Brabham, Sir Jack

▪ Australian automobile race–car driver

byname of  Sir John Arthur Brabham 

born April 2, 1926, Hurtsville, N.S.W., Australia

      Australian automobile racer who won the world driving championship in 1966 in a car of his own construction.

      After serving in the Royal Australian Air Force in World War II, Brabham set up his own engineering business in 1946. He drove in midget racing (1946–52) in Australia, and in 1955 he moved to England to drive for the Cooper team in Grand Prix racing. Brabham won the world driving championship in 1959 and 1960. In 1961 he left Cooper to build his own Grand Prix cars, and he won a third world driving championship in 1966. He retired as a driver in 1970 while remaining active in racing management and engineering. Brabham was knighted in 1979, and he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990.

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