Geoffrey John Brabham[1] (born 20 March 1952) is an Australian racing driver. Brabham spent the majority of his racing career in the United States.
Racing career
CART
He raced successfully in CART early in his career, finishing 8th in 1982, 1984 and 1987 with nine podiums. In ten appearances in the Indianapolis 500, he had a best result of fourth in 1983 and fifth in 1981.
Sports car racing
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/GeoffBrabham1990.jpg/220px-GeoffBrabham1990.jpg)
His greatest source of success was in various forms of sports cars, winning four IMSA GTP titles (1988–1991) when racing for Nissan, and one Can-Am 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 had won the GT class in the race driving a Jaguar XJ220 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 after Bernard Rubin (1928) and Vern Schuppan in 1983. David Brabham would also go on to win Le Mans in 2009, 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, and won the 1997 Bathurst 1000 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.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Nissan_NPT-90.jpg/220px-Nissan_NPT-90.jpg)
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 stock car series (1992 and 1993), both at Michigan. He made his only NASCAR Winston Cup Series start at the first ever Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis in 1994, driving for Michael Kranefuss. Brabham crashed in the second half of the race.
Personal life
He is the son of three-time Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham. He has two younger brothers; Gary and David. Geoff teamed with David to win the 1997 Bathurst 1000 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 Formula One.
Married to Roseina Brabham, a multi-time jet-ski champion, Brabham has retired from competition himself to focus on his son Matthew'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 three-time Stadium Super Trucks champion.
Awards
He was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America[2] in 2004. In 2014, Brabham was assigned as the chief director of Nissan and its developer Nismo.
Racing record
American Open-Wheel racing results
Complete USAC Mini-Indy Series results
Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1978 | David Psachie | PIR1 | TRE1 | MOS 12 |
MIL1 6 |
TEX | MIL2 | OMS1 | OMS2 | TRE2 1 |
PIR2 | 13th | 290 |
1979 | TEX1 19 |
IRP 3 |
MIL1 3 |
POC 4 |
TEX2 5 |
MIL2 2 |
MIN1 6 |
MIN2 6 |
3rd | 824 |
Complete USAC Championship Car results
Year | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1981-82 | INDY 5 |
POC 2 |
ILL |
DUQ |
ISF |
INDY 28 |
2nd | 1,310 |
1982–83 | ISF | DSF | NAZ | INDY 4 |
4th | 600 | ||
1983-84 | DSF | INDY 33 |
38th | 5 |
CART
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Year | Team | No. | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1981 | Kraco Racing | 54 | Penske PC-7 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX1 9 |
MIL1 | ATL1 | ATL2 | MIS | 27th | 14 | [3] | ||||||||||||
All American Racers | 48 | Eagle 81 | Chevrolet V8 | RIV 19 |
MIL2 | MIS2 | WGL | MEX 9 |
PHX2 | |||||||||||||||
1982 | Pentax Super | 21 | March 81C | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX1 15 |
ATL 15 |
8th | 110 | [4] | |||||||||||||||
March 82C | MIL1 7 |
CLE 6 |
MIS1 7 |
MIL2 10 |
POC 4 |
RIV 28 |
ROA 15 |
MIS2 3 |
PHX2 20 |
|||||||||||||||
1983 | Team VDS | 12 | Penske PC-10 | Cosworth DFX V8t | ATL | INDY 4 |
MIL | CLE | 21st | 13 | [5] | |||||||||||||
Wysard Racing | 34 | March 83C | MIS1 22 |
ROA | POC | |||||||||||||||||||
Kraco Racing | 18 | March 83C | RIV 18 |
MDO | MIS2 12 |
LVG 20 |
LS 16 |
PHX | ||||||||||||||||
1984 | Kraco Racing | March 84C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH 2 |
PHX1 16 |
INDY 33 |
MIL 17 |
POR 2 |
MEA 3 |
CLE 8 |
MIS1 9 |
ROA 5 |
POC 14 |
MDO 21 |
SAN 15 |
MIS2 11 |
PHX2 16 |
LS 5 |
LVG 5 |
8th | 87 | [6] | ||
1985 | Galles Racing | 7 | March 85C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH 6 |
INDY 19 |
MIL 12 |
POR 14 |
MEA 24 |
CLE 2 |
MIS1 29 |
ROA 15 |
POC 19 |
MDO 13 |
SAN 4 |
MIS2 16 |
LS 10 |
PHX 12 |
MIA 22 |
15th | 41 | [7] | ||
1986 | Galles Racing | 8 | Lola T86/00 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX1 10 |
LBH 3 |
INDY 12 |
MIL 21 |
SAN 11 |
MIS2 11 |
LS 6 |
PHX2 8 |
MIA 5 |
12th | 64 | [8] | ||||||||
Brabham-Honda V8t | POR 7 |
MEA 22 |
CLE 14 |
TOR 14 |
MIS1 4 |
POC 12 |
MDO 20 |
ROA 22 |
||||||||||||||||
1987 | Galles Racing | 15 | March 87C | Brabham-Honda V8t | LBH 16 |
PHX 8 |
INDY 24 |
MIL 12 |
POR 9 |
MEA 4 |
CLE 22 |
TOR DNS |
MIS 8 |
POC 2 |
ROA 2 |
MDO 7 |
NAZ 12 |
LS 5 |
MIA 3 |
8th | 90 | [9] | ||
1989 | Team Penske | 1 | Penske PC-18 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | PHX | LBH | INDY Wth |
MIL | DET | POR 14 |
CLE | MEA | TOR | MIS | POC | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LS | 39th | 0 | [10] | ||
1990 | Truesports | 21 | Lola T89/00 | Judd AV V8t | PHX | LBH | INDY 19 |
MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MIS | DEN | VAN | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LS | 41st | 0 | [11] | |
1991 | Truesports | 21 | Truesports 91C | Judd AV V8t | SRF | LBH | PHX | INDY 20 |
MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MIS | DEN | VAN | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LS | 45th | 0 | [12] |
1993 | Team Menard | 27 | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6t | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY 26 |
MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | NHA | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | LS | 50th | 0 | [13] | |
1994 | Team Menard | 59 | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6t | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY DNQ |
MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | MDO | NHA | VAN | ROA | NAZ | LS | NC | - | [14] |
Indianapolis 500
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/16/1994Brickyard400IrvanBrabham.jpg/220px-1994Brickyard400IrvanBrabham.jpg)
Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1981 | Penske PC-9 | Ford Cosworth DFX | 15 | 5 | Kraco Racing |
1982 | March 82C | Ford Cosworth DFX | 20 | 28 | Bignotti-Cotter |
1983 | Penske PC-10 | Ford Cosworth DFX | 26 | 4 | Team VDS |
1984 | March 84C | Ford Cosworth DFX | 8 | 33 | Kraco Racing |
1985 | March 85C | Ford Cosworth DFX | 9 | 19 | Galles Racing |
1986 | Lola T86/00 | Ford Cosworth DFX | 20 | 12 | Galles Racing |
1987 | March 87C | Brabham-Honda | 14 | 24 | Galles Racing |
1989 | Penske PC-18 | Chevrolet 265A | Withdrew | Team Penske | |
1990 | Lola T89/00 | Judd AV | 19 | 19 | Truesports |
1991 | Truesports 91C | Judd AV | 22 | 20 | Truesports |
1993 | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6 (t/c) | 29 | 26 | Team Menard |
1994 | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6 (t/c) | DNQ | Team Menard |
Touring/Sports Cars
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Nissan R89C | C1 | 250 | DNF | DNF |
1990 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Nissan R90CK | C1 | 251 | DNF | DNF |
1993 | ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Peugeot 905 Evo 1B | C1 | 375 | 1st | 1st |
V8 Supercar results
Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final pos | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | Ford Tickford Racing | ECK | ADL | PTH | PHI | HDV | SAN | CDR | SYM | WIN | OPR | QLD 8 |
BAT 10 |
31st | 360 | |
2000 | Larkham Motor Sport Rod Nash Racing |
PHI | PTH | ADL | ECK | HDV | CAN | QLD | WIN | OPK | CDR | QLD Ret |
SAN | BAT Ret |
NC | 0 |
2001 | Steven Ellery Racing | PHI | ADL | ECK | HDV | CAN | PTH | CDR | OPK | QLD 6 |
WIN | BAT 7 |
PUK | SAN | 36th | 565 |
Complete Bathurst 1000 results
Year | Car# | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1974 | 31 | ![]() |
![]() |
Mazda RX-3 | 2001 – 3000cc | 151 | 8th | 3rd |
1975 | 36 | ![]() |
![]() |
Ford Escort RS2000 | B | 141 | 12th | 5th |
1977 | 4 | ![]() |
![]() |
Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop | 3001cc – 6000cc | 141 | 18th | 9th |
1993 | 35 | ![]() |
![]() |
Ford EB Falcon | A | 154 | 6th | 6th |
1997* | 83 | ![]() |
![]() |
BMW 320i | A | 161 | 1st | 1st |
1998 | 25 | ![]() |
![]() |
Ford EL Falcon | OC | 157 | 8th | 8th |
1999 | 6 | ![]() |
![]() |
Ford AU Falcon | 160 | 10th | 10th | |
2000 | 54 | ![]() |
![]() |
Holden VT Commodore | 105 | DNF | DNF | |
2001 | 31 | ![]() |
![]() |
Ford AU Falcon | 161 | 7th | 7th |
* Super Touring race
Complete Sandown 500 results
Year | Car# | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | 35 | ![]() |
![]() |
Ford EB Falcon | V8 | 161 | 1st | 1st |
1994 | 23 | ![]() |
![]() |
Holden VP Commodore | V8 | 94 | NC | NC |
1998 | 25 | ![]() |
![]() |
Ford EL Falcon | OC | 7 | DNF | DNF |
Complete Australian Super Touring Championship results
Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | DC | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Diet Coke BMW Motorsport | BMW 318i | PHI 1 6 |
PHI 2 3 |
ORA 1 2 |
ORA 2 1 |
SYM 1 2 |
SYM 2 1 |
CAL 1 1 |
CAL 2 2 |
MAL 1 1 |
MAL 2 1 |
LAK 1 2 |
LAK 2 11 |
WIN 1 3 |
WIN 2 2 |
EAS 1 3 |
EAS 2 Ret |
2nd | 232 |
1996 | BMW Motorsport | BMW 318i | AMA 1 4 |
AMA 2 4 |
LAK 1 Ret |
LAK 2 4 |
AMA 1 3 |
AMA 2 4 |
MAL 1 4 |
MAL 2 3 |
WIN 1 1 |
WIN 2 5 |
PHI 1 5 |
PHI 2 5 |
LAK 1 2 |
LAK 2 Ret |
ORA 1 Ret |
ORA 2 5 |
4th | 114 |
1997 | BMW Motorsport | BMW 320i | LAK 1 2 |
LAK 2 2 |
PHI 1 5 |
PHI 2 1 |
CAL 1 2 |
CAL 2 1 |
AMA 1 4 |
AMA 1 3 |
WIN 1 8 |
WIN 2 3 |
MAL 1 Ret |
MAL 2 2 |
LAK 1 2 |
LAK 2 2 |
AMA 1 1 |
AMA 2 3 |
2nd | 171 |
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Winston Cup Series
NASCAR Winston Cup Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 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 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | NWCC | Pts | Ref | |||||||
1994 | Kranefuss-Haas Racing | 07 | Ford | DAY | CAR | RCH | ATL | DAR | BRI | NWS | MAR | TAL | SON | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH | DAY | NHA | POC | TAL | IND 38 |
GLN | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | MAR | NWS | CLT | CAR | PHO | ATL | 76th | 49 | [15] |
References
- ^ "Pilote des 24 heures du Mans : Geoffrey John Brabham". www.24h-en-piste.com (in French). Retrieved 8 May 2024.
- ^ Geoff Brabham at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1981 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1982 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1983 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1984 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1985 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1986 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1987 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1989 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1990 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1991 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1993 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1994 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
- ^ "Geoff Brabham – 1994 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
- Geoff Brabham career summary at DriverDB.com
- Conrod Profile - V8 Supercar stats.
- Geoff Brabham driver statistics at Racing-Reference
- CART/USAC Results
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