Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh (; ; 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, undertaking several long-distance flights in light aircraft and gliders; in 1952 he flew from London to Bangkok in his own twin-engine Miles Gemini. During the Second World War, when motor racing was suspended, he applied his aviation skills to the training of Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilots, later serving as chief instructor at the St Merryn Royal Naval Air Station with a specialisation in glider-pilot instruction.

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. 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 fifth at Donington and third 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. 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.

Training RAF pilots during World War II

F1 drivers are sometimes referred to as "pilots," a description that also applied to Bira, who had a strong interest in aviation, he undertook several long-distance journeys in light aircraft and gliders, and in 1952 flew from London to Bangkok in his own twin-engine Miles Gemini. During World War II, when motor racing was suspended, Bira applied his skills to training fighter pilots for Britain's Royal Air Force. He eventually became chief instructor at the St Merryn Royal Naval Air Station, specialising in glider-pilot instruction.

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. 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.

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.

Racing record

Career highlights

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)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key)

Complete non-championship Formula One results

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

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Ancestry

Notes

See also

• Chakri dynasty

• Formula One drivers from Thailand

• List of royal Olympians

References

External links

• text: Autocourse site

• Malcolm Campbell and Prince Bira photo: The Brooklands Society site

• pre-war pictures many photos: The Brooklands Society site

• His personal life text.

• A brief biography grandprix.com

• Snellman, L. 2000. The Prince and I, 8W.

• Prince Bira at The Crittenden Automotive Library , full F1 race-by-race statistics

• "Blue Wings to Bangkok" written by Bira 1953