Speaker 1: Nineteen to fifty nine was just the tenth season of
Speaker 1: Formula One. It featured eight racers on the calendar, and
Speaker 1: rear engine cars had only recently become the norm. The
Speaker 1: season kicked off in May at the prestigious Monaco Circuit
Speaker 1: and ended in the United States in December. Heading into
Speaker 1: the last Grand Prix of the year at Florida's Sebring
Speaker 1: racewayzz he Jack Brabham was on the verge of his
Speaker 1: first championship. Racing for the Cooper Car Company, Jack only
Speaker 1: needed to finish ahead of his two closest rivals to
Speaker 1: secure an F one crown. On the final lap of
Speaker 1: the race, Jack was in the lead, his closest title threat,
Speaker 1: Tony Brooks, was on his heels pushing up the grid,
Speaker 1: and then every driver's worst nightmare became Jack Brabham's reality.
Speaker 1: He ran out of fuel. Hi, I'm Tony Armstrong and
Speaker 1: this is the ballroom where we celebrate the winners, losers
Speaker 1: and the weird stuff between. Jack Brabham loved engines. He
Speaker 1: learned to drive at twelve years old and was working
Speaker 1: on cars and studying mechanical engineering by fifteen. Three years later,
Speaker 1: he was a flight mechanic in the Air Force during
Speaker 1: World War Two. After that, he ran a small repair
Speaker 1: shop behind his grandfather's house. But even then, becoming a
Speaker 1: racing driver wasn't on his radar. The first time a
Speaker 1: friend took him to a speed car race, he thought
Speaker 1: the whole thing was pretty wild. To be fair, those
Speaker 1: tiny cars flying around the dirt track were death traps.
Speaker 1: Back in the day, safety was kind of an afterthought,
Speaker 1: I guess, But eventually Jack started to see things differently.
Speaker 1: Jack's mate, Johnny, was a driver himself. Jack went to
Speaker 1: watch him race a few times until one day when
Speaker 1: Johnny asked if he wanted to build a new car together.
Speaker 1: Jack agreed and the pair got to work. About five
Speaker 1: months later, the custom built speed car was finished. Initially
Speaker 1: it was Johnny behind the wheel until his wife convinced
Speaker 1: him to give the dangerous sport away. Now he was Jack,
Speaker 1: with the car and no driver. There was only one
Speaker 1: thing to do but hop in the driver's seat. Jack
Speaker 1: may have been an expert mechanic, but he was still
Speaker 1: a novice driver. Knowing his way around an engine surely helped, though,
Speaker 1: because he managed his first win in just his third race.
Speaker 1: From there, Jack never looked back. He continued winning, stepping
Speaker 1: up to bigger and tougher competitions until speeders just weren't
Speaker 1: challenging enough. Jack moved on to hill climbing. Yep, that's
Speaker 1: still a motorsport, and that gave him a taste for
Speaker 1: road racing. He competed around Australia and New Zealand before
Speaker 1: being lured to Europe were a career in Formula one
Speaker 1: Beckond Jack Brabham made his F one debut in nineteen
Speaker 1: fifty five, racing for British team Cooper. It took him
Speaker 1: a while to adjust, so he also spent time in
Speaker 1: Formula two honing his racecraft on Europe's challenging circuits, but
Speaker 1: by nineteen fifty nine Jack had become a serious contender
Speaker 1: for the F one Drivers Championship. He started the season strongly,
Speaker 1: winning at Monaco, one of the world's hardest races. He
Speaker 1: placed second and third in the next two before winning
Speaker 1: the British Grand Prix. Jack could have had the championship
Speaker 1: wrapped up early if it wasn't for the Germany and
Speaker 1: Portugal GPS he was forced to retire from both. Third
Speaker 1: place at Monza got him back on track, but the
Speaker 1: season was still up for grabs in the last Grand
Speaker 1: Prix of nineteen fifty nine in the USA. It was
Speaker 1: an unusual three months between races until the season finale,
Speaker 1: but the first ever Grand Prix in the United States
Speaker 1: was worth waiting for. Three men were still in contention
Speaker 1: for an F one championship. Jack Brabham with a five
Speaker 1: and a half point lead ahead of Sterling Moss and
Speaker 1: Tony Brooks two and a half points behind him. The
Speaker 1: weekend wasn't off to a good start for Jack. He
Speaker 1: crashed his Cooper in practice and spent the whole night
Speaker 1: fixing the car. In qualifying, Sterling Moss got pole position,
Speaker 1: Jack was second and Tony Brooks fourth. To claim the championship,
Speaker 1: Jack had to either finish first or at least ahead
Speaker 1: of Moss and Brooks. Moss had to place first or
Speaker 1: second in front of Jack, and for Brooks it was
Speaker 1: do or die. He'd need to win and rely on
Speaker 1: other results. Race day arrived, starting on pole, saw Moss
Speaker 1: set the pace early, leading the grid. Brooks was the
Speaker 1: first challenger to falter. He collided with the Ferrari on
Speaker 1: lap one and dropped way behind. He never recovered. Jack's
Speaker 1: job just got a little easier. Meanwhile, Moss was flying
Speaker 1: at least for the first six laps. He made contact
Speaker 1: with two other cars, which saw him enter the pits.
Speaker 1: A mechanical failure meant he had to retire. The championship
Speaker 1: was Jack's for the taking. With cars retiring one by one,
Speaker 1: Jack stormed ahead, but he still had to contend with
Speaker 1: his Cooper teammate Bruce McLaren. The pair battled for the lead,
Speaker 1: but surprisingly kept things pretty civil. It all came down
Speaker 1: to the final lap. Jack had got into the race
Speaker 1: with a light fuel load, giving the Cooper a small
Speaker 1: advantage in speed and acceleration. But no strategy in Formula
Speaker 1: One comes without a risk. As Jack pushed for the win,
Speaker 1: his car suddenly began to sputter and rapidly slowed down.
Speaker 1: Running out of fuel is perhaps the most embarrassing way
Speaker 1: for a driver to bow out of a race, but
Speaker 1: that's exactly the scenario Jack Brabham was now facing in Florida.
Speaker 1: His car came to a complete stop short of the
Speaker 1: finish line as his competitors flew past him. With Moss
Speaker 1: and Brooks out of the picture, Jack had the championship
Speaker 1: in the bag, but now he was fighting for his
Speaker 1: own pride. Jack got out of the car and began
Speaker 1: to push. It was pure grit and determination. He pushed
Speaker 1: his coup at the last few hundred meters down the
Speaker 1: track and rolled over the finish line. Jack had finished
Speaker 1: the race in fourth place and won his first Formula
Speaker 1: One drivers Championship. He collapsed beside his car, exhausted. Jack
Speaker 1: Brabham was a world champion. Jack went on to win
Speaker 1: two more F one crowns, the third being one in
Speaker 1: a car of his own making. His success helps solidify
Speaker 1: rear engines as the norm in Formula One, forever changing
Speaker 1: motor racing as we know it. Sir Jack Brabham, a
Speaker 1: world champion and AUSSI champion. Thanks for hanging out in
Speaker 1: the ballroom. I'm Tony Armstrong and you've been listening to
Speaker 1: an iHeart production. See you next time for another story
Speaker 1: from the wonderful world of sport. Catcha