[26] The highlights of an aimless year, during which the team ran three different models, were pole position for Argentinian driver Carlos Reutemann at his home race at Buenos Aires and a victory in the non-championship Interlagos Grand Prix. Carlos Alberto Reutemann (born Santa Fe Argentina April 12, 1942) nicknamed "Lole" is an Argentine former racing driver (who raced Buenos Aires is the Capital and largest city of Argentina. It is geographically located on the southern shore of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern For the 1973 season, Ecclestone promoted engineer Gordon Murray to chief designer. The 1973 Formula One season included the 24th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 28, 1973, and ended on Prof (Ian Gordon Murray (born 1946 in Durban, South Africa) is a renowned designer of Formula One race cars and the famous The young South African produced the triangular cross-section BT42, with which Reutemann scored two podium finishes and finished seventh in the drivers' championship. Ecclestone also hired Herbie Blash to run the Brabham F2 program. By 1973 Blash was the Brabham F1 team manager, working with Ecclestone and Murray for the next 15 years, during which time Brabham scored 22 victories and Nelson Piquet won the 1981 and 1983 Drivers' World Championships.

In the 1974 season, Reutemann took the first three victories of his Formula One career, and Brabham's first since 1970. The 1974 Formula One season included the 25th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 13, 1974, and ended on The team finished a close fifth in the constructors' championship, fielding the much more competitive BT44s. The Brabham BT44 was an F1 car designed by Gordon Murray, Brabham 's chief designer After a strong finish to the 1974 season, many observers felt the team were favourites to win the 1975 title. The 1975 Formula One season included the 26th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 12, 1975, and ended on The year started well, with a first win for Brazilian driver Carlos Pace at the Interlagos circuit in his native São Paulo. José Carlos Pace (born October 6 1944 in São Paulo - died March 18 1977 near São Paulo was a Racing driver from Autódromo José Carlos Pace or Interlagos is the venue of the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix, located in a suburb of the city of São Paulo São Paulo ( is the largest city in Brazil, with its metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world However, as the season progressed, tyre wear frequently slowed the cars in races. ^[27] Pace took another two podiums and finished sixth in the championship; while Carlos Reutemann had five podium finishes, including a dominant win in the 1975 German Grand Prix, and finished third in the drivers' championship. Results from the 1975 Formula One German Grand Prix held at Nürburgring on August 3, 1975. The team likewise ranked third in the constructors' table at the end of the year.

While rival teams Lotus and McLaren relied on the Cosworth DFV engine from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, Ecclestone sought a competitive advantage by investigating other options. Despite the success of Murray’s Cosworth-powered cars, Ecclestone signed a deal with Italian motor manufacturer Alfa Romeo to use their large and powerful flat-12 engine from the 1976 season. Alfa Romeo Automobiles SpA is an Italian Automaker founded in 1910 A flat-12 is an Internal combustion engine in a flat configuration having 12 cylinders The flat-12 is wider (but significantly lower in height than The 1976 Formula One season included the 27th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 25, 1976, and ended on The engines were free, but they rendered the new BT45s, now in red Martini Racing livery, unreliable and overweight. For the constructor of lower formulae single-seaters see Martini (cars Martini Racing is the name under which various Motor racing ^[28] The 1976 and 1977 seasons saw Brabham fall toward the back of the field again. The 1977 Formula One season included the 28th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 9, 1977, and ended on Reutemann negotiated a release from his contract before the end of the 1976 season and signed with Ferrari. Scuderia Ferrari is the name for the Gestione Sportiva the division of the Ferrari automobile company concerned with racing Ulsterman John Watson replaced him at Brabham for 1977. John Marshall "Wattie" Watson MBE (born May 4, 1946, Belfast) is a British former racing driver from Northern Ireland The team lost Carlos Pace early in the 1977 season when he died in a light aircraft accident. Light aircraft is a generic category of aircraft that comprises many official designations in many countries ^[29]

For the 1978 season, Murray’s BT46 featured several new technologies to overcome the weight and packaging difficulties caused by the Alfa engines. The 1978 Formula One season included the 29th FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on January 15, 1978, and ended on October The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One Racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the Ecclestone signed then two-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda, whose US$1 million salary was met with sponsorship from the Italian dairy products company Parmalat. Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (born February 22, 1949 in Vienna) is an Austrian Aviator, Entrepreneur Parmalat SpA ( is a Multinational Italian Dairy and food corporation 1978 was the year of the dominant Lotus 79 ‘wing car’, which used aerodynamic ground effect to stick to the track when cornering, but Lauda won two races in the BT46, one with the controversial 'B' or 'fan car' version. The Lotus 79 was a Formula One car designed in late 1977 by Colin Chapman, Martin Ogilvie, Tony Rudd and Peter Wright of Lotus For another similarly named effect relating to aircraft see Ground effect in aircraft. The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One Racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the

The partnership with Alfa Romeo ended during the 1979 season, the team's first with young Brazilian driver Nelson Piquet. The 1979 Formula One season included the 30th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 21, 1979, and ended on Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (born August 17, 1952) more commonly known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver who was Formula Murray designed the full-ground effect BT48 around a rapidly developed new Alfa Romeo V12 engine and incorporated an effective carbon-carbon braking system — a technology Brabham pioneered in 1976. However, unexpected movement of the car's aerodynamic centre of pressure made its handling unpredictable and the new engine was unreliable. The center of pressure is the point on a body where the sum total of the aerodynamic Pressure field acts causing a Force and no moment about that point The team dropped to eighth in the constructors' table by the end of the season. ^[30] Alfa Romeo started testing their own Formula One car during the season, prompting Ecclestone to revert to Cosworth DFV engines, a move Murray described as being "like having a holiday". ^[31] The new, lighter, Cosworth-powered BT49 was introduced before the end of the year at the 1979 Canadian Grand Prix; where after practice Lauda announced his immediate retirement from driving, later explaining that he "was no longer getting any pleasure from driving round and round in circles". The Brabham BT49 was a ground effect Formula One car designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team The 1979 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 30 September 1979 at Montreal. ^[32]

The Brabham BT49 competed over four seasons, winning one championship. The Brabham BT49 was a ground effect Formula One car designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team

The team used the BT49 over four seasons. In the 1980 season Piquet scored three wins and the team took third in the constructors' championship. The 1980 Formula One season included the 31st FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 13, 1980, and ended on This season saw the introduction of the blue and white livery that the cars would wear through several changes of sponsor, until the team's demise in 1992. With a better understanding of ground effect, the team further developed the BT49C for the 1981 season, incorporating a hydropneumatic suspension system to avoid ride height limitations intended to reduce downforce. The 1981 Formula One season included the 32nd FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on March 15, 1981, and ended Ride height ( ground clearance or simply clearance is the amount of space between the base of an automobile Tire and the underside of the Chassis; or more Piquet, who had developed a close working relationship with Murray,^[33] took the drivers' title with three wins, albeit amid accusations of cheating.

Renault had introduced turbocharged engines to Formula One in 1977. 1970s and 1980s 1977 Renault first involvement in Formula One was made by the Renault Sport subsidiary A turbocharger, or turbo, is an air Compressor used for forced-induction of an Internal combustion engine. Brabham had tested a BMW 4-cylinder M10 turbocharged engine in the summer of 1981. ( BMW) (Bavarian Motor Works is an independent German automobile manufacturer founded in 1916 The BMW M10/M12 was an I4 Piston engine produced from 1961 to 1987. For the 1982 season the team designed a new car, the BT50, around the BMW engine which, like the Repco engine sixteen years previously, used a road car engine block. The 1982 Formula One season was the 33rd FIA Formula One World Championship season Brabham continued to run the Cosworth-powered BT49D in the early part of the season while reliability and driveability issues with the BMW units were resolved. The relationship came close to ending, with the German manufacturer insisting that Brabham use their engine. The turbo car took its first win at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix. Results from the 1982 Formula One Canadian Grand Prix held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 13, 1982. In the 1983 season, Piquet took the championship lead from Renault's Alain Prost at the last race of the year, the South African Grand Prix to become the first driver to win the Formula One drivers' world championship with a turbo-powered car. The 1983 Formula One season included the 34th FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 13 and ended on October 15 after fifteen races 1970s and 1980s 1977 Renault first involvement in Formula One was made by the Renault Sport subsidiary Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE (born 24 February 1955 is a French racing driver The 1983 Formula One South African Grand Prix was the final race of the 1983 Formula One season. The team did not win the constructor's championship in either 1981 or 1983, despite Piquet's success. Riccardo Patrese was the only driver other than Piquet to win a race for Brabham in this period - the drivers in the second car contributed only a fraction of the team's points in each of these championship seasons. Riccardo Patrese (born April 17 1954) is an Italian former Racing driver, who raced in Formula One from to.

Nelson Piquet and his BT54 were hampered by Pirelli tyres in 1985. Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (born August 17, 1952) more commonly known as Nelson Piquet, is a Brazilian former racing driver who was Formula Pirelli & C SpA ( is a diverse Multinational company based in Milan, Italy. The 1985 Formula One season was the 36th FIA Formula One World Championship season

Piquet took the team’s last win at the 1985 French Grand Prix before reluctantly leaving for the Williams team at the end of the season. Results from the 1985 Formula One French Grand Prix held at Paul Ricard on July 7, 1985. Not to be confused with Frank Williams Racing Cars, formed by Frank Williams 1967 After seven years and two world championships, he felt he was worth more than Ecclestone's salary offer for 1986. ^[33] The 1986 season was a disaster. The 1986 Formula One season was the 37th FIA Formula One World Championship season Murray's radical long and low BT55, with its BMW engine tilted over to improve aerodynamics, scored only two points; BMW and Brabham disagree about whether the fault lay with the car or the engine. The Brabham BT55 was a Formula One racing car designed by Gordon Murray and David North for the Brabham team owned by Bernie Ecclestone. Driver Elio de Angelis became the Formula One team's first fatality when he died in a testing accident at the Paul Ricard circuit. Elio de Angelis ( 26 March 1958 – 15 May 1986) was a Racing driver who participated in Formula One between and, racing The Paul Ricard Circuit is a Motorsport Race track built at Le Castellet, near Marseille, France, in 1969 with finance from the In August BMW, after considering running their own in-house team, announced their departure from Formula One at the end of the season. Murray, who had largely taken over the running of the team as Ecclestone became more involved with his role at the Formula One Constructors Association, felt that "the way the team had operated for 15 years broke down". The Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA is an organization of the Chassis builders (constructors who design and build the cars that race in the FIA He left Brabham in November to join McLaren. McLaren, founded in 1963 by New Zealander Bruce McLaren (1937&ndash1970 is a Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, UK ^[34]

Ecclestone held BMW to their contract for the 1987 season, but the German company would only supply the laydown engine. The 1987 Formula One season was the 38th FIA Formula One World Championship season The upright units, around which Brabham had designed their new car, were sold for use by the Arrows team. Arrows Grand Prix International was a Formula One team active from 1977 to 2002 Senior figures at Brabham, including Murray, have said that by this stage Ecclestone had lost interest in running the team. 1987 was only slightly more successful than the previous year - Patrese and de Cesaris scoring 10 points between them. Unable to locate a suitable engine supplier, the team missed the FIA deadline for entry into the 1988 world championship and Ecclestone finally announced the team's withdrawal from Formula One at the Brazilian Grand Prix in April 1988. He sold MRD to Alfa Romeo for an unknown price. Alfa Romeo Automobiles SpA is an Italian Automaker founded in 1910 ^[34]

The team was then sold to Swiss financier Joachim Luhti and Blash left to run Ecclestone's FOCA Television company for a season.

Joachim Luhti (1989)

The Brabham team missed the 1988 season during the change of ownership. The new BT58, powered by an engine from Judd (originally another of Jack Brabham's companies), was produced for the 1989 Formula One season. Judd is a name brand of engines produced by Engine Developments Ltd The 1989 Formula One season was the 40th FIA Formula One World Championship season ^[35] Italian driver Stefano Modena drove alongside the more experienced Martin Brundle. Stefano Modena (born May 12, 1963 in Modena) is a former Racing driver from Italy. Career Early Formula One career His Formula One career began with Tyrrell in 1984 The team finished in eighth place, and Modena took the team's last podium: a third place at the Monaco Grand Prix. The 1989 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Monaco on May 7, 1989.

Middlebridge Racing (1989–1992)

After Luhti's arrest on tax evasion charges in mid-1989, several parties disputed the ownership of the team. Middlebridge Group Limited, a Japanese engineering firm that was already involved with established Formula 3000 team Middlebridge Racing, gained control of Brabham for the 1990 Formula One season. The 1990 Formula One season was the 41st FIA Formula One World Championship season They paid for their purchase using £1 million loaned to them by finance company Landhurst Leasing,^[36] but the team remained underfunded and would only score a few more points finishes in its last three seasons. Jack Brabham's youngest son, David, raced for the Formula One team for a short time in 1990. David Brabham (born 5 September 1965 in Wimbledon, London) is an Australian former Formula One driver who raced for the Brabham Damon Hill, the son of another former Brabham driver and World Champion, drove for the team in 1992. Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE (born 17 September 1960 in London) is a retired World Championship winning British racing driver from England Hill joined an ailing Brabham after the team dropped Giovanna Amati, the last woman to attempt to race in Formula One, when her sponsorship failed to materialise. Giovanna Amati (born July 20, 1962 in Rome) is a former professional Race car driver from Italy.

Argentine Sergio Rinland designed the team's final cars around Judd engines, except for 1991 when Yamaha powered the cars. Sergio Rinland is an Argentine engineer best known for his work in Formula One. ( a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company (whose HQ is at 2500 Shingai Iwata Shizuoka) is part of the Yamaha Corporation. In the 1992 season the cars rarely qualified for races. The 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season Hill gave the team its final finish, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he crossed the finish line four laps behind the winner. The 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hungaroring on August 16, 1992. Before the end of the season the team ran out of funds and collapsed. Middlebridge Group Limited had been unable to continue making repayments against the £6 million ultimately provided by Landhurst Leasing, which went into administration. In English and Welsh insolvency law, an Administration Order is a method used to protect a company experiencing short or medium term financial problems The Serious Fraud Office investigated the case. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO is an arm of the Government of the United Kingdom, accountable to the Attorney-General. Landhurst's managing directors were found guilty of corruption and imprisoned, having accepted bribes for further loans to Middlebridge. ^[36] It was one of four teams to leave Formula One that year. (cf March Engineering, Fondmetal and Andrea Moda Formula). March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from Britain. Fondmetal was a Formula One constructor from 1991 through 1992, as well as a Formula One engine supplier in 2000. Andrea Moda Formula was a Formula One team created by Andrea Sassetti, a shoe manufacturer from Italy. Although there was talk of reviving the team for the following year, its assets passed to Landhurst Leasing and were auctioned by the company's receivers in 1993. Administrative receivership is a procedure in the United Kingdom whereby a creditor can enforce security against a company's assets in an effort to obtain ^[37]

In 1993 the team's old factory was acquired by Yamaha Motor Sports, who had been engine supplier to Brabham at the time of their demise, and Herbie Blash continued to run Activa Technology Limited, a Yamaha owned company focusing on composite component manufacture, supplying F1, rally and GT racing teams, as well as (through Blash's continued relationship with Gordon Murray) having significant involvement in both the McLaren F1 GTR car and the prototyping of the P8 McLaren Mercedes SLR. Activa moved from the Chessington site following liquidation and reforming at a new location in Newchapel, Surrey. This business was sold in 2004 and now manufactures replica F1 cars and simulators for the major F1 teams and their sponsors. The old factory in Chessington was bought by the Carlin DPR GP2 motor racing team in 2006. Carlin DPR was a proposed Racing team from Great Britain. The team was going to be a joint venture between Carlin Motorsport and David Price Racing For the article about the Asian version of the GP2 series see GP2 Asia Series. ^[38]

Motor Racing Developments

Several F1 teams used Brabhams (Piers Courage, FWRC, 1969)

The Repco Brabham logo from the 1960s, illustrating the joint branding of the period. Piers Raymond Courage (b 27 May 1942, Colchester, England - d Not to be confused with Williams Grand Prix Engineering formed by Frank Williams and Patrick Head in 1977 and

Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac called the company they set up in 1961 to design and build customer formula racing cars Motor Racing Developments (MRD). Formula racing is a term that refers to various forms of open wheeled single seater motorsport. Initially Brabham and Tauranac each held 50 percent of the shares. ^[7] Tauranac was responsible for design and running the business, while Brabham was the test driver and arranged corporate deals like the Repco engine supply and the use of the MIRA wind tunnel. He also contributed ideas to the design process and often machined parts and helped build the cars. ^[39]

From 1963 to 1965, MRD was not directly involved in Formula One. A separate company, Jack Brabham's Brabham Racing Organisation, ran the works entry. ^[40] Like other customers, BRO bought its cars from MRD, initially at £3,000 per car,^[41] although it did not pay for development parts. MRD often ran works cars in other formulae. Tauranac was unhappy with his distance from the Formula One operation and before the 1966 season suggested that he was no longer interested in producing cars for Formula One under this arrangement. Brabham investigated other chassis suppliers for BRO, however the two reached an agreement and from 1966 MRD was much more closely involved in this category. ^[42] After Jack Brabham sold his shares in MRD to Ron Tauranac at the end of 1969, the works Formula One team was MRD, although the name on the official entry list sometimes varied in line with sponsorship deals.

Despite only building its first car in 1961, by the mid-1960s, MRD had overtaken established constructors like Cooper to become the largest manufacturer of single-seat racing cars in the world,^[43] and by 1970 had built over 500 cars. ^[44] Other Formula One teams used Brabhams, Frank Williams Racing Cars and the Rob Walker Racing Team were the most successful. Not to be confused with Williams Grand Prix Engineering formed by Frank Williams and Patrick Head in 1977 and Rob Walker Racing Team was a privateer team in Formula One during the 1950s and 1960s The 1965 British Grand Prix saw seven Brabhams compete, only two of them from the works team, and there were usually four or five at championship Grands Prix throughout that season. Results from the 1965 Formula One British Grand Prix held at Silverstone on July 10, 1965 Classification The firm built scores of cars for the lower formulae each year, peaking with 89 cars in 1966. ^[44] Brabham had the reputation of providing customers with cars of a standard equal to those used by the works team, which worked ‘out of the box’. The company provided a high degree of support to its customers - including Jack Brabham helping customers set up their cars. During this period the cars were usually known as "Repco Brabhams", not because of the Repco engines used in Formula One between 1966 and 1968, but because of a smaller-scale sponsorship deal through which the Australian company had been providing parts to Jack Brabham since his Cooper days. ^[45]

At the end of 1971 Bernie Ecclestone bought MRD. He retained the Brabham brand, as did subsequent owners. Although the production of customer cars continued briefly under Bernie Ecclestone’s ownership, Ecclestone believed the company needed to focus on Formula One to succeed. The last production customer Brabhams were the Formula Two BT40 and Formula Three BT41 of 1973,^[46] although Ecclestone sold ex-works Formula One BT44Bs to RAM Racing as late as 1976. RAM Racing was a Formula One racing team which competed during the racing seasons of 1976 to 1985 ^[47]

In 1988 Ecclestone sold Motor Racing Developments to Alfa Romeo. The Formula One team did not compete that year, but Alfa Romeo put the company to use designing and building a prototype 'Procar' - a racing car with the silhouette of a large saloon (the Alfa Romeo 164) covering a composite racing car chassis and mid mounted race engine, intended for a series for major manufacturers to support Formula One Grands Prix. The Alfa Romeo 164 was an Executive car with saloon body produced by the Italian Automaker Alfa Romeo from 1988 to 1997 The car was designated the Brabham BT57. ^[48]

Racing history - other categories

Brabham's last USAC race-winning car — the Brabham BT25 IndyCar of 1968.

The Brabham BT18-Honda completely dominated Formula Two in 1966

Top drivers used Brabham F3 cars in their early careers. Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, was a type of Formula racing. (James Hunt, 1969)

Indycar

Brabham cars competed at the Indianapolis 500 from the mid 1960s to the early 1970s. James Simon Wallis Hunt ( 29 August 1947 &ndash 15 June 1993) was a British racing driver from England who won the The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500, and historically known simply as "The 500" is an American After an abortive project in 1962,^[49] MRD was commissioned in 1964 to build an Indycar chassis powered by an American Offenhauser engine. Offenhauser was a racing engine manufacturer that operated from 1933 to 1983 The resultant BT12 chassis was raced by Jack Brabham as the Zink-Urschel Trackburner at the 1964 event and retired with a fuel tank problem. Results of the 1964 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Saturday May 30 1964. The car was entered again in 1966, taking a third place for Jim McElreath. Results of the 1966 Indianapolis 500 held at Indianapolis on Monday May 30, 1966. Jim McElreath (born February 18, 1928, Arlington Texas) is a former driver in the USAC and CART Championship Car series From 1968 to 1970 Brabham returned to Indianapolis, at first with a 4. 2 litre version of the Repco V8 the team used in Formula One, with which Peter Revson finished fifth in 1969, before reverting to the Offenhauser engine for 1970. Peter Jeffrey Revlon (renamed Revson) ( February 27, 1939 - March 22, 1974 aged) was a racecar driver from United States ^[50] The Brabham-Offenhauser combination was entered again in 1971 by J.C. Agajanian, finishing fifth in the hands of Bill Vukovich II. Joshua "JC/Aggie" Agajanian ( June 16, 1913 - May 5, 1984) was an influential figure in American motorsports history Bill Vukovich II (born March 29, 1944, Fresno California) is a former driver in the championship car division of USAC and CART ^[51] Although a Brabham car never won at Indianapolis, McElreath won four United States Automobile Club (USAC) races over 1965 and 1966 in the BT12. The United States Automobile Club (USAC is an Open-wheel Auto racing sanctioning body The Dean Van Lines Special in which Mario Andretti won the 1965 USAC national championship was a direct copy of this car, by Andretti's crew chief Clint Brawner. Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is an Italian American former racecar driver and one of the most successful Americans in the ^[52] Revson took Brabham's final USAC race win in a BT25 in 1969, using the Repco engine. ^[53]

Formula Two

In the 1960s and early 1970s, drivers who had reached Formula One often continued to compete in Formula Two. Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, was a type of Formula racing. In 1966 MRD produced the BT18 for the lower category, with a Honda engine acting as a stressed component. () is a Multinational corporation, engine Manufacturer and engineering corporation headquartered in Japan. The car was extremely successful, winning 11 consecutive Formula Two races in the hands of the Formula One pairing of Brabham and Hulme. Cars were entered by MRD and not by the Brabham Racing Organisation, avoiding a direct conflict with Repco, their Formula One engine supplier. ^[54]

Formula Three

The first Formula Three Brabham, the BT9, won only four major races in 1964. Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The BT15 which followed in 1965 was a highly successful design. 58 cars were sold, which won 42 major races. Further developments of the same concept, including wings by the end of the decade, were highly competitive up until 1971. The BT38C of 1972 was Brabham's first production monocoque and the first not designed by Tauranac. Although 40 were ordered, it was less successful than its predecessors. The angular BT41 was the final Formula Three Brabham. ^[55]

Sports cars

Tauranac did not enjoy designing sports cars and could only spare a small amount of his time from MRD's very successful single-seater business. Only 14 sports cars were built between 1961 and 1972, out of a total production of almost 600 chassis. ^[56] The BT8A was the only one built in any numbers, and was quite successful in national level racing in the UK in 1964 and 1965. ^[57] The design was "stretched" in 1966 to become the one-off BT17, originally fitted with the 4. 3 litre version of the Repco engine for Can-Am racing. The Canadian-American Challenge Cup or Can-Am, was an SCCA / CASC Sports car racing series from 1966 to 1974 It was rapidly abandoned by MRD with engine reliability problems. ^[58]

Technical innovation

The 1978 BT46B ‘Fan car’ won its only race before being banned. The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One Racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the

Brabham was considered a technically conservative team in the 1960s, chiefly because it persevered with traditional spaceframe cars long after Lotus introduced lighter, stiffer monocoque chassis to Formula One in 1962. A space frame or space structure is a Truss -like lightweight rigid structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric Pattern. Monocoque, from the French for single ( mono) and shell ( coque) is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external Chief designer Tauranac reasoned that monocoques of the time were not usefully stiffer than well designed spaceframe chassis, and were harder to repair and less suitable for MRD’s customers. ^[59] His ‘old fashioned’ cars won the Brabham team the 1966 and 1967 championships, and were competitive in Formula One until rule changes forced a move to monocoques in 1970. ^[60]

Despite the perceived conservatism, in 1963 Brabham was the first Formula One team to use a wind tunnel to hone their designs to reduce drag and stop the cars lifting off the ground at speed. A wind tunnel is a research tool developed to assist with studying the effects of air moving over or around solid objects In Fluid dynamics, drag (sometimes called fluid resistance) is the force that resists the movement of a Solid object through a Fluid (a ^[61] The practice only became the norm in the early 1980s, and is possibly the most important factor in the design of modern cars. Towards the end of the 1960s, teams began to exploit aerodynamic downforce to push the cars’ tyres down harder on the ground and enable them to go round corners faster. The term downforce describes the downward pressure created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a Car that allows it to travel faster through a corner by holding At the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix, Brabham were the first, alongside Ferrari, to introduce full width rear wings to this effect. The 1968 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Spa-Francorchamps on June 9, 1968. ^[62]

The team's most fertile period of technical innovation came in the 1970s and 1980s when Gordon Murray became technical director. Prof (Ian Gordon Murray (born 1946 in Durban, South Africa) is a renowned designer of Formula One race cars and the famous During 1976, the team introduced carbon-carbon brakes to Formula One, which promised reduced unsprung weight and better stopping performance due to carbon's greater coefficient of friction. The disc brake or disk brake is a device for slowing or stopping the rotation of a Wheel. In a ground Vehicle with a suspension, the unsprung weight (or more properly the unsprung mass) is the mass of the suspension Wheels The coefficient of friction is a Dimensionless quantity symbolized by the Greek letter μ and is used to approximate the Force of Friction. The initial versions used carbon-carbon composite brake pads and a steel disc faced with carbon pucks. Reinforced Carbon-Carbon ( carbon-carbon or RCC) is a Composite material consisting of Carbon fiber reinforcement in a matrix of Graphite Brake pads are an important part of braking systems for all types of vehicles that are equipped with Disc brakes Brake pads are steel backing plates with friction Steel is an Alloy consisting mostly of Iron, with a Carbon content between 0 The technology was not reliable at first. In 1976 Carlos Pace crashed at 180 mph (290 km/h) at the Österreichring circuit after heat build-up in the brakes boiled the brake fluid, leaving him with no way of stopping the car. The Österreichring is a disused Austrian race circuit which hosted the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix 18 consecutive years from 1970 through Brake fluid is a type of Hydraulic fluid used in Hydraulic brake applications in Motorcycles Automobiles Light trucks and some advanced ^[63] By 1979, Brabham had developed an effective carbon-carbon braking system, combining structural carbon discs with carbon brake pads. ^[64] By the late 1980s, carbon brakes were used by all competitors in almost all top level motor sports.

Although Brabham experimented with airdams and underbody skirts in the mid 1970s, the team, like the rest of the field, did not immediately understand Lotus' development of a ground effect car in 1977. The Brabham BT46B 'Fan car' of 1978, generated enormous downforce with a fan, which sucked air from beneath the car, although its claimed use was for engine cooling. The Brabham BT46 was a Formula One Racing car, designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team owned by Bernie Ecclestone, for the The term downforce describes the downward pressure created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a Car that allows it to travel faster through a corner by holding The car only raced once in the Formula One World Championship, Niki Lauda winning the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix, before a loophole in the regulations was closed by the FIA. Andreas Nikolaus "Niki" Lauda (born February 22, 1949 in Vienna) is an Austrian Aviator, Entrepreneur The 1978 Swedish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on June 17, 1978 at the Scandinavian Raceway; it was the eighth race of the 1978 ^[65]

Although in 1979 Murray was the first to use lightweight carbon fibre composite panels to stiffen Brabham's aluminium alloy monocoques, he echoed his predecessor Tauranac in being the last to switch to the new fully composite monocoques. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic ( CFRP or CRP) is a very strong light and expensive Composite material or fiber reinforced plastic. WikipediaNaming Monocoque, from the French for single ( mono) and shell ( coque) is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external Murray was reluctant to built the entire chassis from composite materials until he understood their behaviour in a crash, an understanding achieved in part through an instrumented crash test of a BT49 chassis. A crash test is a form of Destructive testing usually performed in order to ensure safe design standards in Crashworthiness and ^[64] The team did not follow McLaren's 1981 MP4/1 with their own fully composite chassis until the 'lowline' BT55 in 1986,^[66] the last team to do so. This technology is now used in all top level single seater racing cars.

For the 1981 season the FIA introduced a 6 cm minimum ride height for the cars, intended to slow them in corners by limiting the downforce created by aerodynamic ground effect. Ride height ( ground clearance or simply clearance is the amount of space between the base of an automobile Tire and the underside of the Chassis; or more The term downforce describes the downward pressure created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a Car that allows it to travel faster through a corner by holding For another similarly named effect relating to aircraft see Ground effect in aircraft. Gordon Murray devised a hydropneumatic suspension system for the BT49C, which allowed the car to settle to a much lower ride height at speed. Hydropneumatic is a type of Automotive suspension system, invented by Citroën, and fitted to Citroën cars as well as being adapted by other car manufacturers Brabham were accused of cheating by other teams, although Murray believes that the system met the letter of the regulations. No action was taken against the team and others soon produced systems with similar effects. See Brabham BT49. The Brabham BT49 was a ground effect Formula One car designed by Gordon Murray for the Brabham team ^[67]

At the 1982 British Grand Prix, Brabham reintroduced the idea of re-fuelling and changing the car's tyres during the race, unseen since the 1957 Formula One season, to allow their drivers to sprint away at the start of races on a light fuel load and soft tyres. Results from the 1982 Formula One British Grand Prix held at Brands Hatch on July 18, 1982. The 1957 Formula One season included the 8th FIA Formula One World Championship season which commenced on January 13, 1957, and ended on After studying techniques used at the Indianapolis 500 and in NASCAR racing in the United States, the team were able to refuel and re-tyre the car in 14 seconds in tests ahead of the race. The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500, and historically known simply as "The 500" is an American The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing ( NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of Stock cars in the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In 1982 Murray felt the tactic did little more than "get our sponsors noticed at races we had no chance of winning", but in 1983 the team made good use of the tactic. ^[68] Refuelling was banned for 1984, and did not reappear until the 1994 season, but tyre changes have remained part of Formula One, to the extent that Max Mosley, head of the FIA, claimed in the late 1990s that television viewers found the spectacle of the pit stops more exciting than overtaking on the track. The 1994 Formula One season was the 45th FIA Formula One World Championship season Max Rufus Mosley (born 13 April 1940 is president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA a non-profit association that represents the interests of

Controversy

The fan car and hydropneumatic suspension exploited loopholes in the sporting regulations. In the early 1980s Brabham was accused of going further and breaking the regulations. During 1981, Piquet's first championship year, rumours circulated of illegal underweight Brabham chassis. Driver Jacques Lafitte was among those to claim that the cars were fitted with heavily ballasted bodywork before being weighed at scrutineering. In Automotive engineering, the bodywork of an Automobile is the structure which protects The occupants Any other payload A scrutineer is a person who observes Voting in an Election, and/or observes the counting of ballot papers in order to check that election rules are followed The accusation was denied by Brabham's management. No formal protest was made against the team and no action was taken against them by the sporting authorities. ^[69]

From 1978, Ecclestone was president of the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA), a body formed by the teams to represent their interests. The Formula One Constructors' Association (FOCA is an organization of the Chassis builders (constructors who design and build the cars that race in the FIA This left his team open to accusations of having advance warning of rule changes. Ecclestone denies that the team benefited from this and Murray has noted that, contrary to this view, at the end of 1982 the team had to abandon their new BT51 car, built on the basis that ground effect would be permitted in 1983. Brabham had to design and build a replacement, the BT52, in only three months. ^[70] At the end of the 1983 season, Renault and Ferrari, both beaten to the drivers' championship by Piquet, protested that the Research Octane Number (RON) of the team's fuel was above the legal limit of 102. The octane rating is a measure of the resistance of Gasoline and other Fuels to Detonation ( Engine knocking) in spark-ignition The FIA declared that a figure of up to 102. 9 was permitted under the rules, and that Brabham had not exceeded this limit. ^[71]

Championship results

Main article: Brabham Grand Prix results

Results achieved by the 'works' Brabham team. The table below details the complete World Championship Grand Prix results for the Brabham Formula One team Bold results indicate a championship win.

Notes

References

Books

• Bamsey, Ian; Benzing, Enrico; Staniforth, Allan; Lawrence, Mike (1988). The 1000 BHP Grand Prix cars. G T Foulis & Co Ltd. ISBN 0854296174.  
• Brabham, Jack & Doug Nye (2004), The Jack Brabham Story, Motorbooks International, ISBN 0-7603-1590-6.
• Collings, Timothy (2004). The Piranha Club. Virgin Books. ISBN 0-7535-0965-2.  
• Drackett, Phil (1985). Brabham — Story of a racing team. Arthur Baker Ltd. ISBN 0-213-16915-0.  
• Gill, Barrie (ed. ) (1976). The World Championship 1975 - John Player Motorsport yearbook 1976. John Player & Sons, known simply as Player's, was a Tobacco and Cigarette manufacturer based in Nottingham, England. Queen Anne Press Ltd. . ISBN 0-362-00254-1.  
• Hamilton, Maurice (ed. ) (1983). Autocourse 1983–1984. Hazleton Publishing. ISBN 0-905138-25-2.  
• Henry, Alan (1985). Brabham, the Grand Prix Cars. Osprey. ISBN 0-905138-36-8.  
• Hodges, David (1998). A-Z of Formula Racing Cars 1945–1990. Bay View books. ISBN 1-901432-17-3.  
• Lawrence, Mike (1999). Brabham+Ralt+Honda: The Ron Tauranac story. Motor Racing Publications. ISBN 1-899870-35-0.  
• Lovell, Terry (2004). Bernie's Game. Metro Books. ISBN 1843580861.  
• Nye, Doug (1986). Autocourse history of the Grand Prix car 1966–85. Hazleton publishing. ISBN 0-905138-37-6.  
• Roebuck, Nigel (1986). Grand Prix Greats. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 0-85059-792-7.  
• Tremayne, David; Hughes, Mark (1998, 2001). The Concise Encyclopedia of Formula One. Parragon. ISBN 0-7525-6735-7.  
• Unique, (Various). Brabham - the man and the machines. Unique Motor Books. ISBN 1-84155-619-X.  

Newspapers and Magazines

• Baker, Andrew. "Sport Almanack: Racing cars for sale: one careful owner", The Independent, Oct 10, 1993. The Independent is a British compact Newspaper published by Tony O'Reilly 's Independent News & Media.  
• Fearnley, Paul. "The powerhouse that Jack built", Motorsport, May 2006, p.  41.  
• Howard, Keith. "Carbon fibre", Motorsport, June 2006, p.  52.  
• Murray, Alasdair. "Tycoon's drive and a formula worth millions", The Times, November 11 1987, p. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register.  4.  
• Scarlett, Michael. "Team Building", Motorsport, May 2006, p.  43.  

Websites

• GrandPrix. com. Brabham (Motor Racing Developments Ltd.). www. grandprix. com. Archived from the original on 2006-03-07. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Retrieved on 7 December, 2006.
• Wright, Rosalind. Serious Fraud Office Annual Report 1997–98. www. sfo. gov. uk. Retrieved on 7 December, 2006. Also available in hardcopy. Published by HMSO July 1998. The Office of Public Sector Information ( OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of Her Majesty's Stationery Office (usually abbreviated as HMSO ISBN 0-10-551856-5

All race and championship results are taken from the Official Formula 1 Website. 1962 Season review. www. formula1. com. Retrieved 27 April 2006

External links

• www.forix.com Biography of Jack Brabham, with significant content on the early years of the Brabham team.
• www.nvo.com Picture gallery of historic Brabhams.
• www.motorracing-archive.com Summary history of Brabham 1961–1972, including significant race results and production numbers for all models. (Archived here).
• www.oldracingcars.com Complete race history of all Brabham F1 models from 1966 to 1982 and links to Brabham research projects on other models.
• www.f3history.co.uk History of Formula Three, including Brabham (under 'Manufacturers'). (Archived here)
• www.autocoursegpa.com Complete world championship Brabham team statistics