Tribute to Brabham at Australian GP.

A very special feature of the 2003 Foster's Australian Grand Prix will be a tribute to Australia's greatest motor racer, Sir Jack Brabham.

It will be a tribute to the triple Formula One world champion and cars he drove and it will form the theme for the traditional and immensely popular Tattersall's Historic Demonstrations at the Grand Prix.

There will be cars from Sir Jack's early career on rough 'n' tumble speedways in the late 1940s through almost to the end of his Formula One career in 1970.

Sir Jack won two Australian speedway titles and the 1948 J.A.P-engined Speedcar that started him on the road to glory will be featured, as will the Repco-Brabham BT19, the car in which he won his third F1 world drivers' title as well as the constructors' championship in 1966, writing a place for himself in the history books which he still has as the only man to win the world title in a car of his own construction.

There will also be cars from the Cooper era which brought Sir Jack his first two F1 world titles and in which he started the revolutionary move to rear-engined racing cars. Grand Prix patrons will see his early 1,100cc Vincent motorcycle-engined Cooper Mark 4 to the various mid-1950s Climax-engined Coopers and examples of the ultimate world championship-winning Cooper Climax Type 53.

There will be other cars from the early 1960s when Sir Jack first became a constructor, with the MRD Formula Junior one fine example.

All these cars that played a part in Sir Jack's success will be on display in the Tattersall's Historic Garage over the four days of the Grand Prix, as well as on track driven each day by the 76-year-old legend and some of his famous mates, including his great rival Sir Stirling Moss.

Sir Jack said he had "heard on the grapevine" of the plans to have his old cars at Albert Park on March 6-9 and "wouldn't miss it for quids". He admitted that the BT19 still immaculately maintained in Melbourne by engineer Nigel Tait, who worked on the development of its engine in the mid-1960s was his favourite car.

"I won the world drivers' championship and the constructors' championship in it, and that was a fantastic thrill because it was a great Australian effort with a fabulous Australian engine, built by Repco, we had an Australian crew, and for Australian motor racing and Australia it was just a fantastic effort all round," Sir Jack said.

"That's my favourite car for two reasons one, winning the championship, and (two) the great thrill at the time was beating Ferrari, because Ferrari were on top and had been for a few years. To come out and beat the Ferrari was a fantastic feeling inside. That's made it my favourite car.

"I've got a real soft spot too for the 1959 and 1960 Coopers that I won the championship with and which I had a lot to do with the development of putting the engine in the back of the car. In 1959 and '60 we proved to the world that the engine should be in the back. So that made them pretty favourite motor cars too - particularly the 1960 model. To get out and beat the Ferraris with it was fantastic. Lotus and Ferrari had to go to rear-engine too. We beat 'em too often for them not to realise that the engine had to be in the back."

Sir Jack Brabham has been a pioneer, a gentleman, a champion and a great Australian and at the 2003 Foster's Australian Grand Prix he will be acknowledged as all those.