Brabham BT45


The Brabham BT45 was a Formula One car designed by South African engineer Gordon Murray for the 1976 [Formula One season|1976], and 1978 Formula One seasons.

Design

The car was the first Brabham to use Alfa Romeo type 115-12 flat 12-cylinder engine with and of torque. It was equipped with a Hewland six-speed transmission. It used the front air intakes of the previous Brabham, but by regulation no longer has the air brooms behind the cockpit and has side panels with larger air intakes to feed the engine and more radiant surfaces. The frame was an aluminium monocoque, while the braking system was constituted by ventilated disc brakes produced by Girling. The front suspension consisted of double wishbones with pull-rods, coil springs and stabilizer bars, while the rear used coil springs and stabilizer bars.
For the season, pending the development of BT46, a C version of the BT45 was created. This model was equipped with a revised radiator.

Race history

The BT45 had its first start at the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix in the hands of Carlos Pace and Carlos Reutemann. They suffered reliability problems, especially the engine. During the first season, the best results were three-fourth places.
In Pace finished second in the first race and led for thirteen laps in South Africa with the BT45B, and died a few days later in a plane crash. His teammate, John Watson, drove to the pole at the Monaco Grand Prix but was passed on the first lap by Jody Scheckter's Wolf Racing|Wolf], after that he spent more than half of the race in second position, before retiring with gearbox problems. He then took second place in France, and Stuck gained two podiums, in Germany and Austria. Its results allowed the German to finish 11th overall in the Championship.
The BT45C competed in two Grands Prix in, before the arrival of the BT46. With this latest release, Niki Lauda achieved two podiums. Jackie Stewart tested an early BT45C in 1978 and returned an overall favourable impression of the car as well as the team, with the smooth, torquey Alfa Romeo flat-twelve and the Brabham gearbox coming in for particular praise. The chassis was not yet fully sorted and Stewart disliked the cable-operated clutch; but the Brabham was still the fastest car he ran in a series of tests at Paul Ricard.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

YearEntrantEngineChassisTyresDrivers1234567891011121314151617PointsWCC
1976Martini RacingAlfa Romeo F12BT45BRARSA1976 [United States Grand Prix West|USW]ESPBELMONSWEFRAGBRGERAUTNEDITACANUSEJPN99th
1976Martini RacingAlfa Romeo F12BT45Carlos Pace10Ret96Ret98484RetRetRet7RetRet99th
1976Martini RacingAlfa Romeo F12BT45Carlos Reutemann12RetRet4RetRetRet11RetRetRetRet99th
1976Martini RacingAlfa Romeo F12BT45Rolf Stommelen6Ret99th
1976Martini RacingAlfa Romeo F12BT45Larry Perkins17RetRet99th
1977Martini RacingAlfa Romeo F12BT45BARGBRARSA1977 United States [Grand Prix West|USW]ESPMONBELSWEFRAGBRGERAUTNEDITAUSECANJPN275th
1977Martini RacingAlfa Romeo F12BT45BJohn WatsonRetRet6DSQRetRetRet52RetRet8RetRet12RetRet275th
1977Martini RacingAlfa Romeo F12BT45BCarlos Pace2Ret13275th
1977Martini RacingAlfa Romeo F12BT45BHans-Joachim StuckRet6Ret610Ret5337RetRetRet7275th
1977Martini RacingAlfa Romeo F12BT45BGiorgio FranciaDNQ275th
1978Parmalat Racing TeamAlfa Romeo F12BT45CARGBRARSAUSWMONBELESPSWEFRAGBRGERAUTNEDITAUSECAN533rd
1978Parmalat Racing TeamAlfa Romeo F12BT45CNiki Lauda23533rd
1978Parmalat Racing TeamAlfa Romeo F12BT45CJohn WatsonRet8533rd

This total includes points scored using the Brabham BT46.