Legendary F1 driver Jack Brabham passes away

Jack Brabham in a picture from 1970

Canberra, May 19 (IANS): Jack Brabham, Australian three-time Formula One champion and an icon of world motorsport, died here Monday morning. He was 88.

In a tweet, his son David wrote: “Thanks for all the kind messages about my father’s peaceful passing, it is appreciated by the whole family.”

Jack won back-to-back world Formula One championships in 1959 and 1960. However, his most remarkable victory came in 1966 when he won the championship in a car, BT19, that he had built himself, a sporting feat that will never be replicated, reports Xinhua.

After serving in the Australian air force during World War II, Brabham started his own engineering firm, buying and selling second-hand cars. He began racing a short time later, racing midget cars on dirt tracks. After retiring in 1970, he became the first motorsport legend to be knighted.

“Jack retained a lifelong love of engine design, construction and repair and once said that driving was the ‘relaxing part’ of the world of Formula One,” a statement from federal Labour Party said on Monday paying tribute to Brabham.

“He was truly the Don Bradman of the racing circuit, with a laconic modesty that pre-dated the era of fist-pumping,” it said.