A BRABHAM blazing around Mount Panorama - while Sam Brabham is adding another chapter to his family's association with the iconic circuit this Easter there was a time when he thought it would never happen.
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The third generation racer is part of the GT World Challenge Australia field which is tackling its season-opening round at the Mount this weekend.
But rewind five years to when he first visited the 6.213 kilometre circuit, and Brabham admits he thought spectating would be where his own association with Mount Panorama started and finished.
He made that trip in 1997 to watch his father David line up in the Toyota 86 series as part of the Bathurst 1000 support program.
While he was living in England at the time, it was a track he already felt a special link to.
His Grandfather Sir Jack Braham won the 1960 Bathurst 100 mile race in a Cooper Climax at the Mount, while his father and uncle Geoff claimed victory in the 1997 two-litre Bathurst 1000.
"I had no idea I'd race here, I never thought it would even happen," Brabham admitted.
"At the time I didn't ever think I'd get the chance to do any racing here, I was so focussed on the stuff I was doing in the UK.
"Then in 2019 when I decided to make that change, it was still a dream at that point, but I'm kind of living that dream now."
Brabham still recalls clearly just how special it was in 2017 when he got to experience first-hand the atmosphere that comes with being at the Mount for a racing event.
And just as the atmosphere left an impression, so too did the race track.
"I just couldn't believe the atmosphere of the place itself, you see it on TV, but it doesn't do it justice," Brabham said.
"I've always watched it on TV, be it the 1000 or a 12 Hour, whatever it might be I'd always watch Dad when he came here, but to actually turn up, you can't fathom how incredible this place is.
"To anybody who's not been, it's a must.
"I think the steepness of the circuit was the biggest thing, like I drove it in a road car with Dad and that was the moment - you look at the top of the mountain and you know it's going to be steep, but as you come down the hill particularly, as you come over Skyline and down through The Dipper, that's when it really hits you how incredible this place is.
"Then when you drive it, come within millimetres of the wall, flying, it's a pretty incredible feeling."
A year after Brabham first visited the circuit, his cousin Matt added another highlight for the family at the Mount as he won his class in the 2018 Bathurst 12 Hour.
But it was at the inaugural Bathurst International last November that the name Sam Brabham first appeared on a Mount Panorama entry list.
He competed in the three-hour GT World Challenge Australia race and placed second in the GT4 class. It was another Bathurst podium for a Brabham.
The now 28-year-old has stepped up to race GT3 machinery this season. He's sharing a seat in the Harrolds Volante Rosso Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Ross Poulakis.
Before he arrived at the circuit, Brabham replicated a moment from his 2017 trip.
"We went for a walk through the Blue Mountains on the way here. My Grandma's ashes are actually spread there, she grew up in Katoomba, it was funny because we did the exact same thing before the 2017 event," he said.
"Fast forward to here, I'd never been to the place before and now I'm racing here in a GT car, it's pretty incredible.
"To race here at any point in time is pretty special - whoever thought of the idea of racing around this place is insane, but we have to thank him.
"It's incredible, Dad and Geoff won the 1000 in the Super 2 era, and me having raced here, my cousins having raced here, it is a bit of a family feel.
"My Mum was actually going to race here once upon a time, I don't know what in actually, she was going to do an all-female race entry I think maybe in the six hour, but I cam along and stopped the whole program unfortunately."
Friday morning's practice session was the first time Brabham had done any racing laps in the #101 Mercedes-AMG GT3.
It was a new experience, but Brabham feels at home with the Harrolds Volante Rosso team.
"This team feels like a real family, it's no different to the way the Brabhams have gone about it ... we're all in this together and it's great to be part of that at the end of the day," he said.
"We did the three hour race here last year and we were second in class so we had some success, but also being a three hour race you get an awful lot of laps, which is perfect.
"So I know the place well enough now, things come at me a little bit quicker than they did before but it's exciting."
While Brabham's goal is to post another Brabham win at Mount Panorama, he said he doesn't feel the pressure of his famous family name.
He also has enough respect for the circuit that he knows winning here is no easy feat.
"To be fair I'm my own harshest critique and I have a certain level of expectation of what I think is achievable at the right moment," he said.
"If anyone thinks has a higher expectation than that, then that's probably a little bit unrealistic.
"All I want to do is win, that's the target, but I'm also realistic enough to know I'm at Bathurst, I've never driven the car before, I just need to keep it clean.
"My time will come at this place, you can't rush it, you need to let it come to you rather than force it.
"To turn up to Bathurst, round one, have have 20 cars is just fantastic. Last year for one of our events we had 12 cars, so to be here with 20 and the level of drivers, being so high, for me that's great, I can test myself against other drivers.
"Hopefully when I get to the front of the field, that's my target, it shows I can deliver against that level of driver too."
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