Brabham BT60

The Brabham BT60B was a Formula 1 racing car of the British team Motor Racing Developments ( Brabham ), who took part in the Formula 1 World Championship in 1992. He was the last car of the traditional racing team, which set its operation before the end of this season. The car was unsuccessful; there were only occasional race participants. The BT60B is, however, important in so far as he was driven by Giovanna Amati, the so far last pilot of Formula 1 and the later world champion Damon Hill won his Formula 1 debut in him.

Construction

The Brabham BT60B is essentially the BT60Y 1991 used identical. Both vehicles differ only by their drive and associated features in the engine environment.

The BT60Y was designed for a twelve cylinder engine from Yamaha. After Yamaha had separated after the last race of the year in 1991 by Brabham, the team returned to engines from Engine Developments, which were marketed under the name " Judd ". Brabham had the designer Sergio Rinland tasked to develop a new chassis under the name BT61 for these engines end of 1991. However, the project could not be realized in the face of considerable financial difficulties Brabham. Instead, the Brabham mechanic upgraded under the direction of Tim Densham two existing BT60Y on Judd engines. They were given the name BT60B, but took all the features of BT60Y, including the spherical vehicle nose and oval air intakes. A technical development did not take place. His initial thoughts on BT61 realized Rinland later at GR02, which he developed for the Italian Formula 1 racing team Fondmetal Corse.

Brabham took over for 1992, two of the Judd - ten-cylinder engines built by GM, which had been used in the previous year by the team Scuderia Italia. Its performance was estimated to be approximately 660 HP.

Racing applications

Brabham continued throughout 1992 Paydriver a. The first cockpit received the Belgian Eric van de Poele, who brought financial support of the Dutch company LeasePlan. The second car should be assigned initially to the Japanese racer Akihiko Nakaya. However, he received no super license. Instead, Brabham took three races for the Italian Giovanna Amati racer under contract, which thus became the first woman in a Formula 1 car since Desiré Wilson ( 1980 Brands Hatch Racing). Their commitment was mostly perceived in the media as a "special PR stunt ".

Brabham took in 1992 only to the first eleven races of the year, in part, on the eleventh and last only a car. Followed by a presentation of the team for financial reasons its operation. Van de Poele could with his ten attempts only once - the first race of the year - qualify for a race entry. Giovanna Amati failed three times in a row to clear the qualification; to the later times it lacked poles in each case nearly 10 seconds. The fourth race of the year it was therefore - and because she failed to provide additional sponsor funds - replaced by Damon Hill, the son of two -time Formula 1 World Champion Graham Hill. Damon Hill this season was a test driver for Williams, but had no Formula 1 races contested. Williams funded Hills use at Brabham, so he could collect Formula 1 experience before he became a regular driver at Williams. Hill qualified with the BT60B in eight attempts twice; He received both times when voting support of Williams. He came to the finish on both occasions, but never reached the points.

Race Results