Ronald Sidney Tauranac (13 January 1925 – 17 July 2020) was a British-Australian engineer and racing car designer, who with

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

driver

Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Brabham was a R ...

founded the

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 fo ...

constructor and racing team in 1962. Following Brabham's retirement as a driver at the end of the 1970 season, Tauranac owned and managed the Brabham team until 1972, when he sold it to

Bernie Ecclestone Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is an English business magnate. He is the former chief executive of the Formula One Group, which manages Formula One motor racing and controls the commercial rights to the sport, and part-owns D ...

. He remained in England to assist with a redesign of a Politoys Formula One chassis for Frank Williams in 1973 and helped

Trojan Trojan or Trojans may refer to: * Of or from the ancient city of Troy * Trojan language, the language of the historical Trojans Arts and entertainment Music * ''Les Troyens'' ('The Trojans'), an opera by Berlioz, premiered part 1863, part 189 ...

develop a Formula One version of their

Formula 5000 Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel racing cars tha ...

car. After a brief retirement in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, Tauranac returned to England to establish the

Ralt Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex- Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s unde ...

marque (a name he and his brother Austin had used for some 'specials' in Australia in the 1950s, winning the NSW Hillclimb Championship in 1954 with the Ralt 500). The first "modern" Ralt was the Ralt RT1 chassis, to be raced in

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

Formula Two 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 ...

and

Formula Atlantic Formula Atlantic is a specification of open-wheel racing car developed in the 1970s. It was used in professional racing through the IMSA Atlantic Championship until 2009 and is currently primarily used in amateur racing through Sports Car Club o ...

. The chassis proved successful, winning the European Formula Three championship in 1975 in the hands of Australian driver Larry Perkins. The 1978 season also proved successful for the RT1 chassis, winning the European F3 championship for

Jan Lammers Jan Lammers (Johannes Antonius Lammers, Zandvoort, 2 June 1956) is a racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing h ...

. Tauranac designed the

Theodore Racing Theodore Racing ( zh, t=徳利賽車隊香港) was a Formula One constructor from Hong Kong founded by real estate magnate and millionaire Teddy Yip. They participated in 51 grands prix, entering a total of 64 cars. In the present day Theodo ...

F1 car for the 1978 season. Two new designs were created for the 1979 season: the RT2 for Formula Two and the RT3 for Formula Three. The RT3 chassis won the 1983 European F3 championship for

Pierluigi Martini Pierluigi Martini (born 23 April 1961) is an Italian former racing driver. He won the 1999 24 hours of Le Mans and participated in 124 Formula One Grands Prix (with 119 starts) between 1984 and 1995. Early life Martini's uncle, Giancarlo Martin ...

and five consecutive British F3 titles. A joint venture with

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a producti ...

resulted in the RH6 chassis, which won the 1981, 1984 and 1985 titles. In October 1988, Tauranac sold the Ralt business to

March Engineering March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better success in other categories ...

for £1.25 million. Tauranac remained involved with various aspects of the sport since departing from Ralt, including racing-school cars for Honda, a Formula Renault car, consulting work for the Arrows Formula One team, and continued relationships with Honda. Tauranac was the design judge at the

Formula SAE Australasia Formula SAE Australasia (FSAE-A) is the Australian event of the US-based Formula SAE and has been running since 2000 by SAE Australasia. Since 2018 the competition has been held at Winton Motor Raceway, Winton, Benalla, Victoria. Due to COVID-19, ...

competition in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metr ...

. In the

2002 Australia Day Honours The 2002 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2002 by the Governor General of Australia, Peter Hollingworth. The Austr ...

, Tauranac was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia for "service to motor racing, particularly through the engineering design, construction and production of Formula 1 racing cars, providing young drivers with opportunities to compete at top levels, and sharing knowledge with others for the advancement of the sport". Tauranac died on 17 July 2020, aged 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tauranac, Ron 1925 births 2020 deaths British emigrants to Australia Formula One designers Formula One team owners Naturalised citizens of Australia Officers of the Order of Australia Australian motorsport people People from Gillingham, Kent