Two generations of Brabhams will celebrate Sir Jack Brabham’s legacy in a special Repco demonstration at the 2023 Adelaide Motorsport Festival on Saturday March 25.
Sir Jack Brabham’s 1966 Formula 1 championship-winning Brabham will take to the track, driven by son David Brabham and grandson Sam Brabham. It will be the first time that two generations of Brabhams have driven the BT19 at the same event.
Sir Jack Brabham drove the BT19 to the Formula 1 drivers’ and constructors’ championships in 1966, the last and likely only time a driver has won the Formula 1 world title in a car he built. The Brabham BT19 features a three-litre V8 engine, developed by Repco for the new engine formula in 1966.
David Brabham raced in Formula 1 over two seasons, including at the Adelaide Grand Prix, in 1990 and 1994, in a glittering career that included a Bathurst 1000 victory in 1997, a 24 Hours of Le Mans win in 2009 and more. Sam Brabham followed his grandfather and father into motorsport, racing Formula Ford, Porsche Carrera Cup and the Australian GT Championship in recent years.
Repco will also treat the fans with some great off-track activities at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival, including its popular Pitstop Challenge where you can experience what it’s like to be in a real Supercars pitstop. The Repco Rider will be at the event, taking fans around the event site. The Repco Fleet of unique cars will also be on the ground, offering entertainment and giving away plenty of prizes.
“The crew at Repco are really looking forward to reuniting the BT19 with David and Sam," says Repco Australia Head of Sponsorship, Mitchell Wiley.
"We would like to thank the team at Adelaide Motorsport Festival for helping to bring this to life. The list of incredible cars that will be on show and track this weekend is truly remarkable, so it is fitting that arguably one of the most important cars in the sports history join that list. We can’t wait to see David and Sam get behind the wheel. We are also excited to be bringing the Repco Pitstop Challenge and some other very cool show cars to the event.”
The 2023 Adelaide Motorsport Festival celebrates the history of the Brabham team; commemorating the team's 30-year history in Formula 1 30 years since its closure and on the 40th anniversary of its last Formula 1 drivers' championship win (Nelson Piquet in 1983).
The last Brabham grand prix car to score a podium in Formula 1, the 1989 Brabham BT58 Judd, as driven by Martin Brundle and Stefano Modena during the 1989 Formula 1 season, will also be at the 2023 Adelaide Motorsport Festival with two BT58s on track, in addition to the last-ever Brabham Formula 1 car, the BT60B, driven by the likes of Damon Hill in 1992.
“The significance of the Repco and Brabham partnership is a really important piece in the history of motorsport,” says Sam Brabham.
“Repco built the engines for the Brabham cars for a number of years, ultimately winning the Formula 1 world championship with Jack in his own car in 1966. It’s a feat that has never been done since, and in all likelihood, will never happen again.
“It’s going to be fantastic to not only have the BT19 on track, but to have my father (David) coming to drive it with me at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival is going to be really special.
“It's fantastic to have the Adelaide Motorsport Festival back; we’ve missed it the last couple of years and now it's back bigger than ever, to have such an amazing array of beautiful cars with such incredible history not just for Australia but all around the world is fantastic.
“This is actually my first time at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival but I’m really excited and heard amazing things about the event, obviously I raced last year at the Adelaide 500, so I can see what the city brings with motorsport and it's such a fantastic atmosphere, I’m really looking forward to it.”