David Brabham

David Philip Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have won the Le Mans 24 Hour sports car race, winning the event in . Brabham won the American Le Mans Series in 2009 and 2010. He also competed in Formula One, racing for the Brabham and Simtek teams in 1990 and 1994, respectively. Brabham is the youngest son of three-time Formula One world champion Sir Jack Brabham, brother to Geoff Brabham and Gary Brabham. He is also brother-in-law to Mike Thackwell, father to Sam Brabham and uncle to Matthew Brabham.

Early life Brabham, who was born in Wimbledon, 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 up Australian 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.

Motor racing career

Early career Brabham's professional racing career began in Australia in 1983, racing karts for two years, after which he moved into the Ford Laser "one make" series for 1985. In 1986, he switched to Formula Ford 1600 and subsequently to Australian Formula 2, winning the 1987 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 the 1987 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. After starting 38th on the grid due to carburettor and electrical problems with his Ralt RT30 Volkswagen 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.

Brabham also competed in the New Zealand Formula Atlantic series, the American Formula Atlantic series and in the South American Formula 3 Championship during the 1987 season. A move from Australia to Europe under sponsorship from Camel in 1989 saw him joining the Bowman team and winning the British Formula Three Championship.

Formula One career

Brabham's break into Formula One in with the Brabham 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.

Brabham's first outing with the team was the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix where he failed to qualify. His first Formula One start came at the next race in Monaco where his father Jack had won in 1959, 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 in Australia. 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 the Tom Walkinshaw Racing Jaguar team in 1991 and also in that year won the Spa 24 Hours driving a Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R alongside Naoki Hattori and Anders Olofsson.

Brabham returned to Formula One in with the under-funded Simtek team after his father bought shares in the team. The second seat was to be filled by paying drivers, with Roland Ratzenberger taking the first five races before Jean-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-spring Cosworth HB customer engines. Despite this, Brabham qualified for every round of the series. The team suffered the blow of the death of Ratzenberger during qualifying for the San 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.

Touring cars

Brabham quit Formula One at the end of that year to begin touring car racing – while he wanted to help Simtek the salary offered by the BMW works team was too good to ignore. 1995 in a BTCC BMW was not a success, but subsequent successes included winning the 1996 JGTC GT500 championship in McLaren F1 GTR (so far the only non-Japanese team car to win this), and the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 in its Super Touring era. Driving a BMW 320i at Bathurst with brother Geoff, the pair were flagged in second but were elevated to the win soon after the finish when their BMW Motorsport Australia teammates Paul Morris and Craig 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.

Brabham won the Professional Sports Car Championship in the United States with the Panoz racing team in 1998, and the 1999 Petit Le Mans race also with Panoz.

GT racing Brabham joined Sumo Power GT for the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship, teaming with Jamie Campbell-Walter in a Nissan GT-R. The duo finished 10th in the driver's championship. He joined the Blancpain Endurance Series in 2012, driving a McLaren MP4-12C for United Autosports.

Sports car racing

Since 1999, Brabham has been a regular in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), having raced for teams such as Panoz and Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello. He won the Sebring 12-hour race in 2005. In Australia, he has contested the Bathurst 24 Hour race and continued to make occasional appearances in the Bathurst 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) with Multimatic Motorsports at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Daytona Prototype category's inaugural race. Brabham finished second at the 2003 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 for Aston Martin Racing. At the 2006 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 the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans and again in the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans driving for Aston Martin Racing.

Driving for Peugeot, he won the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans outright with co-drivers Alexander Wurz and Marc Gené driving a Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. He joined brother Geoff as a Le Mans winner with his older brother having also won for Peugeot in 1993. It also saw him join his father and older brother as an outright winner at Le Mans with father Jack having won the only French Grand Prix held at the Bugatti Circuit in 1967.

David Brabham became only the fourth Australian driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans following Bernard Rubin in 1928, Vern Schuppan in 1983, and older brother Geoff in 1993.

Brabham won the 2009 and 2010 American Le Mans Series LMP championship, driving for Highcroft Racing. For 2012, he would compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship in a JRM Racing Honda Performance Development ARX-03a.

Project Brabham In the Autumn of 2014, Project Brabham was announced 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 through the Indiegogo portal, where members of the public and fans alike could become part of the team.

″The money from crowdfunding has been used to build this first stage Brabham-Digital website. We also created investor prospectus, which helps in searching and securing the investment required to build and launch both the team and Brabham-Digital platform" Brabham drove the car on its racing debut at Brands Hatch on 9 and 10 November, participating in Britcar's annual 'Into the Night' races. He was joined in the car by Will Powell. 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 the 1966 British Grand Prix who won in a Brabham BT19.

Family Racing record

Career summary

Complete British Formula 3 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics 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 THR SIL DON SIL SNE OUL SIL BRH SPA THR SIL 3rd 58 1989 Bowman Racing VW A THR DON SIL BRH SIL BRH THR SIL DON SIL SNE OUL SIL BRH DON SIL THR 1st 80

Complete Formula One results (key) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts 1990 Motor Racing Developments Brabham BT59 Judd EV 3.5 V8 USA BRA SMR MON CAN MEX FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR ESP JPN AUS NC 0 1994 MTV Simtek Ford Simtek S941 Ford HBD6 3.5 V8 BRA PAC SMR MON ESP CAN FRA GBR GER HUN BEL ITA POR EUR JPN AUS NC 0

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts 1991 Roni Team Ralt Ralt RT23 Cosworth VAL PAU JER MUG PER HOC BRH SPA BUG NOG NC 0

12 Hours of Sebring results

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1992 Toyota Team Tom's Geoff Lees Ukyo Katayama Toyota TS010 C1 192 DNF DNF 1993 TWR Jaguar Racing John Nielsen David Coulthard Jaguar XJ220 GT 306 DSQ DSQ 1996 Gulf Racing GTC Racing Pierre-Henri Raphanel Lindsay Owen-Jones McLaren F1 GTR GT1 335 5th 4th 1997 David Price Racing Perry McCarthy Doc Bundy Panoz Esperante GTR-1 GT1 145 DNF DNF 1998 Panoz Motorsports Andy Wallace Jamie Davies Panoz Esperante GTR-1 GT1 335 7th 7th 1999 Panoz Motorsports Éric Bernard Butch Leitzinger Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S-Ford LMP 336 7th 6th 2000 Panoz Motorsports Jan Magnussen Mario Andretti Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S-Élan LMP900 315 15th 8th 2001 Panoz Motorsports Jan Magnussen Franck Lagorce Panoz LMP07-Élan LMP900 85 DNF DNF 2002 Panoz Motor Sports Jan Magnussen Bryan Herta Panoz LMP01 Evo-Élan LMP900 90 DNF DNF 2003 Team Bentley Mark Blundell Johnny Herbert Bentley Speed 8 LMGTP 375 2nd 2nd 2004 Zytek Engineering, Ltd. Andy Wallace Hayanari Shimoda Zytek 04S LMP1 167 DNF DNF 2005 Aston Martin Racing Stéphane Sarrazin Darren Turner Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 333 9th 3rd 2006 Russian Age Racing Team Modena Antonio García Nelson Piquet Jr. Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 343 9th 4th 2007 Aston Martin Racing Darren Turner Rickard Rydell Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 343 5th 1st 2008 Aston Martin Racing Antonio García Darren Turner Aston Martin DBR9 GT1 344 13th 1st 2009 Peugeot Sport Total Marc Gené Alexander Wurz Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 382 1st 1st 2010 Highcroft Racing Marino Franchitti Marco Werner HPD ARX-01C LMP2 296 25th 9th 2012 JRM Peter Dumbreck Karun Chandhok HPD ARX-03a LMP1 357 6th 6th

Complete British Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics 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 DON1 DON2 BRH1 BRH2 THR1 THR2 SIL1 SIL2 OUL1 OUL2 BRH1 BRH2 DON1 DON2 SIL KNO1 KNO2 BRH1 BRH2 SNE1 SNE2 OUL1 OUL2 SIL1 SIL2 13th 48

Complete Super Tourenwagen Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Pts 1995 BMW Team Isert BMW 318is ZOL1 ZOL2 SPA1 SPA2 ÖST1 ÖST2 HOC1 HOC2 NÜR1 NÜR2 SAL1 SAL2 AVU1 AVU2 NÜR1 NÜR2 31st 22

Complete JGTC results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 DC Pts 1996 Team Lark McLaren McLaren F1 GTR GT500 SUZ2 FUJ1 SEN8 FUJ2 SUGRet MIN4 1st 63

Complete GT1 World Championship results 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 ABUQR8 ABUCR9 ZOLQR11 ZOLCRRet ALGQR3 ALGCR3 SACQR8 SACCR5 SILQRRet SILCRRet NAVQR4 NAVCR3 PRIQR9 PRICR4 ORDQR3 ORDCR7 BEIQR11 BEICR8 SANQR7 SANCRRet 10th 75

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

As Brabham was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.

IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key)(Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Team Car Co-driver Position Laps 1993 Winfield Racing Holden VP Commodore Anders Olofsson 4th 159 1997* BMW Motorsport Australia BMW 320i Geoff Brabham 1st 161 1999 Wayne Gardner Racing Holden VT Commodore Wayne Gardner 14th 157 2003 Dick Johnson Racing Ford BA Falcon Max Wilson 12th 158 2004 Dick Johnson Racing Ford BA Falcon Owen Kelly 17th 157 2005 Ford Performance Racing Ford BA Falcon Jason Bright 14th 152 2006 Ford Performance Racing Ford BA Falcon Matt Halliday DNF 56 2010 Stone Brothers Racing Ford FG Falcon Alex Davison 13th 161 2011 Stone Brothers Racing Ford FG Falcon Alex Davison 16th 161

Super Touring race

Spa 24 Hours results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1991 Team Zexel Naoki Hattori Anders Olofsson Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R A/Div.3 517 1st 1st 1992 Nissan NISMO Racing Masahiro Hasemi Anders 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

Bathurst 24 Hour results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 2002 Cirtek Motorsport Manfred Jurasz Allan Grice Darren Palmer Porsche 996 GT3-RS 5 488 DNF DNF 2003 BE Racing Klaus Engelhorn Andrea Montermini Philipp Peter Ferrari 360 N-GT A 287 DNF DNF

Complete Britcar results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position in class – 1 point awarded just in first race; races in italics indicate fastest lap in class – 1 point awarded all races;-

† Brabham was ineligible for points as he was an invitation entry.