The First Brabham BT62 Is Ready To Race!

Despite the on-going Covid-19 pandemic, Brabham Automotive has confirmed that the first of its 70 planned BT62 hypercars is now en-route to the British company’s first customer. Preparation is also on-going for the car’s first full motorsport season in this year’s Britcar Endurance Championship when the season gets back underway.

Like most carmakers, Brabham Automotive, which last week celebrated its second year in business, opted to postpone production of its limited edition BT62 on safety grounds in the wake of the global pandemic. However, with production now back underway, the revived brand, spearheaded by former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner and son of company forefather Jack, David Brabham, is continuing preparation for the company’s first full motorsport season with the BT62. Britcar 2020 is step one of the company’s goal to compete in the 2021/2022 World Endurance Championship before returning the ‘Brabham’ name to Le Mans.

The delivered model – the ‘Competition spec’ – is the third iteration of the track-focused BT62 and will sit alongside the already established ‘Ultimate Track Car’ and ‘Road Compliant Conversion’ on the brand’s roster. Essentially a pared back version of the Track car, the Competition is said to be lighter than its already welter-weight 972kg Track sister, featuring a significantly less aggressive aerodynamic package and no passenger seat, though the latter can be re-installed as an optional extra. Brabham has yet to confirm the exact weight of the Competition spec, though at £750,000 (around $917K), the entry level model will make less of a dent to the bank balance than the £1 million ($1.2m) Track model and £1.15m ($1.4m) Road counter-part.

The bare bones of the Competition spec also remain largely unchanged. All three are built atop the same lightweight chassis and are powered by a 5.4-litre V8 that produces a hefty 700bhp. That, plus 667Nm (492lb ft) of torque, are sent to the 18in rear wheels via a six-speed Holinger gearbox. All three are available in ‘Celebration’ or ‘Signature’ paint trim, and Competition customers have the option to upgrade down the line to either the Road or Track packages.

Ahead of this year’s Britcar season, the BT62 track model has already taken its fair share of scalps. Ahead of last year’s Bathurst 12 Hours, the BT62 set a new lap record at Mount Panorama, Luke Youlden’ 1m 58.69s clocking in six-tenths faster than Christopher Mies’ 1m 59.291s in an Audi R8 LMS Ultra. Namesake David Brabham and teammate Will Powell also took victory on the car’s competitive debut last November at Brand’s Hatch.

*Images courtesy of Brabham Automotive