The story of Australian Brian McGuire and his McGuire BM1 single-seater is closely linked to the future 1979 Formula 1 World Champion, Alan Jones. In 1966, the two compatriots moved to the United Kingdom in search of success in motorsport, starting a business trading racing engines to fund their passion for car racing.
 |
| McGUIRE BM1, Brian McGuire Silverstone, British GP 1977 |
In 1971, McGuire, along with Jones and Allan McCully, founded the Australian International Racing Organisation. With Brabham Formula 3 cars, they competed in the highly competitive British championship, which at the time was a battleground for drivers destined to become legends, such as James Hunt, Niki Lauda, and Alan Jones himself. In 1976, McGuire moved to the Shellsport Formula series, a British championship featuring both Formula 1 and Formula 5000 cars. In this category, he raced with a Williams FW04 powered by a Ford Cosworth DFV V8 engine. That same year, he attempted to enter the British Grand Prix in Formula 1, but his application was rejected due to the high number of entries.
 |
| McGUIRE BM1, Brian McGuire Silverstone, British GP 1977 |
The following year, McGuire collaborated with Ray Stokoe, the designer of the 1974 Williams FW04, to develop a new car. Using the FW04 as a base, the two created the McGuire BM1, the only single-seater ever built by McGuire. The BM1 retained the FW04’s mechanical components, featuring an aluminum monocoque chassis and the Ford Cosworth DFV V8 engine as a stressed member, paired with a Hewland FGA400 five-speed gearbox. The bodywork design was also similar, with the distinctive overhanging front wing and the "snowplow" fairing over the front wheels. However, the sidepods became straight rather than curved, and the rear radiators were tilted at a 45-degree angle instead of being mounted longitudinally.
 |
| McGUIRE BM1, Brian McGuire Shellsport International, Siverstone GP 1977 |
In 1977, McGuire once again attempted to enter the British Grand Prix, this time successfully. However, the BM1 proved uncompetitive: in pre-qualifying, it recorded the second-slowest time, over 4.5 seconds behind Gilles Villeneuve’s McLaren. McGuire continued the season in the Shellsport Formula series, but on August 29, 1977, during a qualifying session at Brands Hatch, a brake failure on his BM1 led to a tragic accident. The car went off the track and crashed into a marshal’s post, killing a track official and McGuire himself. This tragic event definitively put an end to the McGuire BM1 project.
Comments
Post a Comment