The EuroBrun ER189B is the last Formula 1 single-seater entered by the EuroBrun Racing team in its final participation in the Formula 1 World Championship, in 1990.
It made its championship debut at the U.S. Grand Prix, succeeding the EuroBrun ER189. This single-seater, designed by George Ryton, Roberto Ori and Kees van der Grint, was directly inspired by its predecessor from the 1989 season. Piloted by Brazilian driver Roberto Moreno and Italian Claudio Langes, it was entered fourteen times but only managed to qualify twice, at the start of the season in the hands of Roberto Moreno.
After the European season, Walter Brun, owner of EuroBrun Racing, announced that he wished to devote himself solely to his commitment to the World Sports Car Championship, and withdrew for the remainder of the season. Fined $400,000 for his two forfeits, EuroBrun left Formula 1 for good. The ER189B is therefore the team's last Formula 1 single-seater.
Single-seater design
The ER190: the single-seater of renewal EuroBrun Racing had a catastrophic year in in terms of sporting results, as the team was never able to pre-qualify or qualify for any Grand Prix, either with the EuroBrun ER188, a transitional single-seater, or with the EuroBrun ER189, its new single-seater designed by George Ryton. When the team's financial partners left the venture before the 1989 season was even over, and Giampaolo Pavanello, one of the team's co-founders, sold all his shares to Walter Brun, the Formula 1 microcosm expected Brun to give up Formula 1 and devote himself solely to the World Sports Car Championship.
However, surprisingly, in February 1990 the EuroBrun Racing team applied for two single-seaters for Roberto Moreno and Enrico Bertaggia for 1990. In addition, Walter Brun announced that he was in contact with the promoters of a new 12-cylinder V-engine, and that he planned to install this block in his single-seaters as early as the Italian Grand Prix.
During the off-season, Walter Brun bought out all the shares held by his partner Giampaolo Pavanello and signed an agreement with the Austrian developers of a new Neotech engine designed by Rolf-Peter Marlow, a former Porsche and BMW engineer. Weighing 137 kg, the Neotech was a 12-cylinder, 70° V engine with forty-eight valves, rated at 640 hp at 12,400 rpm. Some fifty million francs were needed to mass-produce this block, of which only three prototypes had been built. Brun was particularly interested in this engine, which could power both his Formula 1 single-seaters and his Group C cars.
Brun announced that he had found sponsors in the United Arab Emirates willing to invest a sum of 45 million Swiss francs in his team for the 1990 and 1991 seasons, which would enable him to finance an order for twenty Neotech engines.
In March 1990, the FIA published the list of entered drivers, and EuroBrun entered two single-seaters, powered by a Neotech engine but starting with the Judd V8 from the previous season.
Ambition downgraded with ER189B
George Ryton, a British automotive engineer known for his work as a designer of Formula 1 single-seaters at the Guildford Technical Office, Ferrari's technical arm headed by John Barnard, and recruited the previous year by Walter Brun, was commissioned to design the chassis for the new single-seater named EuroBrun ER190.
However, having only sketched the design of the future single-seater, Ryton left the new engineering office, Brun Technics, in Basingstoke, Hampshire (where Wiet Huidekopet and Tim Feast, behind the aborted Swiss Formula 1 team Ekström Racing, had also worked) to join the Tyrrell Racing team before finalizing the rear end, which would initially be fitted with a V8 engine, then a V12 block requiring new mounting points.
Roberto Ori, who had been assisting Ryton since the previous year, returned to the drawing board and, for lack of time, gave up developing the ER190 project and had to content himself with modifying the old ER189, which eventually became the ER189B. The main feature of the single-seater was the pushrod front suspension, with the front handsets transferred to the cowl, a solution directly inspired by the Ferrari 640 (John Barnard said at the time that the single-seater's design proved that George Ryton had left his job at Guildford Technical Office, the Ferrari technical branch he headed, taking aerodynamic studies with him). Ryton also drew inspiration from the McLaren MP4/5 for the shape of the hood.
Substituting for Ryton, Dutch engineer Kees van der Grint took over from Roberto Ori and did his best to lighten a chassis considered too heavy compared to the competition. For the start of the season, van der Grint modified the "in-house" gearbox to limit its bulk and worked on the rear suspension, a "monoshock" front suspension (suspension with a single spring-damper combination for both suspension arms) to be installed later.
Driver selection
In the previous season, Brun ran a single car teamed with pay-driver Gregor Foitek. Karl Foitek, who contributed part of the team's budget, despaired at not seeing his son at the start of a single race. Disillusioned by his team's lack of results, Gregor Foitek broke his contract mid-season and left the team just before the Italian Grand Prix, where his father looked for a drive in a team that did not have to go through pre-qualifying, and found him a position with Rial Racing, where he competed in the Spanish Grand Prix. Oscar Larrauri, who had already raced for EuroBrun in 1988, made a comeback at the end of the season, but was not retained at the end.
In February 1990, Brun announced that he had recruited Roberto Moreno and Enrico Bertaggia. Although Moreno was subsequently confirmed as first driver, Claudio Langes eventually replaced Enrico Bertaggia, who was short of funds and, after applying for a position as test driver with McLaren, went into exile to compete in the Japanese Formula 3000 championship.
Roberto Moreno made his Formula 1 debut in with AGS, where he started two Grands Prix. In , with Coloni, a team at the back of the grid, he qualified four times but never made it to the finish line. Despite an impressive track record in the minor divisions (Brazilian karting champion in 1976, British Formula Ford champion in 1980, US Formula Atlantic vice-champion in 1983, European Formula 2 vice-champion in 1984, third in the International Formula 3000 Championship in 1987), the Brazilian struggled to make his mark in Formula 1. At the end of the 1989 season, he coveted a seat at Rial Racing, but as the team did not continue in Formula 1, he unsuccessfully approached Scuderia Minardi and Scuderia Italia before taking refuge at EuroBrun.
Claudio Langes was a driver with a considerably more modest record than his leader. In 1984, he finished fourth in the European Formula 3 Championship and, from 1985 to 1989, raced in Formula 3000, where his best world ranking was twelfth in the 1989 championship. Unknown to most team managers, he owed his place in Formula 1 only to his status as a paying driver: he brought in extra money to race, which was of particular interest to Walter Brun in his quest for cash.
World Championship entry
An encouraging start to the season with the V8 engine The ER189B makes its debut at the inaugural Grand Prix in Phoenix in a brand-new metallic-gray livery, the fifth in three years (after the original white, white and yellow, orange and black). With thirty-five drivers competing for twenty-seven qualifying places, both EuroBruns have to pass through pre-qualification and qualification stages. Pre-qualification is reserved for newly-entered teams and the lowest-ranked single-seaters from the previous season. The four fastest drivers in pre-qualification earn the right to take part in the qualifying tests. The three slowest drivers are eliminated, leaving just twenty-seven cars to start the race.
From the very first free practice sessions, Pirelli tires proved perfectly suited to the unusually cool temperatures in the city and the circuit's bumpy surface. Claudio Langes, however, failed to make the most of his Italian tires, setting the eighth fastest time of the nine drivers who had to pre-qualify. Roberto Moreno, on the other hand, set the fastest time in pre-qualifying with a time of 1 min 32 s 292, and progressed to the qualifying session. In the first qualifying session, he further improved his lap time, making him one of the provisionally qualified drivers. The rain then set in and Moreno, fearful of losing his provisional grid position, was one of twenty-one drivers to take part in the second free practice session to test his single-seater in the rain. He set the thirteenth fastest time and fine-tuned his set-up for the wet. Only fourteen drivers took part in the second qualifying session, which took place in the rain: the top-ranked drivers at the end of the first session had no fear of seeing their times beaten. Roberto Moreno achieved a minor feat by setting the second fastest time of the session, ahead of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Jean Alesi, Riccardo Patrese and Ayrton Senna. He secured sixteenth place on the starting line, less than three seconds behind Gerhard Berger's pole position. For the first time in a year, a EuroBrun is allowed to start a Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Just after the start of the race, Moreno forgot to disconnect his electric fuel pump and had to make a quick pit stop on the second lap to change his flat battery. He had to make a second pit stop to change his tires and finally finished thirteenth in the race, five laps behind the winner Ayrton Senna. It was the first chequered flag for a EuroBrun in nineteen races.
The V12 engine will not power the ER189B Behind the scenes, Walter Brun struggles to raise his budget to finance the Neotech engine, and the Austrian engine manufacturer announces that it plans to halt negotiations with EuroBrun and is looking for potential new partners. At the following Grand Prix in Brazil, Claudio Langes again missed out on pre-qualification, while Roberto Moreno broke down on the circuit with his engine cut. He borrowed his teammate's single-seater, but also failed to pre-qualify.
Shortly before the San Marino Grand Prix, when Rolf-Peter Marlow claimed to be able to supply EuroBrun with its first engine blocks, the Neotech project coordinator announces that Walter Brun has still not honored his financial commitments and is looking for a new partner to mass-produce the block. Walter Brun confirms Stappert's statement, announcing that he has been dropped by his contacts in the United Arab Emirates. He also declares that it is now highly likely that his single-seaters will remain powered by the Judd V8 block until the end of the season, and that the ER189B chassis will not evolve much during the year after Kees van der Grint has brought them into line with the new regulations.
At Imola, Claudio Langes failed to pre-qualify, unlike his team-mate. Moreno set the twenty-fourth fastest time in qualifying and was therefore eligible to start the race. In the race, Nigel Mansell went off into the grass on the outside of the first curve and Ivan Capelli braked, blinded by the dust raised by the Briton's single-seater. He was then hit by Satoru Nakajima, who destroyed his single-seater. When Roberto Moreno arrived at the scene of the accident, his throttle slides were immediately blocked by the dust and debris from the Japanese driver's single-seater: he retired before completing the first lap of the race.
One non-qualification led to another as the season progressed