Former team boss Ralph Broad dies
Legendary touring car team boss Ralph Broad has died at the age of 84
Broad established Broadspeed Engineering in 1962 and became a rival to the works Cooper squad with his Minis in the British Saloon Car Championship (later the BTCC).
Its successes attracted works support for an assault on the European Touring Car Championship in 1965 and class wins came at Monza, Spa and the Nurburgring in Minis driven by the likes of John Fitzpatrick, John Handley and Broad himself.
Following his split with the British Motor Corporation, he ran Fitzpatrick to the 1966 crown in a Ford Anglia and was a regular winner with Escorts and Capris well into the early 1970s.
A works contract with British Leyland brought about programmes with both Triumph and Jaguar - Andy Rouse winning the 1975 BTCC crown in a Dolomite Sprint.
"Without him I'd never have been a racing driver," Rouse told AUTOSPORT. "I learnt so much from him since joining Broadspeed as an apprentice in 1971. Without that, I'd probably never have formed by own engineering company.
"He was a sensational engineer and his cars always had good handling.
"He was never afraid to push the boundaries when it came to the rules, but I think people had a lot of respect for him for that."
Broadspeed's final programme was with the monstrous Jaguar XJ12Cs in Europe, beginning in 1976. But when British Leyland pulled its backing for the project two years later, Broad sold his stake in the company and moved to Portugal.
AUTOSPORT sends its condolences to his family.
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