Jack Brabham

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Cooper indy 1961.jpgJack Brabham's 1961 Cooper-Climax, the car that began the rear-engine revolution at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Jack Brabham
Nationality Australian
Years 1955 - 1970
Team(s) Cooper, Rob Walker Racing Team and Brabham
Races 128
Championships 3
Wins 14
Podiums 31
Poles 13
Fastest laps 12
First race 1955 British Grand Prix
First win 1955 Monaco Grand Prix
Last win 1970 South African Grand Prix
Last race 1970 Mexican Grand Prix


Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham, OBE (born April 2, 1926) is an Australian racing driver who was Formula One champion in 1959, 1960 and 1966.

Brabham was a second generation Australian, born the son of a grocer in the Sydney suburb of Hurstville). He left school at 15 to work in a garage.

During World War II he served in the Royal Australian Air Force. In 1946 he opened a small repair business. He also raced midget cars and in his first season won the NSW Championship and formed a partnership with Ron Tauranac.

In 1955 he made his Grand Prix debut at the British Grand Prix driving his own Maserati 250F. He soon joined the Cooper Car Company team, which was the first to run the engine at the rear. In 1959 Brabham won the World Championship with a Coventry Climax engined Cooper. In 1960 he won the championship again with Cooper.

Brabham took the Championship-winning Cooper to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a test following the 1960 season, then entered the famous 500-mile race in a modified version of the Formula One car in 1961. The "funny" little car from Europe was mocked by the other teams, but it ran as high as third and finished ninth. The Indianapolis establishment gradually realized the writing was on the wall as Brabham and his team principal John Cooper had shown that the days of front-engined roadsters were numbered. Ironically, Cooper were not as competitive this year, as the 1.5 litre engine rules were introduced and the famous Shark Nose Ferrari dominated.

In 1961 he founded the Brabham Racing Organisation with Ron Tauranac. A newly introduced engine limit in Formula One of 1500 cc did not suit Brabham and he did not win a single race with a 1500 cc car, although his first team win came in 1964 with Dan Gurney. In 1966 a new 3000 cc formula was created, Brabham in a Brabham-Repco won the championship again and became the first driver to win the Formula One World Championship in a car that carried his own name. In 1967 the title went to his teammate Denny Hulme. Following injuries in the 1969 season Brabham intended to retire in 1970 but finding no top drivers available he raced for one more year, retiring after the Mexican Grand Prix. After retiring he made a complete break from racing, selling his interest in the team to Tauranac and returning to Australia. He was knighted in 1979.

All three of Brabham's sons - Geoff, Gary and David - are also engaged in racing careers.

He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990.

External link


Formula One World Drivers' Champions
(1950Nino Farina ·(1951Juan Manuel Fangio ·(195253Alberto Ascari ·(1954,55,56,57Juan Manuel Fangio ·(1958Mike Hawthorn · (195960Jack Brabham · (1961Phil Hill ·

(1962Graham Hill · (1963Jim Clark · (1964John Surtees · (1965Jim Clark · (1966Jack Brabham · (1967Denny Hulme · (1968Graham Hill · (1969Jackie Stewart · (1970Jochen Rindt · (1971Jackie Stewart · (1972Emerson Fittipaldi · (1973Jackie Stewart · (1974Emerson Fittipaldi · (1975Niki Lauda · (1976James Hunt · (1977Niki Lauda · (1978Mario Andretti · (1979Jody Scheckter · (1980Alan Jones · (1981Nelson Piquet · (1982Keke Rosberg · (1983Nelson Piquet · (1984Niki Lauda · (198586Alain Prost · (1987Nelson Piquet · (1988Ayrton Senna · (1989Alain Prost · (199091Ayrton Senna · (1992Nigel Mansell · (1993Alain Prost · (199495Michael Schumacher · (1996Damon Hill · (1997Jacques Villeneuve · (199899Mika Häkkinen · (2000,01,02,03,04Michael Schumacher · (200506Fernando Alonso