Jack Brabham | |
---|---|
Born | John Arthur Brabham 2 April 1926 Hurstville, New South Wales, Australia |
Died | 19 May 2014 Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia | (aged 88)
Spouses | Betty Beresford
(m. 1951; div. 1994)Margaret Taylor (m. 1995) |
Children | |
Relatives |
|
Formula One World Championship career | |
Nationality | Australian |
Active years | 1955–1970 |
Teams | Cooper, privateer Maserati, Walker, Brabham |
Entries | 128 (126 starts) |
Championships | 3 (1959, 1960, 1966) |
Wins | 14 |
Podiums | 31 |
Career points | 253 (261)[a] |
Pole positions | 13 |
Fastest laps | 12 |
First entry | 1955 British Grand Prix |
First win | 1959 Monaco Grand Prix |
Last win | 1970 South African Grand Prix |
Last entry | 1970 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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