IT’S pretty hard not to be a race driver if your name is Brabham. Twenty-year-old Matthew Chase Brabham is Geoff’s son and Jack’s grandson.
Matt started racing aged seven, winning 21 races and the NSW state title. Last year he was Pro Mazda Series Champion and rookie of the year driving for Andretti Autosport. This year he was fourth in the Indy Lights series. Both series are feeders for IndyCar.
When Mario Andretti, father of Andretti Autosport owner Michael Andretti, was at the beginning of his F1 career he raced against Jack Brabham. Both were world champions. Geoff Brabham raced against Mario and his son Michael, and his son Matt races in the same team as Michael’s son Marco. And you thought stuff like this only happened in Tasmania.
So what you wouldn’t have heard (because Formula E cars sound like Scalextric slot cars) is that Michael Andretti called up Matty?B late last month to take a quiet last-minute drive in Malaysia. While he probably did race a bit too aggressively, given his whole experience in the Renault Spark battery powered thing was limited to practice, qualifying and racing, finishing lucky 13th and setting some top lap times, it shows the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree. Sorry for another Tasmanian reference.
Click here to read on: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/executive-living/motoring/brabham-motor-racers-keep-it-all-in-the-families/story-fngmee2f-1227146290946
