British Racing Motors

Based in: Bourne, UK Founded: 1945 (active 1951-1977) Principal: Raymond Mays (1950-51), Arthur Owen (1952-74), Jean Owen & Louis Stanley (1974-79) Designer: Peter Berthon (1951, 1956), Tony Rudd (1960, 1962-1963, 1966-1967), Mike Pilbeam (1964), Len Terry (1968-1969), Tony Southgate (1970-1972), Mike Pilbeam (1971), Mike Pilbeam (1974), Len Terry (1977), Aubrey Woods (1978)

The roots of BRM were laid down in 1947 when the British Motor Racing Research Trust was created as a means of providing Britain with a way of breaking the stranglehold of the Italians. The man responsible for this was Raymond Mays who was driven with the idea of making Britain a major force in motor racing.

The first car was over ambitious and didn't appear at the circuits until 1950 when it qualified at the back of the grid and then broke a drive-shaft on the line. The trust was taken over by Alfred Owen (of Rubery Owen) in 1952 although success came slowly with the first win not arriving until 1959 when Bonnier won in Holland. As the team went into 1962 they were delivered an ultimatum - either win the championship or see the team closed. It seemed to do the trick and Graham Hill scored a early season win in the non-championship Brussels Grand Prix. He repeated that success with a win at the International Trophy race at Silverstone and then again in the championship opener.

The season then became a battle between Hill and Clark, driving for Lotus, and it went to the wire culminating in Hill winning the driver's title as well as securing the constructors championship. 1963 saw Clark dominate but for 1964 BRM came back with their first monocoque design, the P261. Hill won two races and could have won the championship if not for the efforts of Lorenzo Bandini, the number two driver at Ferrari. In the final race of the season Bandini took Hill off allowing Surtees to win the title for the Scuderia.

For the 3-litre formula BRM fielded the H16 engine although it was less than successful and the team struggled for the next few seasons, until the arrival of the talented designer Tony Southgate. He came up with the P153 and P160 chassis which put the team back onto the top of the podium when Pedro Rodriguez clinched a hard-fought win at Spa in 1970.

In 1973 the emerging Niki Lauda joined the team and showed great promise but that did not stop the Owen Organisation from withdrawing support for the outfit at the end of the season. Louis Stanley tried to keep the team afloat but it all went pear-shaped in 1977 and yet another valiant competitor left the circus for the last time. Louis Stanley took control in the later years as BRM slowly ceased to exist as a racing operation, finally closing its doors in the late 70s.

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