Speed Kings Australia and New Zealand's Quest to win the Indy 500, the World's Greatest Motor Race

Jack Brabham, Australia's three times world champion was the greatest agent of change Indianapolis has ever known. He changed the brickyard (the surface was constructed of 3.2million paving bricks) forever in 1961 when he raced his rear engine Cooper Climax against the monstrous front engine Indy cars of the time. He drove through the blinding smoke of a fiery crash in which two drivers were killed but his tyres failed. He came ninth, but from 1964, spurred by Brabham's innovation, a front engine car never won again. In fact, the Indy has been challenged by three generations of Brabham. Jack's son Geoff was fourth in 1983. Geoff's son Matt failed to finish in 2016.
Australians at Indy provides the opportunity to write about Australian motor racing ambition around the world. It will be a deep and compelling dive into those who've raced at The Brickyard - and also into those who didn't, focusing on why Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo never took up the challenge. As he did with Mount Panorama, John will once more bring a legendary motor racing circuit to life, but this time through a uniquely Australian perspective.