Orange will hold a tribute to Sir Jack Brabham on the old Gnoo Blas track where he made his road racing debut 61 years ago.
The Gnoo Blas Classic Car Club has joined Orange City Council in holding a tribute to Sir Jack on the circuit on Saturday, June 14, at 2.30pm.
A special guest will be Ron Tauranac, who was Sir Jack’s engineer and who designed and built the Brabham racing cars.
It’s fitting that the tribute will be held on the track where Sir Jack started his road racing career and the organisers are hoping a big crowd of enthusiasts will turn up.
Sir Jack drove a Vincent-engined Cooper 1100 in the opening meeting on Gnoo Blas in January 1953, with disappointing results.
Sir Jack and Dick Cobden (Cooper 1100) struggled off the line with Cobden stopping to change plugs after 100 or so metres while Sir Jack eventually got going and with some aggressive driving began to catch the field.
While running ninth in his Cooper, he blew up in a spectacular cloud of blue smoke and that was the end of the meeting for him.
He was back at Easter 1953 for his second road meeting and managed a third to Tom Sulman (Maserati) and Bill Murray (Alfa Alvis).
In October Sir Jack was back again, this time in his new Cooper Bristol, to win the NSW Grand Prix, the first and only time the title was approved.
He was a regular competitor after that, winning the South Pacific Championships several times and holding the lap record for several years.