Well Doug T is off on a wee trip today and has asked me to post today's History Photo and information...
Towards the end of the Second World War, Brabham enlisted into the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) on May 19, 1944, just one month after his 18th birthday. Although keen on becoming a pilot, he was turned down, because due to the war there were already too many pilots. But as Brabham already possessed good mechanical skills, the Air Force was more than happy to recruit and train him as a flight mechanic, of which there was a wartime shortage. He was based at RAAF Williamtown where he worked on maintaining Bristol Beaufighters at No 5 Operational
Training Unit (5OTU). On his 20th birthday, April 2, 1946, Brabham was discharged from the RAAF at the rank of Leading Aircraftman (LAC).
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Sir Jack Brabham was the first
driver in history to be knighted for
services to motor sport. Sir Jack is a triple world champion and the only Formula One
driver to have won a world title in a car of his own construction, the BT19, which he drove to victory in 1966. Sir Jack contested 126 Grand Prix from 1955 to 1970; he came first 14 times, second 10 times and third 7 times.
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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 in midgets and Australian and New Zealand road racing events led to him going to the
United Kingdom to further his racing career. There he became part of 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 became the largest manufacturer of customer racing cars in the world in the 1960s. In 1966 Brabham became the only man to win the Formula One world championship driving one of his own cars.
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Brabham retired to Australia after the 1970 Formula One season, where he bought a
farm and maintained various business interests, which included the Engine Developments racing engine manufacturer and several garages. As of 2008, he is the oldest surviving Formula One world champion.
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In 1976 Brabham competed at
Bathurst in a Holden Torana with Stirling Moss. Although the car was crash-damaged on the starting
grid, it was repaired, and survives still as a museum piece to this day.
Grrr!!!