Brabham (Formula 1 Team)

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Jack Brabham was 40 years old when he became world champion on his own team car

The “Brabham” team was founded by Jack Brabham and Ron Toranak , the first meeting of which took place in 1951 , and at the time of which they were quite successful young designers, who also performed on their equipment, putting it to various small competitions in their native Australia . Brabham was more successful as a racer, and in 1955 he went to the UK , hoping to continue his racing career. There he signed a contract with the Cooper team and in 1958 he came with Formula 1 , at that time the highest category of automobile competitions held under the auspices of the International Federation of Motorsport (FIA) . In 1959 and 1960, Brabham brought his team two championship titles, driving a revolutionary machine at that time with a rear-engine layout.

Despite the fact that this decision was soon copied by other teams, and Cooper's superiority came to naught, the chief designer Owen Maddock was very conservative and practically did not change the previously successful car. In many ways, only through the efforts of Brabham , who insisted on further development, the T53 model appeared, which was more squat than all the previous ones, was equipped with a new five-speed gearbox and a spring rear suspension. Monaco was followed by five consecutive victories at the GP of Holland , Belgium, France, Great Britain and Portugal, as a rule, reinforced by second and third places of the second pilot of the McLaren team. Thus, the second consecutive world title Brabham was provided, as well as the Cup of Designers . The British "artisans" twice did "specialists" from the " Ferrari ". But it was this craft approach that ruined the Cooper team. In 1961, Coopers were again taken aback by the changed regulations. Engine capacity was limited to 1.5 liters. and the old 4-cylinder Climax FPF engine could not stand the competition with the new Ferrari V6. The new T55 was just an evolution of the obsolete T53. The new V8 engine, which appeared at the end of the season on cars with the designation T58, did not save the situation. The result - not a single victorious finish or even second place for the season, and only fourth place in the KK. To top it all off, left the Braham team . He was sure that he could organize his team better than Cooper . Back in late 1959, Brabham persuaded Toranak to move to the UK to work together. Initially, they started with the sale and production of spare parts for road cars at their Jack Brabham Motors car dealership, but with the long-term goal of designing race cars. To achieve this, Brabham and Toranak set up Motor Racing Developments, Ltd with the proceeds, deliberately avoiding the use of names in the name. The new company, according to their plans, was supposed to compete with Cooper in the market for client racing cars; but since Brabham, at that time, was still bound by a contract with Cooper, Toranak created the first MRD car in secret. Only in the summer of 1961, when Brabham left the former team, the car was introduced to the public and renamed from “MRD” to “Brabham”. In the name of the model, the initials of both creators were used: BT - “Brabham Tauranac”.

Jack Brabham and Ron Toranak (1961-1970)

The debut of the new team took place at the Dutch Grand Prix in 1962 . On the purchased Lotus chassis, Brabham spent the first five races of the season, gaining only one point, until the new Brabham BT3 debuted at the German Grand Prix , dressed in turquoise livery, which became the brand name for the team. And although the first pancake came out lumpy (“ Black Jack ” started only on the 24th, and after nine laps came off due to a problem with the throttle), the necessary reserve was created. In the two remaining races of the season, Brabham finished one step away from the podium, earning two fourth places.

In 1963, Braham 's team mate became American Dan Gurney , and cars from this season are painted in the national racing colors of Australia - green and gold. The first victory came to the team at the extra-stage in Stuttgart .

Ron Toranak (1971)

Ron Toranac in 1971 signed a contract with two-time World Champion Graham Hill and young Australian Tim Schenken to participate in the 1971 season. Also in 1971, Toranak introduced the unique Brabham BT34 , nicknamed the “lobster claw” with special twin radiators mounted in front of the front wheels. As a result, at the end of the season, the team took last place in the overall standings, gaining only seven points, due to unreliable and not too fast cars. The only outlet was the victory of Graham Hill in the unofficial championship of the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone , although no one considered Hill to be a serious contender after his accident at the US Grand Prix in 1969 , where he was thrown out of the cockpit and suffered multiple fractures. Toranac , after Brabham left, honestly tried to pull both things at once, but quickly lost his strength, realizing that it was not his job to engage in financial reports and to find sponsors. Therefore, he soon began looking for an experienced business partner . As a result, at the end of 1971, the company was sold for $ 100,000 to British businessman Bernie Ecclestone , former manager Jochen Rindt and former owner of the Connaught team. Toranak himself, curtailing the production of client machines, took a ticket to Australia . However, the retreat of the designer did not last even three years. In 1974, he returned to British soil, where he began to produce racing chassis under the brand name " Ralt ".

Bernie Ecclestone (1972-1987)

Ron Toranac left the Brabham team at the beginning of the 1972 season, selling it to one of the famous Formula 1 functionaries Bernie Ecclestone . The deal amounted to 25,000 pounds. ^[1] The title sponsor of the team since 1975 was Martini, and since 1978 Parmalat. During the leadership period of Bernie the heyday of the team. Nelson Piquet won two league titles - in 1981 and 1983, however, the performances of his teammates were not so successful and the team could not get a single Constructors Cup.

Joachim Luchti (1989)

In 1988, Ecclestone sold the Brabham to Alfa Romeo , and then the team was resold to the Swiss Joachim Luhti . Due to all the troubles associated with the transfer of ownership , the team was late with the application and was forced to miss the 1988 season. Therefore, the new BT58 , with the engine from the company “ Judd ” (at one time also formed with the participation of Jack Brabham ), was prepared only by the beginning of 1989 . The pilots of the team were Martin Brandl and Stefano Modena (who played for Brabham in 1987 ). As a result, the team finished the season in 8th place in the Design Cup (having scored the same number of points with Scuderia Italia ), and the best result was the third place of Modena at the Monaco Grand Prix .

Middlebridge Racing (1989-1992)

Following Luhti’s arrest for tax fraud in mid- 1989 , several companies began a dispute over the ownership of the team. As a result, control over Brabham was obtained by the Japanese corporation Middlebridge Group Limited , owned by billionaire Koji Nakauchi , who participated in Formula 3000 , with the Middlebridge Racing team.

Legacy

On June 4, 2009, Franz Hilmer , who at one time bought the rights to the Brabham brand , confirmed that he wants to bring the legendary team back to life. The impetus for the application was the promise of the FIA to introduce a limited budget for all teams of the paddock . Hilmer also bought the property and base of the bankrupt Super Aguri F1 team in Lifefield . The technical director of the new team in the application was named Mark Preston , who held the same position in Super Aguri . Sir Brabham himself and his family announced that they had nothing to do with this situation, and were ready to assert their rights in court . But be that as it may, the application of the newly-born Brabham team was never accepted.

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All data is taken from the official website of Formula 1. 1962 Season review. www.formula1.com. Similaritiesrieved 27 April 2006

• 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.
• 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 )