24h Le Mans
Winner of the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours, David Babham will participate in the 24 Hours of Daytona on January 25th, the first big endurance racing meeting of the 2014 season. The Brabham name is a dynasty in which the third generation is already a promising talent.
It all starts with David's father, Sir Jack Brabham. Today 87 years old, he made history in Formule 1 as the first World Champion with the engine at the rear (1959-1960) and the only driver to win in a car carrying his name (1966). His track record at Le Mans is just as interesting: he only competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times (notably with François Cevert in 1970 on a Matra), but has the distinction of having won the only French GP to be held on the Bugatti circuit, in 1970!
Two of Sir Jack's sons are the ones who wrote the bulk of the Brabham family history at Le Mans. Successful endurance driver in the United States, the oldest, Geoff, born in 1952, began his Le Mans career as a Nissan factory driver (1989 and 1990), before winning the 24 Hours in 1993 in a Peugeot 905 on his third and final participation, sharing with French drivers Eric Helary and Christophe Bouchut. Sixteen years later, the youngest son David (born 1965) also became a Peugeot driver (with teammates Marc Gené and Alexander Wurz). Following two class victories in GT with Aston Martin (2007 and 2008), @brabsracer joined his brother on the winner's roster of the 24 Hours in 2009 driving the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. Without forgetting Gary, the middle son, born in 1961, who had one participation at Le Mans, in 1989, finishing 13th in a Porsche 962C.
For the past two years, Geoff's son, Matthew, who will be 20 years old on Feb. 25th, has been one of the best new talents on the American racing scene. His track record in single seater development series is already impressive, with a title in USF2000 in 2012, then the same in Pro Mazda in 2013 (13 wins in 16 races for Andretti Autosport). In 2014 he will be going for the triple as he races in Indy Lights, the feeder series to IndyCar. On January 25-26, his uncle, David, will be hoping to join the club of drivers who have won both the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona, in which he will be driving one of the Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX 03b-Hondas.
Jean-Philippe Doret / ACO - Translated by Rainier Ehrhardt / ACO
The 82nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be held on June 14-15, 2014.
Photo : LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 2013, SCRUTINEERING. In his latest participation in La Sarthe, David Brabham (left) finished sixth at the wheel of a JRM HPD ARX 03a - Honda, which he shared with Indian driver Karun Chandhok (center) and Scottish driver Peter Dumbreck (right).
