Jack Brabham: one of motor sport’s true greats

You ask any Formula One aficionado to reel off a list of the sport's greats, and without doubt Jack Brabham will be high amongst the distinguished names.

Brabham, who has died aged 88, has the distinction of being a three-time world champion, the only driver in the sport to win a title in a car of his own construction

Born as John Arthur Brabham, but who became affectionately known as 'Jack', was unsurprisingly revered in his homeland of Australia given he epitomised his nation's pioneering spirit.

Yet Brabham, the son of a greengrocer and flour dealer in Sydney, reluctantly made his way into a sport in which he would ultimately make his name.

Brabham was studying mechanical engineering when he was called up to work as a mechanic for the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II.

Following the war Brabham set up a garage and machine-shop business, and was on the hunt for surplus military equipment when he and Johnny Schonberg, an American friend and midget racer, came across a midget event in Brisbane one Monday night in 1946.

Whilst Brabham had no desire to partake himself, Schonberg at least convinced him to build a car which the latter would race, a notion that naturally grabbed his mechanical curiosity.

Schonberg was moderately successful for a couple of seasons, and upon deciding to retire, Brabham then took up the mantle, and found he had a natural aptitude for speed.

Brabham then turned his attention to hill climbing and quickly began breaking numerous records, and from there the next obvious step was to make the switch to road racing.

Driving a Cooper-Bristol shipped out from Europe, Brabham proved himself ahead of his time by attracting sponsorship.

The Australian racing authorities frowned upon such activities, however, with Brabham forced to remove the apparently offending logos.

But that did not stop him from again proving highly competitive, and with his passions rising it was in 1955 Brabham decided to make what he thought would be a one-year move to England.

Little did he know at the time it would be another 17 years before he returned to his homeland, and a hero at that with his three F1 titles in his pocket.

His association with Cooper stood him in good stead upon his arrival in England as he sought out the father-and-son car builders, Charles and John, at a time when they were turning the industry on its head.

Brabham made his debut in a Cooper T40 in the 1955 British Grand Prix at Aintree, but retired after 30 of the 90 laps with engine failure.

It was another year before Brabham tried his hand in F1 again, with the intervening 12 months spent competing in F2 and sportscars, this time with a car he had purchased, a Maserati 250F.

Brabham, though, lasted just four laps due to another engine failure, so he returned to the Cooper Car Company for 1957, and from there his stature grew.

Brabham scored his first points with fourth in the 1958 Monaco Grand Prix, a race he would win a year later — as well as the British — en route to claiming the first of his three championships.

Although the 1960 season started badly with retirement in Argentina and disqualification in Monaco for being given a push start after a spin, Brabham then won five straight races, and with it crown number two.

By this time Brabham's engineering instincts were kicking in, and his desire to build his own car, which he did with a long-time friend in Ron Tauranac as they established Motor Racing Developments Ltd.

With changing regulations, success was not so easy to come by, and it was not until 1964 that one of his cars stepped on to the top step of the podium with popular American Dan Gurney at the wheel.

Come 1966, and although many thought Brabham was past his best at the age of 40, F1’s switch to three-litre engines, and a supply from Repco, reignited his career.

His maiden win in his own car, the Brabham BT19, came in France, followed up by triumphs in Britain, the Netherlands and Germany, and with it his third world title.

The Dutch round proved particularly memorable as Brabham had the last laugh on his critics by hobbling on to the grid with the aid of a walking stick.

Gurney gave Brabham his second drivers' and constructors' titles in 1967, a year in which the Australian also won in France and Canada to finish as runner up.

Although Brabham won the opening race of 1970 in South Africa, it proved to be the last time he captured the chequered flag, and at the end of that season — at the age of 44, he opted to retire.

One of Brabham's mechanics that final year, however, was a certain Ron Dennis, now McLaren Group CEO.

In retirement from motor sport, Brabham maintained several business ventures, as well as running a farm between Sydney and Melbourne.

After receiving an OBE in 1966, Brabham was knighted in 1979 for his services to motorsport, one of many honours throughout his life.

Overall, Brabham competed in 128 grands prix over 15 years, winning 14 and standing on the podium a further 17 times, with 13 poles.

He is survived by his second wife, Margaret, and three sons from his first marriage, Geoff, Gary and David, all of whom have competed to some degree in motorsport.

Most recently, one of his grandsons, Matthew, won his first Indy Lights race, whilst another, Sam, has made the breakthrough into Formula Ford.