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 Herbie Blash |
Noted drivers |
Jack Brabham Dan Gurney Denny Hulme Jochen Rindt Jacky Ickx Silvio Moser Graham Hill Carlos Reutemann Niki Lauda Nelson Piquet Riccardo Patrese Elio de Angelis Derek Warwick Stefano Modena Martin Brundle David Brabham Damon Hill Héctor Rebaque John Watson Carlos Pace |
Formula One World Championship career | |
First entry | 1962 German Grand Prix |
Races entered | 403 entries (394 starts) |
Constructors' Championships |
2 (1966, 1967) |
Drivers' Championships |
4 (1966, 1967, 1981, 1983) |
Race victories | 35 |
Podiums | 120 |
Points | 832 |
Pole positions | 40 |
Fastest laps | 42 |
Final entry | 1992 Hungarian Grand Prix |
Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known as Brabham /ˈbræbəm/, was a British 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 Formula One history. Jack Brabham's 1966 Drivers' Championship remains the only such achievement using a car bearing the driver's own name.
In the 1960s, Brabham was the world's largest manufacturer of open-wheel racing cars for sale to customer teams, and had built more than 500 cars by 1970. During this period, teams using Brabham cars won championships in Formula Two and Formula Three. Brabham cars also competed in the Indianapolis 500 and in Formula 5000 racing. In the 1970s and 1980s, Brabham introduced innovations such as the Gordon Murray designed "fan car"—which won its only race before being withdrawn—in-race refuelling, carbon brakes, and hydropneumatic suspension.
The team won two more Formula One Drivers' Championships in the 1980s with Brazilian Nelson Piquet. He won his first championship in 1981 in the Ground effects BT49-Ford, and became the first to win a Drivers' Championship with a turbocharged car, in 1983. In 1983 the Brabham BT52, driven by Piquet and Italian Riccardo Patrese, was powered by the BMW M12 straight-4 engine, and powered Brabham to four of the team's 35 Grand Prix victories.