VIN: the works BMW M1 Procar chassis 4301018
History of chassis 4301018
Chassis 4301018 was the M1 Procar used exclusively by upcoming Brazilian F1 driver Nelson Piquet during 1979.
Piquet, who had been signed by Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team on a multi-year deal, used chassis 4301018 in five of the eight 1979 Procar races in addition to the non-championship event at Donington (for the Gunnar Nilsson Memorial Trophy).
Piquet was set to line up fifth for the season opener at Zolder, but he dropped out on the warm-up lap with a loose vibration damper. He followed this up with pole position and victory at Donington, after which the Brazilian did not contest Procar round two at Monaco.
Round three at Dijon saw Piquet secure another pole-and-win double while at Silverstone the Brazilian started and finished second.
Failure to contest rounds five and six (at Hockenheim and Zeltweg) all but ruled out any chance of winning the ‘79 Procar title.
Piquet returned for the last two events of the year at Zandvoort and Monza, but having qualified fifth and fourth respectively, he failed to finish on either occasion.
Piquet finished sixth in the championship standings with 35 points.
For 1980, the rights to the Procar series were sold to Piquet’s F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley. The ‘works’ cars were campaigned in a new green over white colour scheme and prepared by BS Fabrications in the UK. Coincidentally, Piquet had made his second, third and fourth F1 outings with a BS Fabrications-run McLaren M23 in 1978 prior to signing for Brabham.
Unlike 1979, the F1 drivers than contested the Procar events no longer had any grid privileges and had to qualify on merit.
The opening race at Doningont saw Piquet start eleventh and finish fifth. He then started the Avus event from fifth but failed to finish.
The first F1-supporting race of 1980 was in Monaco where Piquet qualified eighth but managed to grab the final podium spot.
Having qualified third for the Norisring event, Piquet posted another DNF, after which he missed the British Grand Prix-supporting event at Brands Hatch as Alain Prost made a one-off appearance in 4301018. Prost qualified and finished a creditable sixth.
With four Procar events left to run, Piquet was still a long way off championship leaders Hans-Joachim Stuck and Alan Jones. However, a storming end to the season saw Piquet rocket up the standings.
After starting from a disappointing 21st on the grid at Hockenheim, Piquet romped through the field to bag fourth. He then finished the year with a trio of wins at Zeltweg, Zandvoort and Imola having started from fourth, third and pole respectively.
Piquet finished the year on 90 points to runner up Alan Jones’ 77 and was awarded a BMW 635 CSi.
1980 also proved a breakthrough year for Piquet in Formula 1 as he took a hat-trick of victories, finished on the podium in seven out of 14 races and bagged second in the Drivers’ standings behind… Alan Jones.
Chassis 4301017 was subsequently sold off and is not understood to have raced at the top level again.
Notable History
BMW Motorsport
White, Red & Blue livery
12/05/1979 PRO Zolder (N. Piquet) DNS (#6)
03/06/1979 IND Donington (N. Piquet) 1st oa (#6)
30/06/1979 PRO Dijon (N. Piquet) 1st oa (#6)
13/07/1979 PRO Silverstone (N. Piquet) 2nd oa (#6)
26/08/1979 PRO Zandvoort (N. Piquet) DNF (#6)
09/09/1979 PRO Monza (N. Piquet) DNF (#6)
White & Green livery
26/04/1980 PRO Donington (N. Piquet) 5th oa (#5)
11/05/1980 PRO Avus (N. Piquet) DNF (#5)
17/05/1980 PRO Monaco (N. Piquet) 3rd oa (#5)
22/06/1980 PRO Norisring (N. Piquet) DNF (#5)
12/07/1980 PRO Brands Hatch (A. Prost) 6th oa (#8)
09/08/1980 PRO Hockenheim (N. Piquet) 4th oa (#5)
16/08/1980 PRO Zeltweg (N. Piquet) 1st oa (#5)
31/08/1980 PRO Zandvoort (N. Piquet) 1st oa (#5)
14/09/1980 PRO Imola (N. Piquet) 1st oa (#5)
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Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: BMW - https://www.bmw.com
