Jack Brabham
Sir Jack Brabham, AO, OBE ( born April 2, 1926 in Hurstville, New South Wales, actually John Arthur Brabham ) is an Australian former racing driver who three times won the drivers' world championship of Formula 1. Of his colleagues and the press he was called because of its black hair 'Blackjack '.
Life and career
Brabham was from 1944 to 1946 as a mechanic in the Royal Australian Air Force and began in 1947 to construct its own sports car. Even in his later professional career, he designed his cars partially itself
From 1955 to 1970 he drove a total of 126 races for the team Cooper, Maserati, Lotus and founded his own Brabham team in Formula 1. He won 14 races and was three times Formula 1 World Champion (1959, 1960, 1966)
At the last race of the season 1959 Brabham emerged as leader of the world championship several hundred meters before the finish line surprisingly out of gas. He managed, however, to push his car still in fourth place over the finish line. Absence in the season only the top five results of a driver in the standings, he had in this race at least second must be to have more points than its competitors. His title counterparty Tony Brooks and Stirling Moss would have had to win this Grand Prix, in order to have a shot at the title. Since Brooks was third and Moss turned out, Brabham decided his first world championship in spite of the lack of fuel even for themselves.
From 1961 to 1965, the engine displacement in Formula 1 was limited to 1500 cc. Brabham won in that time, no world championship race, but decided in 1963, the Formula 1 race at Solitude, that did not count for the World Cup, for themselves. This was also the debut victory for his own team. 1966, the engine capacity was doubled to three liters, after which no team was prepared. Brabham Repco was built by a relatively simple V8 engine, with whom he due to its reliability, the drivers' world championship won in 1966. This was also the first and only time that a driver in a self-designed car world champion.
1970 when he retired from active racing at the age of almost 44 years, the trade press was surprised that the Australians then accepted as taciturn interviewees gave a dazzling and amusing speech. Background of his otherwise brief responses was his deafness, which he attributed to the high noise of installed directly behind the driver agent engines.
1998, at the age of 72 years, he drove a VW New Beetle on the Nürburgring- Nordschleife VLN 6h race.
1979 Brabham was defeated by Queen Elizabeth II knighted. 2008 awarded the title Officer of the Order of Australia was awarded for his services to motor sport as an ambassador, mentor and promoter of safety and for the general public by supporting charities. Today he lives in Surfers Paradise, Australia.
Formula 2
In the years 1958 and 1966 Brabham was a British Formula 2 champion. In the Formula 2 season 1965, he drove the Brabham BT16 Honda in five races on each second and ninth place and in two races the fastest lap. In the season of 1966 he went with his teammate Denis Hulme in the Brabham BT18 - Honda. He won this Formula 2 championship with 36 points and ten wins in twelve races before Hulme with 28 points.
World Champion Title
- Team: Cooper Car Co
- Vehicle: T45/T51
- Championship points: 31 (34 )
- World Cup Ranking: 1
- Teammate Masten Gregory, Bruce McLaren, Giorgio Scarlatti
- Team: Cooper Car Co
- Car: Cooper T51/53
- Championship points: 43
- World Cup Ranking: 1
- Team-mate Bruce McLaren
- Team: Brabham Racing Organisation
- Vehicle: Brabham BT19
- Championship points: 42 (45 )
- World Cup Ranking: 1
- Teammate Denis Hulme