William Brack (born 26 December 1935) is a Canadian former racing driver. Brack raced in Formula One and the Atlantic Championship. Info from Wiki
Bio by Stephen Latham
Born and raised in Toronto, Bill Brack started racing in the early 1960s and would go on to become a leading light on the Canadian racing scene. He began in ice-racing with a Mini (a company car) in Ontario, then purchased a Mini Cooper and would go on to win his national saloon car championship in 1967. His Mini Coopers grew in displacement, starting from the early days with 850 to 1000cc cars and on to the Mini Cooper 1275.
During the mid 60s he established his own dealership, Sports Cars Unlimited, and became the Lotus distributor for Canada.
During this period, in 1965 he raced a Honda S600 at a 6 Hour Mosport race (with Lerch) plus raced his Mini Cooper at Nassau, in the Nassau TT, the Governor’s Trophy and Nassau Trophy.
In 1967 and 1968, along with his Mini, his Lotus dealings would also see him racing a Lotus 47 sports car (a Europa modified for competition) at Watkins Glen, Mosport, and a Revson Trophy Mont-Tremblant race. He also raced a Lotus 41 in Formula B, winning the Eastern championship in both years.
He contested 1968’s Sebring 12 Hours with an MG B (with Rodrigues and McDaniel)plus raced a Triumph GT6 (with Hill) at the 6 hour Watkins Glen. There were also Trans Am races with the Mini Cooper at Bridgehampton, Meadowdale, St.Jovite, Bryar and Watkins Glen. September that year saw a major step up in category when he contested the Canadian GP at St.Jovite in a third works Lotus 49B-Ford. Team Lotus brought three cars for the race, one each for Graham Hill and Jackie Oliver plus a spare car. As the Lotus distributor for Canada, Bill called Colin Chapman to enquire about driving the spare car at the GP, which was agreed upon after negotiating a fee of $6000. Bill himself told how Graham Hill attended a press show in Toronto to publicise the race and as he drove Hill to the reception, said “I’m really excited driving with you at St. Jovite.’ He looked at me as if I were on drugs. I went on with,’I made an arrangement with Colin.’ He replied,’What? Not bloody likely, mate!’ However, when I arrived at the track, it was obvious that he and Chapman had had words. Here’s how it played out. First of all, you’ve got to remember that I had never driven anything like a Formula 1 car before. I was told just to go out for five laps of practice and that was it. Then I was told to go out and do five laps in qualifying and that was that. Obviously they were trying to keep the car in one piece and I eventually started at the end of the pack. Jackie Oliver was trying to help me as much as he could. I told him that there was one corner that I could not take flat out, and he told me the car could do it and that I had to make the car do it. He said that once I have forced the car to take that corner, it would be easier next time.” He qualified for the race but retired from it due to a broken drive shaft.
There would be two further appearances in F1, both with BRM in Canadian GPs, in 1969 and 1972. He finished eighth in 1969 though was not classified while in 1972 he spun off at Moss Corner and was unable to re-start. 1969 saw a return to the Sebring 12 Hours (with Hill) in an MG C plus he drove in a Trans Am race with the Mini Cooper at St.Jovite.
Bill would take three successive Canadian Formula Atlantic Championships in 1973, 1974 and 1975 and enjoyed further success when Formula Atlantic was introduced to North America. He won the series for its first two seasons, driving a Lotus 69 in 1974 and Chevron B29 a year later. During his Formula A racing, there was a lucky escape at a race at Lime Rock when another driver ran into him, causing the car to flip. He finished upside down in a sandbank, with fuel pouring onto him, but fortunately his mechanic crossed the track, against the marshall’s wishes, and pulled him from the car. While contesting Formula B in America, he told of a race in 1973 with the Lotus 59/69 at Elkhart Lake; “There were 25 Formula Bs there, and I had this old car which was at that time three years old. They’re looking at the car and saying,’Brack what’s wrong with you?’ We were looking at the long straights they have at Elkhart, and we had these narrow FIII wheels and Dunlop tires from England, courtesy of Phil Lamont. In practice, a brake line went and I went off the track and tore up the suspension. After all night repairs we started last on the grid. It was a rolling start. I don’t know if you know the track, but you go uphill towards the start finish line, up a slight rise, and you can just see the flag at the tower. We came out of the last corner, and I pass 20 cars and went into the lead. I never saw another car again and won the race. I was the narrow wheels and tires on that car that made the difference”
Being named Canadian Driving Champion in 1973, 1974 and 1975 saw him become the only Canadian driver to win the award three times, plus the only one to do so in three consecutive years. When he became the Formula Atlantic Champion in 1974 and 1975, he became the first of only four drivers to win back to back championships in Formula Atlantic racing in North America. His final season racing contemporary machinery came in 1978 and his March 78B-Ford won a non-championship race at Trois-Rivieres. That was his last major victory before he decided to concentrate full time on his business affairs, later establishing specialist car dealerships, including a Daimler Chrysler dealership, Downtown Motors, in Toronto.
Bill opened the Brack Driving Concepts Academy at the Shannonville Motorsport Park, east of Belleville and a production company, KarmaComa Studio, produced a film about him. In 2014, his 59/69 Lotus Formula Atlantic was displayed at the Canadian Motorsports Expo. He remains involved in the historic racing scene, promoting the Canadian Historic Formula Atlantic Association, and races the Lotus 59/69 at historic events. Asked about the highlight of his career, Bill said it was winning the national championship for Formula Atlantic.
Gallery F1 F Atlantic Other
Memory from Harry Hurst via FB
