Who is David Brabham?

The youngest son of triple Formula One World Champion Sir Jack, David Brabham has raced in some of the world’s most prestigious motor sport categories.

Brabham started out in go-karts and then Formula Ford before winning the Australian Formula 2 Gold Star Championship.

After moving to England Brabham became British Formula 3 Champion and won the British F3 World Cup in Macau. He also won both the Spa 24-hour and the Daytona 24-hour races and was crowned champion in the World Sportscar and the British Touring Car Championships.

Brabham spent two years in Formula One. In 1990 he drove for the team bearing his surname – Brabham Formula One – and in 1994 he was with Simtek Grand Prix. Both teams struggled to give Brabham a competitive car so he decided to return to sportscars.

After F1, Brabham continued to win races and championships. He was the Japanese GTC GT500 champion in 1996, he won Australia’s highest profile and most prestigious race, the Bathurst 1000, in 1998 and rounded out the millennium taking out the GT class at the Sebring 12 hour race, was the Professional Sports Car Champion (USA), won the Petit Le Mans and was runner-up in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in his first year of racing.

Since 2000 Brabham has focussed on endurance racing. He has continued to race in the ALMS and is a regular class winner at the world-famous Le Mans 24 hour race in France.

In 2007 and 2008 Brabham won the GT1 class at Le Mans with Aston Martin and was voted the most popular driver by ALMS fans. In 2008 he was voted the fastest sportscar driver in the world by Speedtv.com.

It might have taken 10 years of trying but the effort paid off when he won the ALMS Championship in 2009. He backed this up with an overall race victory at the Le Mans 24 hour. The win made headlines all over the world, including Australia.

Coming out to Australia to race for IRWIN Racing at Phillip Island, Bathurst and the Gold Coast, Brabham arrived as a two time ALMS Champion, winning his class and securing the series title at the final round of the Championship, at Petit Le Mans.

Brabham showed how experienced he was driving suberbly with the team across the three endurance events, helping Alex Davison and IRWIN Racing to 10th at the Island, 13th at the mountain and fifth in the first race of the Gold Coast 600. He was well on his way to a second top result at the Surfers Paradise street circuit when he was involved in an accident with Cameron McConville that put an end to the team’s aspirations.

After a successful 2010, Brabham has confirmed that in 2011 he will race in the FIA GT1 World Championship with the Sumo Power GT Team, he will also do select rounds of the American Le Mans Series with Highcroft Racing and, for a second consecutive year, partner with Alex Davison and IRWIN Racing for the V8 Supercar endurance rounds at Phillip Island and Bathurst.