David Brabham facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
David Brabham

Brabham in 2012
Born	(1965-09-05) 5 September 1965 (age 59) London, England
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Australian
Active years	1990, 1994
Teams	Brabham, Simtek
Entries	30 (24 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1990 San Marino Grand Prix
Last entry	1994 Australian Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	1992–1993, 1996–2010, 2012
Teams	Tom Walkinshaw Racing, Gulf Racing/GTC Racing, David Price Racing, Panoz Motorsports, Team Bentley, Zytek Engineering, Aston Martin Racing, Russian Age Racing, Peugeot Sport Total, Highcroft Racing, JRM
Best finish	1st (2009)
Class wins	3 (2007, 2008, 2009)

David Philip Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian racing driver. He is known for being very good at sports car racing. David has won three big international Sports Car series. He is also one of only four Australians to win the famous Le Mans 24 Hour race, which he did in 2009.

Brabham also won the American Le Mans Series in 2009 and 2010. Before that, he raced in Formula One for the Brabham and Simtek teams in 1990 and 1994. David is the youngest son of Sir Jack Brabham, who was a three-time Formula One world champion. His brothers, Geoff Brabham and Gary Brabham, are also racing drivers.

Early life and first races

David Brabham was born in Wimbledon, London, but grew up in Australia. Even though his dad was a famous racer, David wasn't very interested in motor racing at first. He played soccer until he was twelve. Then, when his family moved to Sydney, he started playing Australian rules football.

Sir Jack, his father, didn't push David into racing. It wasn't until David was 17 that he found go-karting. He became so excited that he bought a used go-kart with his neighbor and started racing.

Motor racing career

Starting out in racing

David's professional racing journey began in Australia in 1983. He raced karts for two years. After that, in 1985, he moved to a special racing series called the Ford Laser "one make" series.

In 1986, he switched to Formula Ford 1600. Then, he moved to Australian Formula 2. He won the 1987 Australian Drivers' Championship in that category. This championship was just one race in 1987, held alongside the 1987 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. David started way back in 38th place because of car problems. But he drove amazingly, passing the leader on lap 13 of 15, and won by 1.7 seconds!

In 1987, he also raced in New Zealand, America, and South America. In 1989, he moved to Europe with sponsorship from Camel. He joined the Bowman team and won the British Formula Three Championship.

Formula One journey

Brabham driving the Simtek S941 at the 1994 British Grand Prix meeting at Silverstone

David Brabham got his chance in Formula One in 1990 with the Brabham team. This team shared his family name, but it had been sold many times since his father owned it. The team had money problems all season. David had to skip the first two races to get ready. His first race was the 1990 San Marino Grand Prix, but he didn't qualify.

His first actual Formula One start was at the next race in Monaco. This was a special place because his father, Jack, had won there in 1959. In 14 races, David only managed to qualify six times with the car, which wasn't very fast. He couldn't find enough money to keep his spot, so he left the team at the end of the season.

In 1991, Brabham joined the Tom Walkinshaw Racing Jaguar team. That year, he also won the Spa 24 Hours race in a Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R.

Brabham returned to Formula One in 1994 with the Simtek team. His father even bought shares in the team to help. The Simtek car was heavy and used an older type of gearbox. But David still managed to qualify for every race that year.

Sadly, the team faced a tragedy when Roland Ratzenberger died during qualifying for the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Usually, the other driver would stop racing, but David decided to keep going to help the team. He crashed out of that race himself due to a suspension problem. David's strong leadership helped the team finish the season. Even though the Simtek car wasn't competitive, David was praised for his determination. He also performed much better than his teammates.

Touring Cars and GT racing

Brabham driving for BMW at Silverstone during the 1995 British Touring Car Championship season

David left Formula One at the end of 1994 to start touring car racing. He joined the BMW team in 1995, but that year wasn't very successful. However, he had many wins later. In 1996, he won the JGTC GT500 championship in a McLaren F1 GTR. This was the first time a non-Japanese team won this championship.

In 1997, he won the 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 race in Australia. He drove a BMW 320i with his brother Geoff. They finished second but were given the win after another team was disqualified.

Brabham driving the distinctive Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S during the 2000 24 Hours of Le Mans

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

In 2011, Brabham joined Sumo Power GT for the FIA GT1 World Championship. He raced a Nissan GT-R and finished 10th in the championship. In 2012, he raced a McLaren MP4-12C in the Blancpain Endurance Series.

Sports car racing highlights

Brabham driving the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans winning Peugeot 908 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Since 1999, David has regularly raced in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). He has driven for teams like Panoz and Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello. In 2005, he won the Sebring 12-hour race. He has won a total of 23 ALMS events across all four racing classes. He was a champion in the series twice, winning the LMP1 title in 2009 and the LMP title in 2010.

In 2003, Brabham won his class (and finished 4th overall) at the 24 Hours of Daytona. He also finished second at the 2003 24 Hours of Le Mans while driving for Bentley. From 2005, he raced Aston Martin DBR9s at Le Mans for four years. He finished 9th overall and 3rd in the GT1 Class for Aston Martin Racing in 2005. In 2006, he was 4th in the GT1 category. Brabham won the GT1 class at the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans and again at the 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin Racing.

In 2009, driving for Peugeot, he won the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans outright with his co-drivers Alexander Wurz and Marc Gené. He drove a Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. This win meant he and his older brother Geoff both became Le Mans winners. His father, Jack, also won a French Grand Prix at the Bugatti Circuit in 1967.

David Brabham is only the fourth Australian driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The others are Bernard Rubin (1928), Vern Schuppan (1983), and his older brother Geoff (1993).

For 2012, he competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship with JRM Racing.

Project Brabham

In 2014, David Brabham announced something new called Project Brabham. This project aimed to create a motor racing team in a new way, by involving the public and fans. They started by raising money through crowdfunding. People could become part of the team by helping to fund it.

The money raised in the first stage was used to build the "Brabham-Digital" website. They also created a plan to attract bigger investors. The goal is to get enough investment to launch the team and race in the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Brabham Automotive

In May 2018, Brabham launched Brabham Automotive. Their first car is called the Brabham BT62. David Brabham himself drove the car in its first race at Brands Hatch in November 2019. He was joined by Will Powell. They won the race, which was a remarkable first win for the Brabham BT62 and Brabham Automotive! After the race, David remembered his father's win at the 1966 British Grand Prix in a Brabham BT19.

Family and racing ties

David's two older brothers, Geoff and Gary, also became racing drivers. His wife, Lisa (who is the sister of Mike Thackwell), also raced cars. Now, his son Sam Brabham and nephew Matthew Brabham are racing in junior categories, continuing the family's racing tradition.

Lisa Brabham (born Thackwell) was born in New Zealand in 1976. Her family moved to Perth, Australia, and then to England when she was eleven. She first drove a racing car, a Renault 5 Cup, when she was 21. After one season, she switched to the Honda CRX Challenge. She also raced in the British Rover GTi Championship in 1992. David and Lisa married in 1993. She continued racing in 1994 but seems to have stopped soon after. They have two sons, Sam and Finn.

Racing record

Career summary

Images for kids

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  Walk of fame - Le Mans, Handprints and signatures from the winners of the 2009 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

See also

In Spanish: David Brabham para niños