Jack Brabham

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

 

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

 

[Edit] HistoriaNacido in Hurstville, Jack took the wheel for the first time at the age of 12. Fascinated by mechanics, creates an engine repair business in 1946 and started running. He won in New South Wales and at the same time, founded with Ron Tauranac a sports association that will lead later to the Brabham team. Brabham Cooper-Bristol built before the advertising was banned in Australia. In 1954, impressed during New Zealand GP in Ardmore. It is associated with John Cooper and participates in the F1 world championship.

 

In 1955, Britain ran a Cooper-Bristol, leaving after 30 laps. Jack Cooper also ran in Formula 2, winning 13 races from 1957 to 1960. Meanwhile, Jack would run in 1956, a Maserati race. In 1957, he ran four races and finished fourth in Monaco. It was in 1958 where his career really began. He played the first full season, winning the 4 th place in Monaco, 3 laps behind the winner.

 

In 1959, driving the car Cooper Coventry-climax of 2.5 liters was the most competitive. Jack got his first victory in the Monaco circuit, then won the British Grand Prix. His consistency opened the doors of the sacred world. 1960 will be even better despite a difficult start to the season, Jack Brabham would win five consecutive victories, making even a double. In the last race, he managed to clinch the fourth place in Riverside, pushing his car after running out of fuel on the last lap. But in 1961, the rule change would cause a disadvantage aBrabham by preventing it from the podium of the season.

 

In 1962, Ron Tauranac, creates the engine evolution for the future Brabham Racing team. After competing the first half of the season with a Lotus-Climax, the Brabham BT3 begins to run in Germany. In his second race, finished fourth and Jack became the first driver to win points with a car manufactured by himself. The following year, the American driver Dan Gurney joined the team. Brabham still would not win races but finished second in Mexico. In 1964, Brabham will be 2 times the third, while teammate won 2 races in France and Mexico. In 1965, Jack was even less away from the podium, but reached the podium in the U.S..

 

1966 marked the revival of Jack Brabham, getting four straight wins and become the third world title. For the first time a driver won the world title with a car of its manufacture. The following year, despite two victories, Brabham did not get a new title, which was for his teammate Denny Hulme. But the situation would deteriorate further. In 1968, Jack barely managed to score 2 points and would be overtaken by his teammate Jochen Rindt. In 1969, Brabham back on the podium, while the Belgian Jacky Ickx won two victories and achieving runner-up. 1970 will be the last pilot season australiano.Al beginning, won the South African Grand Prix, his last victory. In Monaco and Britain, he missed the victory in the final round at the hands of Jochen Rindt, ending champion posthumously. Finally, after 123 races, Brabham decided to withdraw from the competition. After retiring broke completely with the racing world, selling its shares in the team and returned to Australia Tauranac.

 

Brabham's three sons Geoff, Gary and David, are also racers.

 

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame Motor Sports in 1990. In 1979, Jack Brabham was the first racing driver first to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II of England. He continues in the racing business, despite a serious accident at Goodwood in 1999 and her hearing problem.

 

[Edit] Your participation in the 500 Miles took IndianapolisBrabham Cooper who won the World Championship to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a test after the 1960 season. He entered the famous 500-mile race in a modified version of Formula One car in 1961. The "funny" little car from Europe was mocked by the other teams, but reached as high as third and finished ninth. With this, Brabham and team manager John Cooper had shown that the days of front-engined racing cars were numbered.