Early career Born in
Boca Raton,
Florida, Brabham and his family moved to Australia in his youth. Much of Brabham's early exposure to racing came via watching his mother's
jet ski competitions as he rarely attended his father and grandfather's auto races. Brabham began kart racing in 2001 at the age of seven, starting in the Australian 'Midget' class. In 2007, he secured the Queensland State 'Rookie' Title, and in 2008, he went on to win both the New South Wales and Queensland State Junior National Light Titles, while also finishing second in the Australian and Melbourne City Titles. A year later, 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 before moving to the Victorian State Formula Ford Series and the Australian National Championship with
Sonic Motor Racing Services. In the state series, he won eight out of twelve races, including seven in a row, while he scored two wins, two runner-up finishes, and a pole position in the national division.
Road to Indy 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 eleven 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. Brabham signed to drive the No. 27 car for
Andretti Autosport for the 2013 Star Mazda Championship. Brabham won the championship with two races remaining, capturing a series-record 11th win in his rookie season. Brabham's title secured a scholarship to compete in
Indy Lights in 2014. Brabham remained with Andretti Autosport to challenge for the Indy Lights title in
2014. He won one race and collected four podiums and ten top-fives in fourteen races to finish fourth in the overall standings. Brabham attributed his lower points finish than hoped to his lack of experience, having progressed through three levels of the Road to Indy in as many years, and his difficulties in adjusting to the series' use of
Cooper Tires after mainly racing with
Firestone. Financial issues prevented him from completing a second season in 2015. In October 2021, Brabham rejoined Andretti's Indy Lights programme for the
Chris Griffis Memorial Test at Indianapolis, during which he set the tenth-best time. Three months later, he formally committed to the
2022 Indy Lights season with the team; at the age of 28, he was the oldest driver in the field.
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 the age of 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. Although he has not run another IndyCar race , he remains involved as the driver of IndyCar's two-seater for guests at race weekends. 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 sixteen podiums. 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. Brabham 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. 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 thirteen podiums to clinch his second straight title. The Adelaide victory, which came in the second of three races that weekend, saw him beat Gordon to the finish by .0351 seconds. A third championship came in 2021 as he finished on the podium in all ten races with a sweep of the second Mid-Ohio weekend. From the 2019 Gold Coast round and across the next two seasons, Brabham was the fastest driver in every qualifying session until the 2021 season finale at Long Beach where Gordon snapped his streak at five. Although Brabham did not commit to a full 2022 season due to Indy Lights, he continued to make occasional starts as SST's prize money structure provides him with a sustainable salary. His first race weekend as a part-time SST driver was at Long Beach.
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
Team 18 team in the
2018 Endurance Cup but this drive was taken by
Jason Bright.
Sports car racing In 2017, Brabham,
Bill Hynes and
Alexandre Prémat competed in the
Utah Motorsports Campus 6 Hour Enduro, where they won EXR Racing Series class and finished tenth overall. Brabham entered the
Bathurst 12 Hour in 2018, driving a BMW M4 GT4 that he shared with
Tony Longhurst and
Aaron Seton. The three dominated the Class C to win. Later in the year, he entered the
Pirelli World Challenge's GT class, driving for CRP Racing at
Portland International Raceway. He followed this up with another appearance at the final round in Utah. On November 7, 2021, Brabham made his
Trans-Am Series debut at
Circuit of the Americas a memorable one. While filling in for series regular
Chris Dyson, in the No. 20 Ford Mustang, he caught and passed seven-time series champion
Ernie Francis Jr. in the final fifty feet of the last lap for the win. ==Personal life==