Formula 1’s Unsung Pioneers

The story of the British Racing Partnership and how it launched motorsport into the modern era

Ian Wagstaff

Foreword by Bernie Ecclestone

This is the previously untold story of a very special British racing team. The British Racing Partnership (BRP), which operated from 1958 to 1964, is best known for its association with Stirling Moss, who was driving a BRP-entered car at Goodwood on that fateful day in 1962 when a serious crash ended his career. Less familiarly, BRP became the first fully sponsored team in Formula 1, partnering with Yeoman Credit, a go-ahead finance house, in an initiative that led to a transformation of the sport. This book tells the entire history of BRP in unprecedented detail, thanks to the author’s prodigious research and numerous interviews over the years with many leading participants, including Moss himself, team boss Ken Gregory, top driver Tony Brooks, chief mechanic Tony Robinson and many others. Lavishly produced and illustrated with more than 300 period photographs, this book will be treasured by all motorsport enthusiasts.

• Formation of the team in 1958 by Stirling Moss’s father, Alfred, and his manager, Ken Gregory, running rear-engined Coopers in F1 and F2.

• Arrival of sponsorship by Yeoman Credit in the autumn of 1959, a year that saw Stirling Moss finish second in the team’s BRM at the British Grand Prix.

• The tragic 1960 season brought the deaths of three BRP drivers — Harry Schell, Chris Bristow and Ivor Bueb — in the space of three months, but racing activities widened to include Lotus sports cars.

• A different finance house, United Dominions Trust, became the sponsor for 1961, when Moss won many non-championship Formula 1 and sports car races for the newly named UDT-Laystall team.

• The 1962 season began badly with Moss’s Goodwood crash but peaked at that same circuit with Innes Ireland’s Tourist Trophy victory driving a BRP-run Ferrari 250 GTO.

• In response to the ground-breaking Lotus 25 with its monocoque chassis, BRP in 1963 built its own car for the first time, a BRM-powered F1 design also with a monocoque.

• The last F1 season, 1964, brought one final non-championship F1 victory for the team, achieved by Innes Ireland at Snetterton.

• BRP cars at Indy: an epilogue to the team’s story saw two cars built for the 1965 Indianapolis 500.

• Publication date: 17 March 2022

• ISBN: 978-1-910505-72-4

• Format: 280x290mm hardback (landscape)

• Page extent: 304

• Illustration: 325 photos

“Ian Wagstaff has managed to conjure up the excitement and camaraderie of a racing team in that frightening but exhilarating world… The wealth of period photographs comprehensively illustrates the team’s career. All are of excellent quality, and the best are among the finest we’ve seen in recent motor sport books.”
The Automobile

“This book is most recommended… it is filled with stories that paint a broader picture beyond racing.”
Magneto

“This is another unmissable publication from Evro… beautifully illustrated throughout.”
racefans.net

“A very worthwhile account of the successes and failures of one of the most important independent Formula 1 teams of 60 years ago.”
Autosport

“Lavishly illustrated, this book is a must for every enthusiast’s bookshelf.”
Racing Spirit

“While many automotive books travel a well-trodden path of drivers and marques, this well-researched work by Ian Wagstaff covers a little-known tale of F1’s first fully sponsored team.”
Auto Express

“Wagstaff has a near forensic understanding of the subject… wonderful images… attractively designed… highly recommended.”
Absolute Lotus

“Wagstaff’s level of research is astonishing, and the results are so pleasingly presented that this is one of those titles that I shall be returning to repeatedly… Already a front runner for ‘Book of the Year’.”
The Society of Automotive Historians in Britain