BRABHAM BT60Y Yamaha

   The thirty-year history of the Brabham team came to an end with the BT60, the last single-seater to roll out of the Motor Racing Development Ltd. facilities, first based in Chessington until 1989, and later in Milton Keynes. The historic British racing car manufacturer was founded in 1960 when Australian driver Jack Brabham and Anglo-Australian designer Ron Tauranac decided to build open-wheel single-seaters, starting from Formula 3 and Formula 2, eventually reaching Formula 1. By the late 1960s, Motor Racing Development had become the world’s largest manufacturer of racing single-seaters, having already sold around 500 cars. Its founder, Jack Brabham, after whom the MRD single-seaters are commonly named, remains the only driver to have won a Formula 1 World Championship, in 1966, behind the wheel of a car he built himself.

BRABHAM BT60Y, Mark Blundell
Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1991

   Three more drivers’ titles and two constructors’ championships would follow, but like all great stories, Brabham's too was destined to come to an end. After Bernie Ecclestone’s decision to sell the team at the end of 1987, opting out of the 1988 championship, the team returned to the track in 1989 under new ownership, first with Swiss financier Joachim Lüthi and later under full control of Middlebridge Group Limited, a Japanese engineering firm owned by billionaire Koji Nakauchi. Motor Racing Development resumed production of single-seaters, starting with the BT58 in 1989 and followed by the BT59 in 1990. During the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, the new car for the 1991 season was already unveiled: essentially the same BT59, but now fitted with the new Yamaha OX99 V12 engine and tested on track by Martin Brundle.

BRABHAM BT60Y, Mark Blundell
Monza, Italian GP 1991

   The partnership with the new Japanese engine supplier brought a wave of optimism within the British team. For the new season, veteran Martin Brundle, who had already tested the BT59Y, was joined by young British talent Mark Blundell, who had shown promising results with Middlebridge in Formula 3000. The first two races of the season were contested using the old 1990 BT59, now equipped with the new Yamaha OX99 V12 engine and renamed BT59Y.

BRABHAM BT59Y, Martin Brundle
Interlagos, Brazilian GP 1991

   Starting from the third race of the season, at the Imola circuit, the new BT60Y made its track debut. It was specifically designed to accommodate the new Yamaha engine by technical director Sergio Rinland, designer Tim Densham, who had worked with Lotus as Ayrton Senna’s race engineer, and aerodynamicist Hans Fouche. The car followed new aerodynamic principles, such as a raised nose to improve airflow under the car. However, the central support pillar for the front wing negated its intended effect, and the slimmed-down rear section aimed to create more downforce. Despite the designers' efforts, the car turned out to be mediocre. After a promising debut at Imola, with Blundell finishing eighth and Brundle eleventh, the rest of the season was disastrous. Expectations, especially due to the exclusive partnership with Yamaha for the V12 engine, were sorely disappointed, as the following races were plagued by retirements, many caused by the engine's poor reliability. It was only from the German Grand Prix onward, mainly thanks to Brundle, that the team achieved more consistent results, though still far from competitive positions.

BRABHAM BT60Y, Mark Blundell
Hungaroring, Hungarian GP 1991

   At the end of the season, the BT60Y managed to score only three points, earned through a fifth and a sixth-place finish, relegating Brabham to 9th place in the standings. The BT60 returned to the track in 1992, now fitted with a Judd engine, before the team made its final farewell to Formula 1. Thus, the BT60 remains the last single-seater designed by the legendary British racing team.