Motor Racing Developments Ltd., commonly known asBrabham (English pronunciation: /ˈbræbəm/), was aBritish company that built racing cars. It also ran a racing team inFormula One. It was founded in 1960 by two Australians, driverJack Brabham and designerRon Tauranac. The team won fourdrivers' and twoconstructors' world championships in its 30-yearFormula One history. As of 2008, Jack Brabham's 1966 drivers' championship remains the only victory by a car bearing the driver's own name.
Brabham was the world's largest manufacturer of customeropen wheel racing cars in the 1960s, and had built more than 500 cars by 1970. During this period, teams using Brabham cars won championships inFormula Two andFormula Three and competed in theIndianapolis 500. In the 1970s and 1980s, Brabham introduced innovations such as the controversial but successful 'fan car', in-race refuelling, carbon brakes, andhydropneumatic suspension. The team won two more Formula One drivers' championships in the 1980s with BrazilianNelson Piquet, and became the first to win a drivers' championship with aturbocharged car.
British businessmanBernie Ecclestone owned Brabham during most of the 1970s and 1980s, and later become responsible for administering the commercial aspects of Formula One. Ecclestone sold the team in 1988. Its last owner was the Middlebridge Group, a Japanese engineering firm. Midway through the1992 season, the team collapsed financially as Middlebridge was unable to make repayments against loans provided by Landhurst Leasing. The case was investigated by the UKSerious Fraud Office.
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