The Brabham BT23 was a formula racing car built by

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won four ...

in 1967.

Development

The BT23 was designed as a Formula 2 racing car and most of the vehicles of this type were also used in this racing series. There was also a Tasman version and some BT23s were converted for Formula One by private drivers.

Design

The car was equipped with a tubular chassis in space-frame configuration, while the engine that equipped it was a Ford- Cosworth FVA, a 4-cylinder in-line of 1 600 cm³ capable of delivering a maximum power of , which droves the rear wheels through a F.T.200 Hewland five-speed manual gearbox. The suspension consisted of double wishbones, coaxial coil springs, and a stabilizer bar in the front section and inverted lower wishbones, trailing arms, coil springs, and stabilizer bars in the rear section. The braking system consisted of four disc brakes. The car had a space frame, which was reinforced by load-bearing plates in the Tasman version. Jochen Rindt dominated the 1967 and 1968 Formula 2 seasons with the BT23 at will. He won nine laps out of 15, but failed to score points for the European Drivers' Championship as an A driver.

Racing history

Top drivers including Derek Bell, Kurt Ahrens, Piers Courage, Peter Gethin, and

Robin Widdows Robin Michael Widdows (born 27 May 1942 in Cowley, Middlesex) is a British former racing driver from England. He participated in Formula One, Formula Two, Formula Three and sportscars including Le Mans. Widdows began his career with an MG Mi ...

piloted the BT23. In 1969, motorcycle racer Bill Ivy started his Formula 2 career in a BT23. Jochen Rindt found considerable success in it, winning 9 out of the 15 races in 1967.

Formula One World Championship results

* The entries in the 1967 and 1969 German Grands Prix were in the Formula 2 class and were therefore ineligible for World Championship points or classification.

Formula One Non-Championship results

References

{{F1 cars 1969 Open wheel racing cars Brabham racing cars Formula Two cars