Veteran race engineer Andy Brown, who was involved with the Galles Racing team when Al Unser Jr. won the 1992 Indianapolis 500, and then engineered Sam Hornish Jr to his two championships with Panther Racing, will make a comeback to the North American open-wheel scene as engineer for Matthew Brabham in his No. 61 PIRTEK Team Murray Chevrolet.
The full release is below:
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The next piece of the PIRTEK Team Murray puzzle for this year’s 100th Indianapolis 500 was put into place today when it was announced that legendary engineer Andy Brown will be working with rookie Matt Brabham as he prepares for his Verizon IndyCar Series debut in May.
Brown, one of the most experienced engineers in the business, has been part of multiple Indy 500 and IndyCar Series winning programs.
He was the assistant technical director at Galles/KRACO Racing when Al Unser Jr won in 1992 in the closest ever Indy 500 finish in the team’s self built Galmer chassis and then went on to engineer Sam Hornish Jr when he claimed his back-to-back Indy Racing League Championships in 2001 and 2002 at Panther Racing.
PIRTEK Team Murray has been established by Australian motorsport entrepreneur Brett “Crusher” Murray and will run in cohesion with KV Racing Technology who will provide the infrastructure and support for the Angie’s List Grand Prix on May 14 and the 100th Indianapolis 500 on May 29.
Brabham is the grandson of three-time Formula 1 world champion Sir Jack Brabham and 10-time Indy 500 starter and 1993 Le Mans 24-hour race winner, Geoff Brabham. The Brabham family will create history as just the third family to have three generations start the Indy 500.
Brown studied Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Bath in England, graduating in 1981 before joining British Aerospace.
In 1984 he joined March Engineering and worked on their Formula 3000 program before becoming a race engineer for the March-Leyton House Formula 1 team from 1988 through 1990, where he worked with Brazilian Driver Mauricio Gugelmin.
In 1991 Brown had his first contact with the Brabham name, when he became Race Engineer for Martin Brundle at the Brabham F1 team.
The following year he stamped his name on the world of IndyCar when he joined Galmer Engineering as assistant technical director and went on to record that memorable win with ‘Little Al’ in a car of their own design.
Brown later became a founding member and Chief Engineer for PacWest Racing where he renewed his relationship with Gugelmin.
A move to Panther Racing would result in the back-to-back IRL Championships with Hornish Jr.
Brown joined Chip Ganassi Racing for the 2006 season to work as Dan Wheldon’s race engineer for a couple of seasons before moving into R&D with a focus on aerodynamics.
For 2011, he returned to the UK and created his engineering business ACB Consulting Ltd, however maintains a lot of on-going business in US open-wheel racing.
To satisfy his “need” for racing, Brown has recently been involved with 2013 British Touring Car Champion, Andrew Jordan in the British Touring Car Championship - ironically, in a car sponsored by PIRTEK.
Brown and Brabham will be working out of the KV Racing Technology shop in Indianapolis on a daily basis.
They are set to be involved work together in a road course test later in the month before some sessions on the Dallara simulator in Indianapolis.
The PIRTEK Team Murray outfit will contest the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis May 12-14 and then begin the Indianapolis 500 quest with opening practice on Monday, May 16. Qualifying will be Saturday May 21 with the 100th Indianapolis 500 taking place on May 29.
PIRTEK Team Murray has welcomed international Fluid Transfer Solutions company, PIRTEK on board as major sponsor and has partnered with the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation to honor military service members, veterans and first responders throughout the Memorial Day Weekend celebration.