BRM P261
Shell | |||||||||
Tyres | Dunlop | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Competition history | |||||||||
Notable entrants | Owen Racing Organisation Reg Parnell Racing Bernard White Racing | ||||||||
Notable drivers | Graham Hill Richie Ginther Jackie Stewart Bob Bondurant Innes Ireland Piers Courage Chris Irwin David Hobbs | ||||||||
Debut | 1964 Monaco Grand Prix | ||||||||
First win | 1964 Monaco Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last win | 1966 Monaco Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last event | 1968 Italian Grand Prix | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Constructors' Championships | 0 (2nd: 1964; 1965) | ||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 (2nd: 1964; 1965 - Graham Hill) | ||||||||
n.b. Unless otherwise stated, all data refer to Formula One World Championship Grands Prix only. |
The BRM P261, also known as the BRM P61 Mark II, is a
Design
Chassis
BRM had some previous experience of stressed skin construction with the BRM P25, so Rudd was in a good position to be able to exploit the new technology to the full. This previous experience meant that Rudd's use of the monocoque was somewhat different from the pioneering Lotus's frame. Where the 25 had been a channel-section frame with an open top, within which the driver sat, the P261 chassis was a slim tubular-section, into which a hole was cut to allow the driver to gain access.[3] To replace the P61's subframe the side pontoons of the P261 chassis were extended behind the driver's seat, and the engine was mounted between them. Within the pontoons, rubber cells were used to retain fuel. This caused complications early in the P261's life, as BRM's new, high-exhaust version of the P56 V8 engine was not ready for the start of the 1964 season, and holes had to be cut in the pontoons to allow the exhaust pipes of the older, low-exhaust version to pass through them.[3] The centre exhaust engine appeared at the 1964 Italian Grand Prix in Graham Hill's new chassis "2616" and this and "2617", which was Jackie Stewart's regular car in 1965, were the only two P261s which did not have the exhaust slots. These were plated over on the earlier cars which remained in service, but could be opened up if necessary to fit outside exhaust engines, as happened in the 1967 Tasman Championship.
Engine
In comparison to the older engine, the position of the inlet trumpets and exhaust manifolds had been switched, so that the exhausts exited on the upper surface of the engine, within the cylinder vee, and the inlets protruded above the chassis pontoons on either side of the car. Between the chassis pontoons the engine was covered with a removable, curved panel. Completing the engine cowling was a near-circular gearbox and differential cover at the rear, through which the tail pipes of the exhausts protruded. Shifting the inlets to the outer edges of the car allowed the engine to ingest cooler, denser air, boosting the motor's power output. The compact exhaust bundle also allowed a svelte packaging of the engine bay.[3] However, the heat build-up from the confined manifold necessitated cutting a hole in the top of the engine cover. Despite this, the BRM P261's barrel-shaped rear end became one of its most distinctive visual characteristics.[3]
The engine's internals remained almost unaltered from the
Ancillaries
Fully independent double wishbone suspension was employed at all four corners. Another significant change made from the P61 design was to move the suspension shock absorber components outboard at the rear. This switch was initially made to accommodate the extra cam-cover space needed to employ the 32-valve motor, but though that unit was shelved the suspension geometry was retained.[3] At the front, the coil spring and damper units were retained within the monocoque skin, resulting in a clean, aerodynamic profile around the car's nose-cone. Braking was by outboard-mounted, Dunlop disc brakes all round.
A total of six BRM P261 cars were constructed, with both the first and last chassis built being written off during their careers and rebuilt by the factory. All six survive.[4]
Competition history
1964
The BRM P261 made its race debut at the non-Championship
Despite the rather interim nature of its engine and chassis configuration, on its World Championship debut at the
1965
BRM's new driver signing for the 1965 Formula One season was promising young Scot Jackie Stewart. In his very first race meeting for the team, the 1965 Race of Champions at Brands Hatch, Stewart used his P261 to immediately make his mark, taking second place in the overall aggregate positions after two heats. Stewart took his first outright race win in that year's International Trophy race. Fortunately for BRM, the car's late season lack of reliability had been cured by the time that the 1965 World Championship season began, and of the BRM P261's twenty Grand Prix starts only four did not result in a points-scoring finish. Hill again won in Monaco and the USA, while Stewart eventually took a closely contested Italian Grand Prix, his first ever World Championship race win in only his first Formula One season, wiping out memories of the previous year's humiliation at Monza. Again BRM took second spot in the constructors' standings at the season's end, with Hill and Stewart taking second and third, respectively, in the Drivers' Championship.
1966
Following the end of the 1965 World Championship season, BRM fitted two of their chassis with the enlarged, 1.9-litre version of the V8 engine, and shipped them to Australia and New Zealand to compete in the Tasman Series. Hill and Stewart accompanied them, along with substitute driver Richard Attwood, and immediately set about dominating the championship, despite the P261 giving away over half a litre to the older Climax-engined cars.[1] The lead pair finished first and second at the season's opening race: the New Zealand Grand Prix. With Hill sitting out the remainder of the New Zealand rounds, Attwood proved an able replacement and took one win and a second place from his three race starts. On Hill's return to the team for the Australian rounds he picked up a second race win, and his results were strong enough for him to finish second in the Championship standing, beaten only by team-mate Stewart who had taken four wins from the series' eight-race schedule.
Back in Europe, only
1967–1969
Rather than sending the full works team down under for the 1967 Tasman Series season, BRM chose to lend their support to the private Reg Parnell Racing team.[1] The Parnell team prepared two P261s, for works driver Stewart and previous year's race winner Richard Attwood. With the 2.1-litre V8 engine fitted, Stewart again made certain of a BRM victory in the season opening New Zealand GP. Despite scoring four straight podium finishes, Attwood was replaced by Piers Courage and Chris Irwin for the Australian rounds. Although Courage failed to make a mark, Irwin finished the season by taking third place in Longford. Stewart finished equal second in the series standings, but with fewer than half the points of Championship-winner Jim Clark.
Parnell continued to run a 2.1-litre P261 for Chris Irwin and Piers Courage during the subsequent 1967 Formula One season, and Bernard White ran another for David Hobbs at the British and Canadian Grands Prix. However, with the P83 now the main works car, the Bourne works team only fielded a P261 twice in the World Championship, although Stewart did manage third place at the 1967 French Grand Prix in his.
World Championship results
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)
Year | Entrant | Engine(s) | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pts. | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964 | Owen Racing Organisation
|
BRM P56 1.5 V8
|
D | MON | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | USA | MEX | 42 | 2nd | |||
Graham Hill | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 1 | 11 | ||||||||
Richie Ginther | 2 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 8 | ||||||||
1965 | Owen Racing Organisation
|
BRM P56 1.5 V8
|
D | RSA | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | NED | GER | ITA | USA | MEX | 45 | 2nd | |||
Graham Hill | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Ret | ||||||||
Jackie Stewart | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | Ret | 1 | Ret | Ret | ||||||||
1966 | Owen Racing Organisation
|
BRM P60 2.0 V8
|
D | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | NED | GER | ITA | USA | MEX | 22 | 4th | ||||
Graham Hill | 3 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||
Jackie Stewart | 1 | Ret | Ret | 4 | 5 | |||||||||||||
Team Chamaco Collect | G | Bob Bondurant | 4 | Ret | 9 | Ret | 7 | |||||||||||
Vic Wilson
|
DNS | |||||||||||||||||
Bernard White Racing | BRM P60 1.9 V8
|
D | Innes Ireland | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||||
1967 | Owen Racing Organisation
|
BRM P60 2.1 V8
|
G | RSA | MON | NED | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | CAN | ITA | USA | MEX | 171 | 6th1 | ||
Jackie Stewart | Ret | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
Reg Parnell Racing | F | Piers Courage | Ret | DNS | ||||||||||||||
Chris Irwin | Ret | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
Bernard White Racing | G | David Hobbs | 8 | 9 | ||||||||||||||
1968 | Bernard White Racing | BRM P101 3.0 V12
|
G | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | ITA | CAN | USA | MEX | 28 | 5th | |
Frank Gardner
|
DNQ |
^1 This total includes points scored by BRM P83 cars
Non-championship results
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964 | Owen Racing Organisation
|
BRM P56 1.5 V8
|
D | DMT | NWT | SYR | AIN | INT | SOL | MED | RAN | |
Graham Hill | Ret | Ret | 2 | 2 | Ret | |||||||
Richie Ginther | DNA | DNS | DNA | |||||||||
Richard Attwood | DNA | |||||||||||
1965 | Owen Racing Organisation
|
BRM P56 1.5 V8
|
D | ROC | SYR | SMT | INT | MED | RAN | |||
Graham Hill | NC | 2 | Ret | |||||||||
Jackie Stewart | 2 | Ret | 1 | |||||||||
1966 | Team Chamaco Collect | BRM P60 2.0 V8
|
G | RSA | SYR | INT | OUL | |||||
Vic Wilson | 4 | 9 | ||||||||||
Bernard White Racing | BRM P60 1.9 V8
|
D | Innes Ireland | 4 | ||||||||
1967 | Reg Parnell Racing | BRM P60 2.1 V8
|
F | ROC | SPC | INT | SYR | OUL | ESP | |||
Mike Spence | 6 | Ret | ||||||||||
1968 | Bernard White Racing | BRM P101 3.0 V12
|
G | ROC | INT | OUL | ||||||
David Hobbs | 9 | 6 | 6 | |||||||||
Motor Racing Stable | BRM P60 2.1 V8
|
Tony Lanfranchi | 5 | |||||||||
1969 | A. G. Dean | BRM P101 3.0 V12
|
ROC | INT | MAD | OUL | ||||||
Tony Dean | 2 | |||||||||||
B.A. Moore | Charles Lucas | Ret |
Tasman Series results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Driver | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1966 | Owen Racing Organisation
|
V8
|
PUK | LEV | WIG | TER | WAR | LAK | SAN | LON | |
Jackie Stewart | 2 | Ret | 1 | 1 | (4) | Ret | 1 | 1 | |||
Graham Hill | 1 | 2 | 1 | (3) | 2 | ||||||
Richard Attwood | 1 | 2 | Ret | ||||||||
1967 | Owen Racing Organisation
|
V8
|
PUK | LEV | WIG | TER | LAK | WAR | SAN | LON | |
Jackie Stewart | 1 | 2 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 1 | Ret | Ret | |||
Richard Attwood | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |||||||
Piers Courage | Ret | ||||||||||
Chris Irwin | Ret | 4 | 3 | ||||||||
1968 | Owen Racing Organisation
|
V8
|
PUK | LEV | WIG | TER | SUR | WAR | SAN | LON | |
Pedro Rodriguez | Ret | 6 | 6 | 2 |
References
Citations
Sources
- Phipps, D. 1966. Autocourse: The Review of International Motor Sport 1966. Haymarket Press.
- Prototype Parade No. 185: B.R.M. 1965 F/1 High Exhaust V-8. Model Cars. 2/6 (June 1965), p. 254-255
- "BRM P261". Legends of '65. Archived from the original on 1 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
- "BRM P261". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2007-09-28.
- "Car Model: BRM P261". ChicaneF1.com. Retrieved 2007-09-28. (World Championship statistics.)
- "Tasman Series". New Zealand Motor Racing. Archived from the original on 2008-10-10. Retrieved 2008-09-28. (Tasman Series results.)
- "The Formula One Archive". GEL Motorsport Information Page. Archived from the original on 1 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-28. (Other race results.)
External links
- Video of a P261 being fired up and fettled in the paddock. YouTube.
- Photos and brief chassis details. The British Racing Motors (unofficial) Information Page.
- P261 Simulation A detailed, driveable recreation of the BRM P261 1.5-litre F1 version was made available in 2004 as part of the freely available 1965 Mod for the Grand Prix Legends pc racing simulation. An updated 1966 version with 2-litre engine and matching physics was released as part of the '66 Mod' in 2007.