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Australian grit

25. Mar 2022 
by Ziv Knoll
5511 views

Cooper‘s revolutionary rear-engined cars, powered by the compact and reliable Coventry-Climax 2.5 litre engine, won five races with Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss and Bruce McLaren during the 1959 season.

Ferrari’s Tony Brooks took the fight to the Coopers and going into the final race he, Moss or Brabham could win the title. Moss retired from the race, the inaugural US Grand Prix held at Sebring, giving Jack Brabham the lead.

The Australian ran out of fuel on the last lap, but pushed his car (picture above) across the line to finish fourth. With Brooks not able to finish better than third, Jack Brabham became the first Australian World Champion, while Cooper won the Constructors’ crown.

Picture below: Jack Brabham (Cooper-Climax) leads team mate Bruce McLaren at the 1959 US Grand Prix at Sebring.

Source: DR

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