Among the many personalities in motorsport, Ron Tauranac was one of the best of Formula 1 designers.
Ron, a British born but grown in Australia as a kid, started his career as teenager racing his own little Ralt 500 Special, a mid-engine 500 cc. Formula 3 car, back in 1949.
Ron Tauranac with Jack Brabham.
The little production of some smart and nimble cars gave him the opportunity to know a talented driver, Jack Brabham, a taciturn man with a large personality.
In 1960, Brabham offered Tauranac a job, so Ron flew back to England to start a new company associated with Jack.
It was a different age but also a great opportunity for young, devoted people to study, build and learn how to build, prepare and race a racing car.
Ron Tauranac with Jack Brabham.
Brabham, that had won two World titles driving for John Cooper, decided to have his own team and to start an enterprise as car manifacturer, with Tauranac engeneering their cars.
Ron Tauranac with Jack Brabham.
The first car was the BT1 (B was for Brabham and T for Tauranac), a F. Junior car that won the Australian National Championship in 1962. This was the first of a long and successful line of Formula and Sport cars production. Ron had the idea to obtain a strong and simple car, safe and easy to build and to maintain.
Ron Tauranac with Jack Brabham.
In these years, one of the aims was the long life of a model in its category so it was also a goal to keep the competitiveness for a couple of years. It was a rating that allowed the Brabham BT cars to become among the leaders of the pack in every race they contested. It lasted only 1 year for the first victory (Karlskoga – Swe - BT7) and 4 years to win the Drivers’ World Championship and the Constructors' Cup in 1966 with the Brabham BT11 Repco.
Ron Tauranac with Jack Brabham.
It was a remarkable target, the first and only one won by a driver with his own car in the history of the F1. In 1967 Denny Hulme won the title with Jack Brabham second, both of them racing BT20 and BT24, a dominant force in the season.
Nontheless the other BT formulas continued to win in the lower categories, Tauranac proud to have strong and safe cars all over the world.
Nelson Piquet and Ron Tauranac.
Many great drivers drove the factory BTs, such as Jochen Rindt and Jacky Ickx among the others. In the same years, the Honda Motor Company started a first agreement with Ron; it will be important in the future for him.
Ron Tauranac, Ron Dennis and Jack Brabham.
A last, incredible and stunning last season for “Black Jack”, aged 44, driving one of the best BT ever, the model 33, so close but so far to win that Brabham decided to quit motor racing, with a record of 592 BT cars produced. Tauranac lost interest in Formula 1 and sold the team and the name of the company to a certain Bernie Ecclestone, but that’s another story.
He starts a new career as freelance consultant for Guy Ligier first and for Frank Williams.
In 1974, a fast and strong F3 Australian young gun, whose GRD car had some problems. After a short look at the car, Ron said: ”I build a new one for you; ok?”
It was the first of a new Ralt production, stating a new era in F2, F3 and F Atlantic: 165 RT1 chassises made in 5 years was quiet a remarkable goal.
After a short period as consultant for the Trojan F1 in 1973/74, Ron Tauranac designed the Theodore F1, TR1 in 1977 and TR2 in 1978. With the second car, Keke Rosberg won the International Trophy at Silverstone, a non-championship race. Not bad at all.
Only 5 RT2 were made, a F2 chassis, but a new era was coming: the ground effect years. And the RT3 became the car to beat, 160 chassises sold in between 1980 - 1984.
In 1998 Ron called his time, sold the Ralt factory (and name) to March, with a sensational record of 1051 Ralt racing cars built.
Colin Chapman, Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac.
We have to add to this profile not only the numbers of titles conquered by one of the largest quantity of Champions, stunning racers and hundreds of good drivers, but also a note of the fine technical knowledge of the Genius of the engineer: few of us know that he was the very first to add a wing to a Formula car, not Chapman or Forghieri and that most of his cars are still affordable and competitive nowadays, in the many historic meetings.
Ron Tauranac died at age 95 on 17 July 2020, in his house in Sunshine Coast. His name will shine forever in the Motorsport world.
Alberto Galassi
Videos
Comments
Authorize to comment