The BMW 269, also known as the BMW F269, is an

open-wheel An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

Formula 2 Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name return ...

race car. It was designed, developed and built by Lola Cars for BMW to participate in the

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

and 1970 Formula 2 European Championships, as well as the 1969 Formula One World Championship, where it competed in the

1969 German Grand Prix The 1969 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 3 August 1969. It was race 7 of 11 in both the 1969 World Championship of Drivers and the 1969 International Cup for Formula One Manufacturers. Twelve Formula Two ...

Description

The need for BMW to develop an additional single-seater to confirm the growth period in Formula 2, prompted the Bavarian house to build, always supported by Lola, an evolution of the already used Lola T102. The car was therefore designed in 1969 by Len Terry, the single-seaters were partially built by Lola and assembled by BMW itself to be then used mainly in Formula 2 competitions. The engine was a

BMW M12 The BMW M12/13 turbo was a 1499.8 cc 4-cylinder turbocharged Formula One engine, based on the standard BMW M10 engine introduced in 1961, powered the F1 cars of Brabham, Arrows and Benetton. Nelson Piquet won the FIA Formula One Drivers' ...

from 4-cylinder in-line with an output of approx delivered @ 10,700 rpm.

Racing history

The BMW 269 made its first appearance in Formula 2 during the 1969 Madrid Grand Prix, where, however, due to technical problems, it was not used by

Hubert Hahne Hubert Hahne (28 March 1935 – 24 April 2019) was a racing driver from Germany. He was the older brother of Armin Hahne, as well as the uncle of Jörg van Ommen. Career He participated in five Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, two of ...

who had to start with the reserve T102. In Austria at Tulln, Hahne himself finished seventh, sanctioning the best result of the season for the single-seater in Formula 2. With the possibility of being able to field even lower category cars in the home Grand Prix of the Nürburgring, the car was also used in Formula 1 and BMW lined up three cars with Hubert Hahne,

Gerhard Mitter Gerhard Karl Mitter (30 August 1935 – 1 August 1969) was a German Formula One and sportscar driver. Early life and career Mitter was born in Schönlinde (Krásná Lípa) in Czechoslovakia, but his family was expelled from there, to Leonberg ...

and

Dieter Quester Dieter Quester (born 30 May 1939 in Vienna) is an active touring car racing driver from Austria. Dieter has participated in 53 24-Hour Races. He competed in a single Formula One race in which he finished ninth. Starting with motorboats in the 1950 ...

. During Friday's free practice at the German Grand Prix, Mitter went off the track and crashed into the barriers, and was killed instantly. The accident forced the Bavarian team to withdraw from the race. After this brief interlude in the top motorsport championship, the 269 driven by Hahne,

Jo Siffert Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver. Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing ...

and Quester continued the Formula 2 season with 4 retirements, without being able to score any points. The beginning of 1970 saw the car conquer the first points finishes, with Hahne who, after failing to qualify at Thruxton, finished fourth overall at Hockenheim, and with Questerwho after retiring in Germany, where he had also set the fastest lap, finished fifth in Barcelona. The car's first victory came with Hahne on 14 June at Hockenheim, in the untitled race of the Rhine Cup. The rest of the season, however, was anonymous for the car that with a series of withdrawals due to accidents and mechanical problems will no longer be able to score useful results for the team which will see, more and more frequently, prefer to field the definitive evolution of the single-seater, the BMW 270, which will make BMW gain affirmed competitiveness with the first, then with the retirement of the house become the last, successes in Formula 2.

References

{{F1 cars 1969 Lola Formula One cars Formula Two cars BMW racing cars BMW in Formula One