Brabham

When you consider the names of Formula One teams that are not in Formula One anymore, the entry list has a few glaring omissions. Lotus really should be one of them but Formula One is missing the name of one of its great teams and one of its great champions.

Brabham's history can be split into three sections. The first was the time of the man himself, Sir Jack. They won a couple of titles in the mid-60s, with Sir Jack the only man to win a World Title with his own team, and it seems unlikely that will ever be repeated. Denny Hulme is the only man to literally beat his boss to the world title in 1967, and unsatisfied he moved to McLaren to try again!

The second is Bernie's Brabham, which had run Niki Lauda up to his retirement but is better remembered for Nelson Piquet's successes in 1981 and 1983 alongside a succession of drivers of inconsiderable talent. Bernie, however, was off to the bunker and retired the team for 1988.

The years after Brabham's return make unpleasant reading for its fans, and is much better detailed in this article: http://www.f1rejects.com/centrale/submitted/brabham/index.html

But lets hope the name is not returned to embarrass itself!

 

[Galahad]

But lets hope the name is not returned to embarrass itself!

Absolutely, positively, definitely.

One item of trivia: the old Brabham factory at Chessington is now the headquarters of Carlin Motorsport (Formula 3 and Renault World Series).

 

[RasputinLives]

Better get this guy to read the last bit of you article TBY just in case he tries again!

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21524.html

 

[The Artist.....]

So, following the attempt of Formtech in 2009 to return the Brabham name to F1 for the 2010 season, yesterday, the courts in Germany ruled that the rights to the name Brabham should return to the Brabham family.

So, how did we get into this situation? Well, allegedly, the Brabham family had failed to protect the trademark to their name, and so when the trademark lapsed, Michael Trick bought up the rights to the Brabham (And BT monicker) both in Germany and on a Worldwide basis. The Brabham family were a mite annoyed by this, and so launched legal proceedings against Trick. Trick was obviously also supporting Formtech's entry into F1, hence the Brabham name in F1.

In an interview with Michael Trick, I have to say that he strikes me as an arrogant so-and-so - see http://www.europeancarweb.com/features/epcp_0906_brabham_racing_bt_92_bt_71/viewall.html

However, now the Brabham name has been removed from Michael Trick's business.... http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105029 - so it will leave them free to sell it on as they wish, (As they did in the past to Bernie.....)

 

[RasputinLives]

Mr Fernandes already had his cheque book out and pen poised

 

[Il_leone]

Brabham

Is one name I don;t think should return to F1

It is very much a privateer team like Williams and I am not sure it can make the same impact nor does it have the market appeal like Lotus does

only exception I will give to that is if Gordon Murray wants another crack at F1 like his brilliant BT52B and his morphed BT55 into the all conquering Mclaren MP4/4 of 1988.

Therefore heads up the design team

 

[Fenton07]

Brabham was a Royal Australia Air Force flight mechanic and ran a small workshop before he began racing midget cars in 1948. His achievements in midgets and Australia and New Zealand street racing activities led to him going to the United Kingdom to further his racing career.

 

[Il_leone]

there is no real appeal in Brabham coming back to F1 ... it was Jack's baby and should not be be embarassed further like the post Bernie team from late 80s

Unless some brave designer (- not Nick Wirth - who seems to have a habit of designing dogs ) comes to give it a real go

I can only think of Gordon Murray or John Barnard who can fit the bill

 

[siffert_fan]

How about Rory Byrne?