RACING LEGENDS
Brabham BT52
The BT52 is a major entry in the bulging CV of a certain Gordon Murray. When the FIA banned ground-efect aerodynamics in 1982 in favour of fat bottoms, Murray’s response was a mix of his signature engineering genius and sly ability to fgure out a way of making the regulations work for him.
The resultant car still looks like no F1 car before or since, its aggressively arrow-shaped chassis and abbreviated sidepods designed to reclaim the downforce lost in the rule change. The monocoque was a mix of aluminium and carbon fbre, and the return of refuelling meant that Murray was able to gamble on a smaller fuel tank to minimise weight. There were big wings, front and rear, chasing more downforce, and relatively conventional front and rear suspension.
But the BMW turbo engine was something else. Famously, this 1.5-litre four-pot was based on a long-running production block, a cast-iron one, boosted by a KKK turbo. Various myths have accrued to this particular BMW unit; one BMW fgure told me that the mechanics would actually urinate on the blocks, then leave them outside for days on end, an unusual but apparently efective way of proving ftness for purpose and durability. The power output ran at around 640bhp in race trim and up to 800bhp for quali. The team itself was still being run by Bernie Ecclestone, who maintained the previous season’s driver line-up in the shape of 1981 world champion, Nelson Piquet (pictured), and Riccardo Patrese. The BMW-powered cars wore the distinctive livery of dairy giant Parmalat, and managed to upstage the contemporary Ferraris and Renaults in terms of visual élan. Piquet and Renault’s Alain Prost battled hard all season, Piquet prevailing on the back of continued development of the BMW engine.
So it was that Brabham scored the frst F1 world championship with a turbocharged car, at the expense of the French team who had pioneered the technology six years earlier. The testy Brazilian won three races, and scored consistent podium fnishes. Patrese, on the other hand, was plagued with bad luck and managed a solitary win.
“People talk about that great frst turbo era,” he told TG, “but remember we weren’t running massive horsepower in the race, just qualifying. At the time, a pole position was just as satisfying as a strong race. Nowadays, there are drivers in F1 who are 18. That wouldn’t have happened then. The cars, and the circuits, were too dangerous.”