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Taken from Wikipedia:
In 1996 the stored BRM P351 Group C chassis was bought by Keith Wiggins, founder of Pacific Racing. Following Pacific's failed attempts at Formula One and Formula 3000, Wiggins decided to enter the team in sports car racing, planning on the new International Sportscar Racing Series that would debut in 1997.
In order to conform to new sports prototype rules which had been developed since the demise of Group C in 1994, the car was heavily modified from its original form with the help of Pilbeam Racing Designs. First and foremost the car's roof was removed in order to create true two-seater open cockpit design. This required the installation of a rollbar in order to not only allow for driver safety, but also make up for the loss of chassis rigidity. The car's Weslake V12 was also no longer legal, requiring Pacific to turn to a twin-turbocharged Nissan 3.0L V6 used in IMSA. The unit required the addition of two inlets to the upper bodywork to serve as intakes for the turbochargers. The car was completed and began testing at Snetterton in the hands of driver William Hewland.
Although the car was not connected with British Racing Motors anymore, the car would retain the BRM name as that is the company considered to have constructed the original chassis. Pacific could have renamed the chassis after its extensive modifications but decided instead to keep the BRM name alive.
The car made its competition debuted at the opening ISRS round at Donington Park, being driven by Franz Konrad, Richard Dean, and Wido Rössler. The car successfully qualified 6th place out of the nine entries, but like the P351, failed to start the race due to electrical problems. With this setback, the team decided to concentrate solely on the 24 Hours of Le Mans and not participate in any more ISRS races. The driver lineup was completely changed from those who had driven the car at Donington, now including Eliseo Salazar, Jésus Pareja, and former P351 driver Harri Toivonen. The P301 set the 34th fastest time out of 48 entries, although it actually placed 19th on the grid. Unfortunately like BRM's Le Mans race in 1992, the P301 would suffer engine problems and drop out after 6 laps, again the first car out of the race.
After a dismal debut in 1997, the P301 would return in 1998, entering the third ISRS round at Misano with yet another new driver line-up of Tim Sugden and Grant Orbell. The car successfully qualified 9th out of the 24 entries, its best qualifying effort ever. This would however be the most success the car would ever have, as it yet again failed to finish after a mere 4 laps. This would be followed by the next round, returning again to Donington, where the car would fail to even take the green flag, and becoming the final race ever for the P301 chassis. The BRM 301 would thus end its career in the same way as the P351 had begun.
Much like it's "Sister" car, the P301 was yet another case of "What might have been" and yet another opportunity to shed light on an under-represented class of racing car in Gran Turismo games (In this case, WSC Prototypes from 1994-1999). Furthermore, this was the last car to carry the BRM name in racing, and much like the P351 it was a decent-handling car let down by an unreliable engine and no real money in the team to develop the car further...
In 1996 the stored BRM P351 Group C chassis was bought by Keith Wiggins, founder of Pacific Racing. Following Pacific's failed attempts at Formula One and Formula 3000, Wiggins decided to enter the team in sports car racing, planning on the new International Sportscar Racing Series that would debut in 1997.
In order to conform to new sports prototype rules which had been developed since the demise of Group C in 1994, the car was heavily modified from its original form with the help of Pilbeam Racing Designs. First and foremost the car's roof was removed in order to create true two-seater open cockpit design. This required the installation of a rollbar in order to not only allow for driver safety, but also make up for the loss of chassis rigidity. The car's Weslake V12 was also no longer legal, requiring Pacific to turn to a twin-turbocharged Nissan 3.0L V6 used in IMSA. The unit required the addition of two inlets to the upper bodywork to serve as intakes for the turbochargers. The car was completed and began testing at Snetterton in the hands of driver William Hewland.
Although the car was not connected with British Racing Motors anymore, the car would retain the BRM name as that is the company considered to have constructed the original chassis. Pacific could have renamed the chassis after its extensive modifications but decided instead to keep the BRM name alive.
The car made its competition debuted at the opening ISRS round at Donington Park, being driven by Franz Konrad, Richard Dean, and Wido Rössler. The car successfully qualified 6th place out of the nine entries, but like the P351, failed to start the race due to electrical problems. With this setback, the team decided to concentrate solely on the 24 Hours of Le Mans and not participate in any more ISRS races. The driver lineup was completely changed from those who had driven the car at Donington, now including Eliseo Salazar, Jésus Pareja, and former P351 driver Harri Toivonen. The P301 set the 34th fastest time out of 48 entries, although it actually placed 19th on the grid. Unfortunately like BRM's Le Mans race in 1992, the P301 would suffer engine problems and drop out after 6 laps, again the first car out of the race.
After a dismal debut in 1997, the P301 would return in 1998, entering the third ISRS round at Misano with yet another new driver line-up of Tim Sugden and Grant Orbell. The car successfully qualified 9th out of the 24 entries, its best qualifying effort ever. This would however be the most success the car would ever have, as it yet again failed to finish after a mere 4 laps. This would be followed by the next round, returning again to Donington, where the car would fail to even take the green flag, and becoming the final race ever for the P301 chassis. The BRM 301 would thus end its career in the same way as the P351 had begun.
Much like it's "Sister" car, the P301 was yet another case of "What might have been" and yet another opportunity to shed light on an under-represented class of racing car in Gran Turismo games (In this case, WSC Prototypes from 1994-1999). Furthermore, this was the last car to carry the BRM name in racing, and much like the P351 it was a decent-handling car let down by an unreliable engine and no real money in the team to develop the car further...
