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99-488: The race takes place around the centre of the city, where public roads are closed to form a street circuit , and over the years the event has variously conformed to the rules of Grand Prix racing , Formula One , Formula Two , Formula 3000 , Formula Three , Formula Libre , sports car racing , and touring car racing . In 2021, Autocar included the Pau Grand Prix in its list of "The 10 best street circuits in

198-594: A 13-point championship lead with four races to go. At the Portuguese Grand Prix at Monsanto Park, Brabham was chasing race leader Moss when a backmarker moved over on him and launched the Cooper into the air. The airborne car hit a telegraph pole, throwing Brabham onto the track, where he narrowly avoided being hit by one of his teammates but escaped with no serious injury. With two wins each, Brabham, Moss, and Ferrari's Tony Brooks were all capable of winning

297-585: A Cooper had won in Argentina, other cars had been faster before they broke down. Brabham helped design the more advanced Cooper T53 , including advice from Tauranac. Brabham spun the new car out of the next championship race, the Monaco Grand Prix , but then embarked on a series of five straight victories. He won from the front at the Dutch , French , and Belgian Grands Prix , where title rival Moss

396-656: A Formula 3000 race. Following the disappearance of the Formula 3000 race in Pau, the FIA organised the new European Formula Three Cup in 1999. Formula Three, however, had already come to Pau before as part of the French championship and a support race of F3000. The Grand Prix format also changed completely: the race became shorter (40 minutes instead of 1.5 hours in F3000). The switch to

495-406: A commuter town outside Sydney. Brabham was involved with cars and mechanics from an early age. At the age of 12, he learned to drive the family car and the trucks of his father's grocery business. Brabham attended technical college, studying metalwork, carpentry, and technical drawing. Brabham's early career continued the engineering theme. At the age of 15 he left school to work, combining a job at

594-601: A company called Motor Racing Developments (MRD), which produced customer racing cars, while Brabham himself continued to race for Cooper. MRD produced cars for Formula Junior , with the first one appearing in mid-1961. Brabham left Cooper in 1962 to drive for his own team: the Brabham Racing Organisation, using cars built by Motor Racing Developments. A newly introduced engine limit in Formula One of 1500 cc did not suit Brabham and he did not win

693-432: A complete break from racing and returned to Australia, to the relief of his wife who had been "scared stiff" each time he drove. Following his retirement, Brabham and his family moved to a farm between Sydney and Melbourne. Brabham says that he "never really wanted" the move, but his wife Betty hoped their sons could grow up away from motorsport. As well as running the new venture, he continued his interest in businesses in

792-415: A different approach to the problem of obtaining a suitable engine: he persuaded Australian engineering company Repco to develop a new 3-litre eight-cylinder engine for him. Repco had no experience in designing complete engines. Brabham had identified a supply of suitable engine blocks obtained from Oldsmobile 's aluminium alloy 215 engine and persuaded the company that an engine could be designed around

891-691: A fusion of the French and German championships. Over the years the Grand Prix became a very important race in the Formula Three calendar. In 2001 the race was won by Anthony Davidson from the pole position, driving a Carlin Dallara-Honda. Davidson went on to win the Euro F3 series that year. The 2005 edition saw victory for a young Lewis Hamilton , who went on to become a Formula One World Champion three years later. In 2006, Formula Three

990-572: A generally unsuccessful season in 1965, Honda revised their 1-litre engine completely. Brabham won ten of the year's 16 European Formula Two races in his Brabham-Honda. There was no European Formula Two championship that year, but Brabham won the Trophées de France , a championship consisting of six of the French Formula Two races. In 1967, the Formula One title went to Brabham's teammate Denny Hulme . Hulme had better reliability through

1089-778: A highly uncharacteristic stunt, at the Dutch Grand Prix he hobbled to his car on the starting grid before the race wearing a long false beard and leaning on a cane before going on to win the race. Brabham confirmed his third championship at the Italian Grand Prix and became the only driver to win the Formula One World Championship in a car that carried his own name. The season also saw the fruition of Brabham's relationship with Japanese engine manufacturer Honda in Formula Two. After

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1188-410: A large crash at the first corner and was running third towards the end of the race when the fuel pump mount failed. After more than three hours of racing, the exhausted Brabham, who "hated to be beaten", pushed the car to the line to finish sixth. The following year, he was Autocar Formula Two champion in a Cooper, while continuing to score minor points-scoring positions with the small-engined Coopers in

1287-507: A local garage with an evening course in mechanical engineering. Brabham soon branched out into his own business selling motorbikes, which he bought and repaired for sale, using his parents' back veranda as his workshop. One month after his 18th birthday on 19 May 1944 Brabham enlisted into the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Although he was keen on becoming a pilot, there was already a surplus of trained aircrew and

1386-497: A lot better off if I'd stayed, but sometimes family pressures don't allow you to make the decisions you'd like to." The World according to Jack , Motor Sport (May 1999) p.36 Finding no top drivers available despite coming close to bringing Rindt back to the team, Brabham decided to race for one more year. He began auspiciously, winning the first race of the season, the South African Grand Prix, and then led

1485-668: A more junior formula raised an outcry from the passionate spectators because at that time the European Cup Formula Three was not sufficiently popular in motorsport. The first edition of the European Cup is won by Benoît Tréluyer . This event also included the French Formula Three Championship race, which was a non-championship race. In 2000, the European Cup is stopped and replaced by the new championship Formula 3 Euro Series ,

1584-600: A new team planning to use a crowdsourcing business model to enter the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 category. During his own retirement from international motorsport, Brabham continued to be semi-involved as both a driver in Australia, mostly racing touring cars in the famed Bathurst 1000 race, and supporting the racing ambitions of his 3 sons. His last ever international race came in December 1984 at

1683-528: A racing accident, the Maserati driver apparently confused his pedals after being distracted and crashed against some hay bales. His death was announced to spectators after the race. The 1956 race was cancelled following the tragic accident at Le Mans the previous year. Improvements to the circuit were made for the 1957 event, both in terms of safety and the comfort of competitors and spectators. After being run to Formula Two regulations in 1958–1960, limiting

1782-410: A single race with a 1500 cc car. His team suffered poor reliability during this period and motorsport authors Mike Lawrence and David Hodges have said that Brabham's reluctance to spend money may have cost the team results, a view echoed by Tauranac. During the 1965 season , Brabham started to consider retirement to manage his team. Dan Gurney , who had taken the team's first championship race win

1881-434: A statement on the family's website, Brabham's son David confirmed his father's death. "It's a very sad day for all of us", David Brabham stated. "My father passed away peacefully at home at the age of 88 this morning. He lived an incredible life, achieving more than anyone would ever dream of and he will continue to live on through the astounding legacy he leaves behind." Brabham was the last surviving world champion from

1980-472: A street circuit is also called "legal street racing". Local governments sometimes support races held in street circuits to promote tourism . In some cases, short segments or connector roads of the circuit are purpose-built for the racecourse, and remain in place year-round, but are not otherwise utilized by public traffic. active circuits in bold Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur " Jack " Brabham AO OBE (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014)

2079-411: A testing accident. He returned to racing before the end of the year, but promised his wife that he would retire after the season finished and sold his share of the team to Tauranac. "I felt very sad, [...] I didn't feel I was giving up racing because I couldn't do the job. I felt I was just as competitive then as at any other time, and I really should have won the championship in 1970. [...] I'd have been

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2178-697: A week. Nonetheless, that year he attended a celebration of the 50th anniversary of his first world championship at the Phillip Island Classic festival of motorsport, and in 2010 flew to Bahrain with most of the other Formula One world Drivers' Champions for a celebration of 60 years of the Formula One world championship. Brabham was the oldest surviving F1 champion. Brabham and Betty had three sons together: Geoff , Gary , and David . All three became involved in motorsport, with support from Brabham in their early years. Between them, they have won sportscar and single-seater races and championships. Geoff

2277-419: A workshop built by his uncle on a plot of land behind his grandfather's house. Brabham started racing after an American friend, Johnny Schonberg, persuaded him to watch a midget car race. Midget racing was a category for small open-wheel cars racing on dirt ovals. It was popular in Australia, attracting crowds of up to 40,000. Brabham records that he was not taken with the idea of driving, being convinced that

2376-414: Is 1:08.600, set by Andrea Montermini in a Reynard 92D , during qualifying for the 1992 Pau Grand Prix . As of May 2023, the fastest official race lap records at the Pau Grand Prix street circuit are listed as: Since 2001, races for historical cars are held one week before or after the "modern" Grand Prix. Races include events for former Formula One cars of the 1960s amongst others. Notable races during

2475-455: Is typically utilised at a purpose-built racing circuit to minimise the effect of running on the more undulating tarmac of the street circuit. In 1900, as part of the 'Semaine de Pau', the newly created Automobile-club du Béarn held a race on a 300 km (190 mi) road circuit, called the Circuit du sud-ouest (Pau–Tarbes–Bayonne–Pau). The race was given the same name as the circuit, and

2574-481: The 1968 season . It wasn't a good season for him. He retired from the first seven races, before scoring two points for fifth place at the German Grand Prix . He retired from the remaining four races. At the end of the year, he fulfilled a desire to fly from Britain to Australia in a small twin-engined Beechcraft Queen Air . Partway through the 1969 season , Brabham suffered serious injuries to his foot in

2673-787: The Belgian Grand Prix with another blown engine. He fixed this by winning the French Grand Prix at the Bugatti Circuit in Le Mans . He came fourth at the British Grand Prix , behind Chris Amon , his teammate Hulme, and Clark. At the German Grand Prix , he had a huge battle with Amon, and Brabham eventually finished ahead of the New Zealander, by only half a second. Hulme was the winner. At

2772-551: The British Formula Ford Championship . The Brabham family have been involved in world-class motorsport for over 60 years. Brabham made his last public appearance on 18 May 2014, appearing with one of the cars he built. He died at his home on the Gold Coast on 19 May 2014, aged 88, following a lengthy battle with liver disease. He was eating breakfast with his wife, Margaret, when he died. In

2871-616: The Cooper Car Company , a British constructor, and from 1953 concentrated on this form of racing, in which drivers compete on closed tarmac circuits. He was supported by his father and by the Redex fuel additive company, although his commercially aware approach—including the title RedeX Special painted on the side of his Cooper-Bristol—did not go down well with the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS), which banned

2970-804: The Formula Renault 2.0 Alps made their first visit to Pau. In 2012, the organisers announced that in addition to the International Trophy there would also be a round of the British Formula Three Championship . But on March 9, 2012, the World Motor Sport Council of the FIA announced that it would be part of a new FIA Formula 3 European Championship , revived from the previous series which ended in 1984. The Italian Raffaele Marciello won

3069-505: The French Grand Prix at Reims-Gueux , Jack Brabham took his first Formula One world championship win since 1960 and became the first man to win such a race in a car of his own construction. Only his two former teammates, Bruce McLaren and Dan Gurney , have since matched this achievement. It was the first in a run of four straight wins for the Australian veteran. The 40-year-old Brabham was annoyed by press stories about his age and, in

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3168-469: The Gold Coast, Queensland . Brabham's grandson Matthew (son of Geoff) graduated from karts in 2010 and won two ladders of the Road to Indy , eventually racing in the 2016 Indianapolis 500 and winning three Stadium Super Trucks championships. Another grandson, Sam , the son of David and Lisa , whose brother Mike also was an F1 driver, stepped up to car racing from karts in 2013 when he made his debut in

3267-508: The Grand Prix Historique de Pau since 2001: Street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city , town or village , used in motor races . Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the paddock, pit boxes, fences and grandstands are usually installed temporarily and removed soon after

3366-708: The International Trophy as the main event. However, the race was shorter than in previous years and only had fifteen drivers on the entry list, so there were few spectators. In addition, the only French driver, Tom Dillmann , retired on the fourth lap of the race, which was won by the German Marco Wittmann . One of the most important support races of the weekend was the first electric Grand Prix, run with cars with full electric drivetrains. The category included mostly French drivers such as Soheil Ayari , Franck Lagorce and Olivier Panis . Also,

3465-496: The United States Grand Prix . Brabham outqualified his teammate, and finished fifth in the race, and with Hulme on the podium, this meant the championship chances were looking slim for Black Jack, as the circus went to Mexico for the championship deciding and final race of the season. Once again, he outqualified his teammate, and needed to win, with Hulme fifth or lower. But Jim Clark was simply too fast during

3564-428: The 'SC' boards informing the drivers of a safety car period had only just been displayed when the safety car driver drove onto the track without being given the order to do so. Franz Engstler , leading the race at the time, was in the process of slowing down when he came around the first corner and had a heavy collision with the safety car which was nearly stopped in the middle of the track. The FIA subsequently sanctioned

3663-679: The 1950s era. At his request, his ashes were scattered at the Tamborine Rainforest Skywalk in the Gold Coast hinterland on 4 September 2014. Brabham was a frequent visitor of the skywalk. ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ( key ) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.) † Events with 2 races staged for

3762-785: The 1954 New Zealand Grand Prix , Brabham was persuaded by Dean Delamont, competitions manager of the Royal Automobile Club in the United Kingdom, to try a season of racing in Europe, then the international centre of road racing. Upon arriving in Europe on his own in early 1955, Brabham based himself in the UK, where he bought another Cooper to race in national events. His crowd-pleasing driving style initially betrayed his dirt track origins: as he put it, he took corners "by using full [steering] lock and lots of throttle". Visits to

3861-412: The 4.4-litre, 430 bhp (321 kW; 436 PS) Offenhauser engines used by the front-engined roadsters driven by all the other entrants. Jack qualified a respectable 17th at 145.144 mp/h (pole winner Eddie Sachs qualified at 147.481 mp/h), and while the front-engined roadsters were much faster on the long front and back straights, the rear-engined Cooper's superior handling through the turns and

3960-528: The Air Force instead put his mechanical skills to use as a flight mechanic, of which there was a wartime shortage. He was based at RAAF Station Williamtown , where he maintained Bristol Beaufighters at No. 5 Operational Training Unit . On his 20th birthday, 2 April 1946, Brabham was discharged from the RAAF with the rank of leading aircraftman . He then started a small service, repair, and machining business in

4059-458: The Cooper factory for parts led to a friendship with Charlie and John Cooper , who told the story that after many requests for a drive with the factory team, Brabham was given the keys to the transporter taking the cars to a race. Brabham soon "seemed to merge into Cooper Cars": he was not an employee, but he started working at Cooper daily from the midpoint of the 1955 season building a Bobtail mid-engined sports car , intended for Formula One ,

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4158-581: The Formula One world championship driving one of his own cars. At the time of his death, he was the last surviving World Champion of the 1950s. Brabham retired to Australia after the 1970 Formula One season , where he bought a farm and maintained business interests, which included the Engine Developments racing engine manufacturer and several garages. John Arthur 'Jack' Brabham was born on 2 April 1926 in Hurstville, New South Wales , then

4257-467: The Grand Prix after dominating qualifying and the race sprint. This victory made him one of the youngest winners of the Pau Grand Prix at only 18 years of age. There were no French drivers in the event The Porsche Carrera Cup France was also added to the program for 2012 and one of the drivers was Sébastien Loeb and his team Sébastien Loeb Racing . The Alsatian dominated the weekend and impressed when he won both races with leads of over ten seconds. At

4356-671: The Mitjet 2L category. From 2014 to 2018, the Pau Grand Prix was headlined by the FIA Formula 3 European Championship . The Formula Renault 2.0 Alps also returned to Pau in 2014. The GT4 European Series joined the event in 2016, being replaced by the FFSA GT Championship from 2017 to 2019. For 2019 and 2022, the Euroformula Open Championship became the new headlining formula race. 2020 race

4455-564: The Top 10 of all time, noting that "Stirling Moss and Jim Clark dominated the headlines when Jack was racing, and they still do". Brabham was the first post-war racing driver to be knighted when he received the honour in 1978 for services to motorsport. He has received several other honours and in 2011, the suburb of Brabham in Perth , Western Australia, was named after him. A race circuit and an automotive training school were also named after him in

4554-632: The UK and Australia, including a small aviation company and garages and car dealerships. He also set up Engine Developments Ltd. in 1971 with John Judd , who had worked for Brabham on the Repco engine project in the mid 1960s. The company builds engines for racing applications. Brabham was also a shareholder in Jack Brabham Engines Pty Ltd., an Australian company marketing Jack Brabham memorabilia. The Brabham team continued in Formula One, winning two further Drivers' Championships in

4653-469: The UK and work with him, producing upgrade kits for Sunbeam Rapier and Triumph Herald road cars at his car dealership, Jack Brabham Motors, but with the long-term aim of designing racing cars. Brabham continued to drive for Cooper, but on the long flight back from the 1960 season -opening Argentine Grand Prix , he had a heart-to-heart with John Cooper. John's father Charlie and the designer Owen Maddock had been reluctant to update their car, but although

4752-832: The World Drivers' Championship and driving for Aston Martin in Sportscars. His schedule necessitated a considerable amount of travel on the roads of Europe. Brabham's driving on public roads was described as "safe as houses", unlike many of his contemporaries—on the way back from the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix , passenger Tony Brooks took over driving after Brabham refused to overtake a long line of lorries. In late 1958, Brabham rekindled his interest in flying and began taking lessons. He bought his own plane and on gaining his licence began to make heavy use of it piloting himself, his family, and members of his team around Europe to races. In 1959 , Cooper obtained 2.5-litre engines for

4851-449: The World Drivers' Championship in an eponymous car. Brabham was a Royal Australian Air Force flight mechanic and ran a small engineering workshop before he started racing midget cars in 1948. His successes with midgets in Australian and New Zealand road racing events led to his going to Britain to further his racing career. There he became part of the Cooper Car Company 's racing team, building as well as racing cars. He contributed to

4950-413: The advertisement. Brabham competed in Australia and New Zealand until early 1955, taking "a long succession of victories", including the 1953 Queensland Road Racing championship. During this time, he picked up the nickname "Black Jack", which has been variously attributed to his dark hair and stubble, to his "ruthless" approach on the track, and to his "propensity for maintaining a shadowy silence". After

5049-459: The age of 58 in the last round of the 1984 World Sportscar Championship held at Sandown Park in Melbourne , the 1984 Sandown 1000 . Jack drove as a guest driver in a Rothmans sponsored Porsche 956 co-driving with 1984 British Formula 3 champion and Scottish Aristocrat , Johnny Dumfries . The pair, driving a car with an in-car camera showing Jack up close and personal at the wheel for

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5148-472: The block, largely using existing components. Brabham and Repco were aware that the engine would not compete in terms of outright power, but felt that a lightweight, reliable engine could achieve good championship results while other teams were still making their new designs reliable. The combination of the Repco engine, designed by Phil Irving, and the Brabham BT19 chassis designed by Tauranac worked. At

5247-430: The capacity to 1500 cm Formula One in 1961 allowed the Grand Prix de Pau back in the spotlight ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix . In the early 1960s, the event was won by such famous drivers as Jack Brabham , Maurice Trintignant , and Jim Clark (who achieved his first victory in a Formula One car in Pau Grand Prix in 1961, and went on to win the Pau Grand Prix three more times in 1963–1965). In 1964, after switching

5346-438: The championship at the final event of the season, the United States Grand Prix at Sebring. Brabham was among those up until 1 am the morning before the race working on the Cooper team cars. The next day, after pacing himself behind Moss, who soon retired with a broken gearbox, he led almost to the end of the race before running out of fuel on the last lap. He again pushed the car to the finish line to place fourth, although in

5445-534: The championship. He had a little more success in the non-championship Formula One races, where he ran his own private Coopers and took three victories at Snetterton (26 March), Brussels (9 April), and Aintree (22 April). The same year , Brabham entered the famous Indianapolis 500 oval race for the first time in a modified version of the Formula One Cooper. It had a 2.7-litre Climax engine producing 268 bhp (200 kW; 272 PS) compared to

5544-467: The design of the mid-engined cars that Cooper introduced to Formula One and the Indianapolis 500 , and won the Formula One world championship in 1959 and 1960 . In 1962 he established his own Brabham marque with fellow Australian Ron Tauranac , which in the 1960s became the largest manufacturer of custom racing cars in the world. In the 1966 Formula One season Brabham became the only man to win

5643-415: The drivers "were all lunatics" but he agreed to build a car with Schonberg. At first Schonberg drove the homemade device, powered by a modified JAP motorcycle engine built by Brabham in his workshop. In 1948, Schonberg's wife persuaded him to stop racing and on his suggestion Brabham took over. He almost immediately found that he had a knack for the sport, winning on his third night's racing. From there he

5742-543: The early 1980s under Bernie Ecclestone 's ownership. Although the original organisation went into administration in 1992, the name was attached to a German company selling cars and accessories in 2008, and an unsuccessful attempt to set up a new Formula One team the following year. On both occasions the Brabham family, which was unconnected to the ventures, announced its intention to take legal advice. In September 2014, Brabham's youngest son David announced Project Brabham ,

5841-474: The early 2010s. In retirement, Brabham continued to be involved in motorsport events, appearing at contemporary and historic motorsport events around the world where he often drove his former Cooper and Brabham cars until the early 2000s. In 1999, after competing at the Goodwood Revival at the age of 73 he commented that driving stopped him getting old. Despite a large accident at the 2000 Revival,

5940-472: The electric GP to Trois-Rivières. The 2012 event received between 22,000 and 23,000 spectators, 10 to 15% more than in 2011. The 2013 event took place on 18, 19 and 20 May. At the Whit Monday holiday, an historical tradition of Pau Grand Prix, the headliner should have been the British Formula Three Championship . But this series, with a lot of concurrence with the FIA Formula 3 European Championship ,

6039-717: The event changed to touring cars, hosting the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) for the Race of France . The F3 Euro Series returned to support the WTCC during the 2008 event which saw the Brazilian driver Augusto Farfus (WTCC) involved in a crash in the Foch Chicane. In 2009, after a number of incidents on the opening lap of the second race, the decision was made to deploy the safety car. However,

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6138-505: The event this was unnecessary as his other title rival, Brooks, finished only third. His championship-winning margin over Brooks was four points. According to Gerald Donaldson, "some thought [his title] owed more to stealth than skill, an opinion at least partly based on Brabham's low-key presence." Despite his success with Cooper, Brabham was sure he could do better. He considered buying Cooper in partnership with Roy Salvadori and then in late 1959 he asked his friend Ron Tauranac to come to

6237-549: The event. He started from pole position as in the previous year, but also achieved the fastest lap and gained victory. The Frenchman Jean Behra won in 1954, before a record crowd, driving a Simca - Gordini . His win was a result of a duel with Ferrari driver Maurice Trintignant at a time when many French manufacturers were no longer present at the GP. On 11 April 1955, the Italian Mario Alborghetti died in

6336-407: The event: Graham Hill , Jackie Stewart , Jack Brabham , Denny Hulme , and Emerson Fittipaldi . There also appeared more young French drivers like Johnny Servoz-Gavin , Jean-Pierre Jarier , Jean-Pierre Jabouille , Patrick Depailler and François Cevert , as well as other drivers such as Reine Wisell and Peter Gethin , who won the Grand Prix in 1971 and 1972 respectively. In 1973, the event

6435-624: The finish in second place. After the 13th and final race of the season, the Mexican Grand Prix, Brabham did retire. He had tied Jackie Stewart for fifth in the points standings in the season he drove at the age of 44. Brabham also drove for the works Matra team during the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season and won the final race of the season and his final top level race at the Paris 1000 km in October that year. He then made

6534-466: The first ever Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport Park , he took a huge win, ahead of Hulme, in cold and rainy conditions. At the Italian Grand Prix at Monza , Brabham had to finish second, only a few car lengths behind John Surtees , who took his last GP win. Hulme retired from the race, cutting the gap to 3 points between the two, as the circus headed for the United States, at Watkins Glen for

6633-415: The first racing accident to put him in hospital overnight, he continued to drive until at least 2004. By the late 2000s, ill-health was preventing him from driving in competition. In addition to the deafness caused by years of motor racing without adequate ear protection, his eyesight was reduced due to macular degeneration and he had kidney disease for which by 2009 he was receiving dialysis three times

6732-441: The first time and Brabham put the extra power to good use by winning his first world championship race at the season-opening Monaco Grand Prix after Jean Behra 's Ferrari and Stirling Moss 's Cooper failed. More podium places were followed by a win in the British Grand Prix at Aintree after Brabham preserved his tyres to the end of the race, enabling him to finish ahead of Moss who had to pit to replace worn tyres. This gave him

6831-458: The first time, were not classified as finishers after only completing 108 laps. The race was Australia's first ever FISA World Championship road racing event, preceding the 1985 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide by 11 months. Despite his three titles, and although John Cooper considered him "the greatest", Formula One journalist Adam Cooper wrote in 1999 that Brabham is never listed among

6930-526: The format of the Grand Prix again from Formula One to Formula Two, Jim Clark won the Grand Prix for the second consecutive year, repeating his success for the third time in a row the following year. In 1967, drivers such as Jean-Pierre Beltoise and Henri Pescarolo made their debut at Pau. Jochen Rindt won his first Grand Prix de Pau that year before winning twice more in 1969 and 1970. In 1968, Jackie Stewart won with Matra Sports . During this period, several former and future world champions also raced at

7029-465: The grid, and a spectacular crash). In 1994, French driver Nicolas Leboissetier had a spectacular accident at the Virage de la gare ("train station corner"), reviving the climate of tension that followed the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger at Imola during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix . The Pau-born driver David Dussau participated in the race in 1996. He was well-positioned on

7128-417: The grid, but was forced to retire because of a crash. Colombian Juan-Pablo Montoya won the race twice, in 1997 and 1998. The French Supertouring Championship was a support event from 1993 to 2000. At the end of 1998, it was decided that all Formula 3000 races would be organised exclusively as the curtain-raiser of European-based Formula One Grand Prix, and thus the event in Pau could no longer be run as

7227-504: The officials in charge of the safety car at the event. The 2009 event featured the Formula Renault 2.0 West European Cup ; the French Formula Renault had last raced at Pau in 2006. Following a decision taken by the municipality for financial reasons, the Grand Prix was suspended in 2010, and the WTCC was no longer from this point. The event was revived in 2011 by Peter Auto and with the return of Formula Three with

7326-416: The possibility to run on sustainable fuel during the weekend. After the cancellation of Euroformula race, the weekend program was updated and French F4 Championship was designated to be the titular race, in which the third Formula 4 race would be considered the Grand Prix. Besides French F4 Championship, TCR Europe Touring Car Series joined the event in 2023. The outright unofficial all-time track record

7425-475: The previous year, took the lead driver role while Brabham gave up his car to several other drivers towards the end of the season. At the end of the season, Gurney announced his intention to leave and set up his own team and Brabham decided to carry on. In 1966, a new 3-litre formula was created for Formula One. The new engines under development by other suppliers all had at least 12 cylinders and proved difficult to develop, being heavy and unreliable. Brabham took

7524-472: The race as a turning point, proving that he could compete at this level. He shipped the Bobtail back to Australia, where he used it to win the 1955 Australian Grand Prix before selling it to help fund a permanent move to the UK the following year with his wife Betty and their son Geoff . Brabham briefly and unsuccessfully campaigned his own second hand Formula One Maserati 250F during 1956, but his season

7623-415: The race is over but in modern times the pits, garages, race control and main grandstands are sometimes permanently constructed in the area. Since the track surface is originally planned for normal speeds, race drivers often find street circuits bumpy and lacking grip. Run-off areas may be non-existent, which makes driving mistakes more expensive than in purpose-built circuits with wider run-off areas. Racing on

7722-453: The race. The event took place regularly with a race almost every year, except during World War II , but returned to the calendar in 1947. The 1947 and 1948 events were very successful keeping the public in suspense from start to finish. In 1948, the young Nello Pagani won, defeating many of the famous drivers of the time, such as Raymond Sommer , Philippe Etancelin and Jean-Pierre Wimille . In 1949, Juan Manuel Fangio won by dominating

7821-524: The route that is still in use today – and the location of the pits was also moved. In 1937, the regulations were changed and Grand Prix cars were restricted to 4500 cc. In 1938, the Pau Grand Prix was the scene of a symbolic duel between French René Dreyfus ( Delahaye ) and the German Rudolf Caracciola ( Mercedes-Benz ). In 1939, another duel took place between two Mercedes teammates, Hermann Lang and Manfred von Brauchitsch ; Lang won

7920-555: The second Grand Prix de Pau electric, the two races were won by the same winners as the previous year, but in reverse order; the first race was won by Adrien Tambay , the second by Mike Parisy . The participants included the Canadian driver Marc-Antoine Camirand (from Quebec ) who, with his car in the colours of the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières , was present to pay tribute to the Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve and to bring

8019-556: The shorter north and south sections kept the reigning World Champion competitive. Brabham ran as high as third before finishing ninth, completing all 200 laps. Although most of the doubters in the American Indycar scene claimed that rear-engine cars were for drivers who like to be pushed around, as Brabham put it, it "triggered the rear-engined revolution at Indy" and within five years most of the cars that raced at Indianapolis would be rear-engined. Brabham and Tauranac set up

8118-563: The third race, the Monaco Grand Prix until the very last turn of the last lap. Brabham was about to hold off the onrushing Rindt (the eventual 1970 F1 champion) when his front wheels locked in a skid on the sharp right turn only yards from the finish and he ended up second. While leading at the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, he ran out of fuel at Clearways and Rindt passed him to take the win while Brabham coasted to

8217-427: The time required to prepare the car, the sport also became his living. Brabham won the 1948 Australian Speedcar Championship , the 1949 Australian and South Australian Speedcar championships, and the 1950–1951 Australian championship with the car. After successfully running the midget at some hillclimbing events in 1951, Brabham became interested in road racing . He bought and modified a series of racing cars from

8316-449: The top category of single seater racing. He made his Grand Prix debut at the age of 29 driving the car at the 1955 British Grand Prix . It had a 2-litre engine, half a litre less than permitted, and ran slowly with a broken clutch before retiring. Later in the year Brabham, again driving the Bobtail, tussled with Stirling Moss for third place in a non-championship Formula One race at Snetterton . Although Moss finished ahead, Brabham saw

8415-492: The whole weekend, and dominated the race from pole to win, with Brabham finishing over 1 minute and 25 seconds behind. Hulme finished third, and so the New Zealander won the championship, while Brabham settled for second place. The team secured the Constructors' Championship, with 67 total points scored, and 23 points ahead of Lotus which scored a total of 44 points. Brabham raced alongside his teammate Jochen Rindt during

8514-437: The world". The race is run around a 2.769 km (1.721 mi) long street circuit, the "Circuit de Pau-Ville" laid out around the French town, and is in many ways similar to the more famous Formula One Monaco Grand Prix . About 20 km (12 mi) to the west of the city, there is a 3.030 km (1.883 mi) long club track named Circuit Pau-Arnos . For the event, cars are set up with greater suspension travel than

8613-505: The year, possibly due to Brabham's desire to try new parts first. Despite taking pole position in the first two rounds, mechanical problems halted his chances of victory. He spun numerous times in South Africa , and at Monaco , his engine blew up at the start, and the win went to his teammate Denny Hulme . At the Dutch Grand Prix , he scored his first podium of the season, with second place, behind Scotsman Jim Clark . He retired in

8712-807: Was a regular competitor and winner in Midgets (known as Speedcars in Australia) at tracks such Sydney's Cumberland Speedway , the Sydney Showground , and the Sydney Sports Ground , as well as interstate tracks such as Adelaide 's Kilburn and Rowley Park speedways and the Ekka in Brisbane . Brabham has since said that it was "terrific driver training. You had to have quick reflexes: in effect you lived—or possibly died—on them." Due to

8811-468: Was an Australian racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from 1955 to 1970 . Brabham won three Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles , which he won in 1959 , 1960 and 1966 , and won 14 Grands Prix across 16 seasons. He co-founded Brabham in 1960, leading the team to two World Constructors' Championship titles , and remains the only driver to have won

8910-613: Was an Indycar and sportscar racer who won five North American sportscar championships as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans , while David competed in Formula One for the Brabham team and has also won the Le Mans race as well as three Japanese and North American sportscar titles. Gary also drove briefly in Formula One, although his F1 career consisted of two DNPQ's for the Life team. Brabham and Betty divorced in 1994 after 43 years. Brabham married his second wife, Margaret in 1995 and they lived on

9009-531: Was back on the calendar but within the British Championship , and the two races were won by Romain Grosjean who was not a regular competitor in the championship. The FFSA Silhouettes was a support event from 2001 to 2004, whereas the FFSA GT Championship raced in 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005. The British GT Championship visited Pau in 2006 with a few FFSA GT guests. From 2007 to 2009,

9108-422: Was badly injured in a practice accident that put him out for two months. Two other drivers were killed during the race. At the British Grand Prix , Brabham was closing on Graham Hill's BRM before Hill spun off, leaving Brabham the victory. He then came back from eighth place to second at the Portuguese Grand Prix after sliding off on tramlines and won after race leader John Surtees crashed. Brabham's points total

9207-556: Was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic , and there was no race planned for 2021. The World Touring Car Cup and FIA ETCR – eTouring Car World Cup joined the event in 2022. Also in 2023, the Euroformula Open Championship was intended to be the headlining formula race, however the Euroformula Open race was cancelled on 5 May due to a misunderstanding between the organisers of Euroformula and Pau GP organizers linked with

9306-484: Was forced to reduce its calendar to 4 events and so cancelled many rounds including Pau. The headliner would, therefore, take place as a non-championship "special" race for Formula Renault 2.0 open to several European championships teams and drivers: the Formula Renault 2.0 Pau Trophy. At the end of January 2013, the organisers announced that Sébastien Loeb and Jacques Villeneuve would be present in Pau in

9405-695: Was put out of reach when the British teams withdrew from the Italian GP on safety grounds. Mike Lawrence writes that Brabham's expertise in setting up the cars was a significant factor in Cooper's 1960 drivers' and constructors' titles. Coventry Climax were late in producing the smaller 1.5-litre engine required for the 1961 season and the Cooper-Climaxes were outclassed by new mid-engined cars from Porsche , Lotus, and championship-winners Ferrari. Brabham scored only three points and finished 11th in

9504-413: Was saved by drives for Cooper in sports cars and Formula Two , the junior category to Formula One. At that time, almost all racing cars had their engines mounted at the front but Coopers were different, having the engine placed behind the driver, which improved their handling. In 1957, Brabham drove another mid-engined Cooper, again only fitted with a 2-litre engine, at the Monaco Grand Prix . He avoided

9603-555: Was threatened by problems with the homologation of the circuit, it was quickly brought up to standard by the personal intervention of the Mayor André Labarrère (who had been in office since 1971). François Cevert won that year. Drivers such as Jacques Laffite , Patrick Depailler and René Arnoux won in Pau, and many F1 drivers at the time continued to race in Formula Two . In 1980, the 40th Grand Prix de Pau

9702-495: Was won by René de Knyff . In 1901, for the second event, the race had individual prizes for the four separate classes of entrants: The French Grand Prix was held at Pau in 1930. The 1933 Grand Prix de Pau was held in February with snow still on the ground. The race was won by Marcel Lehoux driving a Bugatti . There was no Grand Prix in 1934, and in 1935 the event returned with a modified route that bypassed Beaumont Park –

9801-489: Was won by the French driver Richard Dallest . In 1985, Formula 3000 replaced Formula Two as the "second-division" formula below Formula One and the Grand Prix de Pau became part of the new Formula 3000 European Championship. That same year, Alain Prost became co-organiser of the race. In 1989, Jean Alesi took his first victory after a turbulent start (the race was restarted four times because of successive problems on

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