Brabham took the Championship-winning Cooper to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a test following the 1960 season, then entered the famous Indianapolis 500 in a modified version of the Formula One car in 1961. The "funny" little car from Europe was mocked by the other teams, but it ran as high as third and finished ninth. The Indianapolis establishment gradually realized the writing was on the wall as Brabham and his team principal John Cooper had shown that the days of front-engined roadsters were numbered<ref>http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/eng-engin.html</ref>. Ironically, Cooper were not as competitive this year, as the 1.5 litre engine rules were introduced and the famous Shark Nose Ferrari dominated. Brabham also raced at Indy in 1964, 1969 and 1970. | Brabham took the Championship-winning Cooper to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a test following the 1960 season, then entered the famous Indianapolis 500 in a modified version of the Formula One car in 1961. The "funny" little car from Europe was mocked by the other teams, but it ran as high as third and finished ninth. The Indianapolis establishment gradually realized the writing was on the wall as Brabham and his team principal John Cooper had shown that the days of front-engined roadsters were numbered<ref>http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/eng-engin.html</ref>. Ironically, Cooper were not as competitive this year, as the 1.5 litre engine rules were introduced and the famous Shark Nose Ferrari dominated. Brabham also raced at Indy in 1964, 1969 and 1970. |