| Geoff Brabham | |
| Nationality: |  Australian |
| Birth Date: | 1952 3, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Sydney, Australia |
| Retired: | 2001 |
| Related To: | Jack Brabham (father) Matthew Brabham (son) Gary Brabham (brother) David Brabham (brother) Sam Brabham (nephew) Lisa Thackwell (sister in law) |
| Last Series: | Australian Super Touring Championship |
| Years Active: | 1995–1997 |
| Teams: | BMW Motorsport Australia |
| Starts: | 48 |
| Wins: | 9 |
| Best Finish: | 2nd |
| Year: | 1995 & 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship |
| Prev Series: | Australian Formula Ford Australian Formula 2 British Formula One Championship Formula Super Vee Indycar Can-Am IMSA GT Championship IROC V8 Supercar |
| Prev Series Years: | 1974 1975 1978 1979 1981–87, 1990, 1992, 1994 1979–81 1987–92 1989–94 1993–2001 |
| Titles: | Australian Formula 2 Championship SCCA Super Vee Championship Can-Am IMSA GTP Championship IMSA GTP Championship IMSA GTP Championship IMSA GTP Championship |
| Title Years: | 1975 1979 1981 1988 1989 1990 1991 |
| Awards: | Motorsports Hall of Fame of America |
| Award Years: | 2004 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 two-time Stadium Super Trucks champion.
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.
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Pos | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | David Psachie | PIR1 | TRE1 | MOS | MIL1 | TEX | MIL2 | OMS1 | OMS2 | TRE2 | PIR2 | 13th | 290 | |
| 1979 | TEX1 | IRP | MIL1 | POC | TEX2 | MIL2 | MIN1 | MIN2 | 3rd | 824 |
| 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 | 4th | 600 | |||
| 1983-84 | DSF | INDY 33 | 38th | 5 | |||||
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
| Year | Team | 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 | Penske PC-7 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX1 | MIL1 | ATL1 | ATL2 | MIS | 27th | 14 | [3] | |||||||||||||
| All American Racers | Eagle 81 | Chevrolet V8 | RIV | MIL2 | MIS2 | WGL | MEX | PHX2 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1982 | Pentax Super | March 81C | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX1 | ATL | 8th | 110 | [4] | ||||||||||||||||
| March 82C | MIL1 | CLE | MIS1 | MIL2 | POC | RIV | ROA | MIS2 | PHX2 | |||||||||||||||
| 1983 | Team VDS | Penske PC-10 | Cosworth DFX V8t | ATL | INDY | MIL | CLE | 21st | 13 | [5] | ||||||||||||||
| Wysard Racing | March 83C | MIS1 | ROA | POC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Kraco Racing | March 83C | RIV | MDO | MIS2 | LVG | LS | PHX | |||||||||||||||||
| 1984 | Kraco Racing | March 84C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH | PHX1 | INDY | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | MIS1 | ROA | POC | MDO | SAN | MIS2 | PHX2 | LS | LVG | 8th | 87 | [6] | ||
| 1985 | Galles Racing | March 85C | Cosworth DFX V8t | LBH | INDY | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | MIS1 | ROA | POC | MDO | SAN | MIS2 | LS | PHX | MIA | 15th | 41 | [7] | |||
| 1986 | Galles Racing | Lola T86/00 | Cosworth DFX V8t | PHX1 | LBH | INDY | MIL | SAN | MIS2 | LS | PHX2 | MIA | 12th | 64 | [8] | |||||||||
| Brabham-Honda V8t | POR | MEA | CLE | TOR | MIS1 | POC | MDO | ROA | ||||||||||||||||
| 1987 | Galles Racing | March 87C | Brabham-Honda V8t | LBH | PHX | INDY | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | TOR | MIS | POC | ROA | MDO | NAZ | LS | MIA | 8th | 90 | [9] | |||
| 1989 | Team Penske | Penske PC-18 | Chevrolet 265A V8t | PHX | LBH | INDY Wth | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MIS | POC | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LS | 39th | 0 | [10] | |||
| 1990 | Truesports | Lola T89/00 | Judd AV V8t | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MIS | DEN | VAN | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LS | 41st | 0 | [11] | ||
| 1991 | Truesports | Truesports 91C | Judd AV V8t | SRF | LBH | PHX | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MIS | DEN | VAN | MDO | ROA | NAZ | LS | 45th | 0 | [12] | |
| 1993 | Team Menard | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6t | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | NHA | ROA | VAN | MDO | NAZ | LS | 50th | 0 | [13] | ||
| 1994 | Team Menard | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6t | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | MDO | NHA | VAN | ROA | NAZ | LS | NC | - | [14] |
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Penske PC-9 | Ford Cosworth DFX | 15 | align=center style="background:#dfffdf;" | 5 | Kraco Racing |
| 1982 | March 82C | Ford Cosworth DFX | 20 | align=center style="background:#efcfff;" | 28 | Bignotti-Cotter |
| 1983 | Penske PC-10 | Ford Cosworth DFX | 26 | align=center style="background:#dfffdf;" | 4 | Team VDS |
| 1984 | March 84C | Ford Cosworth DFX | 8 | align=center style="background:#efcfff;" | 33 | Kraco Racing |
| 1985 | March 85C | Ford Cosworth DFX | 9 | align=center style="background:#efcfff;" | 19 | Galles Racing |
| 1986 | Lola T86/00 | Ford Cosworth DFX | 20 | align=center style="background:#cfcfff;" | 12 | Galles Racing |
| 1987 | March 87C | Brabham-Honda | 14 | align=center style="background:#efcfff;" | 24 | Galles Racing |
| 1989 | Penske PC-18 | Chevrolet 265A | Withdrew | Team Penske | ||
| 1990 | Lola T89/00 | Judd AV | 19 | align=center style="background:#cfcfff;" | 19 | Truesports |
| 1991 | Truesports 91C | Judd AV | 22 | align=center style="background:#efcfff;" | 20 | Truesports |
| 1993 | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6 (t/c) | 29 | align=center style="background:#efcfff;" | 26 | Team Menard |
| 1994 | Lola T93/00 | Menard V6 (t/c) | DNQ | Team Menard |
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 |  Nissan Motorsport |  Chip RobinsonArie Luyendyk | Nissan R89C | C1 | 250 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1990 | Nissan Performance Technology Inc. | Chip Robinson Derek Daly | Nissan R90CK | C1 | 251 | DNF | DNF | |
| 1993 |  Peugeot Talbot Sport | Éric Hélary Christophe Bouchut | Peugeot 905 Evo 1B | C1 | 375 | 1st | 1st |
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final pos | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Ford Tickford Racing | ECK | PTH | PHI | HDV | SAN | CDR | SYM | WIN | OPR | QLD | BAT | 31st | 360 | |||
| 2000 | Larkham Motor Sport Rod Nash Racing | PHI | PTH | ECK | HDV | QLD | WIN | OPK | CDR | QLD | SAN | BAT | NC | 0 | |||
| 2001 | Steven Ellery Racing | PHI | ECK | HDV | CAN | PTH | CDR | OPK | QLD | WIN | BAT | PUK | SAN | 36th | 565 |
| Year | Car# | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 31 | WA Fisher (Holdings) Pty Ltd | Bernie Haehnle | Mazda RX-3 | 2001 – 3000cc | 151 | 8th | 3rd | |
| 1975 | 36 | B S Stillwell Ford & Co Pty Ltd | Mike Stillwell | Ford Escort RS2000 | B | 141 | 12th | 5th | |
| 1977 | 4 | John Goss Racing Pty Limited | Jack Brabham | Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop | 3001cc – 6000cc | 141 | 18th | 9th | |
| 1993 | 35 | Peter Jackson Racing | David Parsons | Ford EB Falcon | A | 154 | 6th | 6th | |
| 1997 | 83 | BMW Motorsport Australia | David Brabham | BMW 320i | A | 161 | 1st | 1st | |
| 1998 | 25 | Longhurst Racing | Tony Longhurst | Ford EL Falcon | OC | 157 | 8th | 8th | |
| 1999 | 6 | Ford Tickford Racing | Neal Bates | Ford AU Falcon | 160 | 10th | 10th | ||
| 2000 | 54 | Rod Nash Racing | Cameron McConville | Holden VT Commodore | 105 | DNF | DNF | ||
| 2001 | 31 | Steven Ellery Racing | Steven Ellery | Ford AU Falcon | 161 | 7th | 7th |
* Super Touring race
| Year | Car# | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 35 | Peter Jackson Racing | David Parsons | Ford EB Falcon | V8 | 161 | 1st | 1st | |
| 1994 | 23 | Diet Coke Racing | Paul Morris | Holden VP Commodore | V8 | 94 | NC | NC | |
| 1998 | 25 | Longhurst Racing | Tony Longhurst | Ford EL Falcon | OC | 7 | DNF | DNF |
(key) (
Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)