I had made a commitment to the owner of the new circuit, Keith Williams months earlier, that I would be at the first event, and thankfully my new wife understood the value of a handshake agreement, and willingly spent the first day of her honeymoon at a motor race meeting.
The editor of Racing Car News phoned me and said, as long as I was there, could I collar Jack Brabham and interview him about his joint venture with Honda in Formula Two.
I said "Righto" and in the course of the day we sweated it out in his rental car for almost an hour. Because I had my facts straight, and asked (in his opinion) sensible questions we got along famously.
Although I saw him intermittently over the next 30 years or so, we remained friends, and he was always ready with a firm and welcoming handshake.
With his passing I would like to offer the full, unedited interview we conducted in 1998, 32 years after our first meeting:
“It’s amazing what you can do with sign language,” says Sir Jack Brabham “We couldn’t speak
Japanese, and they couldn’t speak English, but we got our message across. It
must have worked, because we won every race that season, except one.”
It’s just over 32 years since Jack
Brabham and I discussed his winning year in Formula Two using Honda engines.
The first time, we were seated in his Ford Falcon rental car in the paddock of
the Surfers Paradise International Raceway in Queensland. It was 1966.
Now,
we’re reminiscing about the two years when he left his opposition gob-smacked
by letting Honda gain an entrée to the exclusive world of formulae racing in
Europe. This time we’re comfortably seated in the living room of his townhouse
in Sydney, a far cry from the overheated cabin of his rental car.
On April 17, 1966 Jack Brabham
agreed to bring his Formula One Repco Brabham racing car to the inaugural
meeting at the Surfers Paradise International Raceway, to drive a few
demonstration laps. He did it to support Keith Williams’ audacious gamble to
establish a world class motor racing circuit on the Gold Coast. What a gesture!
In 1966 Jack was on his way to his
third Formula One world drivers’ championship, and the first of two F1
constructors’ championships; and he was competing in Formula Two as well. He
was more than a little busy, but as a proud Australian he was happy to return
Down Under to lend his support to the opening of the Gold Coast circuit.
After he brought his V8 Repco
Brabham back to the paddock I approached him, to discuss his Formula Two
activities. Because most enthusiasts focussed on his Formula One exploits, Jack was clearly happy that someone wanted to
talk about his gamble with Honda in the junior formula. We talked for more than
an hour and you would not have recognised the man who had a reputation for
murmuring one word answers to most questions.
Jack Brabham came alive with passion
and enthusiasm as he talked about the Formula Two team’s success. Not only was
he happy to see his efforts noticed, he wanted to talk about the
professionalism, dedication and commitment of his engine supplier.
This union began a relationship
which has not only survived, but blossomed into mutual respect, affection and
friendship between Jack Brabham and his friends at Honda. Jack happily lends
himself to their promotional programs, and to this day he lends his input to
the company’s racing activities.
As we sit together in his living
room today, he talks not in a measured fashion, but with the conviction and
admiration he holds for the Japanese company which helped him achieve a great
victory in motor racing. Honda feels the same way about him.
In late 1963, Jabby Crombac, a
Belgian motor racing journalist (who is still an institution in Formula One
today) was contacted by a Honda engineer called Mr. Nakamura. He asked Jabby if
he could suggest a team to run a Formula Two car, with a new engine Honda was
planning.
Not a lot happened that year, but in
early 1964 Jabby called Jack at the workshop he shared with fellow Aussie Ron
Tauranac in Weybridge, Surrey. Did he
want to talk to a Japanese company which wanted to get into formula racing?
Sure, said Jack.
I asked Jack if he had any
reservations. “Not a one. We had been using Cosworth engines like everyone
else, but as a racer I was looking for any extra advantage. As a businessman I
was interested in meeting an engine supplier who would provide them free! At
that time Honda were making a name for themselves in motorcycle racing, and
were going pretty well. We’d have been crazy not to listen to their proposal.”
So in October 1964 Brabham went to Paris
to meet Mr. Nakamura.
“Nakamura spoke reasonable English,
and I could tell he was serious.” Said Jack. “He didn’t give us any indication
about what engine he had in mind, but promised to get us at least two by the
start of the 1965 season. We were pretty excited by the prospects. He said
nothing, just took notes, nodded a lot, we shook hands and that's the last I
saw or heard of Mr. Nakamura for nearly five months.”
Then, in early March 1965 two one
litre, twin cam engines arrived at Weybridge, along with a couple of
non-English speaking Japanese engineers. Jack believes the engines produced
about 130 bhp, which was about 5 bhp down on the equivalent Cosworth engine
being used at the time.
“What was your reception like in the
pits at the first meeting?” I asked. “Pretty cool,” said Jack. “The Cosworth
guys were pretty cocky, and the other teams, Cooper, Lotus and Lola showed absolutely minimal interest in us. The
enthusiasts crowded around, but the racing people gave the impression they
couldn’t care less.”
By the end of the season there
seemed little reason to change their views. The Brabham team had mixed results.
Jack says: “We got better results toward the end of the season, as we got to
know the engines better, but frankly, they were really unacceptable. In fact,
they were not purpose-built racing engines. Ancillaries were in the wrong
place, and they just looked like a passenger car engine, hastily redesigned to
put out more power.”
At the end of 1965, Jack and Ron
Tauranac flew to Tokyo to meet Mr. Nakamura, and a team of about six engineers,
led by Mr. Kume. As they talked in Honda’s corporate offices, Mr.Kume listened
intently and sketched constantly. The group reviewed the ’65 season, and Jack
says: “I told them, if they were serious we had to have a new engine, but I
didn’t know what their capacity was to be able to produce the goods.” Mr.Kume
told the Aussies he knew what they needed, and he would do his best to provide
it.
I asked Jack what he thought was
driving Honda at the time, to get into motor racing. Was it some secret
marketing plan? “No, says Jack. They just wanted to train their young
engineers. Remember Honda was a company with an incredible engineering focus,
these guys were treated like gods.” After we got to know them we could see they
just wanted to build engines to train their guys, and win races. They were
incredibly competitive.”
For the new season Tauranac
developed a revised version of their Formula Two car, called the BT18a. In late
February 1966 Honda delivered a totally new engine to the Brabham team. With
obvious admiration, Jack describes the scene: “I almost couldn’t believe it. Here
we had a brand new racing engine, drawn by Kume himself. It had needle roller
crank, mains and rods and produced 150 bhp, which was much more than the
Cosworth engines. It also featured some incredible, tiny, torsion-bar valve
springs. We’d never seen anything like it.”
From their workshops, located just a
quarter mile from the historic Brooklands track, Brabham and Tauranac embarked
on one of the most memorable racing seasons ever. The two car team, with
Brabham and Denny Hulme driving, went to Goodwood for the first Formula Two
race of the 1966 season. They won, and in fact they kept winning. That year the
Brabham team won every round of the championship except the last race at Rouen
in France.
I asked Jack how they worked with
the Japanese; how they communicated; and how much the Brabham team was involved
in the engine preparation? “Well, we never got near the engines. It was the
same as 1965. When we had a problem we communicated by hand signals and a sort
of international, engineers-only language. We drew sketches, we wrote out
numbers – and the young engineers scurried around phoning back to Japan for
guidance.”
In mid 1966 another young engineer,
called Kawamoto joined the team in Europe. “He spoke reasonable English, says
Jack. We got on well, he was very bright, and a really nice guy.” It’s obvious
today, when Jack talks about Kawamoto that he warmed to the Japanese technician
instantly. From this has grown a wonderful friendship marked by mutual respect
and admiration.
To give an example, in 1996 a
testimonial lunch was arranged in Sydney to honour Jack. One of the organisers
who was researching probable guests discovered the Honda/Kawamoto connection,
and wondered whether Mr. Kawamoto would record some comments on video, to be
played at the event.
Kawamoto’s office replied: “Mr.
Kawamoto does not want to do a video, he will come to Sydney in person!” On the day Brabham was
clearly touched by Kawamoto’s greeting, and his salutation to the triple world
champion. “I like Kawamoto very much, he’s become a good friend.” Says Jack.
Jack Brabham however, has become an
equally good friend to Honda too. Over the past 30 years Brabham, and Tauranac
have maintained their business and engineering relationship with Honda. They
have consulted to the Japanese company on a whole range of projects and racing
programs. Even now, it is nothing for Honda to fly Tauranac to the USA to
intercede in discussions between Honda engineers and the mechanics in the Honda
Indy Car team.
In October last year, on the exact day
of Honda’s fiftieth anniversary the company flew Brabham to its new Twin Ring,
Motegi proving ground in Japan, along with hundreds of other guests from around
the world for the celebrations. But, according to Jack, he enjoyed a special
moment during the festivities.
“They had my 1966 Formula Two car
there, and Kume and Kawamoto wanted to pose with me and the car for
photographs,” said Jack. “They were like a couple of kids. Then I was able to
do some laps in the old car, and what a great time I had. It was fantastic.”
Thinking back to 1966, why did Honda
choose the Brabham team? Well, Jack had been world champion in 1959 and 1960,
and his team was obviously highly professional in its day. Honda insiders say
Mr. Nakamura felt more comfortable teaming up with the Australian team, rather
than presumably having to battle long standing prejudice from the established
European or English teams.
Jack says now that he was not all
that confidant in mid 1965 that he had made the right choice, but by the end of
that year after he and Tauranac had been to Tokyo to meet Nakamura and Kume, he
knew they were on a winner. “I was so impressed with their dedication and their
professionalism.” Said Jack.
I distinctly remember part of the
conversation from our interview in 1966, when Brabham told me that he was
confident of winning the championship because the Honda engines “were just so
bloody good.”
There
was however a time when Jack thought Honda might decide not to continue. He
says: “When we talked to them about the performance of the engine, in the first
year 1965, Ron was really tough on them. You know Ron, he doesn’t mince his
words. He told them what was wrong and what they should do to fix it. I
thought, boy, are they going to cop this? Well, they did. They lapped it up. It
was just what they needed to develop and hone their competitive spirit.”
Honda must have been greatly
encouraged by the 1966 season outcome, after the disappointments of 1965.
Brabham says that naturally, Honda paid all the costs associated with the
Formula Two engine program, and he has no doubt it was considerable. He says
today it could even have been as much as the whole budget for the combined
Brabham Formula One and Formula Two activities.
Back in 1965-66 Brabham and Tauranac
ran their teams ( 4 cars, 22 races, 2 drivers) for just under £200,000 (at
today’s exchange rate, that’s roughly half a million Australian dollars). The
money came from Esso and Goodyear, but they were also very successful builders
of racing cars, and between 1963 and 1970 they sold over 900 customer cars, at
an average of about £3,500 each (AUD$10,000). On this basis, the team was well
funded in its day.
It’s worth noting that in 1965, when
Brabham had just embarked on the Formula Two campaign with Honda, Jack was also
competing in the British Saloon Car Championship, which he also won that year,
in a Ford Mustang. Looking back, it was an incredible period of achievement for
the boy from Hurstville, in suburban Sydney!
Not only a triple world champion in
Formula One, but Formula Two victor, saloon car champion and highly profitable
and successful racing car constructor. I asked Jack about the energy, and
commitment required to realise their goals. He says: “We just did it. We didn’t
think about it. We worked for as long, and as many hours as it took to get
there.”
This spectacular achievement is a
timeless role model, for anyone, even today. Remember, in the sixties budgets
were smaller and there were no big time commercial sponsorships and advertising
on the cars to make the task easier to fund. It was all down to the ability to
deliver results.
Honda has never forgotten the
contribution Brabham and his team made to the company. Even after the Formula
Two program ended, Honda called on Jack and Ron to provide counsel and advice
on the later programs, especially Honda’s first foray into Formula One.
At that time Brabham and Tauranac
had joined up with British engine specialist John Judd. Their company, called
Engine Developments, advised and worked with Kawamoto when he began the F1
quest. In later years, when F1 Hondas were driven by American Richie Ginther
and later, British driver John Surtees – Brabham, Tauranac and Judd were often
in the background. Honda had wanted Tauranac to design their F1 car, but as the
team was already contracted to run the Repco-engined F1 car, they had to
decline the chance to help Honda with its F1 aspirations.
So on October 3rd 1998,
when Jack Brabham, now 72, joined the 50th anniversary celebrations
at Motegi he was feted, and warmly greeted as one of Honda’s oldest friends. Mr
Kawamoto paid tribute to his friend and colleague, recognising the vital
contribution Brabham has made to Honda’s racing history, beginning with a
championship-winning Formula Two season in 1966.
Honda is my favouite brand,and I consider buying Honda Civic 2020.
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