The return to Formula 1 of the English Motor Racing Developments team, which brings the Brabham single-seaters to the track, which took place in 1989 after a year of absence from the world championship, is all in all satisfactory with the BT58 capable of also obtaining a podium and respectable results.. At the end of the season the English team passes under the full management of Middlebridge Group Limited, a Japanese engineering company owned by the billionaire Koji Nakauchi, after the arrest for tax fraud of Joachim Lüthi who in turn had bought it from the Swiss Walter Brun.
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| BRABHAM BT59, Stefano Modena, Hungaroring Hungarian GP |
The 1990 season for the English team, which has kept the Chessington establishments as operational base, begins with the 1989 BT58, again driven by Stefano Modena as the first guide but this time flanked by the Swiss Gregor Foitek. In the first race of the season, in the United States on the Phoenix street circuit, Modena gets fifth place after having obtained the tenth time on the grid, bringing a fair amount of optimism to the team which in the meantime is working on the construction of the new BT59.
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| BRABHAM BT58, Stefano Modena, Phoenix USA GP |
The new single-seater makes its debut on the return of the overseas trip, on the occasion of the San Marino Grand Prix, which takes place on the Imola circuit. On this occasion the second driver was also replaced, entrusting the second car to the Australian rookie David Brabham, the youngest son of Jack Brabham, founder of the team and the only driver in the history of Formula 1 capable, in 1966 at the wheel of the Brabham BT19 pushed by Repco 620 V8 engine, to win a world championship driving a car built by his team.
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| BRABHAM BT59, David Brabham, Hermanos Rodriguez Mexican GP |
The BT59 project is always by Sergio Rinland, assisted by Hans Fouche, who develops the previous car with slight updates, limited to the limited financial resources of the team. It differs from the BT58 for a lighter weight and a longer wheelbase, while on an aesthetic level the blue color becomes prevalent over white, exactly the opposite of the '89 season. The rear of the BT58 is kept completely unchanged, again with the Judd EV 3.5 V8 engine combined with the old 6-speed manual Brabham/Hewland gearbox, waiting for Rinland to create the new transverse gearbox that is installed on the BT59 from the French Grand Prix.
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| BRABHAM BT59, Stefano Modena, Suzuka Japanese GP |
The results of the new car are very poor with the disappointing David Brabham collecting only missed qualifications and retirements, while Modena obtains a seventh place as best result. The only 2 points collected this season by the Brabham team remain those obtained by Modena in the first race of the season, run with the old BT58, while the BT59 Judd does not score points. During the Japanese Grand Prix the new car for 1991 is already presented, none other than the same BT59 on which the new Yamaha OX99 V12 engine is installed and which is already being tested on the track by Martin Brundle.
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