Australian Muscle Car – July 01, 2019

Backin Oz

W

ithjust
the
PeugeotLe
Mansdeal
andfourIROC
racesin his
diary,Brabham
acceptedan
offerfromGlennSetontodrivethesecond
PeterJacksonEBFalconwithDavid‘Skippy’
ParsonsatSandownandBathurstin late
1993.It wasthersttimehe’dracedin
Australiafor 12 years,andit resultedin a
mostunlikelyvictory.
“I camebackandwontheSandown500,
whichwascool.Wehada goodrunanda
lotof otherpeoplehadissues,butI feltI was
reasonablycompetitivewitheveryone.Our
carwasactuallyjumpingoutof gear,sowe
struggledto makeit to theend,butI think
everybodywas.Wewerethelastmanstanding
basically.”
Backhomein America,Geoff– nowin his
40sandwitha babyson– beganponderinghis
future,wonderingwhethertheyshouldstayin
theUSorreturnto Australia.Beforehecould
evenconsidera possibleV8futurein Oz,an
opportunityarosein thedeveloping2.0-litre
SuperTouringcategory.
“I wasthinkingof juststoppingandFrank

ardnerrangupandsaid,

o youwantto comebackto

AustraliaanddriveBMWs?’

saidyes,butin hindsightit

probablywasn’ta goodthingfor

meto do.

“I foundthecarsincredibly

boringto driveafterwhat

’d beendriving,andI know

I wasn’tdrivingat thelevelthatgaveme

satisfaction.I wasjustgoingthroughthe

motionsa littlebit.It wasn’texcitingmeenough

to getmemotivated.If I’dcomebackanddone

theV8s,I thinkit wouldhavebeena lotbetter.”

Brabhamtwicenishedseriesrunner-up

to teamownerPaulMorrisin theDietCoke

BMWs,in 1995and1997,beforescoringa

contentiousvictorywithbrotherDavidin the

‘official’Bathurst1000,twoweeksbeforetheV8

Supercarsevent.

Interestingly,herevealsthatGarryRogers

offeredhima full-timeV8Supercarsdrivethe

followingyear,butheturnedit down.Money

wasonereason,butheadmitsit wasalso

becausehewasunhappywithhisdriving.

“SecretlyinsideI knewthatI wasn’tdriving

likeI shouldanymore,andI thinkthatwas

ultimatelywhyI didn’tdoit. Therewasnopoint

doingit unlessyouwereat thetopof your

game.”

In 1998heco-drovetheCastrolFalconthat

TonyLonghurstqualiedsecondat Bathurst,

andtheynishedeighth.Hethennished10th

in 1999(withNealBatesin a TickfordFalcon),

retiredin 2000(RodNashCommodorewith

CamMcConville),andtookseventhwithSteve

Elleryin theSuperCheapAutoFalconin 2001.

However,thatlastracetoldhimit wastime

to stop.“SomebodyhitmegoingintoForrest’s

Elbowandgotpast,andit justdidn’tbotherme,

whereasbeforeI wouldhavedonesomething

aboutit. SohalfwaydownConrodI thought,‘I’m

bored,it’stimeto stop.’Thatwasmylastrace.”

Hedidn’tannounceit, just‘fadedaway’.Matt

waskeento racesohebecamea kartingpit

dad.AndthreeyearsagoMattbecamethe

third-generationBrabhamto contesttheIndy

500.Thecirclewascomplete.

Matt Brabham followed in his famous father’s and

grandfather’s footsteps when raced at Indy.

Geoff found the Super Touring BMW boring to drive.

We’re betting Paul Morris wasn’t a boring teammate.