Matthew Brabham
Matthew Chase Brabham is an American/Australia racing driver. The 2013 Pro Mazda Championship champion, he currently competes full-time in the Stadium Super Trucks, driving the No. 83 truck. He is a two-time SST champion, winning in 2018 and 2019.
Brabham is a third-generation racing driver; he is the son of Geoff Brabham and the grandson of three time Formula One World Champion Sir Jack Brabham.
Career
Junior formulae
Born in Boca Raton, Florida, Brabham started racing karts in 2001 at the age of 7, competing in the Australian 'Midget' class. In 2007 he won the Queensland State 'Rookie' Title, following up by winning both the New South Wales and Queensland State Junior National Light Titles and finishing second in the Australian and Melbourne City Titles in 2008. In 2009, Brabham won the 'Junior Rotax' Young Guns Title, before graduating to Formula Ford racing towards the end of the year. In 2010 he competed in the Australian Formula Ford Championship with the CAMS Rising Star Team. For 2011, Brabham competed in the Victorian State Formula Ford Series and the Australian National Championship with Sonic Motor Racing Services. In the state series he won 8 out of 12, including 7 in a row and in the national series he scored 2 wins, 2 seconds and a pole position.For 2012, Brabham joined Cape Motorsports with Wayne Taylor Racing, to compete in the U.S. F2000 National Championship. Brabham won the title over his teammate Spencer Pigot by seven points, capturing four wins from 11 podium finishes in the fourteen race season. In doing so he won a $350,000 USD scholarship through the Road to Indy to race in the Star Mazda Championship in 2013. He signed to drive the no. 27 car for Andretti Autosport in 2013. Brabham won the series championship with two races remaining capturing a series-record 11th win in his rookie season. Brabham's championship secured a scholarship to compete in Indy Lights in 2014.
On October 19, Brabham and Andretti Autosport announced that they would remain together to challenge for the Indy Lights title in 2014. He won one race and collected four podiums and 10 top 5s in 14 races to finish fourth in the overall standings.
Formula E and IndyCar
In November 2014 Brabham competed in the second round of the inaugural Formula E world championship in Putrajaya, Malaysia. He replaced Charles Pic for Andretti Autosport. At age 20 Brabham became the youngest driver to compete in Formula E.In 2016, Brabham made his Indianapolis 500 debut, driving the No. 61 for PIRTEK Team Murray. He qualified 26th and finished 22nd.
Stadium Super Trucks
In 2015, Brabham made his Stadium Super Trucks debut at Honda Indy Toronto; Brabham, who was at the track working as a driver coach, received the opportunity to race after Paul Tracy became unavailable due to television obligations. He finished sixth and fourth in the weekend's two races. Later in the year, he competed at the Gold Coast 600, Valvoline Raceway, and the Sydney 500 events, recording runner-up finishes at Gold Coast and Valvoline.Brabham began racing in the series on a full-time basis in 2016. In June, he swept the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix rounds. He later joined Team Traxxas, driving the No. 83 alongside Sheldon Creed. Brabham scored his third win of the season when he held off Creed at Toronto. He finished second in the 2016 standings, 75 points behind Creed, with three wins and 16 podiums.
For the 2017 season, he acquired sponsorship from Safecraft Safety Equipment. His first win of the year came in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, where he became the first non-Australian SST race winner, followed by victories at the Grand Prix of Long Beach, Hidden Valley Raceway, Beijing National Stadium, and Watkins Glen International. He finished runner up to Paul Morris by one point.
He continued in the series for a fourth year in 2018. His first win of the season came at Adelaide Street Circuit's third race, where he capitalised on Robby Gordon entering the final corner too wide on the last lap. Further triumphs came at Long Beach, Barbagallo Raceway, Texas Motor Speedway, Road America, and Sydney Motorsport Park. Brabham battled with Gavin Harlien for the championship throughout the season, and a victory at the season-ending 2019 Race of Champions clinched him the 2018 title. His six wins led the series in 2018.
Brabham opened the 2019 season by winning the second race of the Circuit of the Americas weekend despite suffering from a foodborne illness the previous night. After winning again at Long Beach when he beat Creed, Brabham went on a three-race string of runner-up finishes; his two second-place runs at Toronto earned him that weekend's overall win. Additional wins came at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Portland International Raceway. In the series' Australian return at Gold Coast to end the year, Brabham was involved in last-lap incidents in both races: in the first round, he spun race leader Toby Price in turn 11 that led to Gordon winning, while he dodged contact between Morris and Cole Potts to win the second. He finished the year with a series-high six wins and 13 podiums to clinch his second straight title.
Supercars
In 2017, Brabham returned to Australia to race in the Supercars Championship, making his debut at the 2017 Perth SuperSprint for Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport in place of Taz Douglas. He was scheduled to race as a co-driver for the Charlie Schwerkolt Racing team in the 2018 Endurance Cup but this drive was taken by Jason Bright.GT racing
Brabham made his debut in GT Sportscars in the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge driving for CRP Racing at Portland International Raceway. He followed this up with another appearance at the final round in Utah.Racing record
Career summary
U.S. F2000 National Championship
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Rank | Points |
| 2012 | Cape Motorsports Wayne Taylor Racing | SEB 1 | SEB 2 | STP 2 | STP 2 | LOR 2 | MDO 3 | MDO 25 | ROA 1 | ROA 1 | ROA 3 | BAL 2 | BAL 1 | VIR 4 | VIR 8 | 1st | 339 |
Pro Mazda Championship
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Rank | Points |
| 2013 | Andretti Autosport | COA 3 | COA 1 | STP 1 | STP 1 | IND 1 | IOW 1 | TOR 1 | TOR 1 | MOS 3 | MOS 9 | MOH 1 | MOH 1 | TRO 1 | TRO 1 | HOU 1 | HOU 1 | 1st | 466 |
Indy Lights
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Rank | Points |
| 2014 | Andretti Autosport | STP 9 | LBH 3 | ALA 4 | ALA 12 | IND 1 | IND 4 | INDY 2 | POC 5 | TOR 4 | MDO 5 | MDO 12 | MIL 2 | SNM 6 | SNM 5 | 4th | 424 | ||
| 2015 | Andretti Autosport | STP 11 | STP 7 | LBH 11 | ALA | ALA | IMS | IMS | INDY | TOR | TOR | MIL | IOW | MDO | MDO | LAG | LAG | 13th | 35 |
Complete Formula E results
| Year | Team | Chassis | Powertrain | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos | Points |
| 2014–15 | Andretti Autosport | Spark SRT01-e | SRT01-e | BEI | PUT 13 | PDE Ret | BUE | MIA | LBH | MCO | BER | MSC | LON | LON | 31st | 0 |