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106-498: The Irish Formula Ford Championship , which is affiliated to Motorsport Ireland is run on various Irish circuits including Mondello Park , Kirkistown , Phoenix Park Motor Racing Circuit and Nutts Corner . This article related to sport in Ireland is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This motorsport-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Formula Ford Formula Ford

212-581: A 13-point championship lead with four races to go. At the Portuguese Grand Prix at Monsanto Park, Brabham was chasing race leader Moss when a backmarker moved over on him and launched the Cooper into the air. The airborne car hit a telegraph pole, throwing Brabham onto the track, where he narrowly avoided being hit by one of his teammates but escaped with no serious injury. With two wins each, Brabham, Moss, and Ferrari's Tony Brooks were all capable of winning

318-568: A Cooper had won in Argentina, other cars had been faster before they broke down. Brabham helped design the more advanced Cooper T53 , including advice from Tauranac. Brabham spun the new car out of the next championship race, the Monaco Grand Prix , but then embarked on a series of five straight victories. He won from the front at the Dutch , French , and Belgian Grands Prix , where title rival Moss

424-490: A Formula Ford constructor, dominating sales for that year. Other new manufactures included Crosslé Car Company , Dulon, Elden Racing Cars , Hawke Racing Cars and Royale Racing Cars, together with existing constructors such as Brabham choosing to build a Formula Ford chassis. As the production Ford Cortina engine evolved to a new 1600cc crossflow unit, so did the Formula Ford regulations. Increasing costs forced them to relax

530-687: A Formula One Grand Prix. In 1972, he became the first Formula Ford graduate to win the Formula One world championship. In the United States, starting with a 1983 debut race and victory at the 1983 SCCA Runoffs the Swift DB-1 became the dominant chassis in North America Formula Ford racing with ten championships between 1983 and 1996. The DB-6 evolution of the chassis won an additional six championships through 2008. During this time Formula Ford

636-530: A company called Motor Racing Developments (MRD), which produced customer racing cars, while Brabham himself continued to race for Cooper. MRD produced cars for Formula Junior , with the first one appearing in mid-1961. Brabham left Cooper in 1962 to drive for his own team: the Brabham Racing Organisation, using cars built by Motor Racing Developments. A newly introduced engine limit in Formula One of 1500 cc did not suit Brabham and he did not win

742-432: A complete break from racing and returned to Australia, to the relief of his wife who had been "scared stiff" each time he drove. Following his retirement, Brabham and his family moved to a farm between Sydney and Melbourne. Brabham says that he "never really wanted" the move, but his wife Betty hoped their sons could grow up away from motorsport. As well as running the new venture, he continued his interest in businesses in

848-415: A different approach to the problem of obtaining a suitable engine: he persuaded Australian engineering company Repco to develop a new 3-litre eight-cylinder engine for him. Repco had no experience in designing complete engines. Brabham had identified a supply of suitable engine blocks obtained from Oldsmobile 's aluminium alloy 215 engine and persuaded the company that an engine could be designed around

954-407: A direct path to a seat on a Formula One car, the highest level in open wheel motorsport. Australian Tim Schenken won over two dozen Formula Ford races in 1968, two years later he was driving a Formula One car for Frank Williams . Emerson Fittipaldi impressed during the 1970 Formula One Grand Prix season after a short stint in Formula Ford. In 1970, he became the first Formula Ford graduate to win

1060-599: A fully adjustable aerodynamic package which includes front and rear wings previously never used in the British championship. Another change for the 2013 season was Duratec class cars being ineligible for the championship, leaving only the EcoBoost class. The series also moved back to supporting the BTCC . In the 2015 the championship was renamed MSA Formula . In 2016, it was rebranded as F4 British Championship . Several former drivers of

1166-559: A generally unsuccessful season in 1965, Honda revised their 1-litre engine completely. Brabham won ten of the year's 16 European Formula Two races in his Brabham-Honda. There was no European Formula Two championship that year, but Brabham won the Trophées de France , a championship consisting of six of the French Formula Two races. In 1967, the Formula One title went to Brabham's teammate Denny Hulme . Hulme had better reliability through

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1272-744: A highly uncharacteristic stunt, at the Dutch Grand Prix he hobbled to his car on the starting grid before the race wearing a long false beard and leaning on a cane before going on to win the race. Brabham confirmed his third championship at the Italian Grand Prix and became the only driver to win the Formula One World Championship in a car that carried his own name. The season also saw the fruition of Brabham's relationship with Japanese engine manufacturer Honda in Formula Two. After

1378-726: A knack for the sport, winning on his third night's racing. From there he was a regular competitor and winner in Midgets (known as Speedcars in Australia) at tracks such Sydney's Cumberland Speedway , the Sydney Showground , and the Sydney Sports Ground , as well as interstate tracks such as Adelaide 's Kilburn and Rowley Park speedways and the Ekka in Brisbane . Brabham has since said that it

1484-410: A large crash at the first corner and was running third towards the end of the race when the fuel pump mount failed. After more than three hours of racing, the exhausted Brabham, who "hated to be beaten", pushed the car to the line to finish sixth. The following year, he was Autocar Formula Two champion in a Cooper, while continuing to score minor points-scoring positions with the small-engined Coopers in

1590-487: A lot better off if I'd stayed, but sometimes family pressures don't allow you to make the decisions you'd like to." The World according to Jack , Motor Sport (May 1999) p.36 Finding no top drivers available despite coming close to bringing Rindt back to the team, Brabham decided to race for one more year. He began auspiciously, winning the first race of the season, the South African Grand Prix, and then led

1696-586: A new team planning to use a crowdsourcing business model to enter the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 category. During his own retirement from international motorsport, Brabham continued to be semi-involved as both a driver in Australia, mostly racing touring cars in the famed Bathurst 1000 race, and supporting the racing ambitions of his 3 sons. His last ever international race came in December 1984 at

1802-416: A resounding success in the school. The earliest experiments with radial tires bore fruit as well: the students of the day did not care that these were not the racing engines or racing tires, just that the cars were equal. At an informal meeting at the December 1966 racing car show day at Olympia, Webb and Clarke were discussing the possibility of building a fleet of identical open wheel race cars based on

1908-410: A single race with a 1500 cc car. His team suffered poor reliability during this period and motorsport authors Mike Lawrence and David Hodges have said that Brabham's reluctance to spend money may have cost the team results, a view echoed by Tauranac. During the 1965 season , Brabham started to consider retirement to manage his team. Dan Gurney , who had taken the team's first championship race win

2014-434: A statement on the family's website, Brabham's son David confirmed his father's death. "It's a very sad day for all of us", David Brabham stated. "My father passed away peacefully at home at the age of 88 this morning. He lived an incredible life, achieving more than anyone would ever dream of and he will continue to live on through the astounding legacy he leaves behind." Brabham was the last surviving world champion from

2120-411: A testing accident. He returned to racing before the end of the year, but promised his wife that he would retire after the season finished and sold his share of the team to Tauranac. "I felt very sad, [...] I didn't feel I was giving up racing because I couldn't do the job. I felt I was just as competitive then as at any other time, and I really should have won the championship in 1970. [...] I'd have been

2226-687: A week. Nonetheless, that year he attended a celebration of the 50th anniversary of his first world championship at the Phillip Island Classic festival of motorsport, and in 2010 flew to Bahrain with most of the other Formula One world Drivers' Champions for a celebration of 60 years of the Formula One world championship. Brabham was the oldest surviving F1 champion. Brabham and Betty had three sons together: Geoff , Gary , and David . All three became involved in motorsport, with support from Brabham in their early years. Between them, they have won sportscar and single-seater races and championships. Geoff

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2332-582: Is also a popular choice in the US and Canada. The class provides a venue for Formula Ford 2000 as well as the earlier Formula C (1100 cc pure racing engine) and Formula Super Vee (production-based VW engines) cars. Formula Continental cars employ aerodynamic effects (front and rear wings). In the United States, used Formula Ford racing chassis are also proving to be a popular source of conversion into Formula 1000 cars and their closely related sports car bodied cousins D Sport Racing . Ford Motorsport administers some of

2438-532: Is no overarching point score to declare a series champion. The Australian Formula Ford Series is an Australian motor racing competition for Formula Ford racing cars. It has been held annually since 1970, originally as a national series and from 1993 to 2013 as the Australian Formula Ford Championship. The control engine was changed from the first-generation Kent engine to the third-generation Mazda-sourced Ford Duratec engine in 2006. In 2014

2544-480: Is not a one-make championship. It allows freedom of chassis design, engine build and numerous technical items of specification on the car. This opens the door to many chassis manufacturers, large and small. Many other single-seater formula series impose fixed specifications. Only two other professional single-seater racing formula series in the world offer the same freedom of chassis and engine build: Formula Three and Formula One . The origins of Formula Ford began in

2650-453: Is the current incarnation of a pan-European championship for Formula Ford competitors, last held previously in 2001. The 2011 series was aimed at giving drivers experience at European race circuits. Three national Formula Ford championships are involved in the revived championship, these being the British , Benelux and Scandinavian championships. While individual events nominate a winner, there

2756-473: The 1968 season . It wasn't a good season for him. He retired from the first seven races, before scoring two points for fifth place at the German Grand Prix . He retired from the remaining four races. At the end of the year, he fulfilled a desire to fly from Britain to Australia in a small twin-engined Beechcraft Queen Air . Partway through the 1969 season , Brabham suffered serious injuries to his foot in

2862-744: The Belgian Grand Prix with another blown engine. He fixed this by winning the French Grand Prix at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans . He came fourth at the British Grand Prix , behind Chris Amon , his teammate Hulme, and Clark. At the German Grand Prix , he had a huge battle with Amon, and Brabham eventually finished ahead of the New Zealander, by only half a second. Hulme was the winner. At

2968-463: The Brands Hatch circuit. This brought him in contact with John Webb; managing director of developments at Brands Hatch. At about this time, two of the school's Lotus Formula Junior chassis were fitted with a standard 1498cc Ford "Kent" pushrod engine as featured in the recently introduced Cortina GT saloon . The 1500 Cortina, with its reliability and horsepower output fairly close to “F3 proper” proved

3074-532: The British Formula Ford Championship . The Brabham family have been involved in world-class motorsport for over 60 years. Brabham made his last public appearance on 18 May 2014, appearing with one of the cars he built. He died at his home on the Gold Coast on 19 May 2014, aged 88, following a lengthy battle with liver disease. He was eating breakfast with his wife, Margaret, when he died. In

3180-533: The Cooper Car Company 's racing team, building as well as racing cars. He contributed to the design of the mid-engined cars that Cooper introduced to Formula One and the Indianapolis 500 , and won the Formula One world championship in 1959 and 1960 . In 1962 he established his own Brabham marque with fellow Australian Ron Tauranac , which in the 1960s became the largest manufacturer of custom racing cars in

3286-499: The French Grand Prix at Reims-Gueux , Jack Brabham took his first Formula One world championship win since 1960 and became the first man to win such a race in a car of his own construction. Only his two former teammates, Bruce McLaren and Dan Gurney , have since matched this achievement. It was the first in a run of four straight wins for the Australian veteran. The 40-year-old Brabham was annoyed by press stories about his age and, in

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3392-465: The Gold Coast, Queensland . Brabham's grandson Matthew (son of Geoff) graduated from karts in 2010 and won two ladders of the Road to Indy , eventually racing in the 2016 Indianapolis 500 and winning three Stadium Super Trucks championships. Another grandson, Sam , the son of David and Lisa , whose brother Mike also was an F1 driver, stepped up to car racing from karts in 2013 when he made his debut in

3498-602: The Lotus 51 . He agreed to provide the first of two 25 car batches at £850 per car. The only stipulation Chapman had was that a Renault gearbox was used. This proved to be fundamental weak point in the drive train. Difficulty with the Renault transmission resulted in a failure to continue with the second batch of cars for MRS. Russell approached Chapman to supply Formula Ford cars for his own school. Chapman insisted Russell match Clarke's 50 car order; Russell would only commit to 10 cars so

3604-526: The Royal Automobile Club 's competition director, to establish rules for this new class. Late in 1967, Ford announced the new Formula Ford class to the world. Clarke then set about approaching existing race car constructors to build the first Formula Fords. Both Bruce McLaren and Jack Brabham turned down the idea; Colin Chapman however dusted off the obsolete Lotus 31 Chassis and reinvented it as

3710-486: The United States Grand Prix . Brabham outqualified his teammate, and finished fifth in the race, and with Hulme on the podium, this meant the championship chances were looking slim for Black Jack, as the circus went to Mexico for the championship deciding and final race of the season. Once again, he outqualified his teammate, and needed to win, with Hulme fifth or lower. But Jim Clark was simply too fast during

3816-551: The monocoques found in other types of single-seater racing. The more popular marques as of 2012 were Van Diemen , Mygale and the Australian-built Spectrum , but smaller manufacturers such as Ray Race Cars and Vector have had some success. Historical designers who have made a mark on the series have included: Titan, Lotus , Merlyn, Hawke, Citation, Swift , Euroswift, Elden , Reynard , Crosslé , Lola , Zink, Bowin , Royale, and Cooper Racing . Top speeds in

3922-549: The 1.1-litre Coventry Climax FJ and later the "Kent" engine from the Ford Anglia 105E , cost around £3,000 at the time in addition to the Dunlop racing tires which cost £80 a set. Furthermore, these engines were incredibly fragile and had a tendency to self-destruct. All these factors contributed to a steep maintenance and upkeep cost of the schools. In 1963, Geoff Clarke; the owner of Motor Racing Stables, moved his racing school to

4028-667: The 1950s era. At his request, his ashes were scattered at the Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk in the Gold Coast hinterland on 4 September 2014. Brabham was a frequent visitor of the skywalk. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) † Events with 2 races staged for

4134-731: The 2010 season. It is sanctioned by the United States Auto Club , and is a part of Road to Indy . The F1600 Championship Series was created by the SCCA in 2011. The series is organized by Formula Race Promotions, the same organization which organizes the F2000 Championship Series . The class operates under the same rules as the SCCA Formula F, with both the Ford Kent and Honda L15A7 engines permitted. Therefore, many drivers from

4240-412: The 4.4-litre, 430 bhp (321 kW; 436 PS) Offenhauser engines used by the front-engined roadsters driven by all the other entrants. Jack qualified a respectable 17th at 145.144 mp/h (pole winner Eddie Sachs qualified at 147.481 mp/h), and while the front-engined roadsters were much faster on the long front and back straights, the rear-engined Cooper's superior handling through the turns and

4346-525: The British championship have become successful in Formula One, including Eddie Irvine and Anthony Davidson , while Formula Ford champions Ayrton Senna and Jenson Button also went on to win the Formula One Drivers' Championship . For many years the highlight of the Formula Ford season was the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch , England. Entries of several hundred cars from all over

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4452-458: The Cooper factory for parts led to a friendship with Charlie and John Cooper , who told the story that after many requests for a drive with the factory team, Brabham was given the keys to the transporter taking the cars to a race. Brabham soon "seemed to merge into Cooper Cars": he was not an employee, but he started working at Cooper daily from the midpoint of the 1955 season building a Bobtail mid-engined sports car , intended for Formula One ,

4558-451: The EcoBoost car utilises power from a turbocharged engine and a sequential gearbox . The new car has 121 kW (165 PS; 162 hp), with identical engine calibration for every competitor's car. The chassis remains a steel spaceframe construction, with free chassis design open to all manufacturers. New to the car is its compliance with Formula Three safety standards, which involves mandatory crash structures, side-impact panels running

4664-505: The Formula Ford world were common into the 1990s, with racers competing in knockout heats to decide the grid for a grand final. Entries later declined, and later festivals struggled to attract more than 40-50 cars, enough for two heats and a final. More "historic" FF1600 cars had been turning up for the supporting races than contemporary Zetecs, however in 2006 the Festival saw the Duratec engine for

4770-591: The National Class are easily as high as in the other junior formulae of BMW and Renault , but cornering speeds tend to be lower as Formula Ford cars lack the downforce-producing aerodynamic aids on the other cars; handling is therefore entirely down to mechanical grip, and the lack of wings ensures that cars following another are not aerodynamically disadvantaged, allowing some of the closest racing with plenty of overtaking. Series' rules may permit slick or treaded tires, generally supplied either by Dunlop or Avon . As

4876-557: The Top 10 of all time, noting that "Stirling Moss and Jim Clark dominated the headlines when Jack was racing, and they still do". Brabham was the first post-war racing driver to be knighted when he received the honour in 1978 for services to motorsport. He has received several other honours and in 2011, the suburb of Brabham in Perth , Western Australia, was named after him. A race circuit and an automotive training school were also named after him in

4982-661: The UK and Australia, including a small aviation company and garages and car dealerships. He also set up Engine Developments Ltd. in 1971 with John Judd , who had worked for Brabham on the Repco engine project in the mid 1960s. The company builds engines for racing applications. Brabham was also a shareholder in Jack Brabham Engines Pty Ltd., an Australian company marketing Jack Brabham memorabilia. The Brabham team continued in Formula One, winning two further Drivers' Championships in

5088-469: The UK and work with him, producing upgrade kits for Sunbeam Rapier and Triumph Herald road cars at his car dealership, Jack Brabham Motors, but with the long-term aim of designing racing cars. Brabham continued to drive for Cooper, but on the long flight back from the 1960 season -opening Argentine Grand Prix , he had a heart-to-heart with John Cooper. John's father Charlie and the designer Owen Maddock had been reluctant to update their car, but although

5194-819: The World Drivers' Championship and driving for Aston Martin in Sportscars. His schedule necessitated a considerable amount of travel on the roads of Europe. Brabham's driving on public roads was described as "safe as houses", unlike many of his contemporaries—on the way back from the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix , passenger Tony Brooks took over driving after Brabham refused to overtake a long line of lorries. In late 1958, Brabham rekindled his interest in flying and began taking lessons. He bought his own plane and on gaining his licence began to make heavy use of it piloting himself, his family, and members of his team around Europe to races. In 1959 , Cooper obtained 2.5-litre engines for

5300-472: The age of 15 he left school to work, combining a job at a local garage with an evening course in mechanical engineering. Brabham soon branched out into his own business selling motorbikes, which he bought and repaired for sale, using his parents' back veranda as his workshop. One month after his 18th birthday on 19 May 1944 Brabham enlisted into the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Although he

5406-454: The age of 58 in the last round of the 1984 World Sportscar Championship held at Sandown Park in Melbourne , the 1984 Sandown 1000 . Jack drove as a guest driver in a Rothmans sponsored Porsche 956 co-driving with 1984 British Formula 3 champion and Scottish Aristocrat , Johnny Dumfries . The pair, driving a car with an in-car camera showing Jack up close and personal at the wheel for

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5512-466: The block, largely using existing components. Brabham and Repco were aware that the engine would not compete in terms of outright power, but felt that a lightweight, reliable engine could achieve good championship results while other teams were still making their new designs reliable. The combination of the Repco engine, designed by Phil Irving, and the Brabham BT19 chassis designed by Tauranac worked. At

5618-438: The championship at the final event of the season, the United States Grand Prix at Sebring. Brabham was among those up until 1 am the morning before the race working on the Cooper team cars. The next day, after pacing himself behind Moss, who soon retired with a broken gearbox, he led almost to the end of the race before running out of fuel on the last lap. He again pushed the car to the finish line to place fourth, although in

5724-462: The championship was downgraded to a national series with Duratec-engined cars and Kent-engined cars both eligible to compete alongside each other. Currently, the winner wins a ticket to a scouting combine for INDYCAR at the end of the calendar year. The USF2000 Championship is an American racing series using the American variation of the Formula Ford formula, Formula Ford 2000, that resumed operation for

5830-526: The championship. He had a little more success in the non-championship Formula One races, where he ran his own private Coopers and took three victories at Snetterton (26 March), Brussels (9 April), and Aintree (22 April). The same year , Brabham entered the famous Indianapolis 500 oval race for the first time in a modified version of the Formula One Cooper. It had a 2.7-litre Climax engine producing 268 bhp (200 kW; 272 PS) compared to

5936-534: The deal fell through. Russell then approached Taylor who built the Alexis car and a deal was struck to jointly produce the Russell-Alexis. This car had a Hewland racing gearbox which made the car more expensive (£999), but was more reliable and allowed interchangeable ratios. The first standalone Formula Ford race took place at Brands Hatch on July 2, 1967. Of the 20 cars that competed, 10 were MRS Lotus 51s, including

6042-552: The early 1960s, where motor racing schools such as the Jim Russell school and Motor Racing Stables featured single-seat Formula Junior and Formula Three -like machines from world-class constructors like Cooper and Lotus . Many aspiring Formula One stars looked to these schools in the hope of learning the craft and also looking the part. However, although there was no shortage of aspiring drivers, these schools had much trouble avoiding bankruptcy. The 1-litre Formula Three engines,

6148-538: The early 1980s under Bernie Ecclestone 's ownership. Although the original organisation went into administration in 1992, the name was attached to a German company selling cars and accessories in 2008, and an unsuccessful attempt to set up a new Formula One team the following year. On both occasions the Brabham family, which was unconnected to the ventures, announced its intention to take legal advice. In September 2014, Brabham's youngest son David announced Project Brabham ,

6254-466: The early 2010s. In retirement, Brabham continued to be involved in motorsport events, appearing at contemporary and historic motorsport events around the world where he often drove his former Cooper and Brabham cars until the early 2000s. In 1999, after competing at the Goodwood Revival at the age of 73 he commented that driving stopped him getting old. Despite a large accident at the 2000 Revival,

6360-532: The engine of the Formula Ford car, it has long provided a relatively inexpensive way for drivers to race purpose-built racecars. There are many Formula Ford 1600 series for drivers of the older Kent-powered cars. A Formula Ford car is one of the more distinctive-looking open-wheel race cars because it does not have wings to create aerodynamic downforce. In order to reduce cost and allow smaller manufacturers to produce their own design of chassis without prohibitive tooling costs, chassis are steel space frame , unlike

6466-505: The event this was unnecessary as his other title rival, Brooks, finished only third. His championship-winning margin over Brooks was four points. According to Gerald Donaldson, "some thought [his title] owed more to stealth than skill, an opinion at least partly based on Brabham's low-key presence." Despite his success with Cooper, Brabham was sure he could do better. He considered buying Cooper in partnership with Roy Salvadori and then in late 1959 he asked his friend Ron Tauranac to come to

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6572-640: The eventual winner, Ray Allen. The Russell-Alexis car won its debut race in August 1967, and by 1968 54 Russell-Alexis had been sold. Based on this success Russell opened two more racing schools in Britain, another in Canada, and another in the United States. Chapman and his Lotus 51 did recover, replacing the troublesome Renault gearbox with the Hewland unit, even claiming Russell as a customer in 1968. Also in 1968, Meryln debuted as

6678-607: The finish in second place. After the 13th and final race of the season, the Mexican Grand Prix, Brabham did retire. He had tied Jackie Stewart for fifth in the points standings in the season he drove at the age of 44. Brabham also drove for the works Matra team during the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season and won the final race of the season and his final top level race at the Paris 1000 km in October that year. He then made

6784-403: The first ever Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park , he took a huge win, ahead of Hulme, in cold and rainy conditions. At the Italian Grand Prix at Monza , Brabham had to finish second, only a few car lengths behind John Surtees , who took his last GP win. Hulme retired from the race, cutting the gap to 3 points between the two, as the circus headed for the United States, at Watkins Glen for

6890-415: The first racing accident to put him in hospital overnight, he continued to drive until at least 2004. By the late 2000s, ill-health was preventing him from driving in competition. In addition to the deafness caused by years of motor racing without adequate ear protection, his eyesight was reduced due to macular degeneration and he had kidney disease for which by 2009 he was receiving dialysis three times

6996-441: The first time and Brabham put the extra power to good use by winning his first world championship race at the season-opening Monaco Grand Prix after Jean Behra 's Ferrari and Stirling Moss 's Cooper failed. More podium places were followed by a win in the British Grand Prix at Aintree after Brabham preserved his tyres to the end of the race, enabling him to finish ahead of Moss who had to pit to replace worn tyres. This gave him

7102-401: The first time thereby having a final for all three marques at one meeting for the first time. The Walter Hayes Trophy now recognises the continuing interest in 1600cc 'Kent' Formula Ford and attracted over 150 entries in 2006, including several drivers who more commonly compete in much more senior formulae. The Formula Ford EuroCup, known originally as the "European Formula Ford Championship",

7208-453: The first time, were not classified as finishers after only completing 108 laps. The race was Australia's first ever FISA World Championship road racing event, preceding the 1985 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide by 11 months. Despite his three titles, and although John Cooper considered him "the greatest", Formula One journalist Adam Cooper wrote in 1999 that Brabham is never listed among

7314-411: The full height and length of the cockpit, an FIA -specified headrest and an extricable safety seat. In addition to the safety enhancements, some mandatory elements of bodywork shape have also been introduced. These will define the shape, size and orientation of the sidepod air intakes and the roll-hoop cover. By mandating these the frontal areas will be equalised between different manufacturers, removing

7420-459: The heavier but not significantly more powerful Zetec engine in 2006), and for 2012 are beginning to adopt the new EcoBoost 1600 turbo engine; and a mainly amateur, club-racing series attracting serious enthusiasts using the now rejuvenated 1600 Kent engine with which the formula ran from the mid-1960s to mid-1990s, as Ford restarted production of the Kent engine in 2009 for motorsport reasons. Whatever

7526-505: The intent of providing power similar to the existing Kent motor. Honda developed an install kit around the Swift DB-1 chassis. With the introduction of the Honda motor SCCA changed the class name from Formula Ford to Formula F. Formula Ford has given birth to several other categories of racing: Formula Ford 2000 evolved in the 1970s to use a Pinto engine and, although it used basically Formula Ford chassis, permitted use of slicks and wings; it

7632-413: The late 1960s to create a sportscar category related to Formula Ford but using a 1300 cc Ford engine; the cars were heavy and slow. The proposed Formula Turbo Ford , an attempt to update FF2000, of the mid-1980s was limited to one Reynard that ran a few demonstration laps. Formula Ford remains popular in its 1600 cc form—the cars are widely raced , sprinted and hillclimbed. Formula Continental

7738-473: The local club racing scene make their appearance in the national series. The Southern Formula 1600 Championship was created by Right Turn Promotions and Primus Racing Parts for 2018. The series races on SCCA event weekends, alongside the Southern Formula 2000 Championship. The class operates under the same rules as the SCCA Formula F. Racing at traditional road race tracks in the southern United States,

7844-498: The main entry level class in the mid-2000s; the demise of Formula BMW in Europe after only a few years of operation caused somewhat of a resurgence in support for the Ford grids. In the UK there are many club-level regional series aimed at the amateur enthusiast, as well as championships for older Fords. Since 2009, Ford officials in the United States has begun active production of Kent engines in

7950-467: The midget at some hillclimbing events in 1951, Brabham became interested in road racing . He bought and modified a series of racing cars from the Cooper Car Company , a British constructor, and from 1953 concentrated on this form of racing, in which drivers compete on closed tarmac circuits. He was supported by his father and by the Redex fuel additive company, although his commercially aware approach—including

8056-431: The national Formula Ford championships around the world, and continue to control the technical regulations for all cars globally. The older Kent-engined cars are very popular with club racers, providing the ground for several organizations to run their own series. Many racing schools offer driver training in Formula Ford cars. However, in many countries, Formula BMW and Formula Renault Campus had superseded Formula Ford as

8162-586: The potential for significant aerodynamic advantage, making driving ability and the skills of engineers and designers in car set-up the major factors. In the United States Formula Ford continues to use the earlier Ford Kent engines. For 2010 the Honda L15A7 engine used in the Honda Fit was introduced as an alternative engine. The Honda engine was developed in partnership with Quicksilver RacEngines with

8268-475: The previous year, took the lead driver role while Brabham gave up his car to several other drivers towards the end of the season. At the end of the season, Gurney announced his intention to leave and set up his own team and Brabham decided to carry on. In 1966, a new 3-litre formula was created for Formula One. The new engines under development by other suppliers all had at least 12 cylinders and proved difficult to develop, being heavy and unreliable. Brabham took

8374-467: The race as a turning point, proving that he could compete at this level. He shipped the Bobtail back to Australia, where he used it to win the 1955 Australian Grand Prix before selling it to help fund a permanent move to the UK the following year with his wife Betty and their son Geoff . Brabham briefly and unsuccessfully campaigned his own second hand Formula One Maserati 250F during 1956, but his season

8480-460: The rank of leading aircraftman . He then started a small service, repair, and machining business in a workshop built by his uncle on a plot of land behind his grandfather's house. Brabham started racing after an American friend, Johnny Schonberg, persuaded him to watch a midget car race. Midget racing was a category for small open-wheel cars racing on dirt ovals. It was popular in Australia, attracting crowds of up to 40,000. Brabham records that he

8586-472: The rules limit engine modifications, all cars are relatively equal and racing results tend to be close. Formula Fords allow suspension, damping, gearing and braking bias changes, but not aerodynamic options such as winged cars. In 2012, new specifications and regulations were introduced, allowing the use of the new Ford EcoBoost engine along with improvements in chassis design. Unlike its predecessors, that used naturally aspirated engines and manual gearboxes,

8692-473: The same rules and regulations, with minor variations for local conditions. The British series is the main Formula Ford championship in the world . Created in 1976, the championship has run to all four generations of regulations and specifications. In 2013, the series adopted the Formula Ford EcoBoost 200 specification, which include an increase in the EcoBoost engine's power, along with the addition of

8798-521: The series attracts drivers from across all forms of club and pro racing. The SCCA National Championship Runoffs is the end-of-year championship race meeting for Sports Car Club of America Club Racing competitors. Divisional champions and other top drivers from the SCCA's 116 regions are invited to participate at the Runoffs. National championships are awarded to the winners of each class. Formula Ford (now Formula F)

8904-548: The shorter north and south sections kept the reigning World Champion competitive. Brabham ran as high as third before finishing ninth, completing all 200 laps. Although most of the doubters in the American Indycar scene claimed that rear-engine cars were for drivers who like to be pushed around, as Brabham put it, it "triggered the rear-engined revolution at Indy" and within five years most of the cars that raced at Indianapolis would be rear-engined. Brabham and Tauranac set up

9010-504: The success of combining the Ford power plant and road wheels, radial tires, and Formula Junior style chassis. Not only would they make ideal school cars, but would also provide a new entry level formula for a race series. They felt if they called it “Formula Ford" they could get backing from Ford itself. Webb was on the phone the next day to Ford competition manager Henry Taylor , who agreed to provide Clarke and MRS with 54 Cortina GT engines at £50 each (£15 below retail). Webb also approached

9116-457: The team to two World Constructors' Championship titles , and remains the only driver to have won the World Drivers' Championship in an eponymous car. Brabham was a Royal Australian Air Force flight mechanic and ran a small engineering workshop before he started racing midget cars in 1948. His successes with midgets in Australian and New Zealand road racing events led to his going to Britain to further his racing career. There he became part of

9222-547: The third race, the Monaco Grand Prix until the very last turn of the last lap. Brabham was about to hold off the onrushing Rindt (the eventual 1970 F1 champion) when his front wheels locked in a skid on the sharp right turn only yards from the finish and he ended up second. While leading at the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, he ran out of fuel at Clearways and Rindt passed him to take the win while Brabham coasted to

9328-551: The title RedeX Special painted on the side of his Cooper-Bristol—did not go down well with the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), which banned the advertisement. Brabham competed in Australia and New Zealand until early 1955, taking "a long succession of victories", including the 1953 Queensland Road Racing championship. During this time, he picked up the nickname "Black Jack", which has been variously attributed to his dark hair and stubble, to his "ruthless" approach on

9434-449: The top category of single seater racing. He made his Grand Prix debut at the age of 29 driving the car at the 1955 British Grand Prix . It had a 2-litre engine, half a litre less than permitted, and ran slowly with a broken clutch before retiring. Later in the year Brabham, again driving the Bobtail, tussled with Stirling Moss for third place in a non-championship Formula One race at Snetterton . Although Moss finished ahead, Brabham saw

9540-683: The track, and to his "propensity for maintaining a shadowy silence". After the 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix , Brabham was persuaded by Dean Delamont, competitions manager of the Royal Automobile Club in the United Kingdom, to try a season of racing in Europe, then the international centre of road racing. Upon arriving in Europe on his own in early 1955, Brabham based himself in the UK, where he bought another Cooper to race in national events. His crowd-pleasing driving style initially betrayed his dirt track origins: as he put it, he took corners "by using full [steering] lock and lots of throttle". Visits to

9646-459: The wake of the United States rules allowing Honda engines. Ford officials have noted the US-made Kent blocks are based on modern stamping, and shows how well-established the formula has become. Championships for Formula Fords are run in many countries around the world. The major series is the British Formula Ford Championship , however there are many other thriving series. Each run to essentially

9752-486: The whole weekend, and dominated the race from pole to win, with Brabham finishing over 1 minute and 25 seconds behind. Hulme finished third, and so the New Zealander won the championship, while Brabham settled for second place. The team secured the Constructors' Championship, with 67 total points scored, and 23 points ahead of Lotus which scored a total of 44 points. Brabham raced alongside his teammate Jochen Rindt during

9858-529: The world. In the 1966 Formula One season Brabham became the only man to win the Formula One world championship driving one of his own cars. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving World Champion of the 1950s. Brabham retired to Australia after the 1970 Formula One season , where he bought a farm and maintained business interests, which included the Engine Developments racing engine manufacturer and several garages. John Arthur 'Jack' Brabham

9964-499: The year, possibly due to Brabham's desire to try new parts first. Despite taking pole position in the first two rounds, mechanical problems halted his chances of victory. He spun numerous times in South Africa , and at Monaco , his engine blew up at the start, and the win went to his teammate Denny Hulme . At the Dutch Grand Prix , he scored his first podium of the season, with second place, behind Scotsman Jim Clark . He retired in

10070-482: The £1,000 price ceiling on Formula Ford as Blueprinting of the engine was now allowed. Belgium hosted the first race outside England, in 1967. Formula Ford racing quickly spread across Europe and North America, with the first official Formula Ford race in the United States on March 23, 1969, and was included in the SCCA Runoffs that same year. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Formula Ford had established itself as

10176-400: Was "terrific driver training. You had to have quick reflexes: in effect you lived—or possibly died—on them." Due to the time required to prepare the car, the sport also became his living. Brabham won the 1948 Australian Speedcar Championship , the 1949 Australian and South Australian Speedcar championships, and the 1950–1951 Australian championship with the car. After successfully running

10282-604: Was an Indycar and sportscar racer who won five North American sportscar championships as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans , while David competed in Formula One for the Brabham team and has also won the Le Mans race as well as three Japanese and North American sportscar titles. Gary also drove briefly in Formula One, although his F1 career consisted of two DNPQ's for the Life team. Brabham and Betty divorced in 1994 after 43 years. Brabham married his second wife, Margaret in 1995 and they lived on

10388-422: Was badly injured in a practice accident that put him out for two months. Two other drivers were killed during the race. At the British Grand Prix , Brabham was closing on Graham Hill's BRM before Hill spun off, leaving Brabham the victory. He then came back from eighth place to second at the Portuguese Grand Prix after sliding off on tramlines and won after race leader John Surtees crashed. Brabham's points total

10494-465: Was born on 2 April 1926 in Hurstville, New South Wales , then a commuter town outside Sydney. Brabham was involved with cars and mechanics from an early age. At the age of 12, he learned to drive the family car and the trucks of his father's grocery business. Brabham attended technical college, studying metalwork, carpentry, and technical drawing. Brabham's early career continued the engineering theme. At

10600-520: Was first included in the Runoffs in 1969. Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur " Jack " Brabham AO OBE (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1955 to 1970 . Brabham won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles , which he won in 1959 , 1960 and 1966 , and won 14 Grands Prix across 16 seasons. He co-founded Brabham in 1960, leading

10706-498: Was keen on becoming a pilot, there was already a surplus of trained aircrew and the Air Force instead put his mechanical skills to use as a flight mechanic, of which there was a wartime shortage. He was based at RAAF Station Williamtown , where he maintained Bristol Beaufighters at No. 5 Operational Training Unit . On his 20th birthday, 2 April 1946, Brabham was discharged from the RAAF with

10812-402: Was not taken with the idea of driving, being convinced that the drivers "were all lunatics" but he agreed to build a car with Schonberg. At first Schonberg drove the homemade device, powered by a modified JAP motorcycle engine built by Brabham in his workshop. In 1948, Schonberg's wife persuaded him to stop racing and on his suggestion Brabham took over. He almost immediately found that he had

10918-531: Was on the decline in the US for several reasons. The rising cost of competition, SCCA's introduction of a spec sports racer, Sports Renault, and the dominance of the Swift chassis helped to collapse the class in the US. Currently, Formula Ford racing exists in two main forms in Europe: National Series for aspiring 'career' drivers run around the world which have used the 1600 Duratec engine , (which replaced

11024-627: Was put out of reach when the British teams withdrew from the Italian GP on safety grounds. Mike Lawrence writes that Brabham's expertise in setting up the cars was a significant factor in Cooper's 1960 drivers' and constructors' titles. Coventry Climax were late in producing the smaller 1.5-litre engine required for the 1961 season and the Cooper-Climaxes were outclassed by new mid-engined cars from Porsche , Lotus, and championship-winners Ferrari. Brabham scored only three points and finished 11th in

11130-413: Was saved by drives for Cooper in sports cars and Formula Two , the junior category to Formula One. At that time, almost all racing cars had their engines mounted at the front but Coopers were different, having the engine placed behind the driver, which improved their handling. In 1957, Brabham drove another mid-engined Cooper, again only fitted with a 2-litre engine, at the Monaco Grand Prix . He avoided

11236-408: Was seen as a natural step up from the 1600cc formula and a stepping stone to categories such as Formula Three . Formula Ford 2000 engines and transmissions were married to sports-racing chassis to produce Sports 2000 . Older Formula Fords, with outboard shock absorbers, race in the United States as Club Formula Fords in SCCA and other club racing series. Formula F100 was an unsuccessful attempt in

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