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John Mahoney3 May 2018
NEWS

Brabham confirms road-going Aussie hypercar

BT62 to birth both Le Mans endurance racer and road-legal hypercar that will be sold in Australia

Brabham Automotive has confirmed it has already begun work on two further cars that will follow the BT62 racer into production shortly after Australia's first-ever track-focused hypercar goes on sale later this year.

When asked if the next car in the Anglo-Australian car-maker's line-up would be a Le Mans 24 Hour challenger followed by a road-going hypercar based on the BT62, Brabham Automotive founder and managing director David Brabham told motoring.com.au:

"Yeah, that might be a good assumption."

Speaking at the global launch of the Brabham BT62 in London overnight, Brabham went on to explain the huge benefits of becoming Australia's "only automotive company".

brabham bt62 006

"A car like this demonstrates what can be built today in Australia. Instead of just talking about it, we preferred to show people what we do and what can be done."

Brabham, son of Sir Jack and a multiple Le Mans winner, said the wealth of experience in Australia and its highly skilled workforce was crucial to being able to develop the BT62 from pipedream to reality in just two years.

Instead of developing a road car and then re-engineering it to be a racer, Brabham said his approach was to start with a race car.

Brabham BT62 Driver View

"The car is essentially a race car. It's been a battle between function and form and the function is for the track and the form is for the road car aesthetics. It's been a balance of the two," he said.

Plans to race at Le Mans were in place from day one, confirmed the ex-racer, who added that that recent proposed rule changes play in favour of the endurance racer based on the BT62.

Brabham also says a number of Australian customers had already placed orders, with another source claiming at least five of the limited 70-car production run would remain Down Under.

Brabham BT62 rear quarter view lights on

"For sure, you'll see a number of customers who will put it in their museum and we'll never see it again – and that's fair enough, but we'll also have a mix of people who will take it out on the track," he said.

Brabham confirmed that both race and road versions of the BT62, which was designed and engineered with Australian buyers in mind, will be available in right-hand drive.

Brabham's engineering boss Paul Birch, who previously worked for British car-maker Lotus, said that the construction of the BT62 employed a metallic structure instead of the typical carbon-fibre monocoque because it was designed to meet current endurance racing regulations.

Combining carbon-fibre floor panels, a tubular rollcage and a spaceframe chassis, engineers still managed to ensure the BT62 weighs in at a featherweight 972kg.

Brabham BT62 Front View

"Because of Brabham's heritage in motorsport we wanted a pure GT racer without restrictions. There is a lot of engineering in there that will lead us to do a road car," claims Birch.

Birch said the BT62 will offer the "experience of a GT Le Mans racer, without the restrictions of any regulations" and that it light weight and towering power-to-weight ratio will translate into "massive" performance.

Following numerous track sessions at Australian circuits like Philip Island to test handling set-up and durability, Birch says the BT62 is nearing completion.

According to the Brabham technical chief the BT62’s 522kW 5.4-litre V8 began life as an undisclosed engine sourced from a supplier, but now has so many unique components it is considered a Brabham engine in its own right.

Bold LED lights, even bolder rear wing!

In case you're wondering why the V8 doesn't feature turbos for even higher power and torque figure, Birch explains: "Response and feel is what mattered, while delivering the longevity with performance.

"We wanted power-to-weight, we wanted to make it dynamic. The downforce was important. The way the car performed over a lap was the target, not headline power outputs -- no top-trumps numbers. It's where David's [Brabham] experience pays off. He knows how to build an endurance racer."

The transmission, meanwhile, is sourced from Victoria-based Hollinger Engineering – a partnership that can trace its roots back to Sir Jack's own race cars from the 1960s.

Claimed, again, to be a unique transmission specially created for Brabham, Birch says it's another example of the advantage of Brabham benefitting from being based Down Under.

Finally, the brakes are primed to raise the bar even for track-based hypercars.

Combining F1-style carbon pads and rotors with motorsport-derived ABS, Birch claims in most cases the BT62 will provide better performance than most race cars.

After confirming a new technical partnership with Microsoft, David Brabham ended the press conference by saying he hoped he was building the cars that his late father would have built.

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