Silverstone - Some of British Formula One's greatest names including Jackie Stewart and John Surtees gathered at the Silverstone circuit in central England on Friday to pay tribute to Jack Brabham.
Australian sporting hero Brabham died at the age of 88 in May, having made his mark in Formula One by winning three drivers' world championships and being the only man to do so in a car he built himself.
Stewart, also a three-time world champion, reflected on Brabham's modesty as he told an audience of 400 people: “He was a quiet man.
“I can't remember a world champion being quieter than Jack Brabham. He was so unassuming, almost shy.
“But he did more than most other grand prix drivers in a sense by winning his three world championships, and the constructors'.
“He won 14 grands prix, but in those days there were an awful lot of non-championship races in Formula One he also won which are not recognised in the record books in the same way.”
The Scot added there were few things worse for a driver than having to follow Brabham round a circuit.
“I raced against him many times, a tough man to race against, very tough to pass and painful to follow,” Stewart recalled.
“He knew exactly where to put his rear wheel, where the gravel was, so he'd kick up stones and you were ducking and diving to stay away from Brabham debris.
“You'd go to speak to him after the race because you were annoyed, but he'd give you that big smile of his and you'd think 'oh forget it!”'
A REAL RACER
Surtees, still the only man to have won both Grand Prix and motorcycle world titles - with the 50th anniversary of his four-wheel triumph on Saturday - hailed Brabham as a “real racer”.
“Jack was very special, a great ambassador for Australia,” said Surtees, runner-up to Brabham in 1966.
“We're remembering a real racer, someone who lived and breathed it, a real competitor, but who was in the sport for the right reasons.
“I'm sure he would have driven even if there hadn't have been money in it. I'm sure he followed his heart.
“Of course, we also came together on the race track enough times, and with Jack you could never underestimate him.
“If you were on the circuit and you thought you were keeping to the circuit, and Jack was following you, he had quite different ideas, appearing at all sorts of angles and positions around you.”
Meanwhile current Australian F1 star Daniel Ricciardo, now driving for the Red Bull team, sent a video message where he recalled having his photo taken with Brabham aged just four, saying it was a memory he would “treasure forever”.
AFP