<< Prev Page 2 of 2 To power the BR01, there was a choice of engines including the BMW-based Judd V8 or the Nissan V8 that was prepared for racing by Zytek. While the chassis was designed to accommodate both, the SMP Racing team opted to run the Nissan V8, which the team was already familiar with. Mated to a Hewland-sourced six-speed sequential gearbox, the 'VK45DE' was mounted as a partly stressed member of the chassis.
The BR01 project had started early in January 2014 and the first example was shown at the official European Le Mans Series test in March of 2015. It was not quite ready to go due to delays down the supply chain. Sadly, the team also had to run their old Oreca 03s at the season opening Silverstone round. The cars were ready for the next round at Imola but struggled for reliability and pace. The one BR01 that finished was classified eighth after starting seventh on the grid. The two cars also competed at Le Mans where they placed 14th and 33rd.
Development continued through the summer and after a switch from Michelin to Dunlop rubber saw the two cars truly competitive at the 4 Heures du Castellet in September. Starting third and second, they finished third and fourth in the race. At the end of the year, one car was entered in the seasons finale of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Bahrain. In qualifying, it set the 16th fastest time and would go to finish 13th overall and fifth in class.
The Bahrain outing was a prelude to a more ambitious program in 2016, which saw the BR01s compete in the FIA WEC and ELMS. The season kicked off at Daytona where the single example entered qualified on pole for the 24 Hours. Sadly, the car hit trouble in the race and was classified 37th. At Le Mans one of the BR01s finished third in class, while the best overall result of the season was a second in the ELMS race at Paul Ricard.
From 2017, just four manufacturers, which did not include BR Engineering, were allowed to supply chassis for the LMP2 class. This rendered the BR01 obsolete after less than two full seasons of racing. BR Engineering and SMP Racing would eventually step up to the LMP1 class in 2018 with the confusingly named BR1. Despite the similar name, there was no relation between the two cars with the LMP1 car being designed and built for BR Engineering by Dallara.
A total of eight BR01s were built by BR Engineering of which four were never raced. While the car was believed to be available to customers, they were only raced in period by SMP Racing. At the start of 2020, British specialist BBM Sport acquired now fewer than five of the cars with an eye on fielding them in the Masters Endurance Racing Legends series. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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To power the BR01, there was a choice of engines including the BMW-based Judd V8 or the Nissan V8 that was prepared for racing by Zytek. While the chassis was designed to accommodate both, the SMP Racing team opted to run the Nissan V8, which the team was already familiar with. Mated to a Hewland-sourced six-speed sequential gearbox, the 'VK45DE' was mounted as a partly stressed member of the chassis.