I joined Neil Brown Engineering in 1989 when electronics came into motor racing and engine management systems became increasingly popular. My brother-in-law already worked here and I’d been helping him out a little bit as a newly qualified electronics engineer, so Neil offered me a job. I said, ‘I’ll do it for a few years to see a bit of the world.’ That was 35 years ago!
We have a core of staff who have worked here for 30-plus years together with Neil and they’re still together now he’s gone, with the same values in place and the same desire to succeed. In that respect, things haven’t changed that much. We just picked up the pieces that Neil used to do and everybody has taken on a bit more.
Although we have worked in the British Touring Car Championship with West Surrey Racing and Speedworks Motorsport – and prior to that with Team Dynamics – with great success during the hybrid era that concluded this year, we don’t get too involved in electric vehicles and stay true to our core expertise with internal combustion engines.
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Although the hybrid system had to work with the IC engine in the BTCC, the two were actually fairly separate. There are some things we have had to do to accommodate the hybrid, such as introducing a blip on downshifts to look after the electric motors, but as Cosworth was the supplier and it’s not our area of specialism, there’s very little we had to take care of.
I first worked with WSR during its time as a leading team in Formula 3; we both went our separate ways and then I ended up working with them again in touring cars. The key people are all the same, we’ve known each other for a long time and they trust me to ensure the engine is working to its maximum, as I trust them to make sure the chassis is. At race weekends, I check the engine data after each session to ensure we’re leaving nothing on the table.
NBE has always considered the BTCC as an important championship, simply because it’s high-profile in the UK. More people know us through our involvement with BTCC than from our days in F3, for example, so it’s always been important to us to make sure that we’re involved with supporting our teams and are competitive.
As far as the future is concerned, we are led to some degree by manufacturers. And that is all up in the air because they don’t seem to be in unison on how they want to move forward. Some claim they will stay with the ICE, some are saying they’re going to other formats. Until they decide, it makes things difficult for NBE to strategise.
As a result, we’re forging our own way as we try to protect our traditional markets wherever possible. If manufacturers do decide to stop making IC engines, it may mean that we produce one ourselves that allows us to continue the format.
On our part, there’s no thoughts of ‘things are getting a bit slow, we’ll think about winding it up’. We’re moving forward and we’ll take on new challenges as they arrive. Maybe going to hydrogen eventually, or maybe just sticking with the historics, whatever markets come along.
I see the ICE era continuing for some time to come. What is current now will become classics
We’re driven by our market and we’ve always undertaken to be as competitive as possible. If that means learning new processes or keeping up to date with manufacturing processes, test equipment or whatever it may be, we do it.
Ultimately, I see the ICE era continuing for some time to come. What is current now will become classics, which has become a big part of our business. We’ve shown our skills in producing engines which we still service today, and that has produced more custom even as we’ve lost traditional F3 over the years.
As long as there is demand for combustion racing, I would like to think that NBE will be at the forefront. That’s certainly what we’re planning for.
