Tony Rudd passes away

[Suzy]

I heard from Doug Nye that engineer and designer Tony Judd passed away this morning. He was 81 years old and had suffered a stroke and heart attack.

Tony Rudd started at BRM in 1951 and moved to Lotus in 1969. During his time at BRM, he co-developed the legendary V16-cylinder supercharged cars. He also oversaw BRM's Formula One World Championship titles secured in 1962 with British driver Graham Hill.

During his time at BRM as Chief Engineer and Team Manager, Rudd created the V8-engined BRM cars. Graham Hill scored a double hat-trick of wins at the Monaco and United States Grands Prix.

He was also the man who gave three-time World Champion Jackie Stewart his first three seasons of Formula One racing and his first race victories.

When he moved to Lotus he teamed up with Colin Chapman to create the legendary Lotus R&D. He also oversaw the little 'wing car' team - headed by aerodynamicist Peter Wright - whichh created the 'wing car' concept which harnessed ground-effects in the World Championship-winning Lotus 79 driven by Mario Andretti.