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Brabham

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   CAPTION: Brabham

   Image:Brabham91.gif
            Full name          Brabham Racing Organisation
              Base             Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
          Notable staff        Bernie Ecclestone
                               Ron Tauranac
                               Gordon Murray
                               Ron Dennis
                               Charlie Whiting
         Notable drivers       Jack Brabham
                               Dan Gurney
                               Denny Hulme
                               Niki Lauda
                               Nelson Piquet
              Debut            1962 German Grand Prix
         Races competed        402
   Constructors' Championships 2 ( 1966, 1967)
     Drivers' Championships    4 ( 1966, 1967, 1981, 1983)
         Race victories        35
         Pole positions        39
          Fastest laps         42
            Last race            1992 Hungarian Grand Prix

   Portal Formula One portal

   Motor Racing Developments Ltd., more usually known as Brabham, was a
   racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team 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 history. As of 2006, Jack Brabham's 1966 drivers' championship
   remains the only one won by a driver in a car bearing his own name.

   In 1966 and 1967 Brabham won the drivers' and constructors'
   championships using Australian-built engines from Repco. During the
   1960s Brabham was also the largest manufacturer of customer open wheel
   racing cars in the world, and had built more than 500 cars by 1970.
   Brabham cars won championships in Formula Two and Formula Three, and
   competed in the Indianapolis 500.

   During the 1970s and 1980s, under the ownership of the British
   businessman Bernie Ecclestone — who later become responsible for
   administrating the commercial aspects of Formula One — the team
   introduced many innovations to Formula One, such as carbon brakes, the
   controversial but successful 'fan car', in-race refuelling, and
   hydropneumatic suspension. In the 1980s the team won two more drivers'
   championships with Brazilian Nelson Piquet, and became the first team
   to win a drivers' championship with a turbocharged car.

   After Ecclestone sold the team in 1987, ownership passed eventually to
   the Middlebridge Group, a Japanese engineering firm. Midway through the
   1992 season the team collapsed after Middlebridge was unable to
   continue making repayments against loans provided by Landhurst Leasing.
   The case was investigated by the UK Serious Fraud Office.

Origins

   Jack Brabham was 40 when he won the F1 drivers' title in a 'Brabham'
   car.
   Enlarge
   Jack Brabham was 40 when he won the F1 drivers' title in a 'Brabham'
   car.

   Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac met in 1951 when both were successfully
   building and racing their own cars in Australia. Brabham went to the
   United Kingdom in 1955 to further his racing career. Driving for the
   Cooper Car Company works team, he became Formula One world champion in
   1959 and 1960. In addition to driving, he had significant technical
   involvement at Cooper, particularly in developing the 1960 T53
   ‘lowline’ car. Brabham consulted Tauranac by letter on technical
   matters and fed the results back into the Cooper designs.

   Although Cooper had revolutionised Formula One by introducing the
   mid-engined layout, their approach to car design was less than
   scientific and Brabham felt sure that he could improve on it. In 1959
   Brabham invited his friend Tauranac to come to the UK and work with
   him. Brabham described Tauranac as "absolutely the only bloke I'd have
   gone into partnership with". Initially this was at his car dealership,
   Jack Brabham Motors, producing upgrade kits for Sunbeam Rapier and
   Triumph Herald road cars, but with the long-term aim to design racing
   cars.

   Brabham and Tauranac set up a company called Motor Racing Developments
   Ltd. (see below), deliberately avoiding the use of either man’s name,
   and produced their first car for the entry level Formula Junior class
   in the summer of 1961. Initially known as an MRD, the car's name was
   soon changed. 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... merde." The cars
   were subsequently known as Brabhams, with type numbers starting with BT
   for 'Brabham Tauranac'.

   By the 1961 Formula One season, the first run under a new 1.5 litre
   engine capacity limit, the Lotus and Ferrari teams had developed the
   mid-engined approach further than Cooper. 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. MRD
   initially concentrated on making money by selling cars to customers, so
   the first Brabham Formula One car, the BT3, was only delivered partway
   through the 1962 Formula One season.

Racing history - Formula One

Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac (1961-1970)

   Brabham BT33 Technically conservative Brabham did not produce a
   monocoque car until 1970.
   Enlarge
   Brabham BT33 Technically conservative Brabham did not produce a
   monocoque car until 1970.

   The Brabham Racing Organisation (BRO) started the 1962 season, its
   first in Formula One, fielding an outdated customer Lotus 21 chassis
   for Jack Brabham. Brabham became a Formula One constructor when BRO
   debuted their turquoise liveried BT3 car at the 1962 German Grand Prix,
   where it retired with a throttle problem after nine of the fifteen
   laps. By the last two races of the season the car was competitive
   enough to take a pair of fourth places.

   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. Jack Brabham took the team's first win at the non-championship
   Solitude Grand Prix in 1963. Gurney took the marque's first win in the
   world championship, at the 1964 French Grand Prix. The American won
   again at the 1964 Mexican Grand Prix and Brabham works and customer
   cars took another three non-championship wins during the 1964 season.
   The 1965 season was less successful, with no championship wins. During
   this period, Brabham finished third or fourth in the constructors'
   championship each year, but promising performances were marred by poor
   reliability on several occasions. Commentators, including Ron Tauranac,
   have said that a lack of resources may have cost the team results.

   The Formula One engine capacity limit was raised to 3 litres for the
   1966 season and suitable engines were scarce. 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. Few expected the Brabham-Repcos to be competitive, but the light
   and reliable cars ran at the front from the start of the season and 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. Only his former team mate, Bruce McLaren, has since matched the
   achievement. 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 2006, to win the Formula One World Championship
   in a car carrying his own name (cf Surtees, Hill and Fittipaldi
   Automotive). In 1967, the title went to Brabham's team mate, New
   Zealander Denny Hulme. Hulme had better reliability through the year,
   possibly due to Jack Brabham's desire to try new parts first. The
   Brabham team took the constructors' world championship in both years.

   Hulme left for McLaren in 1968 and was replaced by Austrian Jochen
   Rindt. A more powerful version of the Repco V8 was produced to maintain
   competitiveness against Ford's new Cosworth DFV, but proved very
   unreliable. The Repco project had always been hindered by the lengthy
   lines of communication between the UK and Australia, which made
   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 having scored just ten
   points.

   Brabham bought Cosworth DFV engines for the 1969 season. Rindt left for
   Lotus and was replaced by Jacky Ickx, who had a strong second half to
   the season, winning in Germany and Canada, after Jack Brabham was
   sidelined by a testing accident. Ickx finished second in the drivers'
   championship, with 37 points to Jackie Stewart's 63. 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.

   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. He took
   his last win in the opening race of the 1970 season and competed at the
   front throughout the year, although his challenge was blunted by
   repeated mechanical failures. Aided by number two driver Rolf
   Stommelen, the team came fourth in the constructors' championship.

Ron Tauranac (1971)

   Brabham BT34. Graham Hill took his final Formula One win in the unique
   'lobster claw'.
   Enlarge
   Brabham BT34. Graham Hill took his final Formula One win in the unique
   'lobster claw'.

   Tauranac signed veteran double world champion Graham Hill and the young
   Australian Tim Schenken to drive for the 1971 season. 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.
   Although Hill took his final Formula One win in the non-championship
   BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, the team scored only
   seven championship points.

   Tauranac, an engineer first and foremost, 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. He eventually sold Brabham at the end of 1971 to British
   businessman Bernie Ecclestone, Jochen Rindt's former manager and
   erstwhile owner of the Connaught team. Tauranac stayed on as designer
   and to run the factory.

Bernie Ecclestone (1972-1987)

   The Brabham BT49 competed over four seasons, winning one championship.
   Enlarge
   The Brabham BT49 competed over four seasons, winning one championship.

   Tauranac left Brabham early in the 1972 season after Ecclestone made
   several changes to the running of the business without consulting him.
   Ecclestone has since said that "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'". Pole position for Argentinian
   driver Carlos Reutemann at his home race at Buenos Aires and a victory
   in the non-championship Interlagos Grand Prix were the highlights of an
   aimless year, during which the team ran three different models. For the
   1973 season, Ecclestone promoted engineer Gordon Murray to the position
   of chief designer. The young South African produced the triangular
   cross-section BT42, with which Reutemann scored two podium finishes and
   finished seventh in the drivers' championship.

   In the 1974 season Reutemann took the first three victories of his
   Formula One career, and Brabham's first since 1970. The team finished a
   close fifth in the constructors' championship, fielding the much more
   competitive BT44s. After a strong finish to the 1974 season, many
   observers felt the team were favourites to win the 1975 title. The year
   started well, with an emotional first win for Brazilian driver Carlos
   Pace at the Interlagos circuit in his native São Paulo. Over the
   season, tyre wear frequently slowed the cars, and the initial promise
   was not maintained. Pace took another two podiums and finished sixth in
   the championship; while five podium finishes, including a dominant win
   in the 1975 German Grand Prix, placed Reutemann third. The team was
   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 for his team. Despite the increasing success of Murray’s
   nimble 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. The engines were free, but they rendered
   the new BT45s, now in red Martini Racing livery, unreliable and
   overweight. The 1976 and 1977 seasons saw Brabham fall toward the back
   of the field again. Reutemann negotiated a release from his contract
   before the end of the 1976 season and signed with Ferrari. He was
   replaced at Brabham for 1977 by Ulsterman John Watson. The team lost
   Carlos Pace early in the 1977 season when he was killed in a light
   aircraft accident.

   For the 1978 season Murray’s radical BT46 featured several new
   technologies to overcome the weight and packaging difficulties caused
   by the Alfa engines. 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. 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 (see below).

   The partnership with Alfa Romeo ended during the 1979 season, the
   team's first with young Brazilian Nelson Piquet. Murray designed the
   full-ground effect BT48 around a rapidly developed and unreliable new
   Alfa Romeo V12 engine and incorporated an effective carbon-carbon
   braking system — a technology Brabham pioneered in 1976 (see below).
   However, the team had not understood the effect of movement of the
   aerodynamic centres of pressure on such a car and dropped to eighth in
   the constructors' table by the end of the season. 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". 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 team used the BT49 over four seasons. In the 1980 season Piquet
   scored three wins and the team took third in the constructors'
   championship. 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. By now the team fully understood
   ground effect and further developed the BT49C for the 1981 season,
   incorporating a hydropneumatic suspension system to avoid ride-height
   limitations intended to reduce downforce (see below). Piquet, who had
   developed a close working relationship with Murray took the drivers'
   title with three wins, albeit amid accusations of cheating (see below).

   Brabham had tested a BMW 4-cylinder M10 turbocharged engine in the
   summer of 1981. For the 1982 season a new car, the BT50, was designed
   around the BMW engine which, like the Repco engine 16 years previously,
   was based on a road car engine block. 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, while Ecclestone maintained
   that the BMW-powered cars were not reliable enough. The turbo car took
   its first win at the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix. In the 1983 season,
   Piquet was the first driver to win the Formula One drivers' world
   championship with a turbo-powered car. Piquet scored a sequence of good
   results from mid-season to take the championship lead from Renault's
   Alain Prost at the last race of the year, the South African Grand Prix.
   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.

   Piquet took the team’s last win at the 1985 French Grand Prix before
   reluctantly leaving for Williams at the end of the season. After seven
   years and two world championships, he felt he was worth more than
   Ecclestone's salary offer for 1986. During the 1986 Formula One season,
   Murray's radical long and low BT55, with its BMW engine tilted over to
   allow clean airflow to the rear wing, scored only two points; the
   engine did not perform well in this orientation and the gearbox from
   Weissman was unreliable. Italian Elio de Angelis became the Formula One
   team's first fatality when he was killed in a testing accident at Paul
   Ricard. 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, left Brabham at the end of the year to join
   McLaren.

   From the 1987 season FISA progressively reduced the turbo boost
   pressure allowed in Formula One, before banning turbocharged engines
   altogether for 1989. BMW, whose programme was based around turbocharged
   versions of their road engines, withdrew from Formula One after the
   1987 season. Unable to locate a suitable engine supplier, Ecclestone
   withdrew the team from Formula One at the beginning of 1988. He
   eventually sold MRD for £2 million. It passed through the hands of FIAT
   before ending up in the ownership of Swiss businessman Joachim Luhti.

Joachim Luhti (1989)

   The Brabham team missed the 1988 season during the change of ownership,
   although MRD did produce a prototype mid-engined racing saloon, the
   BT57, for Alfa Romeo. The new BT58, powered by an engine from Judd
   (originally another of Jack Brabham's companies), was produced for the
   1989 Formula One season. Italian driver Stefano Modena was signed
   alongside the more experienced Martin Brundle. The team finished in
   eighth place, and Modena took the team's last podium: a third place at
   the Monaco Grand Prix.

Middlebridge Racing (1989 - 1992)

   After the arrest of Luhti in mid-1989 on tax evasion charges, ownership
   of the team was disputed. Middlebridge Group Limited, a Japanese
   engineering firm which was already involved with established Formula
   3000 team Middlebridge Racing, ended up with control of the team for
   the 1990 Formula One season. They paid for their purchase using £1
   million loaned to them by finance company Landhurst Leasing.
   Nonetheless, the team was 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, and was
   followed by another son of a former Brabham driver and World Champion
   when Damon Hill joined the team in 1992. Hill was drafted into the team
   after Giovanna Amati, the last woman to attempt to race in Formula One,
   was dropped when her sponsorship failed to materialise.

   The team's final cars were designed by Argentine Sergio Rinland and
   continued to use Judd engines, except for 1991 when Yamaha engines were
   used. In the 1992 season the cars rarely qualified for races. Hill gave
   the team its final finish, at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he
   crossed the finish line four laps behind the winner. 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. The case was investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.
   Landhurst's managing directors were found guilty of corruption and
   imprisoned, having accepted bribes for further loans to Middlebridge.
   It was one of four teams to leave Formula One that year. (cf March
   Engineering, Fondmetal and Andrea Moda Formula). 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, including the team's factory, which is still used for motorsport
   purposes today - it is owned by Trevor Carlin, and houses the Carlin
   DPR GP2 team.

Motor Racing Developments

   Brabhams were bought by other teams for use in F1 (Piers Courage, 1969)
   Enlarge
   Brabhams were bought by other teams for use in F1 ( Piers Courage,
   1969)

   The company that Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac set up in 1961 to design
   and build customer formula racing cars was called Motor Racing
   Developments (MRD). Initially Brabham and Tauranac each held 50 percent
   of the shares.

   From 1963 to 1965, MRD was not directly involved in Formula One, where
   the works entry was run by a separate company, Jack Brabham's Brabham
   Racing Organisation. Like other customers, BRO bought its cars from
   MRD, initially at £3,000 per car, although it did not pay for
   development parts. MRD often ran works cars in other formulae. During
   this period the cars in all formulae were usually known as "Repco
   Brabhams", not because of the Repco engines used 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.

   Tauranac was not happy with his distance from the Formula One operation
   and 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. 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. At the end of 1971 MRD
   was sold to Bernie Ecclestone, who retained the Brabham ‘brand’, as did
   subsequent owners.

   Under Brabham and Tauranac in the mid-1960s, MRD was the largest
   manufacturer of single-seat racing cars in the world, and by 1970 had
   built over 500 cars. Brabhams were used by many teams in Formula One,
   most successfully by Frank Williams Racing Cars and the Rob Walker
   Racing Team. 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. The firm built
   scores of cars for the lower formulae each year, peaking with 89 cars
   in 1966. 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.
   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, although
   Ecclestone sold ex-works Formula One BT44Bs to RAM Racing as late as
   1976.

Racing history - other formulae

   The Brabham BT18-Honda completely dominated Formula Two in 1966
   Enlarge
   The Brabham BT18-Honda completely dominated Formula Two in 1966
   Many top drivers used Brabham F3 cars in their early careers. (James
   Hunt, 1969)
   Enlarge
   Many top drivers used Brabham F3 cars in their early careers. ( James
   Hunt, 1969)

Indycar

   Brabham cars competed at the Indianapolis 500 from the mid 1960s to the
   early 1970s. After an abortive project in 1962, MRD was commissioned in
   1964 to build an Indycar chassis powered by an American Offenhauser
   engine. The resultant BT12 chassis was raced by Jack Brabham as the
   Zink-Urschel Trackburner at the 1964 event and retired on lap 77 with a
   fuel tank problem. The car was entered again in 1965 and 1966, taking a
   third place for Jim McElreath on the latter occasion, although MRD was
   not involved. 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, before reverting to the Offenhauser engine for 1970. MRD's best
   finish was a fifth place for Peter Revson in 1969. The
   Brabham-Offenhauser combination was used until 1972. Although not
   successful at Indianapolis, McElreath won four USAC races over 1965 and
   1966 in the BT12. The Dean Van Lines Special in which Mario Andretti
   won the 1965 United States Automobile Club (USAC) national championship
   was a direct copy of this car, by Andretti's crew Clint Brawner. Revson
   won a USAC race in 1969, using the Repco engine.

Formula Two

   In the 1960s and early 1970s, Formula One drivers often competed in
   Formula Two as well. In 1966 MRD produced the BT18 for the lower
   category, with a Honda engine acting as a stressed component. 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.

Formula Three

   The first Formula Three Brabham was the BT9 in 1964, but it was not
   until 1965 that the marque really took off in the category. The BT15
   was a highly successful design, 58 of which were sold, winning
   championships in the UK, Italy, Sweden and Denmark. The cars very much
   followed the design route of their Formula One and Formula Two cousins,
   combining spaceframe chassis and outboard suspension. Indeed, in the
   mid 1960s Formulas Three and Two both used 1 litre production-derived
   engines and the chassis were often very closely related. Further
   developments of the same concept, featuring the addition of wings, were
   highly competitive up until 1971. 1972's BT38C was Brabham's first
   production monocoque and the first not designed by Tauranac. It was
   less popular and successful than its predecessors. The angular BT41 was
   the final Formula Three Brabham.

Formula Junior

   The first Brabham chassis was the prototype MRD designed for Formula
   Junior, which at that time provided an entry level of racing.
   Retrospectively labelled the BT1 the car proved immediately competitive
   in the hands of Australian amateur racer Gavin Youl. The BT2-series
   were productionised versions of this prototype. Brabham continued to
   produce cars for this category until it ended in 1963.

Sportscars

   Tauranac did not enjoy designing sportscars and could only spare a
   small amount of his time from MRD's very successful single-seater
   business. Only 14 sportscars were built between 1961 and 1972, out of a
   total production of almost 600 chassis. 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. 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. It was rapidly abandoned by MRD with
   engine reliability problems.

Technical innovation

   The 1978 BT46B ‘Fan car’ won its only race before being banned.
   Enlarge
   The 1978 BT46B ‘Fan car’ won its only race before being banned.

   Brabham was often considered a conservative team in the
   Brabham-Tauranac era of the 1960s. The team won the 1966 and 1967
   championships with traditional spaceframe cars six years after Lotus
   introduced monocoque chassis to Formula One. Designer Tauranac insists
   that the spaceframe chassis was far easier to repair and while willing
   and able to innovate - the BT1 was the first racing car to feature an
   adjustable anti-roll bar, for example - would only do so for good
   reason.

   Early Brabhams went well on fast tracks; a fact Tauranac attributes in
   part to MRD’s pioneering use of wind tunnel testing to hone their
   aerodynamics. As early as 1963, tests in the Motor Industry Research
   Association tunnel taught the team to keep the nose of the car as close
   to the track as possible, to minimise aerodynamic lift. Brabham was one
   of the first teams to use trim tabs at the front of the car to control
   lift. They appeared as early as 1962 on the Formula Junior car and at
   the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix Brabham were the first, alongside Ferrari,
   to introduce full width rear wings for downforce, which increases grip.

   The team's most fertile period of technical innovation came in the
   1970s and 1980s when Gordon Murray became technical director. During
   1976, the team introduced carbon-carbon brakes to Formula One, which
   promised reduced unsprung weight and better stopping performance. The
   initial versions used reinforced carbon-carbon composite pads and a
   steel disc faced with carbon pucks. The technology was not reliable at
   first. In 1976 Carlos Pace crashed at 180 mph at the Österreichring
   circuit after heat buildup in the brakes boiled the brake fluid,
   leaving him with no way of stopping the car. By 1979 Brabham had
   developed an effective carbon-carbon braking system, combining
   structural carbon discs with carbon brake pads.

   The Brabham BT46B of 1978, also known as the 'Fan car', generated an
   immense level of downforce by means of a fan, claimed to assist engine
   cooling, which sucked air from beneath the car. 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.

   Murray started using lightweight carbon fibre composite panels to
   stiffen Brabham's aluminium alloy monocoques from 1979. He was
   reluctant to built the entire chassis from composite materials until he
   completely understood how they worked, an understanding achieved in
   part through an instrumented crash test of a BT49 chassis. The team did
   not follow McLaren's 1981 MP4/1 with their own fully composite chassis
   until the 'lowline' BT55 in 1986, the last team to do so.

   For the 1981 season FISA 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. Gordon Murray devised a
   hydropneumatic suspension system for the BT49C, which allowed the car
   to settle to a much lower ride height at speed. Brabham were accused of
   cheating by other teams, although Murray believes that the system was
   legal. No action was taken against the team and others soon produced
   systems with similar effects. See Brabham BT49.

   At the 1982 British Grand Prix Brabham reintroduced the idea of
   re-fuelling and changing the car's tyres during the race, to allow
   their drivers to sprint away at the start of races on a light fuel load
   and soft tyres. In tests at Donington Park the week before the race the
   pit crew were reported to "have refuelled and re-tyred the car in only
   14 seconds" The team made good use of the tactic in 1982 and 1983.
   Refuelling was banned for 1984, reappearing in 1994, but tyre changes
   have remained part of Formula One.

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 claimed that the cars were fitted with
   heavily ballasted bodywork before being weighed at scrutineering. 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.

   Ecclestone's position as president of the Formula One Constructors
   Association (FOCA) left his team open to accusations of having advance
   warning of rule changes. Ecclestone denies the team benefitted in this
   way 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. When ground effect was
   then banned for the 1983 season by the FIA, Brabham had to design and
   build a second, entirely different, car (BT52) in only three months. 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. FISA
   declared that a figure of up to 102.9 was permitted under the rules,
   and that Brabham had not exceeded this limit.

Championship results

   Results achieved by the 'works' Brabham team. Bold results indicate a
   championship win.
   Season Entrant Car Tyres Engine Drivers Constructors Championship
   1962 Brabham Racing Organisation Lotus 21
   Brabham BT3 Dunlop Coventry-Climax Jack Brabham 7th (9 points)
   1963 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT3
   Brabham BT7
   Lotus 25 Dunlop Coventry-Climax Jack Brabham
   Dan Gurney 3rd (28 points)
   1964 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT7
   Brabham BT11 Dunlop Coventry-Climax Jack Brabham
   Dan Gurney 4th (33 points)
   1965 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT7
   Brabham BT11 Dunlop
   Goodyear Coventry-Climax Jack Brabham
   Dan Gurney
   Denny Hulme
   Giancarlo Baghetti 3rd (27 pts)
   1966 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT19
   Brabham BT20
   Brabham BT22 Goodyear Repco Jack Brabham
   Denny Hulme Champion (42 pts)
   1967 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT19
   Brabham BT20
   Brabham BT24 Goodyear Repco Jack Brabham
   Denny Hulme Champion (37 pts)
   1968 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT24
   Brabham BT26 Goodyear Repco Jack Brabham
   Jochen Rindt
   Dan Gurney 8th (10 pts)
   1969 Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT26/A Goodyear Cosworth DFV
   Jack Brabham
   Jacky Ickx 2nd (51 pts)
   1970 Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT33 Goodyear Cosworth DFV Jack
   Brabham
   Rolf Stommelen 4th (35 pts)
   1971 Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT33
   Brabham BT34 Goodyear Cosworth DFV Graham Hill
   Tim Schenken
   Dave Charlton 9th (5 pts)
   1972 Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT33
   Brabham BT34
   Brabham BT37 Goodyear Cosworth DFV Graham Hill
   Carlos Reutemann
   Wilson Fittipaldi 9th (7 pts)
   1973 Motor Racing Developments
   Ceramica Pagnossin Team MRD Brabham BT37
   Brabham BT42 Goodyear Cosworth DFV Carlos Reutemann
   Wilson Fittipaldi
   Andrea de Adamich
   Rolf Stommelen
   John Watson 4th (49 pts)
   1974 Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT42
   Brabham BT44 Goodyear Cosworth DFV Carlos Reutemann
   Carlos Pace
   Rikky von Opel
   Richard Robarts
   Teddy Pilette 5th (35 pts)
   1975 Martini Racing Brabham BT44B Goodyear Cosworth DFV Carlos
   Reutemann
   Carlos Pace 2nd (54 pts)
   1976 Martini Racing Brabham BT45 Goodyear Alfa Romeo Carlos Reutemann
   Carlos Pace
   Rolf Stommelen
   Larry Perkins 9th (9 pts)
   1977 Martini Racing Brabham BT45/B Goodyear Alfa Romeo Carlos Pace
   John Watson
   Hans Stuck
   Giorgio Francia 5th (27 pts)
   1978 Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT45C
   Brabham BT46/B/C Goodyear Alfa Romeo Niki Lauda
   John Watson
   Nelson Piquet 3rd (53 pts)
   1979 Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT46
   Brabham BT48
   Brabham BT49 Goodyear Alfa Romeo
   Cosworth DFV Niki Lauda
   Nelson Piquet
   Ricardo Zuniño 8th (6 pts)
   1980 Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT49/B Michelin Cosworth DFV Nelson
   Piquet
   Ricardo Zuniño
   Hector Rebaque 3rd (55 pts)
   1981 Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT49/B/C Goodyear Cosworth DFV Nelson
   Piquet
   Hector Rebaque
   Ricardo Zuniño 2nd (61 pts)
   1982 Parmalat Racing Team Brabham BT49D
   Brabham BT50 Goodyear Cosworth DFV
   BMW Nelson Piquet
   Riccardo Patrese 2nd (76 pts)
   1983 Fila Sport Brabham BT52/B Michelin BMW Nelson Piquet
   Riccardo Patrese 3rd (72 pts)
   1984 MRD International Brabham BT53 Michelin BMW Nelson Piquet
   Teo Fabi
   Corrado Fabi
   Manfred Winkelhock 4th (38 pts)
   1985 Motor Racing Developments Ltd Brabham BT54 Pirelli BMW Nelson
   Piquet
   Marc Surer
   François Hesnault 5th (26 pts)
   1986 Motor Racing Developments Ltd Brabham BT54
   Brabham BT55 Pirelli BMW Elio de Angelis
   Ricardo Patrese
   Derek Warwick 9th (2 pts)
   1987 Motor Racing Developments Ltd Brabham BT56 Goodyear BMW Ricardo
   Patrese
   Andrea de Cesaris
   Stefano Modena 8th(10 pts)
   1989 Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT58 Pirelli Judd Martin Brundle
   Stefano Modena 9th (8 pts)
   1990 Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT58
   Brabham BT59 Pirelli Judd Stefano Modena
   David Brabham
   Gregor Foitek 10th (2 pts)
   1991 Motor Racing Developments Ltd Brabham BT59Y
   Brabham BT60Y Pirelli Yamaha Martin Brundle
   Mark Blundell 9th (3 pts)
   1992 Motor Racing Developments Ltd Brabham BT60B Goodyear Judd Eric van
   de Poele
   Giovanna Amati
   Damon Hill NC (0 pts)
   Preceded by:
   Lotus       Formula One Constructors' Champion
               1966- 1967                        Succeeded by:
                                                 Lotus
   Motor Racing Developments

   Formula One: BT3 | BT7 | BT19 | BT20 | BT23 | BT24 | BT26 | BT33 | BT34
   | BT37 | BT39 | BT42 | BT44/B | BT45 | BT46/B/C | BT48 | BT49/C/D |
   BT50 | BT51 | BT52 | BT53 | BT54 | BT55 | BT56 | BT58 | BT59/Y | BT60

   Indianapolis 500/USAC: BT12 | BT25 | BT32

   Formula Two: BT10 | BT11/A | BT16 | BT18 | BT23 | BT23C | BT30 | BT36 |
   BT38 | BT40 |

   Formula Atlantic: BT23F/G | BT29 | BT35A/B | BT38B | BT40

   Formula Three: BT9 | BT15 | BT16A | BT18A | BT21 | BT21B | BT21X | BT28
   | BT35C | BT38C | BT41

   Formula Junior: BT1 | BT2 | BT6

   Other single seaters: BT4 | BT7A | BT14 | BT18B | BT21A | BT21C | BT22
   | BT23A | BT23B | BT23D | BT23E | BT30X | BT31 | BT35X | BT36X | BT43

   Sportscars: BT5 | BT8A | BT17
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brabham"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
