Birabongse Bhanudej Explained

Prince Bira of Siam

Full Name:

th|พีรพงศ์ภาณุเดช

Spouse:

Ceril Heycock (1938–1949)
Celia "Chelita" Howard (1951–1956)
Salika Kalantananda (1957)
Arunee Chuladakoson (1959–1964)
Chuanchom Chaiyananda (1967–1980)

House:

Bhanubandh (Chakri Dynasty)

Father:

Prince Bhanubandhubongse Voradej

Mother:

Mom Lek Bhanubandh na Ayudhya (Yongchaiyudh)

Birth Name:

Mom Chao Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh

Birth Date:

15 July 1914

Birth Place:

Grand Palace, Bangkok, Siam

Death Place:

London, England

Module:

Embed:	yes
Nationality:	Thai
Years:	–
Team(S):	Platé, privateer Maserati, Gordini, Connaught, Milano, Maserati
Races:	19
Championships:	0
Wins:	0
Podiums:	0
Points:	8
Poles:	0
Fastest Laps:	0
First Race:	1950 British Grand Prix
Last Race:	1954 Spanish Grand Prix

Embed:	yes
Years:	,
Team(S):	Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin
Best Finish:	DNF
Class Wins:	0

Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh (th|พีรพงศ์ภาณุเดช; ; 15 July 191423 December 1985), commonly known as Prince Bira of Siam or simply Prince Bira, was a member of the Thai royal family. Bira was also a racing driver, sailor and pilot, who competed in Formula One from to and at four editions of the Summer Olympics between 1956 and 1972.

A member of the Chakri dynasty, Bira studied at Eton College before he began competing in Grand Prix motor racing in 1935, later advancing to Formula One for its inaugural season. He competed for several teams including Platé, Gordini, Connaught, Milano and Maserati, amongst other privateer entries in Maserati machinery. Across five seasons and 19 Grands Prix, Bira scored several points finishes, including fourth-placed finishes at the 1950 Swiss Grand Prix and the 1954 French Grand Prix, amongst two non-championship race victories. He remained the only Southeast Asian to compete in Formula One until Malaysian driver Alex Yoong in, and the only Thai driver until Alexander Albon in . Outside of Formula One, Bira won the New Zealand Grand Prix in 1955, driving the Maserati 250F. Bira also competed in sailing events at four Summer Olympic Games and was an amateur pilot, flying from London to Bangkok in his own twin-engine Miles Gemini aircraft in 1952.

Bira is credited with establishing the racing colours of Thailand: pale blue and yellow. Upon his death in December 1985, the Bira Circuit was built in his honour, becoming the first motor racing circuit in Thailand to meet FIA standards.

Early life

Bira's parents were Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwongse and his second wife. Bira's paternal grandfather was King Mongkut, loosely portrayed in the Hollywood movies The King and I and Anna and the King. His mother died when Bira was only four years old.^[1] Bira was sent to Europe in 1927 to complete his education in England at Eton College, where he joined one of his nephews, a grandchild of his father through his first marriage. While he was at Eton Bira's father died, leaving him an orphan. He was placed under the care of his cousin, Prince Chula Chakrabongse, who ultimately became Bira's legal guardian. On leaving Eton at age 18, in early 1933, Bira moved in with Prince Chula in London, while he decided on his future.

Bira had been registered to attend Trinity College, Cambridge, but had not passed the Cambridge University entrance examination. Initially, Prince Chula hired a tutor for Bira, to better prepare him for the exam, but Bira changed his mind and expressed a desire to learn sculpture rather than attend university. Prince Chula approached leading sculptor Charles Wheeler, and Wheeler took Bira on as a pupil within his studio. Although Bira showed some talent as a sculptor, in Wheeler's opinion he needed to learn to draw, and so in the autumn of 1934 Bira enrolled at the Byam Shaw School of Art. Bira did not attend the Byam Shaw School for very long, but while there he became friendly with a fellow student, Ceril Heycock, and he began courting her in earnest only a few weeks later. However, both Prince Chula and her parents placed severe limitations on their relationship, and it was not until 1938 that they were able to marry.

Auto racing

Bira first raced with his cousin Prince Chula's team, White Mouse Racing, driving a Riley Imp at Brooklands in 1935. In this car Bira established the national motor racing colours of Siam: pale blue with yellow. He raced under the name 'B Bira'. He later lived near Geneva, Switzerland, and in the south of France.

Later in 1935, Prince Chula gave him one of the new ERA voiturette racing cars—R2B, which was nicknamed Romulus. Bira 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 among the more powerful Grand 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. They purchased chassis R5B (which Bira named Remus) to use in British events and retained Romulus for international races. Chula also purchased a Maserati 8CM to complete 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. This was the high point for Bira and the White Mouse team.

Following Dick Seaman's move to Mercedes for 1937, the Thais purchased his Grand Prix Delage and all of its spare parts, along with a second Delage. Despite several upgrades, and hiring experienced race engineer and future Jaguar team manager Lofty England, the cars underperformed, and on many occasions Bira raced in the older and by now substantially inferior ERAs. In addition, the money spent on the Delage upgrades had sapped the resources of the team and corners were being cut in the ERA's race preparations. Later in the year White Mouse did invest in a newer C-Type ERA, chassis R12C. R12C came to be known as Hanuman, and Bira attached a large, embossed, silver badge depicting the Hindu deity after whom he had named the car. Following a major accident in 1939 Hanuman was rebuilt back to B-Type specifications, and in light of this major overhaul Bira renamed the car Hanuman II.

While Bira maintained a respectable results tally in British events, the more costly international races were largely a disaster.

After the war, Bira returned to racing with several teams. He took part in the inaugural World Drivers' Championship in 1950 racing a supercharged Maserati 4CLT/48, starting four Championship races including the first, at Silverstone, where he was obliged to retire from the race with a fuel feed problem, but finished fifth at Monaco and fourth at Bremgarten the same season, giving him five points and finishing eighth in the Championship. 1950 was his best season; Bira took part in each Championship season until 1954, starting a total of 19 races, but only scored points in one more race - a fourth place at Reims in 1954 provided three points and seventeenth place in the Championship.^[2] ^[3] In 1951 he raced in an old Maserati 4CLT fitted with a newer V12 Osca engine. No results were obtained this year as a result of the poor performance of the car combined with a severe accident. By 1954, with a newer car, a Maserati 250F, he won the Grand Prix des Frontières on the Chimay road circuit and then finished fourth in the 1954 French Grand Prix with his own Maserati. In January 1955, he won the New Zealand Grand Prix at Ardmore; he retired at the end of that season.

Bira returned to racing for the one-off Macau Grand Prix Race of Giants in 1978, finishing 13th.

Sailing

Bira competed in sailing events at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics in the Star, 1960 Rome Olympics in the Star, 1964 Tokyo Olympics in the Dragon and the 1972 Munich Olympics in the Tempest.^[4] ^[5] In the 1960 Games he competed against another former Formula One driver, Roberto Mieres, who finished seventeenth, ahead of the prince at nineteenth.

Death

Bira died at Barons Court tube station in London on 23 December 1985. He collapsed and died having suffered a major heart attack, but as he carried no identification with him, his body could not initially be identified. A handwritten note was found in his pocket by the Metropolitan Police and was sent for analysis at the University of London, where it was shown as being written in Thai and addressed to Bira. The Thai Embassy was notified, and realised his significance. A Thai funeral service was held at the Wat Buddhapadipa in Wimbledon, and he was later cremated according to Thai and Buddhist tradition and customs.

Other honors

Bira Circuit, based just outside Pattaya, Thailand, is named after Bira.

In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, Bira was ranked the forty-third best Formula One driver of all time.^[6]

Development of the Thai racing colours

Bira was instrumental in developing and setting the national racing colours of Thailand. The base colour for the scheme, a mid to pale powder blue, was adopted by Bira in 1934, and was derived from the evening dress of a young woman that Bira met during his early years in London. Initially the cars were painted solely in blue, but gradually Bira added in some yellow to offset the base colour. He started painting the cars' chassis rails yellow in 1939.^[7]

Racing record

Career highlights

Season	Series	Position	Team	Car
1936	I Prince Rainier Cup	1st	B. Bira	ERA R2B
	XII Picardy Grand Prix	1st
	IV Albi Grand Prix	1st
1937	I Campbell Trophy	1st	B. Bira	Maserati 8CM
1937	London Grand Prix	1st	B. Bira	ERA R2B
1938	II Campbell Trophy	1st		ERA R2B
1938	Cork Grand Prix	2nd	Prince Chula of Siam	Maserati 8CM
1939	III Campbell Trophy	2nd		ERA R2B
1946	I Ulster Trophy	1st		Maserati 4CL
1947	XVII Grand Prix des Frontières	1st		Maserati 4CL
1948	Stockholm Grand Prix	1st	Equipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15
1948	I Zandvoort Grand Prix	1st		Maserati 4CLT-48
1949	IV Roussillon Grand Prix	2nd	Prince Bira	Maserati 4CLT-48
	IV San Remo Grand Prix	2nd	Scuderia Ambrosiana
	II Mar del Plata Grand Prix	2nd	White Motorsports
	VI French Grand Prix	2nd	Enrico Platé
	XI Albi Grand Prix	2nd
	XIX Italian Grand Prix	3rd
1950	III Goodwood Trophy	2nd	Enrico Platé	Maserati 4CLT-48
	RAC Woodcote Trophy	2nd
	FIA Formula One World Championship	8th
1951	III Richmond Trophy	1st	Ecurie Siam	Maserati 4CLT-48
1952	XII Marseille Grand Prix	2nd	Equipe Gordini	Simca-Gordini T15
1954	XXIV Grand Prix des Frontières	1st	Prince Bira	Maserati A6GCM
	Rouen Grand Prix	2nd		Maserati 250F
	XXIII Pescara Grand Prix	2nd
	FIA Formula One World Championship	17th
1955	III New Zealand Grand Prix	1st	Prince Bira	Maserati 250F
1955	VII BRDC International Trophy	3rd	Prince Bira	Maserati 250F

Complete European Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Post-World War II Grandes Épreuves results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5
1947	Enrico Platé	Maserati 4CL	Maserati 4CL 1.5 L4 s	SUI
	Ecurie Souris Blanche	ERA B	ERA 1.5 L6 s		BEL
	Scuderia Milano	Maserati 4CL	Maserati 4CL 1.5 L4 s			ITA	FRA
1948	Equipe Gordini	Simca Gordini T15	Simca-Gordini 15C 1.5 L4 s	MON
	Enrico Platé	Maserati 4CL	Maserati 4CL 1.5 L4 s		SUI
	Prince Chula	ERA B	ERA 1.5 L6 s			FRA
	Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari 125	Ferrari 125 F1 1.5 V12 s				ITA
1949	Prince Chula	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4 s	GBR	BEL
1949	Enrico Platé	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4 s			SUI	FRA	ITA

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		Pts
1950	Enrico Platé	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4 s	GBR	MON	500	SUI	BEL	FRA	ITA			8th	5
1951	Ecurie Siam	Maserati 4CLT/48	Maserati 4CLT 1.5 L4 s	SUI	500	BEL	FRA DNA	GBR	GER DNA	ITA			NC	0
1951	Ecurie Siam	Maserati 4CLT/48	OSCA 4500 4.5 V12								ESP		NC	0
1952	Equipe Gordini	Gordini T15	Gordini 1500 1.5 L4	SUI	500	BEL							NC	0
1952	Equipe Gordini	Gordini T16	Gordini 20 2.0 L6				FRA	GBR	GER	NED	ITA		NC	0
1953	Connaught Engineering	Connaught Type A	Lea-Francis 2.0 L4	ARG	500	NED	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	SUI		NC	0
1953	Scuderia Milano	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6									ITA	NC	0
1954	Officine Alfieri Maserati	Maserati A6GCM	Maserati A6 2.0 L6	ARG	500								17th	3
1954	Prince Bira	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6			BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	SUI	ITA	ESP	17th	3
1955	Prince Bira	Maserati 250F	Maserati 250F1 2.5 L6	ARG	MON	500	BEL DNA	NED	GBR	ITA			NC	0

Complete non-championship Formula One results