David Brabham to chase GT Festival glory
David Brabham will bring an iconic name and Le Mans winning pedigree to the GT World Challenge Australia grid at Phillip Island this weekend.
Brabham will race a Harrolds Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Chris Batzios at the inaugural GT Festival.
The son of three-time F1 world champion Sir Jack Brabham, has carved out a significant career of his own, especially in the sportscar world.
He won the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans with Peugeot alongside Marc Gene and Alexander Wurz, while he also has 24 F1 Grand Prix starts from 1990-1994 where he was Roland Ratzenburger’s Simtek teammate.
Brabham ensured the famous name raced in the Bathurst 1000 regularly until 2011, including 1997 when he won the Super Touring Great Race in a BMW alongside brother Geoff.
In more recent years he has raced a variety of GT events in Europe and launched his Brabham Automotive organisation, which included the BT62.
Currently Brabham has worked closely as a mentor with Australian GB3 youngster Patrick Heuzenroeder.
But now he cannot wait to return to the Australian racing scene.
“I’ve never driven the Mercedes GT3 before, I raced against one in the UK in GT Cup and it’s very quick so I am really looking forward to driving it,” said Brabham.
“Sam has always been complementary of Volante Rosso and when I was at Bathurst for a GT round when Sam (Brabham) raced, it was clear to me they were a very good team with a strong technical understanding of the car.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve raced at Phillip Island. It was with Stone Brothers in the V8 Supercar enduro round in 2011. When we were secretly testing the Brabham BT62 in 2017, both Sam and I were driving so that was the last time I drove a car in anger there.”
It means there will be two Brabhams taking on the GT Festival with Sam driving a GT4 Mercedes with the Love Racing team.
In addition to racing, David will be looking for the opportunity to ensure the famous Brabham name once again becomes a big part of the Australian racing scene.
“Australian motorsport continues to grow and we believe it’s time for Brabham to return to its roots and establish a Motorsport presence in the country,” he said.
“How this looks is still being discussed and while I’m in town I will be assessing our options and catching up with leading teams, professionals and influencers in the Australian Motorsport landscape.
“My family and Phillip Island go back a long way from when my father won the Repco Trophy in 1960 and was a very close friend of Len Lukey who purchased the circuit in 1964. I always remember calling him Uncle Len as a kid.
“As a circuit, I would personally put it number two in Australia – just behind Bathurst. It has the best location with the sea in the background, it’s fast flowing and has a mix of technical corners, a great drivers circuit.”
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