Brabham BT45

The Brabham-Alfa Romeo BT45 of Rolf Stommelen at the 1976 German GP

Technology

The car was the first Brabham to use Alfa Romeo type 115-12 flat 12-cylinder engine with 500 hp and 340 Nm of torque. It was equipped with a Hewland six-speed transmission. It used the front air intakes of the previous Brabham, but by regulation no longer has the air-brooms behind the cockpit and has side panels with larger air intakes to feed the engine and more radiant surfaces. The frame was an aluminum monocoque, while the braking system was constituted by ventilated disc brakes produced by Girling. The front suspension consisted of double wishbones with pull-rods, coil springs and stabilizer bars, while the rear used coil springs and stabilizer bars. For the 1978 season, pending the development of BT46, a C version of the BT45 was created. This model was equipped with a revised radiator.

Races

The BT45 had its first start at the 1976 Brazilian Grand Prix in the hands of Carlos Pace and Carlos Reutemann. They suffered reliability problems, especially the engine. During the first season, the best results were three fourth places.

1977 was better: Pace finished second in the first race and led for thirteen laps in South Africa with the BT45B, unluckily he died a few days later in a plane crash. His teammate, John Watson, drove to the pole at the Monaco Grand Prix but was passed on the first lap by Jody Scheckter's Wolf, after that he spent more than half of the race in second position, before retiring with gearbox problems. He then took second place in France, and Stuck gained two podiums, in Germany and Austria. Its results allowed the German to finish 11th overall in the Championship.

The BT45C competed in two Grands Prix in 1978, before the arrival of the BT46. With this latest release, Niki Lauda achieved two podiums. Jackie Stewart tested an early BT45C (chassis number 8) in 1978 and returned an overall favourable impression of the car as well as the team, with the smooth, torquey Alfa Romeo flat-twelve and the Brabham gearbox coming in for particular praise. The chassis was not yet fully sorted and Stewart disliked the cable-operated clutch; but the Brabham was still the fastest car he ran in a series of tests at Paul Ricard.^[2]

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position, results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Chassis	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Points	WCC
1976	Martini Racing	Alfa Romeo F12	BT45	G		BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USE	JPN		9	9th
					Carlos Pace	10	Ret	9	6	Ret	9	8	4	8	4	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	Ret
					Carlos Reutemann	12	Ret	Ret	4	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret
					Rolf Stommelen										6			Ret
					Larry Perkins														17	Ret	Ret
1977	Martini Racing	Alfa Romeo F12	BT45B	G		ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USE	CAN	JPN	27	5th
					John Watson	Ret	Ret	6	DSQ	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	2	Ret	Ret	8	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	Ret
					Carlos Pace	2	Ret	13
					Hans-Joachim Stuck				Ret	6	Ret	6	10	Ret	5	3	3	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	7
					Giorgio Francia														DNQ
1978	Parmalat Racing Team	Alfa Romeo F12	BT45C	G		ARG	BRA	RSA	USW	MON	BEL	ESP	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	USE	CAN		53¹	3rd¹
					Niki Lauda	2	3
					John Watson	Ret	8

^1 This total includes points scored using the Brabham BT46.

References

↑ "Brabham BT45 Alfa Romeo". ultimatecarpage.com. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
↑ Stewart, Jackie (August 1978). "Track Test no 4: The Brabham BT45C". CAR (South Africa). Vol. 22 no. 7. Ramsay, Son & Parker (Pty) ltd. p. 35.

Motor Racing Developments

Founders: Jack Brabham; Ron Tauranac

Personnel: Bernie Ecclestone; Gordon Murray; Herbie Blash; Charlie Whiting

World Champions: Jack Brabham; Denny Hulme; Nelson Piquet

Other drivers: See category

Drivers' titles: 1966; 1967; 1981; 1983

Constructors' titles: 1966; 1967

Cars:

Formula One BT3 BT7 BT11 BT19 BT20 BT22 BT24 BT26 BT33 BT34 BT37 BT39 BT42 BT44/B BT45 BT46/B/C BT48 BT49/C/D BT50 BT51 BT52 BT53 BT54 BT55 BT56 BT58 BT59/Y BT60Y/B Indianapolis 500/USAC BT12 BT25 BT32 Formula Two BT10 BT16 BT18 BT23 BT23C BT30 BT36 BT38 BT40 Formula Atlantic BT23F/G BT29 BT35A/B BT38B BT40 Formula Three BT9 BT15 BT16A BT18A BT21 BT21B BT21X BT28 BT35C BT38C BT41 Formula Junior BT1 BT2 BT6 Other single seaters BT4 BT7A BT11A BT14 BT18B BT21A BT21C BT22 BT23A BT23B BT23D BT23E BT30X BT31 BT35X BT36X BT43 Sportscars BT5 BT8A BT17

Cars that competed in the 1976 Formula One season

Cars that competed in the 1977 Formula One season

Apollon Fly Brabham BT45/BT45B Boro 001 BRM P201B BRM P207 Ensign N177 Ferrari 312T2 Fittipaldi FD04 Fittipaldi F5 Hesketh 308E Kojima KE009 LEC CRP1 Ligier JS7 Lotus 78 March 761/761B March 771 McGuire BM1 McLaren M23 McLaren M26 Penske PC4 Renault RS01 Shadow DN5B Shadow DN8 Surtees TS19 Tyrrell 007 Tyrrell P34 Wolf WR1-3

Cars that competed in the 1978 Formula One season

Lotus 78 Lotus 79 Brabham BT45C Brabham BT46/B/C Ferrari 312T2/312T3 Tyrrell 008 Wolf WR1-4 Wolf WR5-6 Ligier JS7 Ligier JS7/9 Ligier JS9 Fittipaldi F5A McLaren M23 McLaren M26 Williams FW06 Arrows FA1 Arrows A1 Shadow DN8 Shadow DN9 Renault RS01 Surtees TS19 Surtees TS20 Ensign N175 Ensign N177 Martini MK23 Hesketh 308E ATS HS1 ATS D1 Theodore TR1 Merzario A1

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