Tony Rudd - Successes at BRM

Successes At BRM

Rudd put in place proper engineering procedures within the team and his spaceframe and monocoque V8-engined designs took BRM to constructors' and drivers' World Championships, but his H-16 engine for the new three litre formula (based on two of the successful V8s on top of each other) proved to be heavy and overcomplicated and the team struggled to regain momentum in the late Sixties. Rudd claims that the H-16 would have been successful had the drawings been followed accurately - as it was the engine had heavier castings than planned and its power-to-weight ratio was unfavourable; it also had breathing difficulties and only started to improve when it fired as a sixteen cylinder engine rather than two eights. As a sideline to BRM's main development, Rudd and Peter Wright also involved with the design of a ground effect car that never raced; driver John Surtees was adamant that it could not be made raceworthy. Rudd and Wright were later to be reunited at Lotus on work that did lead to successful ground-effect racing cars.