Ron Tauranac - The man who put the 'T' in Brabham

Legendary motorsport designer Ron Tauranac, whose Brabham cars won two world titles in F1, has passed away at 95.

The Australian engineer, whose surname initial was part of Brabham cars' familiar  'BT' (Brabham-Tauranac) appellation enjoyed a massively successful partnership with country man Jack Brabham.

The pair won the F1 world championship in 1966 thanks to the Repco-powered Brabham BT20, while Denny Hulme repeated the feat a year later in 1967 with the championship winning BT24.

But Tauranac was also the prolific creator behind Ralt and its successful lineage of F3, F2 and Formula Atlantic cars that abounded on starting grids all over the world in the 70s and 80s.

Tauranac's family announced his passing in a statement released on Friday:

"The Tauranac family regretfully announces the loss of Ron Tauranac at the age of 95," announced the designer's family on Friday.

"Ron passed away peacefully in his sleep during the early hours of Friday morning at his home on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.

"Active, healthy, and independent until the end, he felt the need to constantly achieve something and always had the next goal in mind.

"He was never one to rest on his laurels, with his sharp engineering mind always engaged.

"When asked recently what the best car he designed was, he responded simply ‘the next one’.

"He led an extraordinary life. We are both incredibly proud of what he achieved and deeply saddened by his loss."

Tauranac, who was awarded the Order of Australia in 2002, is survived by his two daughters Jann and Julie.