Prince Bira

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Prince Bira
Formula One Career
Nationality	Thai
Active years	1935-1939 & 1950-1954
Team(s)	White Mouse, Enrico Platé, Gordini, Connaught, Maserati, Scuderia Milano
Grands Prix	19 (post-war)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podium finishes	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First Grand Prix	1950 British Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix	1954 Spanish Grand Prix

Birabongse Bhanutej Bhanubandh (b. 15 July 1914, Bangkok, Thailand - d. 23 December 1985, Baron's Court Station, London) best known as Prince Bira of Siam (now Thailand) was a Formula One and Grand Prix motor racing driver who raced for the Maserati, Gordini and Connaught teams, among others.

Contents 1 Before the Second World War 2 Post war 3 Complete Formula One Results 4 Trivia 5 External links

[edit] Before the Second World War

Born into the Siamese royal family, Prince Birabongse first came to Europe in 1927 to complete his education at Eton and Cambridge University. Bira had his first experience in motor racing with his cousin Prince Chula Chakrabongse's team, White Mouse Racing, driving a Riley Imp at Brooklands in 1935. It was in this car that Bira established the national motor racing colours of Siam: pale blue with yellow.

Later in the same year Prince Chula gave him one of the new ERA voiturette racing cars: R2B, which rapidly gained the nickname Romulus. In a magnificent performance he finished second in his first ever race in Romulus, despite needing to stop for repairs. The remaining races of the season saw Bira consistently placing the little voiturette up amonst the more powerful Grands Prix vehicles, with another second place, and fifth at the Donington Grand Prix.

For 1936 the Princes decided that the previous season's results merited a second ERA. The pair purchased Remus to use in British events, and retained Romulus for international races. Chula also purchsed a Maserati 8CM to bulk out the White Mouse roster. Bira's expertise behind the wheel earned him the Coupe de Prince Rainier at Monte Carlo. Bira won a further four races in the ERAs that season, and took the Grand Prix Maserati to 5th at Donington and 3rd at Brooklands.

Unfortunately this would prove to be the career high-point for both Bira and the White Mouse team. Following Dick Seaman's move to Mercedes for 1937, the Thai cousins purchsed his Grand Prix Delage and all of its spare parts, along with a second Delage. Despite several upgrades the cars underperformed, and on many occasions Bira was forced to race in the older, and by now substantially inferior, ERAs. In addition, the money spent on the Delage upgrades has sapped the resources of the team and corners were being cut in the ERA's race preparations. While Bira somehow managed to maintain a respectable results tally in British events, the more costly international races were largely a disaster.

[edit] Post war

After the war, Bira returned to racing with several teams. By 1954 he was winning the Grand Prix des Frontières on the Chimay road circuit and then finished fourth in the 1954 French Grand Prix with his own Maserati. He retired at the end of the following season.

[edit] Complete Formula One Results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Team	WDC	Points
1950	Enrico Platé	GBR Ret	MON 5	INDY	SWI 4	BEL	FRA	ITA Ret			Enrico Platé	8th	5
1951	"B Bira"	SWI	INDY	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	ESP Ret		"B Bira"	-	0
1952	Gordini	SWI Ret	INDY	BEL 10	FRA Ret	GBR 11	GER	DUT	ITA		Gordini	-	0
1953	Connaught	ARG	INDY	DUT	BEL	FRA Ret	GBR 7	GER Ret	SWI	ITA 11	Scuderia Milano	-	0
1954	Maserati	ARG 7	INDY	BEL 6	FRA 4	GBR Ret	GER Ret	SWI	ITA	ESP 9	"B Bira"	17th	3

[edit] Trivia

King Mongkut, protrayed in the Hollywood movies "The King and I" and "Anna and the King", was Prince Bira's grandfather.

[edit] External links

• Bira the driver
• Bira, the Grand Prix driver text: Autocourse site
• Malcolm Campbell and Prince Bira photo: The Brooklands Society site
• Bira at Brooklands text: The Brooklands Society site
• pre-war pictures many photos: The Brooklands Society site
• His personal life text.
• A brief biography