 | Thisbiography of a living personrelies too much onreferences toprimary sources. Please help by addingsecondary or tertiary sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately, especially if potentiallylibelous or harmful. Find sources: "David Brabham" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
_(cropped).jpg) Brabham in 2012 | |
| Born | (1965-09-05)5 September 1965 (age 60) London, England |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Australian |
| Active years | 1990,1994 |
| Teams | Brabham,Simtek |
| Entries | 30 (24 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Careerpoints | 0 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 0 |
| First entry | 1990 San Marino Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1994 Australian Grand Prix |
| 24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
| Years | 1992–1993,1996–2010,2012 |
| Teams | Tom Walkinshaw Racing,Gulf Racing/GTC Racing,David Price Racing,Panoz Motorsports, TeamBentley,Zytek Engineering,Aston Martin Racing, Russian Age Racing,Peugeot SportTotal,Highcroft Racing,JRM |
| Best finish | 1st(2009) |
| Class wins | 3(2007,2008,2009) |
David Philip Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australianracing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists insports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have won theLe Mans 24 Hour sports car race, winning the event in2009. Brabham won theAmerican Le Mans Series in 2009 and 2010. He also competed inFormula One, racing for theBrabham andSimtek teams in 1990 and 1994, respectively. Brabham is the youngest son of three-timeFormula One world championSir Jack Brabham, brother toGeoff Brabham andGary Brabham. He is also brother-in-law toMike Thackwell, father toSam Brabham and uncle toMatthew Brabham.
Brabham, who was born inWimbledon, London, spent his childhood in Australia. Despite his father's motor racing fame he took little interest in motor racing until after he left school. As a child he played soccer up until the age of twelve and then took upAustralian rules football when the family moved to Sydney. Growing up, Sir Jack did not force David into racing, and it was only after discovering go-karts at 17, that he became enthusiastic enough to purchase a second-hand go-kart with his next-door neighbour and to begin racing.
Brabham's professional racing career began in Australia in 1983, racing karts for two years, after which he moved into theFord Laser "one make" series for 1985. In 1986 he switched toFormula Ford 1600 and subsequently toAustralian Formula 2, winning the1987 Australian Drivers' Championship in that category. The 1987 ADC was, unlike previous years, only held as a single race rather than a series of rounds and was run as a support category to the1987 Australian Grand Prix inAdelaide. After starting 38th on the grid due to carburettor and electrical problems with hisRalt RT30Volkswagen in qualifying, he caught and passed leader Rohan Onslow on lap 13 of the 15 lap race and went on to a 1.7 second victory.
He also competed in the New ZealandFormula Atlantic series, the American Formula Atlantic series and in the South American Formula 3 Championship during the 1987 season.[1] A move from Australia to Europe under sponsorship from Camel in 1989 saw him joining the Bowman team and winning the BritishFormula Three Championship.
Brabham's break intoFormula One in1990 with theBrabham team met with little success. He had raised a considerable amount of sponsorship to join the team bearing his family name (though it had been sold on three times since) but financial constraints hindered the team all season. While David had been hired to drive ahead of the season he requested to skip the first two races to prepare himself,Gregor Foitek taking the seat instead. Ironically his brother Gary attempted to qualify for the first two rounds in the ill-fated Life before quitting; the brothers therefore both contested the 1990 season without actually entering any of the same meetings.
His first outing with the team was the1990 San Marino Grand Prix where he failed to qualify. His first Formula One start came at the next race inMonaco where his father Jack had won in1959, his first championship year. In 14 races he only managed to qualify the uncompetitive Judd-engined car six times, including the last race of the year at home inAustralia. This, and David being unable to raise the reported $3m needed to keep his place in the team, led to him being replaced at the end of the season. Brabham joined theTom Walkinshaw Racing Jaguar team in 1991 and also in that year won theSpa 24 Hours driving aNissan Skyline R32 GT-R alongsideNaoki Hattori andAnders Olofsson.
Brabham returned to Formula One in1994 with the under-fundedSimtek team after his father bought shares in the team. The second seat was to be filled by paying drivers, withRoland Ratzenberger taking the first five races beforeJean-Marc Gounon took over. The S941 chassis was overweight, used a fully manual gearbox as opposed to the semi-automatic types used by most teams and inferior wire-springCosworth HB customer engines. Despite this Brabham qualified for every round of the series.The team suffered the blow of the death of Roland Ratzenberger during qualifying for theSan Marino Grand Prix. Traditionally the other team driver would withdraw in such a situation, but seeing the demoralisation around him, Brabham decided to race on, only to crash out after a suspension failure of his own. In Ratzenberger's memory the team made a collective decision to see out the season, with Brabham's strong leadership often cited as a key factor. While the Simtek was uncompetitive he won considerable acclaim for his determination and for gradually improving the speed of the underfunded package, also handily out-performing his various teammates.
.jpg)
Brabham quitFormula One at the end of that year to begintouring car racing – while he wanted to help Simtek the salary offered by the BMW works team was too good to ignore. 1995 in aBTCCBMW was not a success, but subsequent successes included winning the 1996JGTC GT500 championship inMcLaren F1 GTR (so far the only non-Japanese team car to win this), and the1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 in itsSuper Touring era. Driving aBMW 320i atBathurst with brother Geoff, the pair were flagged in 2nd but were elevated to the win soon after the finish when theirBMW Motorsport Australia teammatesPaul Morris andCraig Baird were disqualified, the team making an error at the last pit stop by not doing a driver change and leaving Baird in the car for the run home, not realising that he would exceed his allowed driving time before the race ended.
He won the Professional Sports Car Championship in the United States with thePanoz racing team in 1998, and the 1999Petit Le Mans race also with Panoz.
.jpg)
Brabham joined Sumo Power GT for the2011 FIA GT1 World Championship, teaming withJamie Campbell-Walter in a Nissan GT-R. The duo finished 10th in the driver's championship. He joined theBlancpain Endurance Series in 2012, driving aMcLaren MP4-12C forUnited Autosports.
Since 1999 he has been a regular in theAmerican Le Mans Series (ALMS), having raced for teams such asPanoz andProdriveFerrari 550 Maranello. He won theSebring 12-hour race in 2005. In Australia, he has contested theBathurst 24 Hour race and continued to make occasional appearances in theBathurst 1000.
Brabham has won a total of 23 ALMS events across all four classes in the series. He is a two-time champion in the series, winning the LMP1 title in 2009 and LMP title in 2010.
In 2003, Brabham won first-in-class (4th overall) withMultimatic Motorsports at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Daytona Prototype category's inaugural race.[2] Brabham finished second at the2003 24 Hours of Le Mans driving for Bentley. In 2005 he started the first of four consecutive Le Mans starts racing Aston Martin DBR9's. He finished ninth overall and third in the GT1 Class forAston Martin Racing. At the2006 24 Hours of Le Mans, Brabham scored a fourth in the GT1 category (ninth overall) driving for Russian Age Racing. Brabham won the GT1 class of the2007 24 Hours of Le Mans and again in the2008 24 Hours of Le Mans driving forAston Martin Racing.
Driving forPeugeot, he won the2009 24 Hours of Le Mans outright with co-driversAlexander Wurz andMarc Gené driving aPeugeot 908 HDi FAP.[3] He joined brother Geoff as a Le Mans winner with his older brother having also won for Peugeot in1993. It also saw him join his father and older brother as an outright winner at Le Mans with father Jack having won the onlyFrench Grand Prix held at theBugatti Circuit in1967.
David Brabham became only the fourth Australian driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans followingBernard Rubin in1928,Vern Schuppan in1983, and older brother Geoff in 1993.
Brabham won the 2009 and 2010American Le Mans Series LMP championship, driving forHighcroft Racing. For 2012, he will compete in theFIA World Endurance Championship in a JRM RacingHonda Performance Development ARX-03a.
In the Autumn of 2014,Project Brabham was announced[4] as an innovative and new way of setting up a motor racing team. The project is aimed at integrating the public and fans with the team. The initial start-up of the project was run via crowdfunding[5][6] through the Indiegogo portal, where members of the public and fans alike could become part of the team.
″The money from the first phase of crowdfunding has been used to build this first stage Brabham-Digital website. We also created the all-important investor prospectus, which is vital in searching for and securing the investment required to build and launch both the team and Brabham-Digital platform"[5]
The project is still gathering much needed investment to get the team onto the track with the aim to become part of the FIA World Endurance championship.
"Our complete focus is now on finding and signing the investors and partners that will be vital in securing the investment required to make this vision a reality. When that investment is secured, the full Brabham-Digital platform will be developed and built, evolving into a much more engaging and powerful engine, divided into the three different knowledge sharing and e-learning platforms."
Brabham launchedBrabham Automotive in May 2018. Its first product is theBrabham BT62.[7] Brabham drove the car on its racing debut atBrands Hatch on 9 and 10 November, participating inBritcar's annual 'Into the Night' races.[8] He was joined in the car byWill Powell.[9] He drove the car home to victory at Brands Hatch as a remarkable win, the Brabham BT62's first ever race and win and Brabham Automotive's first car and win. In a post-race interview he referred to his father's win at the1966 British Grand Prix who won in aBrabham BT19.
| Lisa Brabham (née Thackwell) | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | New Zealand |
| Born | Lisa Thackwell 1964 or 1965 (age 59–60)[10] |
| Years active | 1987–1994 |
Brabham's two older brothersGeoff andGary also pursued motor racing careers. His wife Lisa (sister ofMike Thackwell) also raced. His sonSam Brabham and nephewMatthew Brabham now race in junior formulae.
Lisa Brabham (née Thackwell) was born in 1964 or 1965 inNew Zealand and moved with her family toPerth, Western Australia at an early age. The family then moved toEngland in 1976 when she was eleven.[10] She first drove a racing car, aRenault 5 Cup, aged 21 through her father (Ray Thackwell)'s business connections. After one season in Renault 5, she switched to theHonda CRX Challenge with Edenbridge Racing.[10] She raced in the British Rover GTi Championship in 1992.[11] Brabham and Thackwell married in 1993. She was still racing in 1994[12] but appears to have retired soon after. They have two sons –Sam and Finn.[13]
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Jack Brabham Racing | VW | N | THR | SIL | THR | BRH | DON | SIL | BRH 11 | THR | SIL | DON | SIL | SNE 6 | OUL 11 | SIL 22 | BRH 15 | SPA 8 | THR 7 | SIL 9 | 3rd | 58 |
| 1989 | Bowman Racing | VW | A | THR DNS | DON C | SIL 1 | BRH 1 | SIL 3 | BRH 1 | THR 3 | SIL 3 | DON 22 | SIL 2 | SNE 11 | OUL 1 | SIL 1 | BRH 2 | DON Ret | SIL 1 | THR Ret | 1st | 80 |
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | WDC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Motor Racing Developments | BrabhamBT59 | Judd EV 3.5V8 | USA | BRA | SMR DNQ | MON Ret | CAN DNQ | MEX Ret | FRA 15 | GBR DNQ | GER Ret | HUN DNQ | BEL Ret | ITA DNQ | POR Ret | ESP DNQ | JPN Ret | AUS Ret | NC | 0 |
| 1994 | MTVSimtek Ford | SimtekS941 | FordHBD6 3.5V8 | BRA 12 | PAC Ret | SMR Ret | MON Ret | ESP 10 | CAN 14 | FRA Ret | GBR 15 | GER Ret | HUN 11 | BEL Ret | ITA Ret | POR Ret | EUR Ret | JPN 12 | AUS Ret | NC | 0 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Roni Team Ralt | Ralt RT23 | Cosworth | VAL 7 | PAU 7 | JER 11 | MUG 9 | PER | HOC | BRH | SPA | BUG | NOG | NC | 0 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | BMW Motorsport Team | BMW 318i | DON 1 12 | DON 2 12 | BRH 1 4 | BRH 2 6 | THR 1 5 | THR 2 Ret | SIL 1 8 | SIL 2 11 | OUL 1 10 | OUL 2 8 | BRH 1 Ret | BRH 2 10 | DON 1 11 | DON 2 11 | SIL 7 | KNO 1 DNS | KNO 2 4 | BRH 1 Ret | BRH 2 Ret | SNE 1 16 | SNE 2 17 | OUL 1 11 | OUL 2 Ret | SIL 1 9 | SIL 2 Ret | 13th | 48 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | BMW Team Isert | BMW 318is | ZOL 1 | ZOL 2 | SPA 1 | SPA 2 | ÖST 1 | ÖST 2 | HOC 1 | HOC 2 | NÜR 1 15 | NÜR 2 13 | SAL 1 | SAL 2 | AVU 1 | AVU 2 | NÜR 1 | NÜR 2 | 31st | 22 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | DC | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Team Lark McLaren | McLaren F1 GTR | GT500 | SUZ 2 | FUJ 1 | SEN 8 | FUJ 2 | SUG Ret | MIN 4 | 1st | 63 |
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Sumo Power GT | Nissan GT-R GT1 | ABU QR 8 | ABU CR 9 | ZOL QR 11 | ZOL CR Ret | ALG QR 3 | ALG CR 3 | SAC QR 8 | SAC CR 5 | SIL QR Ret | SIL CR Ret | NAV QR 4 | NAV CR 3 | PRI QR 9 | PRI CR 4 | ORD QR 3 | ORD CR 7 | BEI QR 11 | BEI CR 8 | SAN QR 7 | SAN CR Ret | 10th | 75 |
| Year | Entrant | Class | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | JRM | LMP1 | HPD ARX-03 | Honda LM-V8 3.4 L V8 | SEB 12 | SPA 9 | LMS 5 | SIL 7 | SÃO 9 | BHR Ret | FUJ 5 | SHA 5 | 10th | 50.5 |
| 2014 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | LMP2 | HPD ARX-03b | Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6 | SIL | SPA | LMS | COA | FUJ | SHA 5 | BHR | SÃO | NC‡ | 0‡ |
| 2015 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | LMP2 | HPD ARX-03b | Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6 | SIL 6 | SPA | LMS | NÜR | COA | FUJ | SHA | BHR | 18th | 8 |
‡ As Brabham was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
(key)(Races inbold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | Class | Car | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Extreme Speed Motorsports | P | HPD ARX-03b | Honda HR28TT 2.8 LV6Turbo | DAY 15 | SEB 2 | LBH | LGA | DET | S6H | MSP | IMS | ELK | COA | PET | 33rd | 50 |
*Super Touring race
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 |  Team Zexel | Naoki Hattori Anders Olofsson | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | A/Div.3 | 517 | 1st | 1st |
| 1992 | Nissan NISMO Racing | Masahiro HasemiAnders Olofsson | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | A+2.5 | 102 | DNF | DNF |
| 2005 |  Aston Martin Racing | Darren Turner Stéphane Sarrazin | Aston Martin DBR9 | GT1 | 555 | 6th | 6th |
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Cirtek Motorsport |  Manfred JuraszAllan GriceDarren Palmer | Porsche 996 GT3-RS | 5 | 488 | DNF | DNF |
| 2003 | BE Racing | Klaus Engelhorn Andrea MonterminiPhilipp Peter | Ferrari 360 N-GT | A | 287 | DNF | DNF |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position in class – 1 point awarded just in first race; races initalics indicate fastest lap in class – 1 point awarded all races;-
| Year | Team | Car | Class | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | CP | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Brabham Automotive | Brabham BT62 | 1Inv | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | SIL 1 | SIL 2 | BRH 1 | BRH 2 | DON 1 | DON 2 | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | SNE 1 | SNE 2 | OUL 1 | OUL 2 | BRH 1 1 | BRH 2 Ret | NC† | NC† | 0† |
† Brabham was ineligible for points as he was an invitation entry.
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Graham Watson | Australian Drivers' Championship Champion 1987 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | British Formula Three Champion 1989 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Macau Grand Prix Winner 1989 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship GT500 Champion 1996 With:John Nielsen | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of theBathurst 1000 1997 With:Geoff Brabham | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2009 With:Marc Gené &Alexander Wurz | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | American Le Mans Series Champion 2009-2010 With:Scott Sharp (2009) &Simon Pagenaud (2010) | Succeeded by |
| Awards and achievements | ||
| Preceded by | Sir Jack Brabham Award 2012 | Succeeded by Daniel Ricciardo 2014 |
| Founders | |
|---|---|
| Drivers | |
| Formula One cars | |
|
