Episode 8 of this series brings back-to-back British-based teams. Following Ep.7’s British Racing Motors comes the British Racing Partnership. Founded in 1959, BRP participated in the Formula One World Championship as both a privateer and constructor before they ceased racing in 1964.
BRP was founded by Alfred Moss and Ken Gregory, predominantly to supply cars and parts for Alfred’s son, Stirling, in the late 1950s. Other up-and-coming drivers were also eventually supplied.
Initially, the BRP team raced Stirling Moss in a BRM P25 chassis for the 1959 French and British Grands Prix, before the Briton reverted to the Cooper he drove before his brief stint in the P25. The BRM chassis was then given to Stirling’s German teammate, Hans Herrmann, who promptly destroyed the car in a major accident in which he was lucky to walk away from.
After little success during the remainder of the 1959 season with Britons Ivor Bueb and Chris Bristow driving, BRP became the first team to relinquish their team name and identity to obtain sponsorship income in 1960. Having been bought by Yeoman Credit Limited, the team became known as the Yeoman Credit Racing Team.
The team fielded a pair of Cooper T51-Climaxes, driven by Bristow who supported number one driver Tony Brooks after Bueb was killed in an accident in late-1959. Tragically, Bristow was also killed in the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix. Earlier in the season, Belgian Olivier Gendebien was fielded in a third car and scored impressive podiums at Spa and Reims. Another Briton, Henry Taylor, also raced for BRP in 1960, as Phil Hill and Bruce Halford made one-off appearances with no notable results.
In 1961, BRP, still under the Yeoman name, entered Britons John Surtees and Roy Salvadori in Cooper T53-Climaxes. Surtees managed two-5th places and Salvadori two-sixths. 1961 was also the year which BRP grew a ‘second arm’ known as the UDT-Laystall Racing Team. This was a similar sponsorship deal to that of Yeoman. UDT stood for United Dominions Trust, who owned a great deal of shares in Laystall Engineering and now, a Formula 1 team.
The UDT-Laystall Racing Team equipped Britons Henry Taylor and Cliff Allinson with Climax-engined Lotus 18’s. Taylor managed second in the pre-season International Trophy but it was still felt that changes were needed once the season got underway. Lucien Bianchi of Italy and Masten Gregory of the USA joined as the injured Allison left. Gendebien also made a one-off return. No notable results materialised.
1962 saw the Climax engine, Lotus chassis and Gregory all retained. Partnered by former Lotus works driver Innes Ireland, the team secured one 5th and one 6th place from Ireland and Gregory respectively. Both men drove the Lotus 24; Ireland with the Climax 1.5 V8 engine and Gregory with the BRM P56 1.5 V8. The ground-breaking monocoque chassis of the Lotus 25 lifted the works team to title glory.
Prompted by Lotus’ success, BRP built their own monocoque chassis for the 1963 season – the Tony Robinson-designed BRP1. It ran under the BRP name and was powered with a BRM V8 engine, which led to the car commonly being referred to as the BRP-BRM. Innes Ireland managed a pair of 4th place finishes at the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix, as well as winning the non-championship Glover Trophy at Goodwood. With 6 points, BRP finished 6th in the championship.
In 1964, Ireland won the Daily Mirror Trophy race in his light green BRP2-BRM V8 and came 3rd in the Mediterranean Grand Prix, both of which were non-championship events. He did manage a pair of 5th places in the Italian and Austrian Grands Prix, which helped the BRP team to 5 points and 7th place in the championship. Trevor Taylor scored one 6th place that year.
Sadly, the team was forced to withdraw from Formula 1 at the end of 1964 after they were denied membership of the Formula One Constructors’ Association. Having lost a huge proportion of their financial support as a result, BRP quit the sport. After a year of building mediocre Indycars in 1965, BRP shut its doors for good after they failed to successfully return to Formula 1 in 1966.
