Jack Brabham

Jack Brabham
Brabham in 1966
Born
John Arthur Brabham

(1926-04-02)2 April 1926
Died19 May 2014(2014-05-19) (aged 88)
Spouses
Betty Beresford
(m. 1951; div. 1994)
Margaret Taylor
(m. 1995)
Children
Relatives
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityAustralia Australian
Active years19551970
TeamsCooper, privateer Maserati, Walker, Brabham
Entries128 (126 starts)
Championships3 (1959, 1960, 1966)
Wins14
Podiums31
Career points253 (261)[a]
Pole positions13
Fastest laps12
First entry1955 British Grand Prix
First win1959 Monaco Grand Prix
Last win1970 South African Grand Prix
Last entry1970 Mexican Grand Prix

Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham AO OBE (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1955 to 1970. Brabham won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in 1959, 1960 and 1966, and won 14 Grands Prix across 16 seasons. He co-founded Brabham in 1960, leading the team to two World Constructors' Championship titles, and remains the only driver to have won the World Drivers' Championship in an eponymous car.

Brabham was a Royal Australian Air Force flight mechanic and ran a small engineering workshop before he started racing midget cars in 1948. His successes with midgets in Australian and New Zealand road racing events led to his going to Britain to further his racing career. There he became part of the Cooper Car Company's racing team, building as well as racing cars. He contributed to the design of the mid-engined cars that Cooper introduced to Formula One and the Indianapolis 500, and won the Formula One world championship in 1959 and 1960. In 1962 he established his own Brabham marque with fellow Australian Ron Tauranac, which in the 1960s became the largest manufacturer of custom racing cars in the world. In the 1966 Formula One season Brabham became the only man to win the Formula One world championship driving one of his own cars. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving World Champion of the 1950s.

Brabham retired to Australia after the 1970 Formula One season, where he bought a farm and maintained business interests, which included the Engine Developments racing engine manufacturer and several garages.[1]


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  1. ^ "Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Ferrari's first F1 winner, dies aged 90". Autosport. 15 June 2013. Archived from the original on 20 March 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2013.