Brabham BT60Y

The Brabham BT60Y was a Formula 1 racing car from the British team Motor Racing Developments (Brabham) , which was used in the 1991 Formula 1 season . With him, the Japanese company Yamaha returned to Formula 1 after a year break as an engine manufacturer. The team had little success with the BT60Y. The car was restarted the following year, now equipped with a Judd engine, under the designation BT60B .

construction

Newly developed for Brabham: the Yamaha OX99

The Brabham BT60Y was developed under the direction of Sergio Rinland . The monocoque from carbon fiber reinforced plastic was designed initially too weak. During the first few races there were strong twists. The team then had to rebuild and strengthen the monocoque in the current season. The front and rear suspension consisted of double wishbones . The internal spring-damper units were operated via push rods. The body was unconventional in some areas. The bow had a comparatively large, spherically tapering nose under which the front wing was suspended. The air for the engine was supplied through a wide oval opening in the air scoop.

The car was powered by a Yamaha twelve-cylinder OX99 engine. It had been redesigned and had no connection whatsoever with the Yamaha eight-cylinder used by Zakspeed in 1989 , which had proven to be inefficient and unreliable. In addition to the twelve-cylinder engine from Scuderia Ferrari, the OX99 was the only Formula 1 engine with five valves per cylinder. The output was estimated by observers to be around 650 PS (478 kW) to 660 PS (485 kW); this corresponded approximately to the level of the eight-cylinder customer engines from Cosworth . Other sources gave the engine about 700 hp (515 kW). The power was transmitted by a transverse six-speed gearbox.

Races

The Brabham BT60Y entered 14 out of 16 races in the 1991 Formula 1 season. Its drivers were Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell .

The BT60Y was not yet ready for use in the first two races of the year; The team therefore competed in the USA and Brazil with the BT59 models known from last year , which had been adapted to the new Yamaha engine.

The BT60Y debuted at the 1991 San Marino Grand Prix . Brundle and Blundell each crossed the finish line here, but did not achieve any world championship points. In the following races, the BT60Y proved to be technically immature; the team had to invest a lot of the time that was actually required for adjustment work in modifications to the chassis and suspension. These interventions tied up time and paralyzed the further development of the car. Only at the Belgian Grand Prix in August 1991 did Blundell first finish in the points; he finished the race in sixth. Brundle finished fifth in the Japanese Grand Prix . Those were the only championship points that Brabham could achieve in 1991. The team finished the season with three points in tenth place in the constructors' championship.

Yamaha left the team at the end of the year; the Japanese company equipped the young Jordan Grand Prix team with its engines in 1992 .

Race results

Brahham BT60Y Yamaha OX99 V12

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1991 Formula 1 season																		3	10.
M. Brundle	7th			11	EX	DNF	DNF	DNF	DNF	11	DNF	9	13	12	10	5	DNQ
M. Blundell	8th			8th	DNF	DNQ	DNF	DNF	DNF	12	DNF	6th	12	DNF	DNF	DNPQ	17th

literature

• Patrice Burchkalter, Jean-Francois Galeron: Tout sur la Formule 1 1991 , Surrèsnes 1991, ISBN 2-87636-067-5
• Adriano Cimarosti: The century of racing , Motorbuch-Verlag, 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 , Motorbuch-Verlag, 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. ↑ ^{a b} Hodges: Racing Cars from AZ after 1945, p. 44.
2. ↑ Cimarosti: The Century of Racing, p. 443.
3. ↑ Burch Cold, Galeron: Tout sur la Formule 1 1991 S. 42nd
4. ^ Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars 1906-2001, p. 46.