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As the first Formula One driver to ever receive knighthood, Sir Jack Brabham's death, age 88, carves a deep wound. While he will be forever referred to as a three-time world champion – and the only driver to have won the title on two feet rather than four wheels – more than anything, the Australian racer will be remembered as one of life's good guys, a tenacious competitor that truly embodied the value of sportsmanship.
After serving with the Royal Australian Air Force as a flight mechanic, Brabham's racing career began on the Aussie dirt in 1949, piloting a car he'd hand-built with a friend. His knack for controlling a midget on the loose surface helped propel him to Europe, where he hooked up with race car builder John Cooper (the very one that conceived the famed Mini Cooper). Brabham continued racing in Cooper's cars, and while doing so, helped develop the company's Bobtail mid-engine racer, a machine that was destined for Formula One.
While all other race cars featured the engine in front of the driver, Cooper's pioneering concept placed the motor behind the driver. However it never fulfilled its true potential until 1959 when Brabham won his first world title. It wasn't without drama, though, as with just 500 yards to the checkered flag at the United States Grand Prix in Sebring, his Cooper-Climax ran out of fuel. Unwilling to give in, Brabham pushed the car across the line on foot, claiming his first world championship ahead of Tony Brooks and Sir Stirling Moss.
Jack Brabham's Cooper-Climax at the 1961 Indianapolis 500

That title was backed up in 1960, and in 1961, Cooper and Brabham brought the rear-engined revolution to the Indianapolis 500. Despite being powered by a 2.7-liter engine with just 268 bhp, fighting the front-engined roadsters and their 430 bhp 4.5-liters, Brabham and his Cooper-Climax Type T54 ran as high as third before an unscheduled pit stop dropped them to ninth. Just a few years later, Cooper's genius rubbed off, and the 500's entire 33 car field raced aboard rear-engined machines. In 1962, Brabham created his own team, and in 1966, he became the only driver in history to win a championship driving for himself. Despite his achievements, the Australian is often overlooked when judging F1's greats. According to Sir Stirling Moss, arguably the greatest to never to win a world championship, that should not be the case:
"You'd always know when Jack was on a charge because he'd crouch down and almost disappear within the cockpit," said Moss. "Tail-out, broadsiding, showering me with gravel and tuffets from the verge... You could take the Aussie out of the dirt tracks but you couldn't take the dirt tracks out of the Aussie."

senor honda

By Alex Llyod
https://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motora...151214189.html

senor honda

By Noah Joseph
By Noah Joseph





There have only been about a dozen people who have won multiple Formula One World Championships. Thankfully the lion's share of them are still among us – names like Vettel, Alonso, Hakkinen, Lauda, Prost, Piquet, Fittipaldi and Stewart. Michael Schumacher is hanging on, but Senna, Fangio, Ascari and Graham Hill have all since departed this Earth. And we're bereaved to report that they'll have company as Jack Brabham has passed away.

The Australian driver started his career in midget racing and hillclimb events, working his way up to his F1 debut at the British Grand Prix in 1955. By 1958, after a few years in Formula 2, he was a permanent fixture on the F1 grid, winning the Monaco Grand Prix the next year en route to his first world title. He won a second with Cooper the following year, but after a fruitless 1961 he returned with his own team. In 1966 he won his third and final championship, putting him on equal footing in the history books with Lauda, Piquet, Senna and Stewart, but setting him apart by one notable metric: he was and remains still the only driver to win the championship in his own car.

Sir Jack won another handful of grands prix before retiring in 1970, selling his team (which went on to win another few championships with Denny Hulme and Nelson Piquet) initially to his collaborator Ron Tauranac, who in turn sold it to Bernie Ecclestone. Several of Jack's sons and grandsons have since gone on to race professionally. Jack Brabham died peacefully on Monday at his home on Australia's Gold Coast at the age of 88.

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Motor Authority



Formula One racing legend Sir Jack Brabham died early this morning at his home in the Gold Coast, on Australia’s east coast. The 88-year-old is said to have passed away peacefully although he had been in ill-health for some time.

Brabham, the first driver to be knighted for services to motorsport, was one of the most accomplished drivers and team owners in the history of F1. He won the Drivers’ titles in 1959, 1960 and 1966—the latter was earned while Brabham was driving for his own team and is likely to remain the only time in history that an F1 driver wins behind the wheel of a car bearing his own name. The Brabham team also took home the Constructors’ title in ’66 as well as the following year.

Brabham is survived by his wife Lady Margaret and sons Geoff, Gary and David. He also leaves a motorsport legacy behind. His sons Geoff, Gary and David followed him into the sport with great success: Geoff and David have competed in sports car racing and have both won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Geoff's son Matthew won his first Indy Lights race here in the U.S. recently, while David's son Sam is racing in the British Formula Ford series.