Why "whirlwind" Tauranac's legacy will stand the test of time
The passing of Ralt boss Ron Tauranac last week drew tributes from around the world, not least from the bosses of three prominent teams on whom the Australian designer made a lasting impression
The legacy of Ron Tauranac, the designer of world championship-winning Brabham Formula 1 cars and founder of Ralt who passed away last week aged 95, lives on in UK motorsport. The hub that was Tauranac's Ralt factory in Weybridge through the late 1970s and 1980s is arguably responsible for much that we are seeing today.
Arguably Carlin and Double R Racing, the two most successful teams in British Formula 3 and 4 over the past half a decade, would not exist quite in the form they do today without his enormous influence.
Share Or Save This Story
Marcus Simmons is the Deputy Editor of Autosport magazine. As a child he was a regular on the chalk banks of Thruxton – hence his unhealthy obsession with 1970s Formula 2 and F3 – before he became an MSA timekeeper at the age of 17. At 19, his reporting debut for Motoring News arguably overshadowed Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ goal as the sporting moment of June 1986, and he joined the staff in 1990 after graduating from his degree course in Plymouth. A parallel Formula First career – which was as incident-packed as his childhood exploits in show-jumping and hunter trials – finished when he wrote off his car and put himself in hospital in 1991.
Marcus moved to Autosport in the summer of 1996. Since then he has had two stints as a freelancer and a brief spell as editor of Motor Sport magazine, during which the revered green cover was revived, before he rejoined Autosport in 2008. He lives in Teddington with his wife (who, gratifyingly, grew up within earshot of Castle Combe), daughter, stepson, dog, cat and guitars, and additionally has an adult daughter and stepson.
More from Marcus Simmons
Why the BTCC isn't concerned by its smaller 2024 grid
Magazine: Saudi Arabian GP review
Hard stays in BTCC after all in surprise U-turn
One Motorsport takes ‘pause’ from BTCC
How Red Bull's next British star earned a fast-track to F3
Alliance further develops Focus for Sutton record-breaking BTCC bid
BTCC race winner Moffat joins Speedworks Toyota line-up
Why F1's junior logjam isn't entirely a product of current issues
Latest news
Everything you need to know about the pitwall in F1 - who sits there and what does it do?
Alpine: "Shock" of having slowest F1 car triggered tech revamp
How Bruce McLaren's death shaped more than just his F1 team
Both DS Penske in the points in São Paulo
Autosport Plus
Why F1's junior logjam isn't entirely a product of current issues
Ranking the top 10 drivers on F1's undercard in 2023
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.