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Sir Jack Brabham


Bennyg

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Just watching old racing footage on YouTube last night with him in it. One of the greats. Not only raced successfully, but survived at a a time when many other drivers did not. All of the footage I've ever seen of Sir Brabham, he always came off as a fairly humble man. I've never heard or read a bad thing about him. He had lived a good long life. I'm praying for his friends and loved ones. For I'm sure he is I'm a better place.

Scott Aho

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One of my favorite memories of Indy (from May 30, 1961): Watching Jack Brabham in his Cooper Climax, which was essentially an enlarged 1.5-liter Formula 1 car with the largest engine C-C could build up, only 2.5 liters, going up against 32 roadsters, powered by 4.2 Liter Offenhauser 4's. Lap after lap (sitting in Turn 1) Brabham would drive inside, outside, around and through the roadsters, only to be sucked under when they hit the backstretch (he'd just repeat the process in 3, then back again in 1), all day long.

While many in the crowd scoffed at the dark green (almost black) Cooper, there were some who knew they were seeing the future unfold on the Brickyard that day.

Godspeed, "Black Jack"!

Art

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One of my favorite memories of Indy (from May 30, 1961): Watching Jack Brabham in his Cooper Climax, which was essentially an enlarged 1.5-liter Formula 1 car with the largest engine C-C could build up, only 2.5 liters, going up against 32 roadsters, powered by 4.2 Liter Offenhauser 4's. Lap after lap (sitting in Turn 1) Brabham would drive inside, outside, around and through the roadsters, only to be sucked under when they hit the backstretch (he'd just repeat the process in 3, then back again in 1), all day long.

While many in the crowd scoffed at the dark green (almost black) Cooper, there were some who knew they were seeing the future unfold on the Brickyard that day.

Godspeed, "Black Jack"!

Art

t54_qualif_pic.jpg

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Sir Jack Brabham was the epitome of the intuitive, pragmatic, tenacious spirit of what was to become the New Golden Age of Formula 1. He was the pivotal figure among what Enzo Ferrari called (somewhat contemptuously) the “Garagistes”, the specialist racers and constructors that were the bane of the old establishment, the Manufacturer/Constructors. First as the driver/mechanic/engineer/recruiter critically instrumental in bringing Cooper to revolutionary greatness, and then as that purest of all motor racing archetypes, the driver/constructor, he was the only one among them, the McLarens, the Gurneys, the Surtees, the Hills, et al, to win the World Championship in a car of his own making. This unique achievement marked the symbolic end of the old era and the beginning of modern racing as we know it today. He lived a long and significant life leaving behind him several important racing development firms and 3 sons who themselves have greatly enriched motorsport. Rest In Peace, Sir Jack.

Nice appreciation of Sir Jack by Mike Lawrence on Pitpass.com: http://www.pitpass.com/51607/Jack-Brabham

Edited by Bernard Kron
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Another one of my heroes has finished the race. Truly a man who was larger than life.

Sir Jack Brabham... was the only one... to win the World Championship in a car of his own making.

What else needs to be said?

x19-sir-jack-brabham.jpg.pagespeed.ic.-h

EDIT: I almost forgot. Brabham was the guy responsible for Repco developing the Formula One engine based on the aluminum Oldsmobile 215 bottom end, and it was with that engine, in his own chassis, that he clinched his third World Championship.

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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