Page 1 of 1 During the 1980s, the Swiss Brun Motorsport team was one of the most successful privateer Group C teams. Using the 956 and 962C, Brun even won the 1986 Team Championship of the World Sports Car Championship. As the 962C aged, Brun reworked the design, building new cars around aluminium honeycomb and carbon-fibre monocoque chassis. By 1991, regulation changes had all but rendered the venerable 962C obsolete and with no successor expected, Walter Brun set about creating a brand-new car from scratch.
Having dabbled in Formula 1 during the late 1980s, the Swiss team was certainly up to the task. Even more so because the second generation Group C rule set was based on the same engine regulations. Building a car was one thing but Brun did have to use an external supplier for the engine. Porsche had a suitable 3.5-litre V12 but focused all attention on their Formula 1 program. Instead, Brun set his sights on the all-new Austrian-built Neotech V12 that would also be used for Brun's Grand Prix cars.
The Brun design team was run by Steve Ridgers, John Iley and Hayden Burvill. They created a full carbon-fibre monocoque designed around the V12 dimensions. The front suspension was mounted in-board and actuated by push-rods. At the rear, the springs and dampers were placed vertically right next to the wheels to allow for a clean flow through the ground-effect tunnels. Like the XJR-14, the new Brun C91 featured a double decker rear wing. The lower element served as an extension of the ground-effect tunnels.
Unfortunately, the bespoke 70-degree V12 engine never materialised. With the car itself already at an advanced state, Walter Brun had to look elsewhere for an alternative. The only customer engine readily available was the Judd EV V8. Also used by the Leyton-House Grand Prix team, this was rated at 640 bhp at 11,700 rpm. To fill the space reserved for the additional four cylinders, a sizeable bell-housing was fitted between the engine and the six-speed gearbox. This combined a bespoke Brun casing with Hewland internals.
Brun Motorsport started the season with the tried-and-trusted 962Cs and did not debut the C91 until the Nürburgring round of the World Championship. Liveried in Repsol colours, it was fielded for Oscar Larrauri, who had also raced for Brun in Formula 1. It ran in practice but technical issues prevented it from taking the start. The C91 also competed in the Magny-Cours, Mexico and Autopolis rounds but due to a variety of engine and gearbox related issues, it did not reach the finish once.
While the performance had gradually improved during the four outings in 1991, Walter Brun reached the conclusion that it would be impossible to compete with the much better funded factory Toyota, Jaguar, Peugeot and Mercedes-Benz teams. Of the independently developed second generation Group C cars, the Brun C91 did show the most potential. Just one car was built, which has survived and is in full running order today. Page 1 of 1
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During the 1980s, the Swiss Brun Motorsport team was one of the most successful privateer Group C teams. Using the 956 and 962C, Brun even won the 1986 Team Championship of the World Sports Car Championship. As the 962C aged, Brun reworked the design, building new cars around aluminium honeycomb and carbon-fibre monocoque chassis. By 1991, regulation changes had all but rendered the venerable 962C obsolete and with no successor expected, Walter Brun set about creating a brand-new car from scratch.