Jack Brabham's 10 greatest drives

Jack Brabham is one of the true legends of motorsport. He scored three world titles and founded one of the most successful teams in Formula 1 history.

It's now 60 years since Brabham took his first world crown in dramatic circumstances at Sebring, so we thought it was time to look back at the best moments of his remarkable career.

Brabham made 126 world championship F1 starts and took 14 wins, not to mention many successes elsewhere, so the pool of candidates was large. For this top 10 we considered the quality of the cars at his disposal, the circumstances of the races, the opposition, and the views of the man himself.

10 1961 Indianapolis 500

Cooper T54
Started: 13th
Result: 9th

Jim Clark and Lotus changed Indianapolis by winning with a rear-engined car in 1965, but Brabham and Cooper had got the ball rolling four years before.

The 1961 F1 season was not going well for Cooper, so Brabham was happy to try a new challenge.

"The car we built was only slightly different from our F1 car," explained Brabham in his autobiography When the Flag Drops. "The frame and the suspension were stiffened, Coventry Climax built a special version of their FPF engine with a capacity of 2750cc, a rollover bar had to be fitted, and I had to wear a safety harness for the first time since the midget days."

The T54 was also converted to run on methanol fuel, while Dunlop developed a special tyre, though wear was an issue against the rest of the Firestone-shod field.

Brabham started in the middle of the pack, which proved something of an eye-opener: "It was a bit overpowering having all those front-engined monsters surrounding me on all sides, and I felt very boxed in for a time.

"We were miles slower than the other cars on the straight, but our cornering speed was by far the quickest. But in the race this didn't seem to have much advantage at first, because it isn't only difficult to pass in the corners at Indy when everyone is looking for the lowest part of the banked turns, but a lot of other cars were lapping at the same speed as myself."

He nevertheless adapted during the race and made progress, despite wheelnut issues slowing Cooper's stops and having to avoid a multi-car incident.

"As the race went on and I began to get the hang of the whole thing," recalled Brabham. "I was able to overtake just after the apex, because the Cooper did not have to use the line used by all the big, front-engined cars."

Brabham looked set to be in the hunt for a top-six finish when he was forced to make a third stop for tyres. The change was slow, but the Cooper still finished ninth and the team was "delighted to be up that far".

Interestingly, Brabham didn't believe that a rear-engined car provided any real advantage at Indy because he felt they wouldn't take the big engines required, nor did he think a successful combined F1-Indy 500 programme could be achieved. That would be left to Clark and Lotus, but Brabham had proved capable of rising to the Indy challenge.

9 1959 Monaco GP, Monte Carlo

Cooper T51
Started: 3rd
Result: 1st

How to rate Brabham's first world championship grand prix victory? Even the man himself apparently felt conflicted.

In his 1960 publication, Jack Brabham's Motor Racing Book, Brabham criticised his own approach to the race, yet in the '74 book My Greatest Race, edited by Adrian Ball, Brabham picked it out for more positive reasons and the significance of the win in his career.

Following problems at Silverstone the week before and in Monaco practice, Brabham was concerned about water and engine temperatures. That did not stop him from chasing Jean Behra's Ferrari and the similar (Rob Walker-run) Cooper of Stirling Moss in the early stages.

Moss grabbed the lead on lap 22 of 100 and Brabham overtook the Ferrari on the following tour. But Brabham did not hang on to Moss, who looked unassailable as he built a lead of around a minute.

With less than quarter of the race to run, however, Moss's transmission failed and Brabham moved into the lead. But the race was not yet won as Tony Brooks, charging despite being sick in the cockpit, closed in.

Brabham responded and broke the lap record on lap 83, going 1.9 seconds faster than anyone else had managed to beat the Ferrari ace by 20.4s. "With oil on the circuit this was a tremendous effort," reckoned Gregor Grant in Autosport's report. "Brabham flew round the circuit, never putting a wheel wrong."

Brabham felt his concerns had allowed Moss to get too far away and that he should have pressed on, but he also had to put up with the radiator making the pedals very hot during a gruelling race that lasted nearly three hours. That makes it worthy enough to make our list.

8 1960 New Zealand GP, Ardmore

Cooper T51
Started: 24th
Result: 1st

Moss and Brabham had several battles for New Zealand GP honours, each winning three times, and 1960 was perhaps Brabham's best.

Brabham set the pace in practice, while Moss had to wait for an engine for his Yeoman Credit Cooper T51. There were two 30-mile qualifying heats before the GP. Moss won heat one and Brabham was leading his heat when the fuel pump failed and his Cooper caught fire! Brabham thus started the 75-lap New Zealand GP on the final row.

"Brabham took advantage of the space left vacant by the absence of Denny Hulme to place his Cooper diagonally on the grid, the idea being to swoop round the outside of those in front rather than attempt to go through," wrote Peter Greenslade in Autosport. "This was unorthodox but, as subsequent events showed, most effective."

That could perhaps be classed as an understatement, given that Brabham completed the first lap in third, behind team-mate Bruce McLaren and slow-starting poleman Moss. Remarkably, he then overtook Moss and McLaren on lap two, with Moss following him through to set up a duel for the lead.

"Brabham and Moss fought a wheel to wheel battle in which Brabham held the slightest of advantages most of the time," reported Autosport. "This was wheel-to-wheel stuff, with Moss slipstreaming Brabham and getting the worst of it with grit flying in his face in places where the surface had started to cut up. Now and again Moss would get up alongside but he could never quite make it."

Moss did in fact briefly grab the lead, only for Brabham to snatch it back again. At one third distance only two other cars were still on the lead lap.

Moss scraped ahead again, but almost immediately his transmission failed. "One could almost hear the groan of disappointment above the roar of the engines as the most brilliant demonstration of wheel-to-wheel racing ever seen in this country came to an end," wrote Greenslade.

Brabham inherited a comfortable lead but then McLaren started closing in. "Just before the start Brabham had found that one of the cylinder head studs was loose," reported Autosport. "It was too late to do anything about it. During the race he lost most of his water and finished with an engine almost white hot. The applause was deafening."

Brabham held on to win by 0.6s.

7 1969 BRDC International Trophy, Silverstone

Brabham BT26A
Started: 1st
Result: 1st

Brabham had a woeful 1968, only scoring two points in F1 as the Brabham-Repco combination ran out of steam - and reliability. A switch to Cosworth DFV power in '69 boosted the team's fortunes and, in March, Jack scored his first F1 win since September '67.

Although a non-championship event, the Silverstone International Trophy attracted 14 cars, including two Ferraris and the Lotus 49s of reigning world champion Graham Hill and Jochen Rindt. The Brabhams, driven by Jack himself and Jacky Ickx, had revised front suspension.

Jackie Stewart started at the back in his MS10 as the MS80, which he had qualified on pole, was poor in the wet on unsuitably wide wheel rims and the track was very wet for the race.

That meant Brabham started at the front and duly led team-mate Ickx, then built a lead of around half a minute while Ickx battled the Frank Williams-run Brabham of Piers Courage.

On lap 17 of 52 Brabham lapped the struggling Hill, but the other Lotus was more of a threat. Rindt had put on an impressive charge after an early misfire cleared and, just before half-distance, despatched the battling Ickx and Courage to take second. He looked capable of closing, but Brabham responded.

"A pit signal went out to Brabham, and wily Jack pulled out a little more speed, still driving superbly," reported Autosport's Simon Taylor. "At lap 29 the gap was 27s."

Rindt kept charging on, but Brabham still held a 9.8s advantage going on to the final lap. Then the BT26A started running out of fuel. Brabham slowed dramatically and coasted across the line with a dead engine - 2.2s before Rindt arrived.

"Thanks to Jack and Jochen, it had been a first-class race," concluded Autosport. "Jack's back."

6 1964 Aintree 200

Brabham BT7
Started: 2nd
Result: 1st

The 1964 BT7 was the first Brabham capable of fighting for the F1 world championship. Dan Gurney tended to lead the line, only bad luck keeping him out of the title fight, but Jack starred in two early-season, non-championship events.

The first was the Aintree 200, which combined Formula 1 and F2 machinery. With Gurney absent, Brabham qualified a close second and slotted in behind polesitter Graham Hill's BRM at the start. Brabham soon took the lead, while Clark made up for a poor getaway from fourth in his Lotus.

Clark charged through to second and pressured Brabham, finally finding a way by on lap 25 of 67. But Brabham tenaciously held on to the Lotus.

"Clark was determined to try to increase his lead but could only pull out a 25-yard advantage over Brabham," reported Autosport's Patrick McNally. "The pace was really hot and Hill was 38.5s in arrears."

Having got alongside Clark a couple of laps before, Brabham snatched the lead back at two-thirds distance. That proved vital when the duo came upon traffic on lap 47.

"As Clark, hard after Brabham, attempted to pass two slower cars at Melling, there was a bit of a mix-up and Clark found himself with no road," reported McNally.

The Lotus was wrecked in the ensuing crash, which prompted Autosport to suggest a 10% qualifying margin to eliminate the very slowest cars from starting - and Brabham was left on his own. He cruised home to beat Hill by 34s.

Just two weeks later Brabham scored a sensational victory in the BRDC International Trophy at Silverstone, passing Hill's BRM at Woodcote on the final lap. That performance narrowly fails to make this list because Clark's Lotus and Gurney retired while running ahead of Hill and Brabham.

5 1970 South African GP, Kyalami

Brabham BT33
Started: 3rd
Result: 1st

Despite rumours of his retirement, Brabham had a good feeling about the BT33, the team's first monocoque F1 car. And he underlined the point with a crushing display at the 1970 season opener.

After practice, late on Friday evening, the team found that the timing had slipped and had to change the engine prior to the Saturday race.

Brabham got away well, but seemed to struggle to change gear and was overtaken by polesitter Stewart's March and then suffered contact with Rindt's Lotus. He completed the first lap in sixth and spent a few laps ensuring nothing was amiss, while Stewart opened up a lead. Then Brabham started his recovery.

On lap four he passed Bruce McLaren (McLaren) and the BRM of Jackie Oliver. On the next tour he overtook Jean-Pierre Beltoise (Matra) and on lap six he swept past Ickx's Ferrari to take second.

The lead to Stewart was 6.1s and initially it didn't change very much, though Ickx did fall away from the Brabham.

Gradually Brabham chipped away at the gap and he got to within a second of the leading March for the first time on lap 18 of 80. Despite being hit by a stone thrown up by Stewart, Brabham picked off the reigning world champion on lap 20 and immediately started pulling away. That was the last anyone saw of Brabham for the rest of the race.

Having built a lead of 13.5s he backed off in the closing stages to win by 8.1s and take an early lead in the world championship.

Autosport's cover was apt: "Brabham outdrives them all in South Africa." Not bad for a driver one month away from his 44th birthday.

4 1964 Oulton Park Gold Cup

Brabham BT10
Started: 1st
Result: 1st

Almost as soon as it came into existence, Brabham's team produced competitive single-seaters and Formula 2 was a happy hunting ground.

The Gold Cup was switched from F1 to F2 for 1964 and provided a sensational battle between the Brabhams of Graham Hill, Hulme and Jack, and the Lotus of Clark. Just 0.6s covered the four cars in practice, at the front of a field that also included up-and-comers Rindt and Stewart, and that competitiveness continued in the 40-lap race.

Clark grabbed the lead at the start and the front quartet - in the order Clark, Hulme, Hill and Brabham - edged away from the rest. Brabham soon moved ahead of Hill, who then pitted with half-shaft problems.

On lap nine, Hulme took the lead, while Brabham overtook Clark, but was repassed almost immediately. Clark moved to the front and broke the lap record, but could not shake off the Brabhams. Jack passed Hulme and took his turn to lead at half distance, before Hulme retired when a rose joint broke.

"For lap after lap an enthralled crowd saw a titanic duel between Brabham and Clark," reported Grant. "The Australian was driving with all his old fire and dash."

Having narrowly failed to usurp Brabham at Lodge on lap 34, Clark made it stick the next time round, but Brabham immediately retaliated.

"The final five laps saw Brabham drive with tremendous verve, and Clark's great skill was of no avail," added Grant. Brabham pipped the Lotus ace to the line by just 0.2s.

"Brabham drove a wonderfully calculated race, countering Clark's every manoeuvre, and using the slightly superior pace of his own product to the best advantage," summarised Grant.

"It was small wonder that the pair had a tremendous ovation from the excited crowd."

3 1970 British GP, Brands Hatch

Brabham BT33
Started: 2nd
Result: 2nd

This is an infamous race he lost twice. Brabham arrived at Brands Hatch tied with Stewart for second place in the standings, eight points behind Rindt and his Lotus 72.

Brabham had set the pace at the Race of Champions four months earlier, only being denied by an ignition problem in the last three laps. He carried that form into the grand prix, matching Rindt's pole time for a place on the front row.

Autosport pointed out that he had some late attention on the grid: "Brabham had his fuel topped up, although it seems that they could not get the last drop in - and as it turned out, those drops were to cost him victory."

Although Brabham led initially, it was Ickx's Ferrari that jumped into the lead with a forceful move on the inside at Druids, using some of the grass. Ickx pulled away while Brabham and Rindt battled, but a key moment came at the start of lap seven.

The Ferrari's differential failed as Ickx entered Paddock Hill Bend and, at the same time, Rindt dived up the inside of Brabham. They were wheel-to-wheel as they caught the ailing Ickx and the Lotus made it by ahead, jumping from third to first.

As the Ferrari retired, Rindt and Brabham started a duel for the lead that would last for much of the 80-lap event. For the next 60 laps the gap between them would not grow more than 1.5s and was usually less than 1s, the 72 perhaps a little faster in a straight line.

Finally, on lap 69 Brabham took his chance. "It took a long time to happen, but eventually he missed a gear coming out of Bottom Bend and I was able to get close enough to do a little bit of slipstreaming, and I outbraked him at the bottom of the straight," recounted Brabham in When the Flag Drops.

The BT33 quickly pulled away and, going onto the final tour, Brabham was 13.3s ahead of Rindt. His patience appeared to have paid off.

"It was a bit shattering when I came to Stirling's Bend and the engine died and never fired another shot," recalled Brabham, who later suggested that the cause was a mechanic leaving the mixture setting too rich.

"There was nothing at all to worry about - except that there was no petrol left."

Rindt drove past to win. Although Brabham still finished second, it was a bitter blow after such a strong drive: "Of all the disappointments in my racing career, maybe that one hurt more than most."

But there was still time for more drama. Rindt's Lotus was initially thrown out because the rear wing was deemed too high. He was reinstated hours later and Brabham, who had never believed the disqualification would stand, lost the race a second time.

"While [Lotus boss] Colin Chapman was in there fighting I just resigned myself to the fact that nobody else stood a chance!" he wrote. "Not at any stage did I think there was even a possibility of my being made the winner, plus the fact I wouldn't have liked to see Jochen disqualified anyway."

2 1960 French GP, Reims

Cooper T53
Started: 1st
Result: 1st

Brabham played a key role in Cooper's rear-engined revolution, which was already well under way by Reims, where the reigning champion arrived having won the previous two races. But many still felt the more-powerful front-engined Ferraris would be too fast at the high-speed circuit.

"People said that there was no way we could beat the Ferrari V6s because it's a very fast circuit," explained Brabham when he chose the GP as his Autosport Race of My Life in 2009. "I had other ideas."

Phil Hill's Ferrari hit the front at the start. Brabham passed him before the end of the lap, but the two continued to swap places and even made contact at one point, the wheel-to-wheel fight also including Wolfgang von Trips's Ferrari.

"The trio commenced a tremendous battle, passing and repassing whenever the opportunity presented itself," wrote Grant in Autosport's report. "Past the pits it was frightening to watch."

"The Ferraris had top speed in their favour, but Reims was a slipstreaming circuit and it was all a matter of tactics to get yourself into the right place," added Brabham. "With one of those Ferraris in front of me to slipstream I could pass it before getting into the braking area at the end of the long straights."

In When the Flag Drops, Brabham also recalled a near miss: "I had passed Phil on the straight and was on the left-hand side of the circuit in the braking area and, just before turning right across the track to take the right-hander, I fortunately looked in my rear-view mirror.

"I could hardly believe my eyes. There was the Ferrari coming down the inside with all four wheels locked and not a hope of stopping. If I hadn't seen him I am sure he would have run straight over the top of me.

"Having seen him coming I managed to keep the car straight before turning, and Phil went past me. I guarantee he was going 50-60mph faster than I was."

As Hill disappeared up the escape road, Brabham retook the lead. Just after half-distance the transmissions on the Ferraris failed, leaving Brabham to win by 48.3s and head a Cooper 1-2-3-4 at an average speed of 131.8mph. The age of the front-engined GP car was over.

1 1966 German GP, Nurburgring

Brabham BT19
Started: 5th
Result: 1st

Brabham won the German GP once and it was one of the few races he picked out. That's perhaps unsurprising given it came in difficult conditions at the fearsome 14.2-mile Nurburgring.

Brabham suffered gearbox issues in practice and qualified only fifth, 4.3s behind poleman Clark. It rained before the start and Nurburgring ace John Surtees (Cooper-Maserati) led Lorenzo Bandini's Ferrari from the off, with Brabham slotting into third. Brabham had requested extra treads cut into his Goodyears and he quickly passed Bandini before slipstreaming into the lead just before the end of the first lap.

The leading duo pulled clear of the field, with Surtees tracking Brabham all the way. After 12 of the 15 laps the gap was still only 1.5s.

"Surtees was putting on the pressure with a vengeance, but it was no easy task to overtake the wily Brabham," reported Grant in Autosport's report. "On and on went the flying Australian, never putting a wheel wrong."

With less than three laps to go, Brabham finally got some breathing space as Surtees started suffering clutch problems that eventually left him stuck in fourth gear. That meant Brabham's winning margin ballooned to 44.4s, but perhaps more telling was the gap to third-placed Rindt: 2m32.6s. It was Brabham's fourth win in a row.

"Both drivers did a superb job in heavy rain and on a slippery circuit," wrote Grant. "Only a near-miracle can prevent Brabham from winning the championship."

"It was a shocking race and a very dangerous one," recalled Brabham in When the Flag Drops. "I guarantee we drove every lap under a different set of circumstances, because of rain showers on different parts of the circuit. And then you would come across rivers running across the road.

"I got a lot of satisfaction out of winning that race, because it was the first GP I had won at the 'Ring. I look back on that as more satisfying than perhaps any other race."