Brabham BT44
Encyclopedia : B : BR : BRA : Brabham BT44
The Brabham BT44 was an F1 car designed by Gordon Murray, Brabham's chief designer. An update of the partially successful BT37 of 1973, the BT44 was a simple design with a standard Ford DFV/Hewland gearbox combination, but was very clean aerodynamically. Murray had an eye for clean lines, and the BT44 was particularly graceful. He was also a forward thinker, and tinkered with side skirts and airdams on the car, a precursor to ground effects aerodynamics. Sponsorship came from Martini.
The 1974 season was successful for Brabham. Carlos Reutemann took 3 wins with the car, partnered by Carlos Pace who was able to string a series of promising results together. Brabham finished a fighting fifth in the constructor's championship after a closely fought season.
The BT44 was modified for 1975, and Pace won his first and only Grand Prix at his home event in Brazil, while Reutemann won at the Nürburgring. A series of other strong finishes helped Reutemann to finish third in the drivers' championship in 1975, whilst Brabham equalled his feat in the constructors' championship. Whilst the BT44 was a good car, it couldn't match the McLaren M23 or the Ferrari 312T.
The BT44 was replaced by the Alfa Romeo powered BT45 for 1976 which proved to be a serious step back for the team.
See also
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.