Jack Brabham

Australian Formula 1 driver and constructor who won three World Championships and became the first driver to win in a car bearing his own name.

Sir John Arthur "Jack" Brabham was born on 2 April 1926 in Hurstville, near Sydney, Australia, where his father ran a greengrocer's shop; young Jack was far more interested in driving and repairing the shop's delivery vehicles than in the produce itself. He served as a flight mechanic in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War before establishing his own engineering business and taking up midget-car racing in Australia and New Zealand. Brabham moved to England in 1955 to drive for the Cooper team, helping develop the innovative mid-engine layout that would revolutionise Formula One car design, and won back-to-back World Championships in 1959 and 1960 in the Cooper T51, ending the era of front-engined Grand Prix cars. Brabham co-founded his own constructor, Motor Racing Developments, with engineer Ron Tauranac in 1962, and in 1966, driving the Brabham-Repco BT19, he became the first and to date only driver in history to win the World Championship in a car bearing his own name, at 40 years old. Brabham retired from driving in 1970 with three world titles and 14 Grand Prix wins, and became the first Formula One driver to receive a knighthood in recognition of his contributions both as a driver and as one of the sport's pioneering constructors. All three of his sons, Geoff, Gary, and David, went on to become racing drivers, with David winning the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jack Brabham died on 19 May 2014, at age 88, on the Gold Coast, Australia.

Methodical, technical driver with exceptional mechanical knowledge

First driver to win championship in car bearing his own name, pioneered rear-engine revolution

• Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion 1959
• Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion 1960
• Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion 1966
• Monaco Grand Prix Winner 1959
• British Grand Prix Winner 1960
• Dutch Grand Prix Winner 1960
• Belgian Grand Prix Winner 1960
• French Grand Prix Winner 1960
• Portuguese Grand Prix Winner 1960
• French Grand Prix Winner 1966
• British Grand Prix Winner 1966
• Dutch Grand Prix Winner 1966
• OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) 1966
• Knight Bachelor (Sir Jack Brabham) 1979
• Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame Inductee