View of Kieth White driving his 1977, Ralt RT1 Formula 3 race car down the Pit Lane, at the 2019 Silverstone Classic media day/ Test Day
Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the Ralt name (standing for Ron and Austin Lewis Tauranac). Tauranac won the 1954 NSW Hillclimb Championship in the Ralt 500. As a constructor, Tauranac acquired a reputation for building safe, simple, strong cars that were manufactured to very high standards—he tended to invest his firm's profits in high-quality machine tools and Ralts acquired an enviable reputation as the best-built "customer" cars of their era. Tauranac founded Ralt in 1974 and the first product was the RT1, a simple and versatile car used in Formula Two, Formula Three and Formula Atlantic racing between 1975 and 1978. In 1979, the RT2 was developed for Formula Two, with three cars being built for the Toleman team. Later, three more cars were built for private owners, including one exclusively for the revival of the Can-Am series. For 1980 Toleman built its own car, the TG280, which was based somewhat on the RT2 design; this was later built under licence by Lola as the T850 and further modified by Docking-Spitzley as the DS1. Two of the original Toleman RT2s were later raced in Can-Am, while the third ended up in South Africa, where copies called Lants were made. Related cars have appeared in hillclimb and sprint events in the UK as Romans and SPAs. The RT2 also provided the basis for three cars in other categories: the RT3 in Formula Three, the RT4 in Formula Atlantic (which was also occasionally raced in Formula Two), and the RT5 in Formula Super Vee. The RT4 was the car of choice in Australian Formula 1 and Formula Mondial during the early to mid-1980s.
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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