Past Driver Profile Prince Bira

Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh or better known as Prince Bira or B Bira was born on July 15, 1914 in Thailand and was the son of Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwonse and grandson of King Mongkut. At the age of 13, Prince Bira was sent to Britain to attend Eton College. While in Britain, Prince Bira's cousin Prince Chula Chakrabongse took care of him. As Prince Bira stayed in Britain, he started to become highly interested in racing and wanted to get involved.

Prince Bira's cousin Prince Chula Chakrabongse ran a racing team in Britain called White Mouse Racing. Prince Bira got his first racing experience driving for his cousin using a Riley Imp and a MG Magnette. These cars were painted pale blue and yellow which were the national colors of Siam (modern day Thailand) and became the country's racing colors. On Prince Bira's 21st birthday in 1935, he received an English Racing Automobile (ERA), R2B which was called Romulus. Bira had instant success in this car by finishing second in his first race and continuing on to other strong results throughout the year.

The following year, Prince Bira bought a second Era, this time a R5B which was named Remus which he used for races in Britain and then used the R2B for races outside of Britain. Bira won five races in 1936 including the Coupe de Prince Rainier at Monte Carlo. At the end of the year Prince Bira was given the BRDC Road Racing Gold Star and then awarded again the following two years. However at this time World War II was breaking out in the world and there was very little racing going on. Prince Bira decided that he would stay in Britain and after the World War II ended he tried to reestablish White Mouse Racing but due to the lack of opportunities to race in Britain this was unsuccessful. Prince Bira then tried to race more throughout Europe with other teams such as Gordini and HWM.

In 1950 Prince Bira entered the new Formula 1 championship in a Maserati 4CLT/48 entered by Enrico Platé. For the first World Championship race at Silverstone, Prince Bira qualified in fifth place and was the fastest non Alfa Romeo on the grid. Prince Bira however retired on lap 49 due to a fuel problem. At the next race in Monaco, Prince Bira only managed to qualify 15th but due to an accident on the first lap that took out almost half the grid, Prince Bira managed to climb up to finish in fifth place and score two points. Prince Bira was able to back this performance up at the next race which was the Swiss Grand Prix by finishing in fourth place to score three more points. Prince Bira did not take part in the next two races but entered the season ending Italian Grand Prix. This was not successful as he retired with an engine problem. Prince Bira finished the season with five points which placed him eight in the championship. Prince Bira also scored a second place in the non championship 1950 Goodwood Trophy.

In 1951 Prince Bira only took part in one World Championship race which was the season ending Spanish Grand Prix which he retired from with engine problems. Prince Bira did have some success in 1951 though in non championship races. He was able to win the Richmond Trophy competing against a young Stirling Moss and then finished fourth at the Bordeaux Grand Prix. For 1952, Prince Bira raced for the Gordini team but this did not give him a lot of success. He entered four races and only finished two of them and did not score any points. His best finish was tenth at the Belgian Grand Prix. In non championship races in 1952, Prince Bira had a successful second place finish at the Grand Prix de Marseille in a shared drive with Robert Manzon and then later in the season had a fourth place finish at the Grand Prix de la Marne. In his last race of 1952, he once again finished fourth at the Grand Prix de Sables d'Olonne once again sharing a drive with Robert Manzon.

In 1953, Prince Bira entered three World Championship races for Connaught in which he only finished one. He was able to finish in seventh place at the British Grand Prix and then in a privately entered Maserati he finished eleventh at the season ending Italian Grand Prix. He did however pick up a fourth place finish at the non championship BRDC International Trophy in a Maserati. 1954 saw Prince Bira have more success as he drove a Maserati in most World Championship races. He started the year with a seventh place finish at the Argentine Grand Prix and followed this up with a sixth place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix. At the French Grand Prix, Prince Bira managed to finish in fourth place to pick up his final three World Championship points. He ended his season with two retirements and then a ninth place finish at the season ending Spanish Grand Prix. Prince Bira had some very strong results in non championship races in 1954. He managed to win the Grand Prix des Frontiéres and then finish second at the Grand Prix de Rouen-les-Essarts. Prince Bira picked up one more second place at the Circuito de Pescara. None of these results however were against any top competition.

Prince Bira won the 1955 New Zealand Grand Prix which was not a championship race which would be Prince Bira's final international win in his racing career. Prince Bira showed up to the championship 1955 Belgian Grand Prix but did not put in an attempt to get on the grid. At the end of the season, Prince Bira retired from racing

Following his racing career, Prince Bira entered the Olympics in 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1972 in which he competed in sailing. Prince Bira returned to Thailand to live until finally moving back to Britain for the final stages of his life where he died of a heart attack on December 23, 1985. There is also a race track in his homeland of Thailand that is named after him.

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