BRM kept New Zealand's Howden Ganley and Englishman Peter Gethin who were joined by Spaniard Alex Soler-Roig, using the P160B specification version for 1972 before it was replaced by the P160C version mid-season. The 1972 Argentine Grand Prix saw Soler-Roig retire with an accident. Gethin also retired with an oil leak and Ganley finished ninth. Jean-Pierre Beltoise missed Argentina because of legal problems following an accident at the track that claimed the life of Ignazio Giunti in a sportscar race in January 1971. At the South African Grand Prix, the Frenchman's engine failed, the Englishman and the New Zealander were nine and fourteen laps down respectively and were not classified. The Spanish Grand Prix was a bad race for BRM with all of their drivers retired; Soler-Roig and Sweden's Reine Wisell with accidents, Beltoise with a broken gearbox and Ganley's engine failed. At Monaco, the Frenchman took victory, the Englishman retired when he crashed and the Swede also retired when his engine failed. The Belgian Grand Prix saw Ganley eighth, Beltoise retire with overheating and Gethin also retire with a fuel pump failure. At France, the Frenchman finished 15th, the Swede retired with a broken gearbox and the Austrian also retired with an eye injury after a stone thrown up by Emerson Fittipaldi's Lotus pierced his helmet visor, permanently blinding him in his left eye and ending his driving career. At the British Grand Prix Beltoise finished 11th, Gethin's engine failed and Jackie Oliver's suspension failed. At Germany, the New Zealander finished fourth, the Frenchman ninth and the Swede retired when his engine failed. The Austrian Grand Prix saw Ganley sixth, Beltoise eighth and Gethin 13th. In Italy the Englishman finished sixth, Ganley 11th, and the Swede 12th. The Canadian Grand Prix saw Ganley 10th and Gethin retire with suspension failure. Engine failure caused both to retire in the United States.