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The Brabham BT62 – Australia’s Newest Supercar

Royalty comes in a few forms. There are the royal families of the world. There’s rock royalty like Angus Young, movie royalty like Meryl Streep. Then there are motorsport royalty names like Brabham. Australia’s own Sir Jack created a special place in history with his bespoke Grand Prix cars and the engineering prowess. Now, in 2018, the Brabham name has been thrust back into prominence with the release of a car and a company bearing the famous name. Brabham Automotive, with David Brabham, son of Sir Jack Brabham, at the helm have released earlier this year the Brabham BT62. BT continues a small yet very significant part of the Brabham history. Sir Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac made up the BT part of the names given to the race cars built starting with the BT1 from 1961. The BT62 is a purpose built track weapon with none of the cars to be built destined, currently, to see road work. There’s some astonishing figures that come with the sleek, aerodynamically tuned design. Weight is just 972 kilograms and the car is powered by a bespoke 5.4-L V8 that produces 522kW. Torque? Plenty, thank you, at a hefty 667Nm. A race spec exhaust is naturally fitted and has been tested to produce a 98 decibel noise limit. The fuel tank holds 125-L and fuel is entered via race spec connectors. Hi-po cars also need downforce and the exterior design of the BT62 has plenty. In this case there is more downforce than the weight of the car, at 1200 kilograms. That last figure is more important than the face value suggests. Brabham Automotive are only building seventy, and they’re all intended to be track-based weapons. And with weight being the enemy of racing cars, that 972 kilograms comes courtesy of carbon fibre body panels, including the canards, front aeroblades and splitter, the dual element rear wing and diffuser, and the floor. Race tech is in the form of a dry sump lubrication system, Motec engine control, and a fly by wire throttle system. An air jack system for quick lift and wheel change is also fitted. More Australian royalty in the form of a Hollinger six speed sequential transmission that has an engine “blip” on downshift can be found underneath the svelte bodywork, plus bespoke paddle shifts. Being a track day oriented machine also means some basics need to be fitted. A FIA approved safety master-switch is coupled with a race spec 12 inch digital screen complete with GPS tracking and timing. Ride and handling comes courtesy of double wishbones front and rear that hold push-rod Ohlins TTX dampers and coil-over shocks. The BT62 incorporates Brabham components to add extra Brabham DNA. Centre lock race wheels from Brabham are wrapped in 11J x 18 rubber up front, 13J x 18 at the rear. Brembo supply the stoppers with carbon pads on carbon discs, with 380mm and 355m front and rear. The suspension has Brabham’s own Combined Bump Limiter, which minimizes front and rear yaw action. Brabham also fit their own steering wheel made from carbon fibre with the driver ensconced in a Brabham seat. To be made available in a Celebration and Signature series, commemorating Brabham wins or personal design touches, brabhamautomotive.com stands ready to take your order…if any cars are left. What do you think of Australia’s newest supercar? Head over to the Rare Spares Facebook Page, and let us know in the comment section below this article.

A look at John Bowe’s On-Track achievements

Rare Spares Brand Ambassador and Australian Motorsport icon, John Bowe, was recently inducted into the Australian Motorsport Hall of Fame, joining names such as Brock, Webber and Brabham on the illustrious list. Throughout his hugely successful career, Bowe’s resume stacks up against some of the greatest in the history of the sport. In this article, we’ll take a quick look back at a few of the highlights on Australian shores throughout his career (so far!). Back-to-Back Australian Drivers Championships In the mid 80’s Bowe went on a tear through the 1984 & 1985 Australian Drivers Championships behind the wheel of a Cosworth powered Ralt RT4, winning 9 of a possible 12 races across the two year span. The two championships really kickstarted a career that would result in him becoming the only person in history to win the Australian Drivers Championship, Australian Sports Car Championship and Australian Touring Car Championship. Bathurst victories with Dick Johnson Bowe joined forces with Dick Johnson to take victory on the mountain on two occasions. First in 1989 behind the wheel of the light switch powered Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth, and the second occasion in 1994 in the Ford EB Falcon. The Sierra was so hit and miss that the DJR cars were almost guaranteed of victory provided they made it to the finish line. The duo qualified on pole and led almost every single lap around the mountain to earn Bowe’s first Bathurst victory. In 1994 the team came from 10th on the grid to victory after Johnson had a mishap during Saturday’s Top Ten Shootout – a very impressive performance! 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship The 1995 ATCC driver lineup reads as a ‘who’s who’ of Australia’s most talented racing drivers with names such as Brock, Seton, Perkins, Johnson, Skaife, Crompton and Richards gracing the starter’s flag each weekend. None were a match for Bowe and his Shell Racing DJR EF Falcon, who went on to win four events to win the title by an impressive 27 points over Glenn Seton at years end. 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour Victory In 2014 John Bowe joined forces with Craig Lowndes, Mika Salo and Peter Edwards to win what as at the time the fastest Bathurst 12 Hour yet. Behind the wheel of their Ferrari 458 GT3 the team completed 296 laps to beat out a number of highly touted local and international teams. The win came in Bowe’s 29th consecutive year racing at the famed circuit. What do you consider John Bowe’s greatest motorsport achievement? Head over to the Rare Spares Facebook page and let us know in the comments section below.