Gary Thomas Brabham (born 29 March 1961) is an Australian former professional racing driver and convicted child rapist. He is the son of three-time World Formula One Champion Sir Jack Brabham and the brother of Le Mans winners Geoff and David Brabham.
Brahbham's solitary F1 berth came with Life, a team that failed to prequalify for a single F1 race in its lone season of existence. Brabham's career never fully recovered, despite winning the 1991 Sebring 12 Hours and being the first Australian to start the Gold Coast Indy Grand Prix. After his career, Brabham was convicted of child rape. was the second-born of the triple World Champion Sir Jack Brabham. Despite hopes from his mother that he would avoid the motor-racing scene altogether, he grew up on a diet of Formula Ford in both Australia and the UK.
Brabham made his racing debut in 1982, finishing his first race at Calder Park Raceway in third despite being in a nine-year-old car. He later broke the Formula Ford lap record at the Sandown Raceway in the same car.
Career
Starter formulae
Later in 1982, Brabham was chosen to go to Europe for 1983. Despite very little support from the Australian public, he raced in the British Formula Ford 2000 Championship for Neil Trundle Racing, in a Reynard SF83. He finishing the season in 11th place. During this season, he also made his sports car-racing début, sharing a March-Ford 83S, with Alo Lawler at Brands Hatch. After those two races, when clearly no improvement was forthcoming, Brabham promptly quit the team in disgust.
Criminal convictions
In 2009, Brabham pleaded guilty to charges of indecent dealing of a child under 12 years. Brabham managed to have his name suppressed as he served out his time in high security at Wacol jail.
In 2016, a Brisbane District Court 12-person jury found Brabham guilty of one charge of rape and one charge of indecent treatment of a child then aged six. The offences occurred between 2003 and 2007 in Brisbane. After the verdict was handed down, the court was told Brabham had a criminal history. In September, an appeal by Brabham against the conviction was unanimously rejected by the Queensland Court of Appeal. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail, but was released after 6 months.
Racing record
Career highlights
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"
|-
! Season
! Series
! Position
! Car
! Team
|-
! 1982
| TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series
|style="text-align:center;"| 12th
| Birrana-Ford
|
|-
! 1983
| British Formula Ford 2000 Championship
|style="text-align:center;"| 11th
| Reynard SF83-Ford
| Neil Trundle Racing
|-
! rowspan=2| 1984
|nowrap| BBC Grandstand Formula Ford 2000 Championship
|}
‡ Endurance driver (Ineligible for points)
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
! Year
! Team
! Car
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! DC
! Points
|-
| 1987
!nowrap| BMW Motorsport
!nowrap| BMW M3
| MNZ
| JAR
| DIJ
| NUR
| SPA
| BNO
| SIL
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| BAT<br><small>ovr:16<br>cls:6</small>
| CLD
| WEL
| FJI
! NC
! 0
|}
<nowiki>†</nowiki> Not registered for series & points
Complete British Formula 3000 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
! Year
! Entrant
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! Total
! Points
|-
| 1989
!nowrap| Bromley Motorsport
|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| BRH<br><small>3</small>
|style="background:#ffffbf;"| THR<br>
|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| OUL<br><small>2</small>
|style="background:#dfffdf;"| DON<br>
|style="background:#ffffbf;"| BRH<br><small>1</small>
|style="background:#dfffdf;"| SNE<br>
|style="background:#ffffbf;"| SIL<br><small>1</small>
|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| OUL<br>
|style="background:#ffffbf;"| BRH<br><small>1</small>
|style="background:#ffffbf;"| 1st
|style="background:#ffffbf;"| 55
|}
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races
in italics indicate fastest lap)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
! Year
! Entrant
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! DC
! Points
|-
|rowspan=2| 1989
!nowrap| Bromley Motorsport
|style="background:#efcfff;"| SIL<br>
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| VAL<br>
| PAU
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| JER<br>
| PER
|colspan=6|
!rowspan=2| 18th
!rowspan=2| 2
|-
!nowrap| Leyton House Racing
|colspan=5|
|style="background:#dfffdf;"| BRH<br>
|style="background:#ffcfcf;"| BIR<br>
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| SPA<br>
|style="background:#efcfff;"| BUG<br>
|style="background:#efcfff;"| DIJ<br>
|
|-
| 1990
!nowrap| Middlebridge Racing
| DON
|style="background:#efcfff;"| SIL<br>
|style="background:#ffcfcf;"| PAU<br>
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| JER<br>
|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| MNZ<br>
|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| PER<br>
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| HOC<br><small>14†</small>
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| BRH<br>
|style="background:#ffcfcf;"| BIR<br>
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| BUG<br>
|style="background:#cfcfff;"| NOG<br>
! 11th
! 8
|}
Complete Formula One results
(key)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
! Year
! Entrant
! Chassis
! Engine
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! 14
! 15
! 16
! WDC
! Points
|-
| 1990
!nowrap| Life Racing Engines
!nowrap| Life L190
!nowrap| Life W12
|style="background:#ffcfcf;"| USA<br />
|style="background:#ffcfcf;"| BRA<br />
| SMR
| MON
| CAN
| MEX
| FRA
| GBR
| GER
| HUN
| BEL
| ITA
| POR
| ESP
| JPN
| AUS
! NC
! 0
|}
Complete Australian Endurance Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
! Year
! Team
! Car
! 1
! 2
! 3
! DC
! Points
|-
| 1990
!nowrap| Benson & Hedges Racing
!nowrap| Ford Sierra RS500
| SAN
| BAT
|style="background:#dfffdf;"|ECK<br>
! 17th
! 10
|-
| 1991
!nowrap| Allan Moffat Enterprises
!nowrap| Ford Sierra RS500
| SAN
|style="background:#efcfff;"| BAT<br>
|
! NC
! 0
|}
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
|-
! Year
! Class
! No
! Tyres
! Car
! Team
! Co-drivers
! Laps
! Pos.
! Class<br>pos.
|-
| 1989
| C1
| 55
|
|align="left"nowrap| Porsche 962C<br>Porsche Type-935 3.0L Turbo Flat-6
|align="left"nowrap| Team Schuppan
|align="left"nowrap| Vern Schuppan<br> Eje Elgh
| 321
| 13th
| 10th
|}
Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
|-
! Year
! Class
! No
! Tyres
! Car
! Team
! Co-drivers
! Laps
! Pos.
! Class<br>pos.
|-
| 1992
| GTP
| 84
|
|align="left"nowrap| Nissan R90CK<br>Nissan V8/90° 4v 3.0L Turbo
|align="left"nowrap| Nissan Performance Technology Inc.
|align="left"nowrap| Derek Daly<br> Steve Millen
| 150
| colspan=2|DNF
|}
Complete 12 Hours of Sebring results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
|-
! Year
! Class
! No
! Tyres
! Car
! Team
! Co-drivers
! Laps
! Pos.
! Class<br>pos.
|-
| 1991
| GTP
| 83
|
|align="left"nowrap| Nissan NPT-90<br>Nissan V6 3.0L 2x Garrett Turbo
|align="left"nowrap| Nissan Performance Technology Inc.
|align="left"nowrap| Geoff Brabham<br> Derek Daly
| 298
| colspan=2 style="background:#ffffbf;"|1st
|-
|rowspan=2| 1992
| GTP
| 1
|
|align="left"nowrap| Nissan NPT-91A<br>Nissan V6 3.0L 2x Garrett Turbo
|align="left"nowrap| Nissan Performance Technology Inc.
|align="left"nowrap| Arie Luyendyk
| 20
| colspan=2|DNF
|-
| GTP
| 83
|
|align="left"nowrap| Nissan NPT-91A<br>Nissan V6 3.0L 2x Garrett Turbo
|align="left"nowrap| Nissan Performance Technology Inc.
|align="left"nowrap| Geoff Brabham<br> Derek Daly<br> Arie Luyendyk
| 355
| colspan=2 style="background:#dfdfdf;"|2nd
|}
Complete Bathurst 1000 results
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:90%"
|-
! Year
! Team
! Co-drivers
! Car
! Class
! Laps
!
!
|-
| 1987
|align="left"nowrap| BMW Motorsport
|align="left"nowrap| Juan Manuel Fangio II
|align="left"nowrap| BMW M3
| 2
| 146
| 16th
| 6th
|-
| 1991
|align="left"nowrap| Allan Moffat Enterprises
|align="left"nowrap| Steve Millen
|align="left"nowrap| Ford Sierra RS500
| 1
| 128
| DNF
| DNF
|-
| 1992
|align="left"nowrap| Allan Moffat Enterprises
|align="left"nowrap| Charlie O'Brien
|align="left"nowrap| Ford Sierra RS500
| 1
| 124
| 25th
| 20th
|}
American Open Wheel racing results
(key)
CART
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"
|-
! Year
! Team
! No.
! 1
! 2
! 3
! 4
! 5
! 6
! 7
! 8
! 9
! 10
! 11
! 12
! 13
! 14
! 15
! 16
! Rank
! Points
! Ref
|-
| 1993
!nowrap| Dick Simon Racing
! 90
|style="background:#cfcfff;"|SRF<br />
|PHX
|LBH
|INDY
|MIL
|DET
|POR
|CLE
|TOR
|MIS
|NHM
|ROA
|VAN
|MDO
|NZR
|LS
|style="background:#cfcfff;"|40th
|style="background:#cfcfff;"|0
!
|-
| 1994
!nowrap| Bettenhausen Racing
!76
|style="background:#efcfff;"|SRF<br>
|PHX
|LBH
|INDY
|MIL
|DET
|POR
|CLE
|TOR
|MIS
|MDO
|NHM
|VAN
|ROA
|NZR
|LS
|style="background:#cfcfff;"|52nd
|style="background:#cfcfff;"|0
!
|}