Brabham BT60B

Brabham BT60B

The Brabham BT60B was a Formula 1 racing car from the British Motor Racing Developments (Brabham) team , which took part in the 1992 Formula 1 World Championship. It was the last car of the traditional racing team that ceased operations before the end of this season. The car was unsuccessful; there were only a few races. However, the BT60B is significant in that it was driven by Giovanna Amati , the last female Formula 1 driver to date, and the future World Champion Damon Hill made his Formula 1 debut in it.

construction

The Brabham BT60B is essentially identical to the BT60Y used in 1991 . Both vehicles differ only in their drive and the associated special features in the engine environment.

The BT60Y was designed for a Yamaha twelve-cylinder engine . After Yamaha separated from Brabham after the last race in 1991, the team returned to engines from Engine Developments , which were marketed under the name "Judd". At the end of 1991, Brabham commissioned the designer Sergio Rinland to develop a new chassis for these engines under the designation BT61. The project could not be realized, however, given the considerable financial difficulties of Brabham. Instead, the Brabham mechanics, under the direction of Tim Densham, converted two of the existing BT60Y to Judd engines. They were given the designation BT60B, but took over all the special features of the BT60Y, including the spherical vehicle nose and the oval air inlets. There was no further technical development. Rinland later realized his initial thoughts on the BT61 with the GR02 , which he developed for the Italian Formula 1 racing team Fondmetal Corse .

Brabham took over two of the Judd ten-cylinder GV engines for 1992, which had been used by the Scuderia Italia team the year before . Their power was estimated at around 660 hp.

Races

Debuted in 1992 with the Brabham BT60B: Damon Hill

Brabham used Paydriver throughout 1992 . The first cockpit was given to the Belgian Eric van de Poele , who brought financial support from the Dutch company Leaseplan . The second car should initially be given to the Japanese racing driver Akihiko Nakaya . However, he did not receive a super license . Instead, Brabham signed the Italian racing driver Giovanna Amati for three races, making her the first woman in a Formula 1 car since Desiré Wilson ( 1980 for Brands Hatch Racing ). Their commitment was mostly perceived in the media as a “special PR gag”.

Brabham only took part in the first eleven races of the year in 1992, the eleventh and last only with one car. After that, the racing team ceased operations for financial reasons. Van de Poele was only able to qualify for a race once in his ten attempts - the first race of the year. Giovanna Amati failed to qualify three times in a row; She was almost 10 seconds short of the later pole times. For the fourth race of the year she was replaced by Damon Hill, the son of the two-time Formula 1 world champion Graham Hill, because she was unable to provide further sponsorship funds . Damon Hill was a test driver at Williams this season , but had not yet contested a Formula 1 race. Williams financed Hill's commitment to Brabham so that he could gain Formula 1 experience before becoming a regular driver at Williams. Hill qualified twice in eight attempts with the BT60B; both times he received support from Williams in voting. He crossed the finish line on both occasions, but never reached the points.

Race results

Brabham BT60B - Judd GV V10

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1992 Formula 1 season																		0	-
E. van de Poele	07th	13	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
G. Amati	08th	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ
D. Hill					DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	16	DNQ	11

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

literature

• Alan Henry: Autocourse 1992/93 , London 1992 (Hazleton Securities Ltd.), ISBN 0-905138-96-1 .
• Patrice Buchkalter and Jean Francois Galeron: Formula 1 - a complete guide to 1992 , Surrèsnes (Taillandrier) 1992, ISBN 2-87636-107-8 .
• Adriano Cimarosti: The Century of Racing , Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9
• David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 (English)
• David Hodges: Racing Cars from A – Z after 1945 , Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-613-01477-7
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1 , 2nd edition, St. Sulpice, 2000, ISBN 2-940125-45-7 (French)

Web links

Commons : Brabham  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Auto Course 1992/93, p. 55.
2. ^ Hodges: Racing Cars from AZ after 1945, p. 44.
3. ↑ Cimarosti: The Century of Racing, p. 443.
4. ↑ Motorsport Aktuell, issue 7/1992, p. 13.
5. ↑ Cimarosti: The Century of Racing, p. 442.
6. ↑ f1rejects.com: Giovanna Amati ( Memento from September 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
7. ↑ Maurice Hamilton: "Frank Williams - the inside story of the man behind the cars", UK 1998 ( ISBN 0-333-71716-3 ), p. 218.