Mike Thackwell
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Mike Thackwell
Michael Thackwell (born 30 March 1961) is a former racing driver from New Zealand, who participated in a number of prominent racing categories, including Formula 1. The fifth youngest driver ever to qualify for a Grand Prix, he participated in five of them, making his first start on 28 September 1980 at the Canadian Grand Prix. He scored no championship points. He had previously attempted unsuccessfully to qualify for the Dutch Grand Prix which was held on 31 August 1980. Thackwell has been described as a ''"teenage sensation"'', a ''"maverick"'' and as ''"something of a cult hero"''. Outside Formula One, he competed successfully in Formula Three, Formula Two, Formula 3000 and sports cars, amongst other categories. In 1984, Thackwell won the European Formula Two Championship. He was runner up in that championship in 1983, and in its successor, the International Formula 3000 Championship, in 1985. In each case, he was driving a works Ralt. Also in 1986, he won the Pau Gra ...
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Sauber C8
The Sauber C8 was a Group C prototype race car introduced in 1985 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the first in a partnership between Sauber and Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes decided not to put forth the money for a full effort on their own until they had time to develop the production-based M117 5.0L Turbocharged V8. Therefore, Mercedes turned to Sauber to create a chassis for them and initially to run the team before Mercedes took on a larger role. Sauber chose to evolve the previous C7 prototype for the C8, although modifications were needed to house the larger V8 instead of the C7's previous Inline-6. In its debut at the 1985 24 Hours of Le Mans, Sauber was able to qualify 17th. However, an accident at the Mulsanne Straight with John Nielsen at the wheel caused enough damage that the car was not able to participate in the race. The team promised to appear at a few more races in the World Sportscar Championship season, but never showed. For 1986, the team became known as Kouro ...
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Sports Car Racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel single-seater racing (such as Formula One), touring car racing (such as the British Touring Car Championship, which is based on 'saloon cars' as opposed to the 'exotics' seen in sports cars) and stock car racing (such as NASCAR). Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over relatively large distances, and there is usually a larger emphasis placed on the reliability and efficiency of the car as opposed to outright speed of the driver. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of a sports car racing series. A type of hybrid between the purism of open-wheelers and the familiarity of touring car racing, this style is often associate ...
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Van Diemen
Van Diemen International, Ltd. was a British race car manufacturer based in Snetterton, Norfolk, United Kingdom. The company had a reputation for high-volume production runs of its cars, the most well-known of which is its series of Formula Ford chassis, which have been at the forefront of that class of motorsport for over 20 years and led it to becoming the largest manufacturer of bespoke racing cars in the world. As well as Formula Ford, Van Diemen built cars for Formula Ford 2000, Sports 2000 and Star Mazda series. The company's purpose-built manufacturing facility was located on the grounds of Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, allowing racing teams to test the cars right off the production line. History Van Diemen was founded in 1973 by Ross Ambrose and Ralph Firman Sr., whose children Marcos Ambrose, Ralph Firman Jr. and Natasha Firman have since gone on to have successful racing careers. The company's name comes from the island of Tasmania, Australia, which was form ...
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Formula Ford
Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula Ford has traditionally been regarded as the first major stepping stone into formula racing after karting. The series typically sees career-minded drivers enter alongside amateurs and enthusiasts. Success in Formula Ford can lead directly to other junior formula series such as a Formula Renault 2.0 and Formula Three, or the W Series for female drivers. Formula Ford is not a one-make championship. It allows freedom of chassis design, engine build and numerous technical items of specification on the car. This opens the door to many chassis manufacturers, large and small. Many other single-seater formula series impose fixed specifications. Only two other professional single seater racing formula seriers in the world offer the same freedom of c ...
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Claremont, Western Australia
Claremont is a western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, on the north bank of the Swan River. History Prior to European settlement, the Noongar people used the area as a source of water, for fishing and for catching waterfowl. In 1830, John Butler, a settler, set up an inn at Freshwater Bay (in modern-day Peppermint Grove) to attract travellers on the road from Perth to Fremantle. A wetland became known as Butler's Swamp (later Lake Claremont). After the arrival of convicts in the colony in 1850, work began on constructing the Fremantle Road. The government allocated land on the foreshore and at Butler's Swamp to 19 Pensioner Guards and their families, and a permanent convict depot operated at Freshwater Bay (until 1875). A state school (1862) and church were built, and a community grew around what is now Victoria Avenue. A settler named James Morrison acquired a property at Swan Location 702, and named it ''Claremont Estate'', after his wife, Clara (née de Burgh). Du ...
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Christ Church Grammar School
, motto_translation = God is our leader, learning is our light , established = , founder = William Joseph McClemans , type = Independent single-sex early learning, primary, and secondary day and boarding school , gender = Boys , denomination = Anglicanism , campus_type = Suburban , educational_authority = WA Department of Education , slogan = , principal = Alan Jones , chaplain = Nicholas Russell , location = Claremont, Western Australia, Perth. , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Perth , pushpin_image = , pushpin_mapsize = 250 , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in , Western Australia , pushpin_label = , pushpin_label_position = right , enrolment = 1,650 , grades_label = Years , grades = Early learning; K-12 , num_employ = 250 , colours = Blue and gold , website = , sister_school = St. Hilda's Anglican School for Girls , affiliations = , cam ...
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David Brabham
David Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian professional racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians to have won the Le Mans 24 Hour sports car race, winning the event in . Brabham won the American Le Mans Series in 2009 and 2010. He also competed in Formula One, racing for the Brabham and Simtek teams in 1990 and 1994, respectively. Brabham is the youngest son of three-time Formula One world champion Sir Jack Brabham, brother to Geoff Brabham and Gary Brabham. He is also brother-in-law to Mike Thackwell, father to Sam Brabham and uncle to Matthew Brabham. Early life Brabham, who was born in Wimbledon, London, spent his childhood in Australia. Despite his father's motor racing fame he took little interest in motor racing until after he left school. As a child he played soccer up until the age of twelve and then took up Australian rules foo ...
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Lisa Thackwell
Lisa Brabham () is a former racing driver. She is also the wife of David Brabham, mother of Sam Brabham, sister of Mike Thackwell and daughter of Ray Thackwell. Lisa Thackwell was born in New Zealand and moved with her family to Perth, Western Australia at an early age. The family then moved to England in 1976 when she was eleven. Thackwell first drove a racing car, a Renault 5 Cup, aged 21 through her father's business connections. After one season in Renault 5, she switched to the Honda CRX Challenge with Edenbridge Racing. Her team mates were Andy Ackerley and Patrick Watts. She raced in the British Rover GTi Championship in 1992. Thackwell married David Brabham David Brabham (born 5 September 1965) is an Australian professional racing driver and one of the most successful and experienced specialists in sports car racing. He has won three international Sports Car series and is one of four Australians t ... in 1993. They have two sons – Sam and Finn. References ...
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Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is part of the South West Land Division of Western Australia, with most of the metropolitan area on the Swan Coastal Plain between the Indian Ocean and the Darling Scarp. The city has expanded outward from the original British settlements on the Swan River, upon which the city's central business district and port of Fremantle are situated. Perth is located on the traditional lands of the Whadjuk Noongar people, where Aboriginal Australians have lived for at least 45,000 years. Captain James Stirling founded Perth in 1829 as the administrative centre of the Swan River Colony. It was named after the city of Perth in Scotland, due to the influence of Stirling's patron Sir George Murray, who had connections with the area. It gained city stat ...
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Pau Grand Prix
The Pau Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Pau) is a motor race held in Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of southwestern France. The French Grand Prix was held at Pau in 1930, leading to the annual Pau Grand Prix being inaugurated in 1933. It was not run during World War II and in 2020–2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The race takes place around the centre of the city, where public roads are closed to form a street circuit, and over the years the event has variously conformed to the rules of Grand Prix racing, Formula One, Formula Two, Formula 3000, Formula Three, Formula Libre, sports car racing, and touring car racing. In 2021, '' Autocar'' included the Pau Grand Prix in its list of "The 10 best street circuits in the world". Circuit The race is run around a long street circuit, the "Circuit de Pau-Ville" laid out round the French town, and is in many ways similar to the more famous Formula One Monaco Grand Prix. About 20 km to the west of the ...
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Ralt
Ralt was a manufacturer of single-seater racing cars, founded by ex-Jack Brabham associate Ron Tauranac after he sold out his interest in Brabham to Bernie Ecclestone. Ron and his brother had built some specials in Australia in the 1950s under the Ralt name (standing for Ron and Austin Lewis Tauranac). Tauranac won the 1954 NSW Hillclimb Championship in the Ralt 500. Cars Early Ralts Built with the assistance of Tauranac's younger brother, Austin, in Australia. The Mk was powered by a 1,932cc pushrod Norton ES2. Tauranac made his own flywheel, connecting rods, and cylinders. The Mk2 was a sports car built by and for Austin, with a Ford 10 engine, Standard 10 gearbox, and Morris 8 rear axle. The Mk3 was purchased from the Hooper brothers when they retired. Tauranac designed a new chassis for it, and the car was primarily driven by Austin. The Mk4 began as a special, using a Vincent-HRD V-twin and a de Dion rear suspension. The car took two years to develop in Tauranac's spar ...
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1985 International Formula 3000 Season
The 1985 European Formula 3000 Championship was the inaugural season of the Formula 3000 category. The European Formula 3000 Championship replaced Formula Two as the official feeder series to Formula One. It was scheduled over 12 rounds and contested over 11 rounds. 14 different teams tried their luck with 33 different drivers and 7 different chassis. The series was won by the German Christian Danner driving for BS Automotive. Danner, who was laying second in the championship at the time, would graduate to Formula One when he made his Grand Prix debut for the German Zakspeed team at the 1985 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on 15 September, a week before he won the final round of the F3000 championship at Donington Park to clinch the title from Mike Thackwell. Danner had the dubious honour of being the first in a long line of Formula 3000 champions who would fail to make an impact on Formula One, despite the championship being seen as the highest level FIA single-seater c ...
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