Drivers of the BMW turbo F1 in private tests

The F1 cars powered by the BMW turbo engine, Brabham, Arrows, Benetton, ATS, were tested by several different drivers in private tests, do you know all of them ?
Here are the ones I know :
Brabham BT50 : M.Surer, M.Winkelhock
Brabham BT52 : A.Senna, P.L.Martini,
Brabham BT54 : I.Capelli
Benetton B186 : T.Boutsen

Don't forget Innes Ireland, who test drove the Benetton-BMW B186 for the feature article in Road & Track magazine, March 1987.

Originally posted by JB Miltonian
Don't forget Innes Ireland, who test drove the Benetton-BMW B186 for the feature article in Road & Track magazine, March 1987.

That is an awesome article!!!! I still read it every so often.

Originally posted by MODE
The F1 cars powered by the BMW turbo engine, Brabham, Arrows, Benetton, ATS, were tested by several different drivers in private tests, do you know all of them ?
Here are the ones I know :
Brabham BT50 : M.Surer, M.Winkelhock
Brabham BT52 : A.Senna, P.L.Martini,
Brabham BT54 : I.Capelli
Benetton B186 : T.Boutsen

Benetton B186 : Teo Fabi

Brabham BT52- there's also one Sir Stirling Moss missing from the list (BCE invited him for testing at the same test as Martini).

Here are some more BMW turbo powered tests...some already mentioned, some not yet...


Hans-Joachim Stuck - Brabham BT50-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec82)
Hans-Joachim Stuck - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo
Ivan Capelli - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo (Brands H Aug83)
Pierluigi Martini - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo (Brands H Aug83)
Davy Jones - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo (Brands H Aug83)
Stirling Moss - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo (Brands H Aug83)
Emanuele Pirro - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo
Emanuele Pirro - Brabham BT54-BMW 4 turbo (Silverstone 85)
Christian Danner - Brabham BT53-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec84)
Mauro Baldi - Brabham BT53-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec84)
Franco Uncini - Brabham BT54-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec85)
Marco Lucchinelli - Brabham BT54-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec85)
Barry Sheene - Brabham BT54-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec85)
Emanuele Pirro - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
Andy Wallace - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
David Hunt - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
Otto Rensing - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
Giovanna Amati - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
Innes Ireland - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
Josele Garza - Brabham BT56-BMW 4 turbo (Mexico C.Oct87)

Originally posted by Wolf
Brabham BT52- there's also one Sir Stirling Moss missing from the list (BCE invited him for testing at the same test as Martini).

And ... I recall reading fairly recently that he did a time that was only a pocketful of seconds away from the youngbloods.

Concerning the engine, it was (with slightly reduced capacity) used in Markus Hottinger's group 5 BMW 320 in 1979 too...

Originally posted by Vanwall


And ... I recall reading fairly recently that he did a time that was only a pocketful of seconds away from the youngbloods.

Yep- here it is: http://forums.atlasf...232#post1929232 (thanks to Guido), but I remember reading it elsewhere too. Judging by Doc Lawrence's quote in thread I linked to, I'm very pleased to know that Moss is not in the 'the older I get, the faster I was' category but in the 'the older I get, the faster I get' category, but I don't think he ever regained his pre-Goodwood senses and reactions, or did he?

Wolf, thanks for the link. Looking at the time he did, and considering he was at that time just short of 54, my admiration for SCM just has to go up another notch or three.

Regarding your final point, didn't he say somewhere that he felt it was all back by ... 1964? ... 1965?

Originally posted by snash



That is an awesome article!!!! I still read it every so often.

I would be very happy to have scans of the pages about the Benetton B186, snash. Thanks to send me an email to talk about that ( I saw in your profile that I can't send you an email )

Didn't Jackie Stewart do a series of drives for a car magazine in several F1 cars. If I remeber right it was just after or on the cusp of the end of the turbo era. I thought I remeber him crashing a car and also setting a lap record at Oulton Park. Anybody have info? Sorry for partial hijack of thread.

Originally posted by sblick
Didn't Jackie Stewart do a series of drives for a car magazine in several F1 cars. If I remeber right it was just after or on the cusp of the end of the turbo era. I thought I remeber him crashing a car and also setting a lap record at Oulton Park. Anybody have info? Sorry for partial hijack of thread.

Yes he did. I have (colour) pictures of him testing the Ligier, mc Laren M26, Wolf, Lotus 78, Brabham, Tyrrell, Renault from a magazine that is.

His helmet design went really very well with some of the cars!

Source Sport-Auto of March 1978. It's a 24 page article. I might have some more articles from other magazines, but I think this one covers it all! I'll scan them later. I will dedicate a page on my website for 'testing drivers'...

Yes, I got it too, that's in french, very interesting pages, there are all the cars except Ferrari who refused the test. It was published by several mags and there was even some reports on TV.
Do you know mags which did tests of the BMW turbo F1 cars ? some quoted the one about Benetton B186 on Road §Track. I know two other ones, in french : one about the Arrows A7 in Auto Hebdo and another one about the gorgeous Brabham BT53 in L'Automobile magazine.

I recall that finnish driver Jari Nurminen had a some sort of testing deal for Arrows team during 1986-87, when he was a f3000 racer. At least his home page suggests so.

http://www.jarinurminen.com/index.php

Calling Jari Nurminen an Arrows test driver is a slight exaggeration.
I don't recall him running anymore than this one occasion at Donington.

But if a 41-year old novice can call himself a test driver today, then...

Hannu Mikkola tested Arrows A7 BMW at Donington, November 20th 1984.

from Guest drives thread:


(click to enlarge)

Marc Surer and Hannu Mikkola swapped their own car, so Mikkola drove Arrows A7 BMW turbo and Surer and Surer Audi Quattro.
At that time Surer had already raced some rally, so he had no problem to drive; Mikkola was at his first experience on a sigle-seater.
On Arrows, Mikkola was only 3" slower than Surer, while on Audi Quattro, Surer was 1"04 behind Hannu.

Ciao,
Guido

Did that guy Bobby Deerfield drive one (can't bother to check my sources), or was it Brabham with Alfa Romeo engine?

1976 Brabham/Alfa Romeo BT45.

Originally posted by Rainer Nyberg
Here are some more BMW turbo powered tests...some already mentioned, some not yet...


Hans-Joachim Stuck - Brabham BT50-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec82)
Hans-Joachim Stuck - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo
Ivan Capelli - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo (Brands H Aug83)
Pierluigi Martini - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo (Brands H Aug83)
Davy Jones - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo (Brands H Aug83)
Stirling Moss - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo (Brands H Aug83)
Emanuele Pirro - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo
Emanuele Pirro - Brabham BT54-BMW 4 turbo (Silverstone 85)
Christian Danner - Brabham BT53-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec84)
Mauro Baldi - Brabham BT53-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec84)
Franco Uncini - Brabham BT54-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec85)
Marco Lucchinelli - Brabham BT54-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec85)
Barry Sheene - Brabham BT54-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec85)
Emanuele Pirro - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
Andy Wallace - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
David Hunt - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
Otto Rensing - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
Giovanna Amati - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
Innes Ireland - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)
Josele Garza - Brabham BT56-BMW 4 turbo (Mexico C.Oct87)

Roberto José Guerrero, tested Brabham BT-52 BMW, in Brand Hatch 1983.

Didn't Jacky Ickx drive the BT50-BMW once in a combo test with his mate Thierry Boutsen, Corrado Fabi and Manfred Winkelhock (I'm guessing late '81/early '82) - or was that a BT49?

Originally posted by fines
Didn't Jacky Ickx drive the BT50-BMW once in a combo test with his mate Thierry Boutsen, Corrado Fabi and Manfred Winkelhock (I'm guessing late '81/early '82) - or was that a BT49?

They all tested the Cosworth-engined Brabham. Guido posted the times of this test in the Ultimate test driver thread and here's a photographic evidence.

• Marc Surer tested Brabham BT49 BMW at Silverstone, June 24th 1981.
  First test after some months (previous one was in October 1980, IIRC) for Brabham BT49 BMW. There were two drivers: Nelson Piquet and Marc Surer (and Rebaque, according to irvine99). They both made few laps and they had lots of problems; I have no more info, timing or pics about Surer.
  (from Autosprint 27/1981 page 6 - already posted on Ultimate test driver thread!, post #132)
  
• Paolo Barilla tested Brabham BMW on October 1984 at Estoril.
  
  
  (info from Autosprint 44/1984 page 12, photo from Autosprint 12/1986 pages 34-35)
  For more info, see Ultimate test driver thread!, post #118

Ciao,
Guido

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Rainer Nyberg
Here are some more BMW turbo powered tests...some already mentioned, some not yet...


Ivan Capelli - Brabham BT52-BMW 4 turbo (Brands H Aug83)
Mauro Baldi - Brabham BT53-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec84)
Franco Uncini - Brabham BT54-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec85)
Marco Lucchinelli - Brabham BT54-BMW 4 turbo (Paul Ricard Dec85)
[b]Otto Rensing - Benetton B186-BMW 4 turbo (Donington Dec86)

Does someone have pictures of the Brabham tests of these drivers ?
Thanks

Originally posted by irvine99

Are you sure it was in December 1984? I can't check, but this seems me 1983 Brabham (IIRC BT52). Am I wrong?

Ciao,
Guido

Originally posted by irvine99
It's a BT52B.

And was it used in a test in december 1984? It seems me too old... but I can't check, so of course I could be wrong.
In 1980s it was not so common to test old cars...

Ciao,
Guido

Hello Guido, this must be Dec 1983.

I'm not hot on Brabhams but I believe these are pics of Willy T Ribbs driving a BT54 at Estoril in 1986

I'm not hot on Brabhams but I believe these are pics of Willy T Ribbs driving a BT54 at Estoril in 1986

A young Nigel Destaryter strapping him in too!

Didn't Jackie Stewart do a series of drives for a car magazine in several F1 cars. If I remeber right it was just after or on the cusp of the end of the turbo era. I thought I remeber him crashing a car and also setting a lap record at Oulton Park. Anybody have info? Sorry for partial hijack of thread.

I just saw this thread.

Slightly Off-topic, but this might be referring to tests that were videotaped for television at the time. They are now posted on Youtube, and show Jackie Stewart testing what appears to be a 1987-vintage Benetton-Ford V6 Turbo, not the turbo BMW.

The footage appears to be from early 1989, and it is from Oulton Park, where he says he set a lap record. There's another video in the same playlist where he tests the Williams-Renault that Boutsen/Patrese would drive, as well as the 1988 Indy-winning Penske-Ilmore. The car he crashed was the Jaguar XJR12.

Very entertaining footage, particularly his complaints about cockpit layout and interior space.

http://www.youtube.c...0...Ml&index=15

He also did test some other F1 cars in the late 1970's (1977?) that were written up for a magazine article. I recall him commenting that the Tyrrell P34 didn't impress him, but the Flat-12 Alfa Engine in the Brabham did.

I just saw this thread.



He also did test some other F1 cars in the late 1970's (1977?) that were written up for a magazine article. I recall him commenting that the Tyrrell P34 didn't impress him, but the Flat-12 Alfa Engine in the Brabham did.

For Autocar at Paul Ricard early in 1978 IIRC

Edited by arttidesco, 09 December 2012 - 19:49.

Actually Damon Hill had a run in a Benneton BMW turbo I think, from memory, quite a while after he had retired and was amazed by the power
of it compared to the cars he had driven in his era.