Famed British racing engineer Tony Rudd died on August 22 at the age of 81 following a heart attack and stroke. In addition to his many accomplishments with BRM and Lotus, Tony Rudd was also an immensely amicable and sharing person, who was always willing to spend time discussing the many drivers he knew well and respected…names like Pedro Rodriguez, Jean Behra and Graham Hill. Rudd was one of many British racing engineers from the ’50s whose roots were founded in the aircraft industry. Rudd joined BRM in 1951 as assistant to Peter Berthon and was responsible for finally getting BRM’s recalcitrant V-16 engine to work properly. His efforts saw Jean Behra score the first F1 win for BRM at the nonchampionship Caen Grand Prix in 1957, driving the P25. His development ability and his relationship with Graham Hill brought BRM the 1962 Driver’s World Championship.
By his own admission, the 1966 H-16 BRM engine was a mistake, though he took responsibility for loaning it to Jim Clark, who won the US Grand Prix with it in the Lotus. Colin Chapman brought Rudd to Lotus in 1969, where he was technical director. He stayed with Lotus until his retirement in 1991, after which he wrote his book It Was Fun and worked actively as a consultant until his health started to wane in recent years. He was always a great storyteller, one of his best being the tale of how Jean Behra used to stay at his house and entertain the Rudd children by taking off his plastic artificial ear!
Submitted by Ed McDonough
