EuroBrun ER188
The EuroBrun ER188 was a racing car of the Italian Formula 1 teams EuroBrun Racing. He was the first car of the newly formed racing team and was used in its original form in the 1988 Formula 1 season. He scored no championship points. A revised version called EuroBrun ER188B was used in 1989.
Background
EuroBrun Racing was a racing team, which was formed in 1987 as a collaboration between Euro Racing and Brun Motorsport. The Swiss businessman Walter Brun, owner of Brun Motorsport, took over the financing of the Formula 1 teams, while the technical side including racing applications was in the hands of Euro Racing. Here the development of the ER 188 took place. Euro Racing had already Formula 1 Experience: The company had organized the Formula 1 involvement of the Italian car manufacturer between 1983 and 1985 on behalf of Alfa Romeo.
1988 was the last season of the so-called turbo era. In it competed powerful turbo vehicles with conventional Saugmotorfahrzeugen. The latter were especially used by smaller or newly formed teams, the cost-intensive Turbo Technology could not afford. These teams also EuroBrun belonged.
Technology
The ER188 was developed by the Euro Racing technicians in Italy. Responsible designers were Bruno Zava and Mario Great Tino, who had already designed the Alfa Romeo 184T. Gianpaolo Pavanello, owner of Euro Racing, described the vehicle as a conventional, outside observers considered it mostly obsolete. The ER188 showed significant similarities to the Alfa Romeo 184T. This was true, for example, the car's nose, the monocoque, the roll bar and the half-round motor cover. Eddie Cheever, who had driven the 184T itself, was of the view that the EuroBrun ER188 was merely a revision of the four -year-old Alfa construction; similarly remarked Günter Schmid, head of the competition teams Rial.
A special feature of ER188 was his tall, bulky monocoque, which rather reminded in its dimensions to the early 1980s and 1988, already noticed as unusual.
The suspension consisted of front and rear push - out tie rods. She was equipped with a Achtzylindersaugmotor Cosworth (type DFZ ), which was prepared at Mader Racing Components in Switzerland. The power transmission is made via a six-speed gearbox, had developed the Eurobrun with components Hewland itself.
During the year, three chassis were built of type ER188.
Racing applications
EuroBrun reported two cars for the 1988 season. Drivers were Stefano Modena and Oscar Larrauri. Modena was given for the first race of the season the ER188 -1, drove out of the Grand Prix of San Marino to the Spanish Grand Prix, the ER188 -3 and sat at the end of the season flyaway races in Japan and Australia again the ER188 -1. Larrauri drove the first 15 races of the year with the ER188 -2; only in the last race, the Australian Grand Prix, he moved to the ER188 - third
The ER 188 was not a successful car. He drove a no championship points for the team. Larrauri managed to qualify to eight races, but reached only two target arrivals. Modena, to which the team had great hopes, managed ten qualifications and five target arrivals. The best result for EuroBrun was his eleventh place in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
A major problem of the car was its constructive simplicity that with the younger constructions of others - could not keep up teams - even smaller. In addition, the driving behavior was problematic and difficult vote. EuroBrun undertook in the summer of 1988 the British designer Ralph Bellamy, should revise the chassis. However, his work had not been positive. After the Grand Prix of Germany, Larrauri could qualify only three times only once and Modena.
The criticism also focused on the driver, who had no experience in Formula 1, and the practical work of the Euro Racing Leaders at the racetrack. Numerous organizational error led to failures, non or Diqualifikationen. In Mexico about Modena was disqualified because the rear wing to four mm was placed too far back, and in Belgium the mechanic forgot to equip the car with a special qualifying engine, which had an increased power.
Successor
For the 1989 season, two of the three ER188 were equipped with an engine from Judd and aerodynamically slightly revised. The driven by Gregor Foitek, now called ER 188B car was the least successful vehicle of the season 1989.