The COAT - Round Two - Brawn BGP 001 vs Brabham BT52

[crmalcolm]

The sixth match in Round Two and we have a battle of 'B's - the Brawn BGP 001 vs the Brabham BT52.

The Brawn was the victor of a 3-way in Round One, beating the Ferrari 642/643 and Renault RS01 5-2-0. The Brabham took a 6-3 win over the Williams FW19 to reach the second round.

Brawn BGP 001 (plantef1.com):
The Brawn BGP 001 can truly be classed as a one-hit wonder; this was the only car ever made under the guise of Brawn GP. The rebrand came after Honda left the sport at the end of the 2008 season, and Ross Brawn faced major issues as they tried to fit the Mercedes power unit in the back of it.

Six inches were removed from the back end of the vehicle, but because of the newly designed double diffuser, the car had more downforce than any of its rivals. Despite official complaints from other teams, Jenson Button would go on to win the World Championship, after winning six of the opening seven races of the 2009 season. He and Rubens Barrichello finished 1-2 on the car’s debut, the first time that had happened since 1954.

Brabham BT52 (f1history.fandom.com):
Development of Brabham's 1983 entrant began before the end of the 1982 season. The original car designed for use during 1983, the ground effect BT51, had been extensively tested before rule changes for 1983 stipulated that ground effect aerodynamics were to be banned for the oncoming season. Unlike most teams who modified their existing designs, Brabham's designer Gordon Murray decided to design a whole new car; the BT52.

Overall the car featured a distinctive dart-shaped profile. Gone were the long sidpods used to generate the crucial surface area for ground effect. New short angular sidepods were designed to keep lift at a minimum and the radiators within were bolted onto the rear sub-frame. This enabled the mechanics to remove the complete rear end of the car complete with fluids, allowing for much quicker and easier engine changes. New large front and rear wings were added in an attempt to regain the lost down-force. While other teams used carbon fibre chassis, Murray remained conservative opting for a conventional sheet aluminium bottom half with a carbon-fibre top half. With double wishbones and push-rod actuated coil springs over dampers, the front and rear suspension was also conventional. A relatively small fuel tank was fitted due to the reintroduction of refuelling stops

This would be the first full season with the BMW M12/13 turbo engine. The four-cylinder unit was actually based on a production engine. The stock cast-iron block was fitted with a bespoke alloy head with four valves per cylinder. A KKK turbocharger helped boost the power to 640 bhp in race trim and well over 750 bhp in qualifying. The BMW engine was mated to a Brabham gearbox with Hewland internals that had five or six forward gears depending on the circuit.

Retaining the same driver line up as the year before, 1983 was a make-or-break season for the Brabham/BMW partnership. Their main rivals for the season were the Renault and Ferrari team, both running their own V6 turbo engines. Piquet got the year off to a good start by winning the season opener in Brazil. He achieved two further podiums at France and Monaco, both second places. Patrese however did not have as good a run, although seemingly as quick as Piquet he had the most of the bad luck and reliability issues, only registering one finish at round two. From the British Grand Prix onward the BT52 was replaced with the B-spec car. Piquet went onto win the Driver's Championship with a total of 59 points while Patrese finished ninth with 13 points giving Brabham a third place finish in the Constructors' Championship.

[S griffin]

Both have similar albeit different journeys. The BT52 was designed at the last minute after a sudden rule change banning ground effect rendered the BT51 they were going to use in 1983 obsolete. And it went on to win the drivers title after a great end to the season. The Brawn OTOH was designed early when the team was Honda, but when Honda pulled out, it was uncertain if the car would race. It did in the end and took both titles after a great start to the season from Button, 6 wins from the first 7 races.

I think I’ll go for the Brawn, as the story of the team rising from the ashes adds to the great car

[Gerard C]

The Brawn for all the story about it. Nice trick.

[chunterer]

Bt52 had tougher competition than the Brawn surely??

[S griffin]

Idk, Brawn struggled mid season after their early winning

[Adam43]

Brawn is for those too young to appreciate the older cars

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Brawn is for those too young to appreciate the older cars

(Emoji's not working) so i smile and wink at your comment!

[Gerard C]

Thanks, I've not been called young for… a very very long time!