Jack Brabham

Interesting facts

Before racing he trained in metalwork, carpentry and technical drawing at trade college, then ran his own machine shop and later a car dealership while quietly plotting to build racing cars with engineer Ron Tauranac. From 1955 he showed up at the Cooper works daily, personally building and developing the mid-engined Bobtail sports car, shaping the team's design direction as much as driving for it. At the 1961 Indianapolis 500 his underpowered rear-engined Cooper still out-cornered the front-engined roadsters, a demonstration that pushed almost the entire Indy field to switch layouts within five years. For 1966 he bet against the era's complex twelve-cylinder trend, commissioning Repco of Australia to build a simpler eight-cylinder engine around an Oldsmobile aluminium block he had personally identified. Colleagues nicknamed him 'Black Jack' for his guarded, press-averse manner and the ruthless calm he showed on track. At the 1966 Dutch Grand Prix, aged forty, he mocked newspaper commentary about his age by limping to his car on a cane wearing a fake beard, then won the race outright. He clinched the 1959 title after running dry on the final lap at Sebring and pushing his car across the line, since fourth place was enough to beat his closest rival. Jack Brabham made his Formula 1 debut in 1955 and raced until 1970, 16 seasons in total as an Australian driver. He won the World Championship 3 times, in 1959, 1960, 1966. He scored a total of 255 championship points over his career.