ALMS: 100 For Brabs

Le Mans / ALMS

ALMS: 100 For Brabs

David Brabham makes his 100th American Le Mans Series start today at Mosport. We get thoughts from fellow drivers, car owners, media and others on his milestone.

John Dagys | Posted August 29, 2010 Bowmanville, ON

Patron Highcroft Racing surprised Brabham on Friday with the car carrying No. 100 in commemoration of his milestone. (Rick Dole/Highcroft)

This afternoon’s Grand Prix of Mosport will mark a milestone in the career of one of the most successful and well-rounded sportscar drivers of the modern era. When David Brabham takes the green flag, it will be his 100th start in American Le Mans Series competition.

Brabham’s tenure in North America’s sportscar championship started in the very first ALMS race at Sebring in 1999, at the wheel of a Panoz GTR-1. Over the years, the Australian has competed in a variety of prototype and GT machinery, but is the only driver to have claimed pole positions and race wins in LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2.

The Panoz GTR-1 that started it all for Brabs in 1999. (Highcroft Racing)

While an ALMS championship had eluded him for nearly a decade, Brabs finally pulled it off last year with Patron Highcroft Racing. Coupled with an overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Peugeot, 2009 turned out to be one of his best seasons to date.

With so many memories from the paddock, we felt it would be best for those stories to be told from the people that know David the best. Enjoy a selection of reflections from some of the biggest stars and movers and shakers of the sport. From former and current co-drivers to team owners, race officials and media, Brabs has left an everlasting impression on the entire ALMS community.

Jan Magnussen (former co-driver, Panoz Motor Sports, Prodrive Ferrari): “I have a fantastic working relationship with Brabs. I think at the time we were the strongest pairing in ALMS. I’d love to get the opportunity to race with him again. We had some great times with Panoz and at Prodrive.

“All the wins we had with the Panoz were big wins because it was against Audi and we were always the underdog. Washington DC 2002 stands out as the biggest, but Nurburgring 2000 was also a fantastic. It wasn’t quite a fair fight. So when we did get it together and win, it was always a fantastic team effort to do it.

“He has such a fantastic personality and is an excellent racing driver. He and I have very different personalities of how we react and how we go about things, but I think we complimented each other very well. He’s probably one of the best well-rounded endurance drivers I’ve ever known.”

Don Panoz (ALMS founder & Panoz Motor Sports team owner): “Any time somebody accomplishes 100 of anything, it’s one hell of an achievement. For David to arrive at this point in our series is just phenomenal. He drove for me for something like five years. I consider him one of the great drivers of all-time, particularly with this type of racing. He’s one of the most level-headed, intelligent, calm, resourceful, thoughtful and honest person. A lot of drivers might get three out of the six, but David gets six of the six.

“I remember him and Jan racing the Audi at Washington DC and passing each other. It’s in the Hot Wheels Hall of Fame as one of the greatest races of all time. And to beat Audi by three-hundredths of a second, that was a great race. In 2001, we went to Le Mans with a new Panoz, the LM07, and didn’t do well. Right after Le Mans we parked it and took the old Panoz out and went to Sears Point and beat Audi there.

Brabham and Jan Magnussen were teammates at Panoz and Prodrive. (LAT)

“There’s just so many memories with him. But one of the most outstanding ones came here at Mosport. We were leading the race and had a good chance to win it. Somewhere down [Turns] 1 or 2, he went off and hit the tire barriers and pretty well and wrote-off the car. When he came back in, I was trying to figure out what happened.

“He could have said there were marbles on the track, somebody put down oil, whatever. I asked him what happened and he said, ‘Don, I ran out of talent.’ A great, honest answer. He just got out of his ability for an instant and the car went off. He didn’t make any excuses or said something broke. That tells you how hard those guys drove on the edge all the time.”

George Howard-Chappell (Prodrive/Aston Martin Racing Team Principal): “Brabs is a great guy to have in your team. He’s very level headed, always a steadying influence and perfect to work with some of the younger, less experienced drivers. When he was with us he certainly still had all the speed and would show this when he wanted to - not necessarily all the time.

I have great memories of the Ferrari days when he and 'Mags' joined us and we very nearly won the Championship in 2003 despite the slow start, but the highlights were winning the GT1 class first time out at Sebring with the DBR9 and then GT1 at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008. He is a one of the good guys in racing and I have enormous respect for what he has achieved.”

Allan McNish: “I have had too many races to pick out just one with David over his 100 [American Le Mans] starts but I suppose Silverstone 2000, when he was in the Panoz and I was in the interim Audi R8R, stands out.

“We were 1st and 2nd, David leading me, for all of the first stint and battling hard from the start. After about 20 laps or so he was a little held up in traffic and I saw a gap around the outside at Becketts [Corner], a very fast right, left right.

“I went for it knowing that I may not get another chance and squeezed through on tip toes on the right of a GT car as ‘Brabs’ went around the left. From then on it was defend like hell until the stint was over.

“We spoke about it afterwards and for both of us it was just like when we were racing in the British F3 Championship in 1989 all over again. With David racing fast and hard and giving just enough room that you needed but if you wanted it, you had to earn it. He’s always a star in my eyes.”

Aston Martin Racing team principal George Howard-Chappell celebrates on the Le Mans podium with Brabs. (LAT)

Marino Franchitti (co-driver, Patron Highcroft Racing): “One of my favorite memories came at Le Mans last year. It was about 45 minutes after the race finished and I’m walking along. Brabs is just walking along, on his own, nobody besides him, just carrying his trophy. For all these people that were around, it was just this moment of me and him and we got to celebrate. I’ll never forget seeing Brabs just walking along. He just won Le Mans.”

Marty Kaufman (Former IMSA Race Director): “In simple terms, I would describe David as a gentlemanly, cold, calculating professional race car driver who knows what he wants and the best way to go about attaining that goal. He has never been shy in our dealings and always spoke his mind in the most constructive way. He and Allan McNish have many of the same attributes in that way. These are some of the signs of true professionals, always offering assistance when requested to make the sport better and safer for all involved.

“David's brother, Geoff, raced with IMSA in the now defunct Camel GT Series and was series champion many times over driving a factory Nissan Prototype. Over the years, Geoff and I developed a similar relationship to that which I have with David. David's younger brother, Gary is also a successful professional race car driver and I won't even try to address the historical significance of Sir Jack's contributions to the sport and to his family.

“The current pairing of David with Duncan Dayton, his current car owner, is ideal in that they both share the same professional drive, ambitions and commitment to excellence.”

Scott Sharp (former co-driver, Patron Highcroft Racing): "I knew a lot about David and his accomplishments in sportscar racing before I came to Patrón Highcroft Racing. The first time I went to a test at Homestead with the team I really didn't know what the relationship was going to be like. David was really incredible; everything was open, hugely helpful. While he was super quick, he totally grasped the idea that he was also there to help me get up to speed and that would help the whole team. He is easily the best teammate I have ever had.

"A lot of the lessons I learned from David about how he goes about his business at the track has been hugely helpful to me in setting up my own Extreme Speed team. He is very professional, very focused and raises the game of everyone around him. When working with our guys I try to instill some of those same procedures and thinking about how to approach the weekend, reviewing data - every aspect.

Some of the early ALMS races, such as Nurburgring 2000, produced some of the everlasting memories for Brabham. (LAT)

"The thing that stands out for me about him is the 'completeness' of David. We know he is fast, but he is just so complete as a professional race driver and that makes a huge difference. We had two years together, seven wins and a championship last year. Not only did we get on well but to have all that success together was two high points in my career."

Darren Turner (former co-driver, Prodrive/Aston Martin Racing): "The first time I raced with Brabs was Miami 2003 in the Prodrive Ferrari 550, when I had the opportunity to step in for his regular teammate Jan Magnussen. Brabs could have taken the attitude of writing off the race weekend but he did the opposite. He couldn't have been more welcoming and helpful, making sure I got as much time in the car as possible and removing my worries, knowing how nervous I was for my first ALMS street race.

"That's his strength. He has confidence in his own ability and manages to get the best out of everyone around him. He's always 100 percent behind his teammate through good times and bad. He makes his opinions known but in a positive way that doesn't pull the rug out from underneath your feet.

"Brabs is ultra calm and his ability to deal with immense pressure rubs off on his teammates. Putting Brabs in the car last year was the best move Peugeot ever made. Sometimes it's not all about attack. David has the ability to see the bigger picture and he helps everyone to build on their strengths. That's perhaps the most important thing I've learned in how to be a successful sports car driver.”

Simon Pagenaud (co-driver, Patron Highcroft Racing): “He’s a bit of a hero to me. I remember the 1994 season in Formula One and the Simtek car really well. The other day I went on YouTube and saw him in a drivers’ briefing with all of the Formula One drivers were there, even Senna. There’s so many good things he’s done, but for me, since Formula One means so much, and those days mean a lot to me in my mind.”

Andy Wallace: “It doesn’t matter what car you put him in, he always goes really fast. The proof of that is that he’s had a pole and win in every class. He’s the only driver who’s ever managed to do that.

“I’ve driven with him several times with Panoz and he’s a top professional driver and a really, really good guy. He always manages to get the most out of each car. That’s Brabs.”

Guy Smith: “We’ve never been in the same car, but we’ve been in the same team together with Bentley. When I moved to sportscars, he’s always been someone I’ve looked up to. He’s obviously had a fantastic career, particularly in sportscars, where’s he’s excelled. I’ve learned a lot from him over the years and has always been a great person to race against.

Brabham becomes only the second driver to reach the 100-race milestone. Johnny O'Connell achieved it in 2009. (John Dagys)

“I’m really fortunate to get to drive against him now. He’s been a good guy to race with and has been a very good guy off the track too, with giving a lot back to the sport. Hopefully he’ll have many more years left in the cockpit.”

Paul Drayson: “For me, he’s one of the best guys racing. Because of the combination of his talent and his personality, he’s been really great to me in terms of encouraging me to believe I can make the step up to LMP1. We’ve had many conversations that were pivotal.

“I remember my first time out in the Lola at Road Atlanta last year, I just couldn’t believe how fast I was going around the track. But when I went back and looked at the data, I could see that I was off the pace. I remember going over to David and talking to him and he said you just have to ‘believe.’

“He’s a real special guy. And the way he’s had such an impact in terms of the whole Green Racing agenda, it was his idea in the beginning. I think he’s really brought something special to the American Le Mans Series and to racing as a whole.”

James Weaver: “I’ve obviously watched David race a lot, but never had the chance to race with him. We were teammates at Panoz in 1997, but I was teamed with Andy Wallace and he drove the other car with Perry McCarthy.

“He’s a massively professional driver who always has an aura of calm. You always get the impression that he’s going to be rock solid and reliable. Plus, he has the speed to go with it. We had a lot of fun while we were at Panoz together.”

Romain Dumas: “We’ve had some good races for sure. It was a big fight with him in 2008. He’s always a strong competitor. We had a good race here at Mosport and he was always very quick. For sure, he’s one of the drivers you can always expect the best. I didn’t know it was David’s 100th start. I guess I have to race a little bit more over here to have 100!”

John Hindhaugh (Radio Le Mans): “The thing about Brabs is his consistency, no matter what he’s been put into. Sometimes the stats don’t speak for themselves, but for Brabs, that’s not the case; They really do. They tell a story that’s quite remarkable. Still the only man to have won pole positions and wins in all four of the ACO’s classes.

Brabham and co-driver Simon Pagenaud enjoy a 20-point lead in the LMP championship heading into today's race. (John Dagys)

“He is just Mr. Consistency and he’s attacked and approached every one of his drives, whether it was in one of the quote-un-quote ‘lesser’ GT classes or whether it was in one of the prototype classes, all with the same sort of steely eyed, killer instinct professionalism that he clearly gets from his DNA. David has that same attention to detail his father had.

“The fact that David has developed cars through his tenure in the American Le Mans Series... The fact that Peugeot called on him to do Le Mans. How shrewd was that? Peugeot, who clearly had the best car at Le Mans for a couple of years and couldn’t get the race won, called on Brabham and put together a team with Brabs around the center of it. Now he wouldn’t say that of course, he’d say he was part of a team. That’s part of the man he is.

“The man is so competitive and races so hard on the track and yet is still well liked by everybody in the paddock. Even the guys he races against, you won’t find anybody have a bad word about him. That’s really hard to do when you’re not competitive, but when you are competitive as Brabham is, to still have everybody rooting for you and saying what a nice guy he is, it a measure of the man.”

“When people say nice guys don’t do well, look at David Brabham. It’s not true. He’s possibly one of the most popular people in the paddock and yet he is one of the most competitive people you’ll see, whether he’s playing [soccer], racing go-karts or cars or whatever.

“He is clearly his father’s son, but he’s plowed his own furrow and made himself a reputation that’s his and his alone. I think that probably is the biggest compliment I could give to him.”

Enjoy a video clip from David reflecting on his 100th ALMS start:

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