164 replies to this topic

[Wirra]

 John Arthur Brabham  AO  OBE

 

           2/4/1926 - 19/5/2014

 

 

 

 

I watched him race at Mt Druitt in the early 1950s and I last saw him at the Tasman Revival in 2010 - always an uplifting experience.

 

 

See 'Australian Stories', 2009 - open screen then click on 'Full program'

 

http://www.abc.net.a...ers/default.htm

 

 

photo source = jackbrabham.com

Edited by Wirra, 14 June 2014 - 07:29.

[Andrew Fellowes]

Condolences to his family,

R.I.P. Sir Jack.

[gtsmunro]

RIP Sir Jack. Condolences to his family.

[cooper997]

Terrible news. Also just released on the Channel Nine. His health issues have been ongoing for a while now though.

Farewell Sir Jack... Legend for both Australian and motor racing enthusiasts the world over.

Stephen

[dave34m]

I always liked his quote about how he wanted to die without an enemy in the world, he said he was going to outlive the bastards.

 

Hope he achieved his goal.

[D-Type]

Farewell to the old warrior.  Condolences to his family and friends.

[275 GTB-4]

We have lost an Australian hero...R.I.P. Jack...thanks for the memories.

[Nick Planas]

Very sad news. I hope he was satisfied with his life's achievements. He won the first Grand Prix I ever saw (1996 British GP at Brands Hatch) and was one of my childhood heroes. I remember our sadness at him running out of fuel on the past lap in the 1970 British GP - the whole crowd groaned even though some of us were Lotus/Rindt fans; we really felt for him and it was a crying shame he didn't win more that year - he was pretty competitive right up to his last race.

 

I read his comments about outliving the bastards! He pretty much did; only a few left now from that era.

 

Sincerest and heartfelt condolences to his family.

[Risil]

What sad news. Survived, thankfully, by a formidable brood of racers.

[ken devine]

RIP Sir Jack you will be remembered by all West Australian motor sport enthusiasts.

[repcobrabham]

sad news, obviously, but a great innings for a champion driver from possibly the deadliest era of them all. I read on the weekend how his grandsons won significant races in the US and UK respectively, so the name will live on in deeds as well as words.

Edited by repcobrabham, 18 May 2014 - 23:38.

[Ian G]

Yeah,very sad news,RIP.

[Kingsleyrob]

Oh dear, just spotted this. Inevitable but still very sad, another living link to the fifties gone. Condolences to nearest and dearest.

 

Thanks for the memories Sir Jack - a privilege for me to witness two Oulton Park Gold Cup victories and his last points finish at Brands in 1970. 

 

Maybe he can have a chuckle with Jochen about those last laps at Monaco in 1970 if there's a great F1 paddock in the sky.

 

RIP Black Jack.

[TecnoRacing]

RIP Black Jack....A true giant of the sport - and a good guy

[Magoo]

Once there were giants. RIP Sir Jack. 

[DanTra2858]

My boy hood HERO, thank you Sir your achievements were not only yours but at the time Australias, RIP

[LB]

Just heard it on 5 live. RIP Black Jack

[Emery0323]

RIP Jack!    It's great that the sport had him with us until the ripe old age of 88 - So many from his era died young.

[genespleen]

Sad news, but what a wonderful gift he gave to racing fans.

[Jack-the-Lad]

A long life well lived.  R.I.P.

[johnny yuma]

The police in Australia sometimes pulled speeding drivers over in the day asking "Who do you think you are,Jack Brabham" , or so they say. Sir Jack is dead,but the legend lives on.Loved your work,Jack.Sometimes I think maybe you and Australia peaked at the same time !

[Hank the Deuce]

An ambassador for the sport to the end.

While he had retired before I was born, my circle of young car fans were more than merely aware of his achievements. I met him once, only for a period brief enough to allow an awkward "g'day" (I had impishly ducked under a barricade as I took a shortcut through the back of the pits at the inaugural touring car race at Eastern Creek, and stood to find myself toe-to-toe with Sir Jack), but he was gracious enough to shake my hand and smiled.

For this race fan, he was remarkable: an engineer, tactician, hard man on track, and survivor, from an era even the best couldn't be guaranteed a long life.

Rest In Peace, Sir Jack, and thank you for the inspiring example you provided to so many throughout your 88 years.

[eldougo]

Very sad to hear this news today.He was the man that got me interested in motor sport when my Father took me to Easter Bathurst  meeting in 1961.

I told him that story years later when working for his son Geoff in the UK  ,he lent me a ratchet spanner which i still have Geoff told me i was lucky .

Have seen him a few time back here in Australia and he never seen to change only his hearing from all those years of listing to the wonderful sound of

a racing motor and his master piece the Repco V8 .

 

Hope they pipe him into Heaven......RIP Sir Jack Brabham.

[JacnGille]

Sad news

[D28]

He truly stands out among the Grand Prix greats. He was competitive all through his final season, and was in a solid podium position for his very last race, when his Cosworth blew. Still charging at age 44!   

 

So long Jack thanks for all the memories.

[Dave Ware]

I'd like to express my sincere condolences to the family.

 

I am saddened by this loss.  Since I started following racing in1971, did a week go by that I didn't think, in some capacity, of Jack Brabham?  Probably not.  He was a titan.  He and his contemporaries, and my heroes of the seventies, exist in my thoughts like background music.  Always there, sometimes coming to the forefront of my thoughts for a bit, then receding.  But always there. 

 

Louis Stanley was more eloquent that I am, and he was actually there.  Here are a few things he said about Jack Brabham in his yearbook of the 1959 season, "Grand Prix."

 

From the introduction, page 1:

 

"The Australian is a worthy World Champion.  Dogged determination has brought him to the peak of his profession.  His success was due to intelligent consistency.  Without temperamental outbursts or over-publicized alibis like some of his rivals, Brabham planned his races with cool calculation.  At Sebring he was confident that Moss would not finish.  His prediction was accurate.  That is where Brabham scores over Moss.  His pre-race attitude is more sensible, more practical, and his engineering skills more marked."

 

From page 151:

 

"Unlike many Australians, there is nothing aggressive about Brabham's mannerisms.  He is not naturally pugnacious.  His integrity is rather like the honesty of the boy in Hans Anderson who pointed out that the king had no clothes on.  Last season Jack Brabham achieved both influence and status.  The anxious man inside has begun to relax, but the keen edge of ambition remains.  Long may it be so.  It will be a sad day when his quiet, lazy Australian drawl is no longer heard on Grand Prix circuits."

Edited by Dave Ware, 19 May 2014 - 03:17.

[T54]

Jack was a friend to my wife Kathryn and me, and was always a special guest in our home when visiting. We are so sorry and will miss him a lot, but will celebrate his life and his friendship for as long as we will live. Men like him, they broke the mold.
Jack, Rest in Peace.
 

[SJ Lambert]

A legend's legend, RIP Sir Jack.

[fredeuce]

The police in Australia sometimes pulled speeding drivers over in the day asking "Who do you think you are,Jack Brabham" , or so they say. Sir Jack is dead,but the legend lives on.Loved your work,Jack.Sometimes I think maybe you and Australia peaked at the same time !

 

That they did. I received such an accolade whilst performing my drivers test to earn my drivers licence in 1973.I had to do the usual tour around the town and was failed as I "drove like Jack Brabham" , according to the local Plod .

 

Of course he was one of my childhood heros too. I always looked forward to the media reports, radio mostly, on the advances of the Repco Brabham team back in 1966 and the years that followed. Thanks for providing some cherished memories Jack.

[wildman]

One of the great coverlines of all time: "Jack Brabham -- the old man who still wins"

 

.

 

Thanks for the memories, Sir Jack.

Edited by wildman, 19 May 2014 - 03:55.

[Tim Murray]

What a very sad piece of news to wake up to. He seems to have been part of my life since I first 'discovered' motor racing as a very small boy. Farewell to a brilliant driver and great engineer.

[UAtkins]

God speed Sir Jack, you have wonderful company where you are going. Farewell

Ursula

[raceannouncer2003]

Jack was a friend to my wife Kathryn and me, and was always a special guest in our home when visiting. We are so sorry and will miss him a lot, but will celebrate his life and his friendship for as long as we will live. Men like him, they broke the mold.
Jack, Rest in Peace.
 

 

Sad news.  I guess too late for you to do a lap of honor in the Cooper at Indy.  Do you think you might take it to Monterey as a memorial?

 

Vince H.

[Gary C]

Oh dear, what dreadful news. I was aware of his recent health issues, but as you do, thought he would just be with us. I'm currently in Nairobi and it feels an ocean away from all my motor racing friends with whom I could give him a send off with this evening. RIP Sir Jack, my thoughts are with you and your family right now.

Edited by Gary C, 19 May 2014 - 06:06.

[BMH Comic]

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[Ralf Pickel]

Very sad - RIP Sir Jack.

Astonished to hear the news in German TV this morning, normally there is football only...

 

Ralf

[BMH Comic]

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The tragedy that is the loss of Black Jack is indeed sad. He is the embodiment of the statement that "all good things must come to an end" however his legacy to the sport is something that will last forever, long live the legend, living through his descendants and the engineering excellence he has given us.

RIP Sir Jack

[Wirra]

... Astonished to hear the news in German TV this morning, normally there is football only...

 

In 'Australian Stories' {see post #1) Jack says in 2009 that half the fan mail he still received came from Germany.

[Roger Clark]

In 1960 I read an article in The Autocar or The Motor. It said that Fangio had gone from being a great driver to being a great man and that Brabham was likely to follow him. As a ten year old I didn't understand but I do now. No driver, apart from Jackie Stewart, matches his influence on the development of Grand Prix racing.

[Doug Nye]

Just heard.  Respect, affection, admiration, gratitude - and sincerest condolences to Margaret and to all Jack's family and worldwide circle of friends.  There was A Man...

 

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 19 May 2014 - 08:22.

[Geoff Smedley]

Goodbye J.B. peace at last old friend!

[blackmme]

RIP Sir Jack.
Legend is an overused term but his achievements were legendary in my opinion. Very quick and tough competitor, very competent engineer and very competent manager.
Quite the talent spotter as well, I think a few original Brabham guys still potter around in motor racing.

I had the pleasure of talking to him a few times and he was a racer through and through to his very core.

Once again Sir Jack RIP, a life well lived.

Regards Mike

[Spillage]

Very sad news. I saw his F1 Legends interview on Sky and he seemed very proud the family's motor-racing tradition was continuing through the generations. The name lives on!

[ensign14]

"The Australian is a worthy World Champion.  Dogged determination has brought him to the peak of his profession.  His success was due to intelligent consistency.  Without temperamental outbursts or over-publicized alibis like some of his rivals, Brabham planned his races with cool calculation.  At Sebring he was confident that Moss would not finish.  His prediction was accurate.  That is where Brabham scores over Moss.  His pre-race attitude is more sensible, more practical, and his engineering skills more marked."

 

Worthy of quoting perhaps given Sir Jack's 15 year Grand Prix career in an era in which he lost literal dozens of contemporaries.  He doubled the pressure on himself by delivering himself a fast and reliable car - a close to unique occurrence in Grand Prix history.  RIP.

[Rob29]

Sad news to wake up to this morning! saw him race many times-was the oldest living world champion so I guess had a goood life'

RIP Jack

[GMACKIE]

Sad news, indded.

 

Jack of all trades......master of a great many.

[Henri Greuter]

That is sad news. Given his age it was always something you had in the back of your head that it was going to happen sooner or later.

But it still comes as a surprise.

 

Rest in peace Sir Jack.

Condoleances to the loved ones left behind.

 

Henri

[Doug Nye]

Memories of a (too often mistakenly under-rated) Motor Racing Great - deeply influential - so much more than just a World Champion racing driver - one of the very few, very rare, game-changing personalities within all motor racing history:

 

https://dl.dropboxus...ACK BRABHAM.jpg

 

https://dl.dropboxus...RDY PIC 300.jpg

 

https://dl.dropboxus...tish GP col.jpg

 

https://dl.dropboxus...ERSTONE 100.jpg

 

https://dl.dropboxus...IDEWAYS 150.jpg

 

https://dl.dropboxus...post-finish.jpg

 

All Photos Strictly Copyright: The GP Library

 

DCN

Edited by Doug Nye, 19 May 2014 - 08:23.

[Nanni Dietrich]

Vale, Black Jack.

 

[Odseybod]

God speed, Sir Jack - racer, constructor and also great pilot.  I hope you'll now have your own wings to play with.

 

(I remember bumping into Sir Jack at a Popular Flying Association rally at Cranfield in about 2000, maybe earlier.  We were both on our way to that year's Goodwood Festival but had paused en route - sort of - to look at little aircraft. I'm usually pretty bad at recognising people 'out of context'  but couldn't mistake this unassuming lone figure wandering around the aircraft park, quietly smiling as he took in the spectacle. We had a nice long chat, which might have touched on motor racing as well as flying. One of the best)