Let’s start with Bernie Ecclestone, Brabham’s team boss. He gradually seemed losing interest in running the team. He had won the long and difficult war with the FIA and has the Formula 1 world in his power. He is 56 years old and the big money is on the horizon. His wife, a former Croatian photo model, gave him a daughter. But his daughter Deborah from his first marriageo did not had any contact more with him. And he lost his favourite driver, Nelson Piquet with whom he won two world championships. Bernie had made an expensive deal with Pirelli for the tyres, but they did not function properly. Nelson only won just one race. Just before that, Niki Lauda ended his career and got replaced by Keke Rosberg at McLaren. There was a seat available at Wiliams. Nelson could not refuse that one. Better car, better tyres and more money. Three million dollars. It all felt as a betrayal for Bernie. He was not in the mood anymore to have two functions: boss of his own team and looking after the F1 sporting business.
Bernie Ecclestone had good, not to be forgotten times in the F1. He always wants bigger and better. He had a sponsordeal with Tanzi, boss of Olivetti and there was Pirelli and the watertight contract with BMW. He remained a racer. And yes, his engineer Gordon Murray was designing a new car. No problem, it costed only 10 million dollars.
In 1983 Brabham managed to win the season thanks to the overall victory of its driver Nelson Piquet. However, that did not continue that in the following years, recording some results that were more than poor in relation to what was expected of a team equipped with an excellent team of professionals. The BMW engines kept breaking and in 1985 there were problems with not-adapted-to-power Pirelli tyres. Gordon Murray, who had an offer from Ford where he could earn more money, was persuaded under false promises by Ecclestone to stay. He got a year salary of 150.000 pounds, but realized he would be practically be the boss of a racing team with Ecclestone having his hands full with gaining the top of F1 managment. Murray realised the importance of creating an absolutely revolutionary race car that would be able to vindicate both the Brabham name and his own.
Murray therefore decided to take the aerodynamic approach of the BT52, BT53 and BT54 to its ultimate conclusion. To do so, and due to the recent banishment of the controversial ground effect following the latest regulations established by the FIA, he thought about how to enhance grip by increasing the aerodynamic load delivered by the rear wing. At this point, he began already in May-June 1985 to conceive the Brabham BT55 as a vehicle as flat and low as possible. All this with the aim of creating a flow of air as powerful as it was a clean flow towards the rear. Thus, both the protrusion of the engine and the height of the driver himself had to be severely limited. On top a large low positioned rear wing.
Reducing the height at which the driver's figure emerges in a single-seater is relatively simple. You just have to place the hard-working sportsman in a more reclined position. Just as, in fact, it is done today. However, in the mid-eighties this was not so pronounced, so when Gordon Murray provided a seat with a position as horizontal as that of the Brabham BT55, it was obviously surprising to see this novelty. The driver’s helmet would be some 15% lower than normal, his chin was tucked against his chest. And that had to be inside a unusual shallow cockpit. Behind the driver was the unique long, low fuel tank. The long side pods came up to the height of the cockpit. They ran towards the level of the rear suspension.
More complex was the engine, the BMW 1.5 litre four cylinder turbocharger. He designed the inclination up to 72 degrees, gaining a large aerodynamic load at the rear thanks to the impact of the rear wing on a single tier against the air flow.
But the inclination of an engine always affects the way it works. Think about the liquids, the action of the turbocharger and its difficult adjustments. Aware of this, BMW undertook to make a special version of its M12/13 block ready to be mounted in an inclined manner. However, this would prove not entirely perfect.
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But Ecclestone was very enthusiastic and Jackie Stewart said : “this new Brabham will win the championship”. The first problem was, the drivers. Bernie offered already mid 1985 a double salary ( 6 million) to Niki Lauda if he would stay another year. Aryton Senna did not want Elio de Angelis as team mate, so he was drafted in and Riccardo Patrese also signed. They both have won no more than two races and they thought that this could be their great chance.
The BT55 in a deep blue and white livery made his first public appearance at Jacarepagua during a tyre testing session. The first real problems appeared immediately: overheated engine, rear tyres that could not cope with the power and a failing special designed 7 speed gearbox. And…the cars were slow on the straight line !
In Brazil, the team opted to make holes in the sidepods. But So the main problems for the first races was redesigning some parts and the design of the side pods to arrange a better cooling. The cooling of the gearbox had to revised, but also the fuel system. These modifications destroyed the original weight distribution and aerodynamics. Murray kept changing up to the Mexico GP.
Anyway in Brazil, Patrese found the BT 55 hard to drive. The heads of the drivers stuck out above the cockpit with only a small protective rollbar behind their head. And Ricardo complained he did not get enough air driving in this position. In qualification there was a P10 for Patrese and a P14 for De Angelis. Elio started good, got up to P7. Both cars retired around lap 20.
Next race was in Jerez. After 9 laps, gearbox failure for Patrese, the same after 30 laps for De Angelis. For the Imola race, Patrese had great faith. And yes, in the race he got to fourth place with 2 laps to go in the race. Then he ran out of fuel. Elio in the other car had again an engine failure. He lost all faith. In Monaco he could barely got qualified. But when he retired with a loss of turbopressure, he had enough of it all.
But three days later, he was again behind the wheel in a private test at Paul Ricard. In his 17e lap, four laps after his last pitstop on the straight just before the Esses de la Verriere, the rear wing of the BT55 broke off at 290 km/h. The Brabham became undrivable weaving from left to right and then got air born. The car crashed down on his top behind the guard rails. Elio was stuck in the small cockpit and couldn’t get out. Fuels spilled on the hot turbo and the car caught flames. Alan Jones, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell stopped at the scene, but could not do anything. No fire marshals, no fire extinguishers. Murray and some mechanics came by car when they saw the flames. Nobody was able to turn the car because of the heat and the fire. The official marshals then arrive in T-shirts and shorts with mini fire extinguishers and much too late a fire truck came. It took 8 minutes to get Elio free; he was already in a coma. The next day he died of a massive heart attack in the hospital La Timone.
Everyone in the team was devastated. Patrese did his duty, finishing eight at Spa. In Montreal he got a new team mate, Derek Warwick. Enduring engine troubles did retire them both. In Detroit there was again a P6 for Patrese. No points, but a steady race at Paul Ricard and engine troubles for Patrese at Brands Hatch; P7 for Warwick. Same story at the Hockenheim Ring. Both cars were out in accident in Hungary and a total failure again in Austria and Italy and at Estoril. Even in Mexico with the altitude, no luck. The cars were fast on the straight, but were nowhere during the races. As usuall, there was one engine that blew up during a race.
BMW had already during the year secret talks with Benneton with the purpose of starting their own F1 team. But at the end of June, BMW management shut down all further F1 plans; only touring cars reamined on their agenda. They offered Ecclestone an extra year with BMW engines, but Gordon Murray had already decided no longer design a Brabham. The failure of the BT55, the death of Elio de Angelis at the wheel of the car he designed and his relationship with Bernie made him look for a job elsewhere. And yes, Bernie had lost his faith in Gordon.
For the 1987 season there were again two conventional Brabham cars. His contractual obligations to BMW and Pirelli were done. Gordon stayed in the F1 world and went to McLaren. There he would design the Mp4.4, the car that in 1988 won fifteen of the sixteen races. There was some resemblance to the BT 55. And in 1989 all turbo engines were not allowed to race anymore.
In total 8 chassis were constructed. After the first 3 races two had been written off following the Paul Ricard tragedy. Chassis 3 and 4 were in service until the autumn. Chassis 5 was used in Monaco, later destroyed in testing. Chassis 6 = Montreal and Monza to replace chassis 4. Chassis 8 was used instead of chassis 3.
