On the death of Sir Jack Brabham
05/20/2014
The three-time F1 World Champion (1959 and 1961 with Cooper and 1966 with Brabham) from Australia, Sir Jack Brabham, has died at the age of 88.
In 1966, he was the only driver in history to become F1 World Champion with his own design, the Brabham BT19.
He celebrated his first Grand Prix success in the Principality of Monaco in 1959. Between 1955 and 1970, "Black Jack", as he was also known by his colleagues because of his black hair, contested 126 races in the premier class for the Cooper, Maserati, Lotus and, of course, Brabham racing teams. He stood at the top of the podium 14 times, started from pole position 13 times and set 12 fastest race laps.
However, this was just the beginning of a stellar career as a driving constructor, as New Zealander Denny Hulme became world champion in a Brabham in 1967 and Brazil's Nelson Piquet also won two titles for the Brabham racing team, now owned by Bernie Ecclestone, in 1981 and 1983. In addition to Bernie, Max Mosley (ex-FIA President), who later became the mastermind behind F1, also worked for Brabham in the 1970s.
In his last active season as a driver, at the age of 44 he was still winning races. The Australian caused a sensation in Monaco in 1970 when he slid into the straw bales while leading the race on the last corner before the finish line, losing his certain victory to Jochen Rindt. In addition, he broke down without fuel at the British GP at Brands Hatch and had to watch as Rindt was also celebrated as the winner in this race and became world champion posthumously at the end of the season.
Running out of fuel had already played a dramatic role in his first world title win: In the last race of the 1959 season in Sebring, Brabham, who was leading the world championship standings, unexpectedly ran out of fuel several hundred meters before the finish line. However, he still managed to push his car across the finish line in fourth place. As only the best five results of a driver are included in the season's standings, he would have had to finish at least second in this race to have more points than his rivals. His title rivals Tony Brooks and Stirling Moss would have had to win this Grand Prix to have a chance of winning the title. As Brooks finished third and Moss retired, Brabham still won his first world championship despite the lack of fuel.
His former opponent Sir Stirling Moss said: "I had the toughest battles ever with Jack Brabham. He liked to kick up stones and when he took the road away from me, I tried to attack on the other side. Once we raced against each other in New Zealand and I broke my half-axle. Although I was his toughest competitor, he offered me the half-axle of his spare car. I gratefully accepted and took the win, Jack came second. That was the way it was back then. Jack always tried everything to beat me on the track, but he would never have wanted to win if I had been forced to watch."
Born on April 2, 1926 in Hurstville (New South Wales), Jack Brabham began designing his own sports cars as early as 1947. He acquired much of his expertise as a mechanic in the Royal Australian Air Force.
Sir Jack Brabham was knighted by Queen Elizabeth ll in 1979.
His three sons Geoff, Gary and David also became successful racing drivers and his two grandsons Matthew and Sam are also at the beginning of what could be a great career.
Jack Brabham's son on the death of his father: "Our father passed away peacefully. He led an incredible life."
