EuroBrun ER188B

The EuroBrun ER188B was a Formula 1 racing car from the Italian team EuroBrun Racing , which was entered in nine world championship races in 1989 . It was an interim model based on the ER188 used in the previous year , which should bridge the time until the appearance of the newly designed successor model ER189 . The ER188B turned out to be non-competitive. He did not take part in any Grand Prix; his driver missed the qualification or the pre-qualification with every attempt.

background

In 1988, in its first Formula 1 season, EuroBrun was unable to achieve any success. In addition to the inexperienced pilots and the problematic organizational structure, the emergency vehicle, the outdated ER188, was the main reason for the poor performance. Team boss Walter Brun therefore commissioned the construction of a completely new car for the second season. Initial plans included using the resources of the British Brabham team, which Brun, in collaboration with Swiss businessman Joachim Lüthi , had taken over from Bernie Ecclestone at the end of 1988 . However, since the regulations required each team to design their own car, the desired synergy effects could not be achieved. Brun then commissioned the British designer George Ryton to develop the new car, which was to be named ER 189. Ryton started work on it in January 1989. Because of the late start, the ER189 was not completed at the beginning of the 1989 season. The team's difficult financial situation led to further delays. The ER189 ultimately only made its debut in July 1989 at the German Grand Prix .

Up to the completion of the new car, EuroBrun competed in the 1989 season with an only slightly revised ER188 in the B specification, which was intended as an inexpensive emergency solution, but contrary to expectations, was used for more than half of the season.

technology

The construction of the EuroBrun ER188B was fundamentally identical to the ER 188 designed by Bruno Zava and Mario Tollentino. The monocoque , chassis and most of the body corresponded to the previous model. Only the engine and a few details in its environment were new. While the car had been powered by a Cosworth DFZ engine in the previous year , it now received a Judd eight-cylinder type CV engine . Its use had its roots in the temporary connection between EuroBrun and Brabham: at the end of 1988, when both teams were led by Brun and Lüthi, the Swiss businessmen took over the contingent of Judd motors that Williams had used in 1988 . Finally, the tires were also new: if the team had purchased Goodyear tires the previous year , in 1989 they used copies from Pirelli .

The ER188B was a modified model from last year. It is not clear whether the cars were completely rebuilt. Some sources believe that no new chassis were built and that the team only converted two of the three ER188s from 1988 to the B specification; Others claim, however, that EuroBrun built two newly developed chassis according to B specification and also retrofitted a 1988 chassis accordingly.

The car was difficult to set up. Oversteer and understeer alternated. To make matters worse, neither the driver nor the race engineer had enough experience in setting up the car. On the other hand, the team leader Gianpaolo Pavanello repeatedly gave voting recommendations that contradicted the work of the race engineer.

The ER188B was widely viewed as an outdated, uncompetitive car. Critics noted that the ER188B still lacked an air scoop, which had been state of the art for some time, even on smaller teams. It is true that at least one of the ER188B - unlike its predecessor - had an increased engine cover; However, it only covered the massive roll bar and had no stowage function that could have led to a better air supply to the engine. The lack of competitiveness of the outdated car was largely responsible for the fact that EuroBrun became the worst team of the 1989 season.

Races

The EuroBrun ER188B was entered in nine of the 16 world championship races of the 1989 Formula 1 season. The driver was always the Swiss Gregor Foitek , who made his debut at EuroBrun this year. At the opening race in Brazil Foitek managed the pre-qualification; later, however, he was eliminated in qualification. In all further attempts up to the Grand Prix of Great Britain , however, he failed with some significant deficits in the pre-qualification.

At the German and Hungarian Grand Prix, EuroBrun used the new ER189 for Foitek. However, the car did not prove to be an improvement in the untested condition: Here, too, Foitek missed the pre-qualification. While the ER189 was subsequently revised, the team used the ER188B again for the Belgian Grand Prix in September 1989. Again, no pre-qualification could be achieved. The old car appeared here in the orange livery of the sponsor Jägermeister .

Foitek and EuroBrun parted ways after the Belgian Grand Prix. Foitek's successor was Oscar Larrauri , who regularly used the ER189. An ER188B served as a replacement vehicle until the end of the season.

Results

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
1989 Formula 1 season																		0	-
Gregor Foitek	33	DNQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ	DNPQ			DNPQ

literature

• Didier Braillon: Grand Prix 1989 . Editions ACLA 1989 (without ISBN)
• Adriano Cimarosti: The Century of Racing . 1st edition, Stuttgart 1997, ISBN 3-613-01848-9 .
• David Hodges: Racing cars from AZ after 1945 . 1st edition, Stuttgart 1993.
• David Hodges: A – Z of Grand Prix Cars 1906–2001 , 2001 (Crowood Press), ISBN 1-86126-339-2 (English)
• Pierre Ménard: La Grande Encyclopédie de la Formule 1 , 2nd edition 2000 (St. Sulpice), ISBN 2-940125-45-7 (French).
• Nina and Hans Treml: The outsiders. Swiss in international motor racing 1950 to today . Verlag Baeschlin (Glarus) 2006, ISBN 978-3-85546-166-0 .
• motorsport aktuell : weekly Swiss trade magazine with various reports and notes on the topic of Eurobrun in the issues of the years 1988 to 1990.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 15/1989, p. 28.
2. ^ Motorsport aktuell, issue 6/1989, p. 9.
3. ^ Motorsport aktuell, issue 10/1989, p. 18.
4. ↑ Braillon: Grand Prix 1989, p. 26.
5. ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 17/1989, p. 30.
6. ^ Hodges: AZ of Grand Prix Cars 1906-2001, p. 84.
7. ↑ Motorsport aktuell, issue 29/1989, p. 6.
8. ^ History of the EuroBrun Racing team on the website www.f1rejects.com (accessed on August 11, 2011).