__NOTOC__ Geoff Brabham (born 20 March 1952) is an Australian racing driver. Brabham spent the majority of his racing career in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Racing career

CART

He raced successfully in

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by one or a pair of draught animals. A handcart is pulled or pushed by one or more people. It is different from the flatbed ...

early in his career, finishing 8th in 1982, 1984 and 1987 with nine podiums. In ten appearances in the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

, 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 IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada. History The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill F ...

titles (1988–1991) when racing for

Nissan , trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun bra ...

, and one

Can-Am The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an SCCA/ CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987. History Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two races in Canada (''Can'') and four races in the United ...

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 David Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian professional 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 t ...

had won the GT class in the race driving a

Jaguar XJ220 The Jaguar XJ220 is a two-seat sports car produced by British luxury car manufacturer Jaguar from 1992 until 1994, in collaboration with the specialist automotive and race engineering company Tom Walkinshaw Racing. The XJ220 recorded a top ...

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 Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

after Bernard Rubin (

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly proving the existence of DNA. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris Bazhano ...

) and Vern Schuppan in 1983. David Brabham would also go on to win Le Mans in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

, 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 The Australian Super Touring Championship (formerly known as the Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship) was a CAMS-sanctioned national motor racing title for Super Touring Cars. History Super Touring was introduced into Australia in 1993 ...

, and won the

1997 Bathurst 1000 The 1997 AMP Bathurst 1000 was the 38th running of the annual Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 5 October 1997 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was the first Bathurst 1000 r ...

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. Nissan NPT-90

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 International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was primar ...

stock car series (1992 and 1993), both at Michigan. He made his only

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

Winston Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971 ...

start at the first ever Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in 1994, driving for

Michael Kranefuss Michael "Mike" Kranefuss (born July 3, 1938) is a German-born American former head of Ford Motor Company's International Motorsports division for 12 years. After leaving Ford, he became a NASCAR team owner. Ford Motor Company Kranefuss le ...

. Brabham crashed in the second half of the race.

Personal life

He is the son of three-time

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Champion

Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Brabham was a R ...

. He has two younger brothers; Gary and

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. Geoff teamed with David to win the

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

. Married to Roseina Brabham, a multi-time jet-ski champion, Brabham has retired from competition himself to focus on his son

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497 * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chi ...

'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 The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycle ...

Geoff Brabham
at the

in 2004. In 2014, Brabham was assigned as the chief director of

and its developer Nismo.

Racing career

American Open-Wheel racing results

Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results

Complete USAC Championship Car results

CART

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Indianapolis 500

Touring/Sports Cars

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

V8 Supercar results

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Super Touring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created ...

race

Sandown 500 results

References

Driver Database stats

Conrod Profile - V8 Supercar stats

Racing Reference - US Stats

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brabham, Geoff 1952 births 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Australian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Australian Formula 2 drivers Bathurst 1000 winners Geoff Champ Car drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers International Race of Champions drivers SCCA Formula Super Vee drivers Formula Super Vee Champions Living people NASCAR drivers Racing drivers from Sydney Australian IndyCar Series drivers Sportsmen from New South Wales Supercars Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Australian Formula One drivers British Formula One Championship drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers Team Penske drivers Peugeot Sport drivers Nismo drivers BMW M drivers