Neil 01
1992 Brabham-Judd BT60B
Pictured is a 1992 Brabham-Judd BT60B Grand Prix Car.
BT60Bs were driven in 1992 by Eric van de Poele, Giovanna Amati and 1996 World Champion Damon Hill.
After six seasons as the 'works' BMW team, the German manufacturer's exit at the end of 1987 prompted team owner Bernie Ecclestone to pull the plug on the Brabham operation. The team was sold on and, under new ownership, returned to the grid in 1989 using customer Judd engines.
A deal was struck for the team to run factory Yamaha engines in 1991 with British duo Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell taking the wheel of the new BT60Y cars. The cars suffered from reliability issues, however, Blundell would finish sixth in Belgium and Brundle fifth in Japan. By contrast, Blundell failed to pre-qualify for the event!
Despite some promise being shown, Yamaha had been dazzled by the new Jordan team's meteoric first season in the sport and transferred the engine contract to the Irish team. Left without any other option, the team re-worked the BT60Y chassis to accept Judd V10 engines and the cars were re-christened BT60Bs.
Belgian Eric van de Poele was joined in the team by Italian lady racer Giovanna Amati, the last female driver to compete in Formula 1. Van de Poele started the first race of the season in South Africa from the back of the grid and brought the car home in thirteenth position, four laps down on race winner Nigel Mansell. That would be his only race in the Brabham, failing to qualify for the next nine races and moving to the Fondmetal team mid-season.
Amati failed to qualify for the first three races of the season and was replaced by Williams test driver Damon Hill. Initially, Hill fared no better in the car but did qualify for his first Grand Prix at Silverstone. Starting last, Hill finished sixteenth in the race. He failed to qualify in Germany and by Hungary, Brabham was a one-car team following van de Poele's departure. Hill crashed the race car (Chassis 4) heavily in qualifying, necessitating a change to the spare car.
The car pictured is that same spare car, Chassis 6, which was the last Brabham built. It qualified for the race and finished in eleventh position. That would prove to be the final race for the Brabham team as the money dried up.
It was a sad end for a team that first appeared in 1962, winning four drivers championships with Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme and Nelson Piquet and the Constructors Championship in 1966 and 1967.
Pictured in August 2013 at the Donington Grand Prix Collection, Donington Park.
1992 Brabham-Judd BT60B
Pictured is a 1992 Brabham-Judd BT60B Grand Prix Car.
BT60Bs were driven in 1992 by Eric van de Poele, Giovanna Amati and 1996 World Champion Damon Hill.
After six seasons as the 'works' BMW team, the German manufacturer's exit at the end of 1987 prompted team owner Bernie Ecclestone to pull the plug on the Brabham operation. The team was sold on and, under new ownership, returned to the grid in 1989 using customer Judd engines.
A deal was struck for the team to run factory Yamaha engines in 1991 with British duo Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell taking the wheel of the new BT60Y cars. The cars suffered from reliability issues, however, Blundell would finish sixth in Belgium and Brundle fifth in Japan. By contrast, Blundell failed to pre-qualify for the event!
Despite some promise being shown, Yamaha had been dazzled by the new Jordan team's meteoric first season in the sport and transferred the engine contract to the Irish team. Left without any other option, the team re-worked the BT60Y chassis to accept Judd V10 engines and the cars were re-christened BT60Bs.
Belgian Eric van de Poele was joined in the team by Italian lady racer Giovanna Amati, the last female driver to compete in Formula 1. Van de Poele started the first race of the season in South Africa from the back of the grid and brought the car home in thirteenth position, four laps down on race winner Nigel Mansell. That would be his only race in the Brabham, failing to qualify for the next nine races and moving to the Fondmetal team mid-season.
Amati failed to qualify for the first three races of the season and was replaced by Williams test driver Damon Hill. Initially, Hill fared no better in the car but did qualify for his first Grand Prix at Silverstone. Starting last, Hill finished sixteenth in the race. He failed to qualify in Germany and by Hungary, Brabham was a one-car team following van de Poele's departure. Hill crashed the race car (Chassis 4) heavily in qualifying, necessitating a change to the spare car.
The car pictured is that same spare car, Chassis 6, which was the last Brabham built. It qualified for the race and finished in eleventh position. That would prove to be the final race for the Brabham team as the money dried up.
It was a sad end for a team that first appeared in 1962, winning four drivers championships with Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme and Nelson Piquet and the Constructors Championship in 1966 and 1967.
Pictured in August 2013 at the Donington Grand Prix Collection, Donington Park.