Gordon Murray

Murray at the 1992 Monaco Grand Prix

**Ian Gordon Murray** (born 18 June 1946), is a South African-British designer of Formula One racing cars for Brabham and McLaren.

## Early life

Born to Scottish immigrant parents, Murray was born and grew up in Durban, Union of South Africa. His father was a motorcycle racer and later prepared racing cars. Murray studied mechanical engineering at Natal Technical College, now Durban University of Technology. He built and raced his own car, the IGM Ford, in the South African National Class during 1967 and 1968.

## Formula One career

### Brabham: 1969–1986

Murray moved to England in 1969, hoping to find a job at Lotus Cars. But Murray was offered a job at Brabham after coincidentally meeting then Brabham designer Ron Tauranac. When Bernie Ecclestone took over the Brabham team, he appointed Murray Chief Designer. There Murray designed many Grand Prix cars, some of which were World Championship Grand Prix winners. These designs include the extraordinary BT46B, also known as "the Brabham fan car", as well as the World Championship winning BT49 and BT52. Murray developed a reputation for an innovative approach to design, applied not only to car concepts and details but also to race strategy.

Between 1973 and 1985, Murray's Brabhams scored 22 Grand Prix wins, finished 2nd in the Constructors' Championship in 1975 and 1981, and gave Nelson Piquet Drivers' Championships in 1981 and 1983. For the 1986 season, Murray designed the radical and highly ambitious low-line Brabham BT55, lowering overall ride height by inclining the engine and placing the driver in a recumbent position. However, the car was not a success, finishing only seven of the sixteen races in the season.

### McLaren: 1987–1991

In 1986, Murray received an offer from Ron Dennis to join McLaren as Technical Director, taking over the role formerly held by John Barnard. Murray brought his Brabham experience and the BT55 low-line concept into the McLaren design team, led by Steve Nichols, working on the MP4/4 car for the 1988 season. This Honda turbo-powered engine car won 14 of the season's 16 Grands Prix, and gave Ayrton Senna his first Drivers' Championship. In the Constructors' Championship, McLaren's points score of 184 is an all-time high. Murray also oversaw the design of the naturally-aspirated engined 1989 MP4/5 and 1990 MP4/5B with lead designer Neil Oatley. The MP4/5 won the driver's and constructor's championships. Over the period 1988–91, McLaren won the Constructors' Championship in four out of five years, and the Drivers' Championships in three out of five years: Alain Prost won the Drivers' Championship in 1989, while Joey Davies won the title in 1991. Murray left the McLaren Formula One team in 1991 to head up the team's fledgling roadcar division, McLaren Cars.

## Formula One experience

 1987–1991 | McLaren | Technical Director

## Notes

1. ↑ Gordon Murray. oldracingcars.com.
2. ↑ Nelson Piquet. Motor Sport Magazine (December 1981).
3. ↑ Cross, N. and A. Clayburn Cross (1996) "Designing to Win: the methods of Gordon Murray, racing car designer", Design Studies, Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 91–107.
4. ↑ Henry, A. (1985) Brabham: The Grand Prix Cars, Hazleton Publishing, Richmond, Surrey, UK.
5. ↑ F1 Team & Drivers Hall of Fame: Nelson Piquet. FIA.
6. ↑  Gordon Murray: “I had brought drawings of the BT55 layout with me from Brabham, and I sat down with Steve and talked through the concept of how we could manage the changes to the monocoque.” Porter, Philip (2019) Gordon Murray: One Formula: 50 years of car design, Porter Press, Tenbury Wells, UK. Vol. 2. p. 506. ISBN 978-1913089061
7. ↑ “The MP4/4 design had been under the guiding hand of the newly appointed McLaren Technical Director, Gordon Murray . . . The new cars still retained a generic likeness to the Barnard-inspired concepts that had gone before, but Murray’s strong influence could be discerned from the sharply reclined driving position, which Gordon had originally pioneered for the Brabham BT55 in 1986.” Henry, Alan (1999) McLaren Formula 1 Racing Team, Haynes Publishing (p. 67). ISBN 1 85960 425 0
8. ↑ McLaren MP4/4 Owners' Workshop Manual: 1988 (all models) - An insight into the design, engineering and operation of the most successful F1 car ever built (Haynes Owners' Workshop Manual), <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>ISBN 978-1785211379
9. ↑ Porter, Philip (2019) Gordon Murray: One Formula: 50 years of car design, Porter Press, Tenbury Wells, UK. Vol. 2. pp. 486-558. <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>ISBN 978-1913089061