Former Sauber driver Johnny Herbert in the footsteps of Charles Vögele
Ex-Sauber driver Johnny Herbert was able to drive Charles Vögele's former car at the Australian GP in Melbourne. The Brabham BT11A is no stranger to Switzerland. It was one of the first five intercontinental cars built by MRD (Motor Racing Developments), the company of Jack Brabham and Ron Tauranac.
Charles Vögele drove this Brabham, which was specially built for hill climbs, from 1964 to 1966 and was one of the absolute fastest cars at the time, and not just on the mountain. Victories in hill climbs such as Sierre-Montana or circuit races such as Hockenheim proved its strong performance.
In 1966, the BT11A was sold to Argentina in the name of Frank Williams, where it was driven by Charles Stewart in F3. The monoposto was later passed on to Andrea Vianini, who modified it into an F1.
Today, this car is owned by Australian Andrew Wareing, who is unfortunately no longer able to drive it himself due to his age.
So Johnny Herbert was given the honor of driving this Brabham (chassis no. IC 01-64) equipped with a Coventry Climax 2.7-litre engine.
It is safe to say that the Brabham BT11 A shown here has more touring kilometers than racing kilometers under its belt. After all, it has circumnavigated the globe at least once, with stops in England, Switzerland, Argentina and Australia.
