Remembering Black Jack Brabham, the F1 champ who won with his brains and his feet

As the first Formula One driver to ever receive knighthood, Sir Jack Brabham's death, age 88, carves a deep wound. While he will be forever referred to as a three-time world champion – and the only driver to have won the title on two feet rather than four wheels – more than anything, the Australian racer will be remembered as one of life's good guys, a tenacious competitor that truly embodied the value of sportsmanship.

After serving with the Royal Australian Air Force as a flight mechanic, Brabham's racing career began on the Aussie dirt in 1949, piloting a car he'd hand-built with a friend. His knack for controlling a midget on the loose surface helped propel him to Europe, where he hooked up with race car builder John Cooper (the very one that conceived the famed Mini Cooper). Brabham continued racing in Cooper's cars, and while doing so, helped develop the company's Bobtail mid-engine racer, a machine that was destined for Formula One.

While all other race cars featured the engine in front of the driver, Cooper's pioneering concept placed the motor behind the driver. However it never fulfilled its true potential until 1959 when Brabham won his first world title. It wasn't without drama, though, as with just 500 yards to the checkered flag at the United States Grand Prix in Sebring, his Cooper-Climax ran out of fuel. Unwilling to give in, Brabham pushed the car across the line on foot, claiming his first world championship ahead of Tony Brooks and Sir Stirling Moss.