F1 fans....it's 50 years....
Posted: Tue Aug 18, 2009 10:52 pm
...since Jack Brabham won the first of three World Drivers Championships.
The last race of the 1959 season was conducted at the Sebring cicuit, the US Grand Prix. Jacks Cooper Climax ran out of fuel on the last lap and he pushed the car 400 hundred yards to cross the finish line in fourth place. Notably the race was won by a 22 year old New Zealander, by the name of Bruce McLaren, who was mentored by Jack for many years. McLaren went on to a successful career in F1 and despite his tragic death in 1970, his nane still dominates F1.
Brabham's third championship came in 1966 in a car he designed and built. It was powered by an Oldsmobile 3 litre V8, put together by Repco an Australian auto parts company. The engines were built in Australia and shipped over to England.
His victory in 1966 is unique in that, he won the Championship in a car he designed and built himself. It is unlikely this feat will ever be repeated.
Jack has certainly had one of the most successful F1 careers, and it is a pity that his contribution to Motor Sport is celebrated more overseas than it is in Australia.
The last race of the 1959 season was conducted at the Sebring cicuit, the US Grand Prix. Jacks Cooper Climax ran out of fuel on the last lap and he pushed the car 400 hundred yards to cross the finish line in fourth place. Notably the race was won by a 22 year old New Zealander, by the name of Bruce McLaren, who was mentored by Jack for many years. McLaren went on to a successful career in F1 and despite his tragic death in 1970, his nane still dominates F1.
Brabham's third championship came in 1966 in a car he designed and built. It was powered by an Oldsmobile 3 litre V8, put together by Repco an Australian auto parts company. The engines were built in Australia and shipped over to England.
His victory in 1966 is unique in that, he won the Championship in a car he designed and built himself. It is unlikely this feat will ever be repeated.
Jack has certainly had one of the most successful F1 careers, and it is a pity that his contribution to Motor Sport is celebrated more overseas than it is in Australia.
They wouldn't let you do that these days, I think. 
