The World Champion’s Mate
The World Champion’s Mate
Bar's Leaks assisting with the win
Bar's Leaks is the world champion's mate! When not assisting with record-breaking journeys under the North Pole, Bar's Leaks has also helped Australian racing champions on the road to victory.
When World Champion Jack Brabham's engineer rang him the night before the Ardmore Grand Prix to tell him that one of the head studs had stripped in the block, there was little choice but to cross the fingers and hope for the best.
With just hours to go before race time, there was no opportunity to remove the head.
The only option was to attempt the heats in the hope that the seal around the stripped stud would hold.
But it didn't, and the engine leaked like a sieve. That, combined with a leaking fuel pump, started a fire that forced Brabham's retirement from the heats.
Brabham said that to attempt to rectify the problem, he did what he had done on many occasions previously, and added a bottle of Bar's Leaks to the radiator.
"I completed the main race without any further water loss - and ran at the correct operating temperature all the way.
"After the race, when we stripped down the head, we found a perfect seal formed by Bar's Leaks particles around the faulty stud."
This account was later used as the basis for a newspaper advertisement that featured Brabham's testimonial and signature.