Brabham announces Aussie Assault on GTE class at Le Mans 24h

By: Alex Affat, Unique Cars magazine

Date: 10.01.2019

The Australian-based marque aims to be on the grid for the 2021/2022 season

The storied Brabham brand has announced its return to international motor racing; at the grandest stage of all - the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Brabham has committed "a factory racing team and a multi-year motorsport programme with development work already under way" for their Le Mans campaign.

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The brand’s goal is to be on the starting grid for the Le Mans 24h, and to compete in the larger World Endurance Championship in the GTE Class for the 2021/2022 season.

Last year the reborn Adelaide-based brand launched the ground-breaking BT62. Despite recently announcing costly road-legal conversions for its debut hypercar, the brand’s sole focus is motorsport.

We hypothesised Brabham’s return to Le Mans when they displayed a car at least year’s race; with a curious and unique racing livery and Michelin slicks.

The marque’s entry will be run and funded in-house by Brabham Automotive, further bolstered by commercial partners and sponsors.

The motorsport programme is championed by Brabham Managing Director, lead test driver and 2009 Le Mans winner David Brabham, who said:

"Returning the Brabham name to Le Mans is something I have been working on for years... Brabham Automotive only launched its first car, the BT62, in May 2018 so we have a long road to travel to earn the right to return to compete at Le Mans"

"That work starts now with a long-term racing commitment. We look forward to developing the BT62 and future products while building a world-class competitive race team around the leading engineering and manufacturing talent we have in the business."

Brabham have also announced that their motorsport programme will be "directly linked" to the Brabham BT62 Driver Development programme, offering early owners of the track-focused hypercar to be a part of the test team for Le Mans – and eventually provide customer racing prospects in both lower level series and "top-level Pro-Am racing opportunities for owners".

Brabham Automotive’s Commercial Director Dan Marks added:

"Our plan to go on the Journey Back to Le Mans is a statement of intent that Brabham Automotive is back and here to stay. In the BT62, we have already built an outstanding, unrestricted track car now with a road legal option. We will develop this car to make its mark in motor racing, along with new vehicles. Today is great news for us and will help put the Australian car industry back on the world stage."

It seems that the Aussie Assault on Le Mans is back on again!

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