Geoff Brabham
Geoff Brabham (born 20 March 1952) is an Australian racing driver. Brabham spent the majority of his racing career in the United States.
Geoff Brabham | |
---|---|
Brabham at the 2014 Indianapolis 500 | |
Nationality | Australian |
Born | Sydney, Australia | 20 March 1952
Retired | 2001 |
Related to | Jack Brabham (father) Matthew Brabham (son) Gary Brabham (brother) David Brabham (brother) Sam Brabham (nephew) Lisa Thackwell (sister in law) |
Australian Super Touring Championship | |
Years active | 1995–1997 |
Teams | BMW Motorsport Australia |
Starts | 48 |
Wins | 9 |
Best finish | 2nd in 1995 & 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship |
Previous series | |
1974 1975 1978 1979 1981–87, 1990, 1992, 1994 1979–81 1987–92 1989–94 1993–2001 | Australian Formula Ford Australian Formula 2 British Formula One Championship Formula Super Vee Indycar Can-Am IMSA GT Championship IROC V8 Supercar |
Championship titles | |
1975 1979 1981 1988 1989 1990 1991 | Australian Formula 2 Championship SCCA Super Vee Championship Can-Am IMSA GTP Championship IMSA GTP Championship IMSA GTP Championship IMSA GTP Championship |
Awards | |
2004 | Motorsports Hall of Fame of America |
Racing career
CART
He raced successfully in CART early in his career, finishing 8th in 1982, 1984 and 1987 with nine podiums. In ten appearances in the Indianapolis 500, he had a best result of fourth in 1983 and fifth in 1981.
Sports car racing
His greatest source of success was in various forms of sports cars, winning four IMSA GTP titles (1988–1991) when racing for Nissan, and one Can-Am championship (1981).
Brabham also won the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans driving one of the factory Peugeot 905 alongside French drivers Éric Hélary and Christophe Bouchut. His younger brother David Brabham had won the GT class in the race driving a Jaguar XJ220 for Tom Walkinshaw Racing, but the team was later disqualified for technical infringements. Geoff Brabham became just the third Australian driver to win Le Mans after Bernard Rubin (1928) and Vern Schuppan in 1983. David Brabham would also go on to win Le Mans in 2009, also driving for the factory Peugeot team.
Touring car racing
Later in his career, Brabham returned to Australia, where he was runner-up in the 1995 and 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship, and won the 1997 Bathurst 1000 Super Touring race driving a BMW 320i alongside brother David. The pair initially finished second behind BMW Motorsport Australia teammates Paul Morris and Craig Baird, but a blunder by the team left Baird in his car at the final pit stop which meant that by the end of the race, the Kiwi driver had breached the race regulation which limited any one driver to a maximum of three hours continuous driving. This caused their disqualification and handed the win to the Brabham brothers.
Brabham dabbled in V8 Supercar drives in his native Australia throughout his career. He is still one of the few drivers to win his first race, Sandown 500 in 1993. He started eleven races for one victory.
Stock car racing
Brabham took two race victories in the International Race of Champions stock car series (1992 and 1993), both at Michigan. He made his only NASCAR Winston Cup Series start at the first ever Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in 1994, driving for Michael Kranefuss. Brabham crashed in the second half of the race.
Personal life
He is the son of three-time Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham. He has two younger brothers; Gary and David. Geoff teamed with David to win the 1997 Bathurst 1000 in a BMW, becoming the only brothers to have combined to win the race. Although the most successful of the second generation of racing Brabhams, unlike his siblings he did not compete in World Championship Formula One.
Married to Roseina Brabham, a multi-time jet-ski champion, Brabham has retired from competition himself to focus on his son Matthew's racing career. After a successful karting career, Matthew moved into international open-wheel racing and the Road to Indy ladder; he is also a two-time Stadium Super Trucks champion.
Awards
He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America[1] in 2004.
Racing career
Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1978 | David Psachie | PIR1 | TRE1 | MOS 12 |
MIL1 6 |
TEX | MIL2 | OMS1 | OMS2 | TRE2 1 |
PIR2 | 13th | 290 |
1979 | TEX1 19 |
IRP 3 |
MIL1 3 |
POC 4 |
TEX2 5 |
MIL2 2 |
MIN1 6 |
MIN2 6 |
3rd | 824 |
Complete USAC Championship Car results
Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1981-82 | INDY 5 |
POC 2 |
ILL |
DUQ |
ISF |
INDY 28 |
2nd | 1,310 |
1982–83 | ISF | DSF | NAZ | INDY 4 |
4th | 600 | ||
1983-84 | DSF | INDY 33 |
38th | 5 |
CART
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1981 | Kraco Racing | Penske PC-7 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX1 9 |
MIL1 | ATL1 | ATL2 | MIS | 27th | 14 | ||||||||||||
All American Racers | Eagle 81 | Chevrolet V8 | RIV Ret |
MIL2 | MIS2 | WGL | MEX 9 |
PHX2 | ||||||||||||||
1982 | Pentax Super | March 81C | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX1 Ret |
ATL Ret |
8th | 110 | |||||||||||||||
March 82C | MIL1 7 |
CLE 6 |
MIS1 7 |
MIL2 10 |
POC 4 |
RIV Ret |
ROA Ret |
MIS2 3 |
PHX2 Ret |
|||||||||||||
1983 | Team VDS | Penske PC-10 | Cosworth DFX V8t | ATL | INDY 4 |
MIL | CLE | 21st | 13 | |||||||||||||
Wysard Racing | March 83C | MIS1 Ret |
ROA | POC | ||||||||||||||||||
Kraco Racing | March 83C | RIV Ret |
MDO | MIS2 12 |
LVG Ret |
LS Ret |
PHX | |||||||||||||||
1984 | Kraco Racing | March 84C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH 2 |
PHX1 Ret |
INDY Ret |
MIL 17 |
POR 2 |
MEA 3 |
CLE 8 |
MIS1 9 |
ROA 5 |
POC 14 |
MDO Ret |
SAN Ret |
MIS2 11 |
PHX2 Ret |
LS 5 |
LVG 5 |
8th | 87 | |
1985 | Galles Racing | March 85C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH 6 |
INDY Ret |
MIL 12 |
POR Ret |
MEA Ret |
CLE 2 |
MIS1 Ret |
ROA 15 |
POC Ret |
MDO 13 |
SAN 4 |
MIS2 16 |
LS Ret |
PHX 12 |
MIA Ret |
15th | 41 | ||
1986 | Galles Racing | Lola T86/00 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX1 10 |
LBH 3 |
INDY 12 |
MIL Ret |
SAN 11 |
MIS2 11 |
LS 6 |
PHX2 Ret |
MIA Ret |
12th | 64 | ||||||||
Brabham-Honda V8t | POR 7 |
MEA Ret |
CLE Ret |
TOR 14 |
MIS1 Ret |
POC 12 |
MDO Ret |
ROA Ret |
||||||||||||||
1987 | Galles Racing | March 87C | Brabham-Honda V8t | LBH Ret |
PHX 8 |
INDY Ret |
MIL 12 |
POR Ret |
MEA 4 |
CLE Ret |
TOR DNS |
MIS 8 |
POC 2 |
ROA 2 |
MDO 7 |
NAZ 12 |
LS 5 |
MIA 3 |
8th | 90 | ||
1989 | Team Penske | Penske PC-18 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | PHX | LBH | INDY Wth |
MIL | DET | POR Ret |
CLE | MEA | TOR | MIS | POC | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LS | 39th | 0 | ||
1990 | Truesports | Lola T89/00 | Judd AV V8t | PHX | LBH | INDY 19 |
MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MIS | DEN | VAN | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LS | 41st | 0 | |
1991 | King Racing | Truesports 91C | Judd AV V8t | SRF | LBH | PHX | INDY Ret |
MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MIS | DEN | VAN | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LS | 44th | 0 |
1993 | Team Menard | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6t | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY Ret |
MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | NHA | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | LS | 50th | 0 | |
1994 | Team Menard | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6t | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY DNQ |
MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | MDO | NHA | VAN | ROA | NAZ | LS | NC | - |
Indianapolis 500
Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1981 | Penske PC-9 | Ford Cosworth DFX | 15 | 5 | Kraco Racing |
1982 | March 82C | Ford Cosworth DFX | 20 | 28 | Bignotti-Cotter |
1983 | Penske PC-10 | Ford Cosworth DFX | 26 | 4 | Team VDS |
1984 | March 84C | Ford Cosworth DFX | 8 | 33 | Kraco Racing |
1985 | March 85C | Ford Cosworth DFX | 9 | 19 | Galles Racing |
1986 | Lola T86/00 | Ford Cosworth DFX | 20 | 12 | Galles Racing |
1987 | March 87C | Brabham-Honda | 14 | 24 | Galles Racing |
1989 | Penske PC-18 | Chevrolet 265A | Withdrew | Team Penske | |
1990 | Lola T89/00 | Judd AV | 19 | 19 | Truesports |
1991 | Truesports 91C | Judd AV | 22 | 20 | Truesports |
1993 | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6 (t/c) | 29 | 26 | Team Menard |
1994 | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6 (t/c) | DNQ | Team Menard |
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | Nissan Motorsport | Chip Robinson Arie Luyendyk |
Nissan R89C | C1 | 250 | DNF | DNF |
1990 | Nissan Performance Technology Inc. | Chip Robinson Derek Daly |
Nissan R90CK | C1 | 251 | DNF | DNF |
1993 | Peugeot Talbot Sport | Éric Hélary Christophe Bouchut |
Peugeot 905 Evo 1B | C1 | 375 | 1st | 1st |
V8 Supercar results
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | Ford Tickford Racing | ECK | ADL | PTH | PHI | HDV | SAN | CDR | SYM | WIN | OPR | QLD 8 |
BAT 10 |
31st | 360 | |
2000 | Larkham Motor Sport Rod Nash Racing |
PHI | PTH | ADL | ECK | HDV | CAN | QLD | WIN | OPK | CDR | QLD Ret |
SAN | BAT Ret |
NC | 0 |
2001 | Steven Ellery Racing | PHI | ADL | ECK | HDV | CAN | PTH | CDR | OPK | QLD 6 |
WIN | BAT 7 |
PUK | SAN | 36th | 565 |
Complete Bathurst 1000 results
Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1974 | WA Fisher (Holdings) Pty Ltd | Bernie Haehnle | Mazda RX-3 | 2001 – 3000cc | 151 | 8th | 3rd |
1975 | B S Stillwell Ford & Co Pty Ltd | Mike Stillwell | Ford Escort RS2000 | B | 141 | 12th | 5th |
1977 | John Goss Racing Pty Limited | Jack Brabham | Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop | 3001cc – 6000cc | 141 | 18th | 9th |
1993 | Peter Jackson Racing | David Parsons | Ford EB Falcon | A | 154 | 6th | 6th |
1997 | BMW Motorsport Australia | David Brabham | BMW 320i | A | 161 | 1st | 1st |
1998 | Longhurst Racing | Tony Longhurst | Ford EL Falcon | OC | 157 | 8th | 8th |
1999 | Ford Tickford Racing | Neal Bates | Ford AU Falcon | 160 | 10th | 10th | |
2000 | Rod Nash Racing | Cameron McConville | Holden VT Commodore | 105 | DNF | DNF | |
2001 | Steven Ellery Racing | Steven Ellery | Ford AU Falcon | 161 | 7th | 7th |
Sandown 500 results
Year | Class | Team | Co-Drivers | Chassis | Tyres | Laps | Qual Pos |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Engine | |||||||
1993 | V8 | Peter Jackson Racing | David Parsons | Ford EB Falcon | B | 161 | 8 |
Ford 5.0 L V8 |
References
- Driver Database stats
- Conrod Profile - V8 Supercar stats.
- Racing Reference - US Stats
- CART/USAC Results
Sporting positions | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Patrick Tambay |
Can-Am Champion 1981 |
Succeeded by Al Unser, Jr. |
Preceded by Chip Robinson |
IMSA GT champion 1987-1992 |
Succeeded by Juan Manuel Fangio II |
Preceded by Derek Warwick Yannick Dalmas Mark Blundell |
Winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 1993 with: Christophe Bouchut Éric Hélary |
Succeeded by Yannick Dalmas Hurley Haywood Mauro Baldi |
Preceded by Craig Lowndes Greg Murphy |
Winner of the Bathurst 1000 1997 (with David Brabham) |
Succeeded by Rickard Rydell Jim Richards |