Episode 7 of this series begins in 1947 with BRM. The British Racing Motors team formed out of the British Motor Racing Research Trust and aimed to break the domination of the Italian teams of Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati. They hoped to German success with Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz in the 1930s.
This project was headed by the well-known and respected Raymond Mays. He had proved himself though English Racing Automobiles (ERA); building several competitive hill-climb cars and introduced commercial support to racing for the very first time.
Tony Rudd, a Rolls-Royce engineer, aided development of the V16 supercharged engine. The team’s plan was to create a two-stage supercharged engine capable of producing 600 brake horsepower. Despite Rudd and the team’s knowhow, it was a disastrous debut for BRM. Raymond Sommer qualified last and broke a driveshaft off the start. Spectators threw coins at the vehicle as it was pushed away.
The engine continued to fail throughout the 1950s. Issues were still not rectified by 1952, when new engine specifications were announced for 1954. 1952 was also the year that the British Motor Racing Research Trust folded and BRM was taken over by Sir Alfred Owen of the Owen Organisation. Between 1954 and 1970, the BRM team’s official entry name became the Owen Racing Organisation.
BRM next produced the P25 which had a 2.5L four-cylinder engine designed by Stewart Tresilian. It arrived late and needed development. It took until 1959 before the P25 took victory; at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort with Jo Bonnier at the wheel.
In 1956, Lotus founder Colin Chapman helped the team improve the car whilst Stirling Moss saw potential in the BRM engine. Believing the Coventry-Climax engine in his Cooper was inferior to the BRM equivalent, the British Racing Partnership (BRP) used a P25 in 1959 for Moss and Hans Herrmann. Ultimately, the 1950s were difficult years for BRM and with just one win to their name, Sir Alfred Owen began to consider the team’s future.
The 1960s began as the P25 became competitive and the rear-engined Cooper became almost unstoppable. BRM’s answer to this was the P48. It utilised major components of the P25 but switched the car to a rear-engined specification. For 1961, the P48 had to be revised to comply with the new 1.5L engine specification. Naturally, it was not ready in time and so BRM’s cars ran a Coventry-Climax unit in an adapted P48 which failed to draw any successful results.
Tony Rudd took over as chief engineer in 1962. After working hard with the BRM V8, Graham Hill showcased its potential by winning the non-championship Brussels Grand Prix in the P57, followed by the season-opening Dutch Grand Prix. Further wins in Germany, Italy and South Africa – including a 2nd place for teammate Ritchie Ginther in Italy – enabled Hill to take the drivers and constructors titles for BRM.
Jim Clark hit back in 1963 with a dominant season in which BRM could not challenge but the British outfit struck back again in 1964 with the P261. Hill managed two victories but lost the title in a collision with Lorenzo Bandini in the season-ending Mexican Grand Prix. Bandini’s Ferrari teammate, John Surtees, took the title. Hill sent Bandini a ‘Learn to Drive’ manual for Christmas that year.
3 litre engines or 1.5 litre supercharged engines were permitted for 1966. Tony Rudd and Geoff Johnson built a complicated H16 engine, using two flat-eight engines with the crankshafts geared together, for the BRM Type 75. This engine was powerful but equally heavy and unreliable. Lotus took up the engine for their Lotus 43 chassis and managed one win with Jim Clark at Watkins Glen – the engines only victory.
The engine was replaced with a V12 for 1968 and a new young designer, Tony Southgate, joined the team. He produced the P153 and P160 chassis’. Pedro Rodriguez won the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix in the P153 as Jo Siffert and Peter Gethin both took the P160 to victory in 1971. Tragically, both Siffert and Rodriguez were killed before the 1972 season. BRM’s last victory was a stunning wet Monaco drive by Jean-Pierre Beltoise in the P160 in 1972.
1972 was chaotic for the BRM team as major sponsorship saw boss Louis Stanley run 5 cars of a mix of paying and paid drivers but it overstretched all resources. In 1973, BRM ran three cars of all established drivers – Beltoise, Niki Lauda and Clay Regazzoni.
BRM’s last notable performance was Beltoise’s 2nd place at the 1974 South African Grand Prix with the Mike Pilbeam-designed P201. The Owen Organisation ended its relationship with the team and they became Stanley-BRM until 1977. From 1974 to 1977, old P201 cars were used before a last-ditch attempt materialised in the form of the P207. It failed entirely and the team folded at the end of the 1977 season.
