82 replies to this topic

[SJ Lambert]

I've been having a look at some old Motoring News papers recently, Ron Tauranac's BT33 caught my eye as MRD's first full monocoque F1 offering. 

 

Is there an appetite for a 1970 BT33 "season review"??

 

 

 

 

[Cirrus]

Definitely from me - it's one of my favourite F1 cars.

[SJ Lambert]

Motoring News 15 Jan 1970   - the first chassis is set to go to Rolf Stommelen, with Jack to occupy the second fatter (more fuel) one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SJ Lambert]

Testing times in the lead in to Kyalami.  For as good as the March cars times were, Robin Herd  reckoned once Jack turned up and switched on, he'd blow the rest of 'em to the weeds....

 

 

Edited by SJ Lambert, 18 September 2015 - 14:40.

[SJ Lambert]

 

[SJ Lambert]

Sorry, the first two pages of the race report in the inside spread are MIA......

 

 

 

[SJ Lambert]

 

[SJ Lambert]

 

 

 

[SJ Lambert]

Can't seem to find the Jarama report - I gather Black Jack qualified on pole, put in quickest lap and DNFed with an engine problem.

 

EDIT - here 'tis.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monaco, through the tunnel on the last lap, "It had to be Brabham's race", turned into "he grimaced and selected reverse gear and backed out .........he was able to drive to the finish for the most disappointing second place of his career".

 

Report to follow when I can get postimage to respond.....

Edited by SJ Lambert, 21 May 2016 - 10:52.

[sterling49]

I would have attended the F1 races at Brands in 1970 and was really pleased with Jackie Oliver's pace in the P153, really good to see B.R.M. At the sharp end again. Also, I thought the new colour scheme of the Brabhams were vibrant and so good to look at, it being a beautiful car in Brabham/Tauranac tradition, the surprise was JYS winning the R.O.C though, I was never a great fan of the 701, but see in now in an altogether different light, especially those wheels, fabulous!

[jj2728]

Yes, 'Blackie' put it on pole at Jarama with a 1'23".9, had fastest lap with a 1'24".3 and retired on lap 62 with engine problems.

[Tim Murray]

Can't seem to find the Jarama report - I gather Black Jack qualified on pole, put in quickest lap and DNFed with an engine problem.

After the drama of the fiery Ickx/Oliver accident on the opening lap, the race eventually settled down with Stewart around 12 seconds ahead of Brabham and Beltoise in the Matra, who both slowly pulled back Stewart's lead. By lap 50 (out of 90) Beltoise had retired and for the next ten laps Brabham was pushing Stewart very hard, and would probably have got by sooner or later. Both of them were now more than a lap ahead of the rest of the field. Then Jack retired with suspected broken valve springs in his DFV.

Thus, with a little bit more luck, Jack might easily have won the first three F1 races of 1970, plus the Monaco and British GPs, and after Brands would have had 40 World Championship points to Rindt's 30. (I know, I know, there are no ifs in motor racing, but it's interesting to speculate on how things might have panned out.)

[SJ Lambert]

Rindt's seemingly vain chase of Jack Brabham in a (basically) three year old car comes up trumps.

 

 

 

 

Damn, that BT33 was a good looking racing car!  - Not sold on "Jack's Helicopter Pilot Style" helmet though.....

 

 

 

 

 

Colin Crabbe entered Antique Autos March for Ronnie's F1 debut, Petterson  was also negotiating a Ferrari Works Sports Car drive after it had earlier been rumoured that he may be seen in the Scuderia Filipinetti Ferrari 512S for some late season appearances. 

 

 

Edited by SJ Lambert, 10 October 2015 - 21:37.

[D28]

Rindt's seemingly vain chase of Jack Brabham in a (basically) three year old car comes up trumps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Helped along it must be said by atrocious track manners of some back markers as the leaders came through. No excuses though, Rindt was on fire and Jack admitted to a rare mistake, just lamented it had to be broadcast on worldwide sports.

[Wirra]

Monaco mistake here; 

 

Not BT33 specific but here is the rest of the season:

 

South African GP – March 17                      https://www.youtube....h?v=56TIKNoHZbM

Gran Premio de Espana – April 26              https://www.youtube....h?v=jhyvCwafdFA

Grand Prix de Monaco – May 1970             https://www.youtube....h?v=4FnyurCfTsQ

Grand Prix de Belgique – June 7``              https://www.youtube....h?v=V4H61BWgv_4

Grote Prijs van Nederland – june 21           https://www.youtube....h?v=nQRHX2IEnmA

Grand Prix de France – July 3                    https://www.youtube....h?v=px0SNakQBro

RAC British GP – July 19                            https://www.youtube....h?v=vsDgVetILP4

Grosser Preis von Deutschland – August 2   https://www.youtube....h?v=mC9vrAtzPhY

Grosser Preis von Osterreich – August 16  https://www.youtube....h?v=avLOtfNSBoM

Gran Premio d’Italia – Sept 6                      https://www.youtube....h?v=ML2N3MgUqNY

Canadian GP – Sept 20                              https://www.youtube....h?v=X6i4ijEwTYI

United States GP – October 4                    https://www.youtube....h?v=vT7K1NEvYm4

Gran Premio de Mexico – October 23        https://www.youtube....h?v=oYwZw4ImUtE

[SJ Lambert]

Pedro does it for BRM at Spa - Ralf Stommelen scores his first points in BT33-1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by SJ Lambert, 11 October 2015 - 03:00.

[SJ Lambert]

Can't seem to find the Jarama report - I gather Black Jack qualified on pole, put in quickest lap and DNFed with an engine problem...............

 

..

 

 

I've found it, shall edit it in soon!

[StanBarrett2]

I'll join in with some BT33 stuff that I have on file.

 

I'll get the cutaway drawing assembled.

 

macoran

Edited by StanBarrett2, 20 May 2016 - 11:21.

[StanBarrett2]

Bill Bennett's cutaway drawing of the  Brabham BT33

 

macoran

[Doug Nye]

It's so nice to see the BT33 applauded like this. Jack's performances with it in that final season of his frontline career really were terrific.  He always regretted listening to his wife, Betty, and to his Mum and Dad, who had all urged him not to push his luck any further after the deaths of Piers Courage and Bruce McLaren. He told me he reckoned he could have had another three or four years at, or near, the top. Don't forget his Formula 2 swan song as well that year - at Tulln-Langenlebarn - in which he was again leading on the very last lap when something went wrong, and robbed him of yet another win. It annoys me when his true skills as a driver are too often under-rated. He was quite a rough, tough, aggressive and unpredictable driver - but he was also genuinely quick...

 

DCN

[D28]

Right, I like the way Sir Jack went out though, right at the top. He was settled in for a sure podium in Mexico when the Cosworth quit, nothing he could do about it. And he was lucky never to be seriously hurt after all those years, I think his worst accident was at Goodwood Revival in a McLaren.

[Ray Bell]

Not only that, Doug...

It was also one of the best looking racing cars of the era.

If anyone wants to see just how determined and quick Jack was towards the end of his career, have a look at the ABC (Australia) video of the '68 Tasman race at Warwick Farm. You have to constantly be looking in the background, the cameras were following the leaders, but if you keep your eyes peeled it really shines through what it meant when Jack put his chin down and drove the wheels off a car.




Edited to correct. But also to say this post was intended to follow Doug's.

Edited by Ray Bell, 20 May 2016 - 21:07.

[Roger Clark]

 He was quite a rough, tough, aggressive and unpredictable driver - but he was also genuinely quick...

 

DCN

That's the sort we like.

[SJ Lambert]

I've edited post #9 by inserting part of the Jarama report.

 

 

 

"Spanish" Black Jack, at his "relentless best"!!!

Edited by SJ Lambert, 21 May 2016 - 11:04.

[SJ Lambert]

The Dutch Grand Prix.

 

 

A race that we'd all rather not have been run......

 

 

 

Paddock Potterings - in part:

 

 

Edited by SJ Lambert, 22 May 2016 - 09:16.

[SJ Lambert]

Clermont-Ferrand - looks like a helluva race track!!

Rolf letting it all hang out!!!




Sir Jack bangs in the fastest lap - and to quote M.G.D's race report Jack Brabham went about
"keeping himself in the World Championship picture by taking third place after keeping a still hurting (and very disgruntled) Denny Hulme at bay throughout the race, while Henri Pescarolo arrived fifth, just in front of Dan Gurney in the second Gulf orange McLaren M14A. .......the new record to the credit of Jack Brabham at 3m 00.75s, just short of two seconds quicker than Stewart's best last year."

Edited by SJ Lambert, 22 May 2016 - 20:55.

[D28]

Thanks for presenting this S J, a fine account of Jack's last go around. My take on the 1970 season, is but for atrocious luck, Jack could well have had 3, wins in his final season. I commented in #14 above about the forced error at Monaco; but at the British GP Jack had Rindt thoroughly beaten till the last lap and the disappearance of any fuel. In When The Flag drops he says the fuel was topped up just prior to the start, that there was fuel in the tanks but it was not being picked up. Just one of those things in racing they never did discover what was wrong.

A plague of gremlins affected the car from then until the last race in Mexico; everything was fine there until the Cosworth expired.

For sure Jack was on fire and the car was competitive, while he was unlikely to catch Rindt, he could have challenged Ickx for second spot with a bit of better luck.

Edited by D28, 23 May 2016 - 18:43.

[PeterElleray]

What If's are always contentious, but Sir Jack was closer than it might appear to a fourth title in 1970, if you factor in the points Rindt gained as Brabham lost them. He could easily have won the first three races of the season (SA, Spain then Monaco) but for the unforced error and the engine blow up in Spain. So thats 4 wins, including Brands, and not 3, and Rindt would have had 3 wins and 2 2nd places for 39 points.  He also lost 3rd  or 4th place points at a relatively late stage in Belgium,Austria and Mexico , giving a best possible score of 51.... Stretching things a bit, maybe, but thats often how championships are won (or used to be), when your luck plays out on nearly every occasion. Look at Stewart vs Peterson or even Cevert in 1973..

[Tim Murray]

Agreed absolutely, Peter - see my post 12 above.

[PeterElleray]

Makes you think long and hard about the Lotus 72 doesnt it....

[D28]

Right, to claim a fourth title in 1970 Jack would have needed to rack up the wins in the first part of the season. After Austria Ferrari really came on the boil and they won four of the last five races, allowing Ickx to move up to second place. Emerson Fittipaldi secured the title for Rindt at USGP something everybody was satisfied  with.

[PeterElleray]

Yes, a season of two halves. Would have been quite nail biting after Brands as even looking charitably at the way the races panned out Jack would only have been looking at 3rd place finishes in Austria and Mexico.

[Mohican]

This is true, not least when looking at how the 1971 and later seasons then panned out. Brabham and Tauranac sold the team to Ecclestone, and the Brabhams were nowhere in 1971 - when driven by Hill (BT34) and Schenken (BT33).

To my mind this shows how limited resources for development the team really had; the later BT37 of 1972 was then a BT34 with (again) a centre front radiator. It was only with the Murray-designed BT42 that Brabham again started being a factor in 1973 and later. Of course, the absence of (visible) third party sponsors all the way until Martini came in 1975 must be a large part of the reason.

 

In the meantime the other race winners from 1970 were competitive; Lotus 72 was winning during several years, the Ferrari 312B was running at the front (although hampered by poor reliability) throughout 1971-72 and even the BRM P160 won races both those years. To which you should add the Tyrrells and, in 1971, Peterson's March (which ran at the front all year even if it did not win a race).

[timbo]

Found this on the internet.

 

https://www.bonhams..../21917/lot/257/

[SJ Lambert]

It's still a gorgeous looking monocoque!

[SJ Lambert]

Onto Brands Hatch, Brabham's tub is fitted with adjustable Armstrongs (for bump and rebound) and a third car entered for Tim Schenken, did not materialise due to the tub not being ready as a result of the spares needed to fix the boss's car after his Zandvoort off.......






















"DISQUALIFICATION DRAMA - as soon as a somewhat incredulous Rindt had been paraded with his car around the circuit, it was impounded for scrutiny. The RAC officials discovered that the rear aerofoil wing stay had been bent downwards and (when straightened), the top of the wing was more than the regulation 80cm from the bottom of the chassis..........."

Edited by SJ Lambert, 24 May 2016 - 11:13.

[D28]

"DISQUALIFICATION DRAMA - as soon as a somewhat incredulous Rindt had been paraded with his car around the circuit, it was impounded for scrutiny. The RAC officials discovered that the rear aerofoil wing stay had been bent downwards and (when straightened), the top of the wing was more than the regulation 80cm from the bottom of the chassis..........."

In  When The Flag Drops  Jack gives little credence to any disqualification taking place. Colin Chapman was on the job closeted with the stewards, and he dismissed any possibility of action. In any event he didn't want to win that way, claiming Rindt deserved the win, it was the team's fault that they ran dry, even though they never discovered why. Such was racing in the 70s, a bit different from todays situation.Also different was the reliability factor.

[SJ Lambert]

 

 

 

    

 

From Paddock Potterings 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by SJ Lambert, 25 May 2016 - 13:24.

[SJ Lambert]

I'll join in with some BT33 stuff that I have on file.

 

I'll get the cutaway drawing assembled.

 

macoran

 

 

Nice one! - You've inspired me to grab a fistful of 1970 Autosports covering some the Grands Prix (and one from January that purportedly has BT33 coverage as well)....

 

 

 

 

Edited by SJ Lambert, 03 June 2016 - 10:15.

[barrykm]

Nice one! - You've inspired me to grab a fistful of 1970 Autosports covering some the Grands Prix (and one from January that purportedly has BT33 coverage as well)....

 

 

I was there, an unforgettable GP for me. Came up from Durban on Thursday night with a bunch of friends in a Ford F100, or similar, and parked next to the fence, old - Kyalami style, just before the Kink.        .

 

Just loved F1 in the 70s!

 

 

[barrykm]

..and also the BT33, a wonderful looking car !

[StanBarrett2]

Nice one! - You've inspired me to grab a fistful of 1970 Autosports covering some the Grands Prix (and one from January that purportedly has BT33 coverage as well)....

 

 

That may be the 2nd and 3rd jpegs I posted ?

[SJ Lambert]

Yes, I think so!  I must admit I checked the dateline on your first one and saw that it was from February tonight & assumed they were all from the February issue, after having read them all a while back - not to worry, you can never have too many Autosports!!

[StanBarrett2]

Makes you think long and hard about the Lotus 72 doesnt it....

The 72 warants a thread of it's own for sure !

[GreenMachine]

... it was the team's fault that they ran dry, even though they never discovered why...

I recall reading (somewhere  ) that it was a mixture issue, either it was set rich to start/warm up and no-one turned it back for the race, or it was set rich for some other reason.  I think someone on the team fessed up recently (in the last couple of years?).

[D28]

Jack was writing in 1971, When The Flag Drops, when he says that "Ron reckoned there was some fuel left, it just wasn't getting through". "Certainly there should have been two gallons left" Very philosophical under the circumstances, he says "Running out of fuel on the last lap is one of motor racing little hazards, and it wasn't my first experience by any means" 

The 59 USGP come to mind when Jack pushed home for his first title.I think he would have been all right anyway, bettering Brooks by 1 point instead of 4 without the push, but he couldn't be sure at the time.

 

After the British GP Jack felt like giving up right there, and his season went badly from there till Mexico. 

Edited by D28, 04 June 2016 - 14:04.

[Charlieman]

Jack was writing in 1971, When The Flag Drops, when he says that "Ron reckoned there was some fuel left, it just wasn't getting through". "Certainly there should have been two gallons left" 

Two mates trusted one another. If you are to win as many races as a combo, like Tauranac and Brabham, you have to accept what the other bloke says. And you have to trust mechanics to give a solid racing car.

[GreenMachine]

I recall reading (somewhere  ) that it was a mixture issue, either it was set rich to start/warm up and no-one turned it back for the race, or it was set rich for some other reason.  I think someone on the team fessed up recently (in the last couple of years?).

The Jack Brabham Story, Minidi, 2004, P244-5

[D28]

Thanks for that; now we know who was to blame. Wonder why he waited 32 years to fess up? Or why Dennis didn't tell on him?

Such a shame, as that would have been a very fitting spot to score one's last GP win.

[SJ Lambert]

 

 

I'll edit in more of the race report soon

 

 

Edited by SJ Lambert, 05 June 2016 - 10:42.