Australian Muscle Car – July 01, 2019

GeoffBrabhamtoday

G

eoffandRoseinaBrabhamhavebeen

togethersincetheywereteenagersand

todaylivecomfortablyontheGoldCoast,

wheretheirjetskisaremooredouttheback

ona canal,butspendeightmonthsofthe

yearin Indianapolis.

Since 2012 theyhavebeensupporting

Matthew’sracingcareerin theUS,wherehe

wontwojuniorformulacartitlesaspartof the

‘Roadto Indy’laddersystem,beforetackling

IndyLightsin thehopeof makingto stepupto

Indycars.AlthoughAussieBrettMurrayranhim

in theIndy 500 in 2016,thereisn’tthemoney

fora full-timeprogram,solastyearMattraced

StadiumSuperTrucks,winningsixof the 20

racesto beatthelikesof RobbieGordonand

IndywinnerArieLuyendykto thechampionship.

Geoff,meanwhile,returnedto racingin

historics.It startedwhenhewasaskedto hand

overa prizeforthebest-lookingBrabham

racecarat anevent;thewinnersaidhehada

sparetwin-camBT35andaskedif Geoffwould

liketo raceit.

“I didn’tknowif I wantedto doit,

becauseI hadn’tdrivenanythingfor 16 years.

ThersttimeI droveit I hadmotionsickness,

soI sentmywifeoffto getseasickpills,and

I’mthinking,‘I can’tdothis.’Thenthesecond

sessionI wentoutandit waslikeI’dnever

beenaway.It wasweird.LastyearI wonthe

championshipandat themomentI’mona 14-

racewinningstreak!

“WhenI retired,I didn’thaveanyissues

stoppingracingat all.I couldgooffkarting

withMatt,andI didn’thaveanywithdrawal

whatsoever.NowI’vestarteddoingit again,I’m

reallyenjoyingit, whichI didn’tthinkI would.

It’sfun.Yourunupagainstsomegoodguys

everynowandagainandit’sfullon.”

Thecompetitivejuiceshavealsoreturned

forRoseina,whowasa championJetski

racerin the1990s.Nowin her60s,she’s

backracingagainsttheboysandbeating

them,ridinga replicaof heroldjetskithat

Geoffputtogether.Nowit’shisturnto bethe

supportivepartner.

Geoffhasfewhealthissuesfromhis

19 yearsof internationalracing,justa

problematicbackthathaseasedin recentyears

andfailinghearingdueto exposureto noise.

That’sanotherthinghehasin commonwithhis

latefather,whoheshareda carwithonlyonce

• in a StudCola-sponsoredandJohnGoss-
  enteredFalconat Bathurstin 1977.
  “I remembersayingto Dad,‘Who’sgoingto
  qualify?’Andhesaid,‘Oh,whoever’sfastest.’
  Thenheneverletmein thecaragain!Hewas
  socompetitive.It didn’tworryme,butit was
  greatto dothatracetogether.”
  Forsomethinglike 70 yearsthename
  Brabhamhasbeensynonymouswith
  ‘competitivespirit’.Andit lookslikelyto continue
  fora whileyet.

David

Hassall