Brabham, now Sir Jack, raced into his mid-40s and has been retired 40 years, while Jones was at his peak 30 years ago.

Between them they won four Formula One world driving championships - Brabham three, the last of them in an Australian-designed, Australian-powered Repco-Brabham, and Jones one.

In touring cars there was "Peter Perfect" Brock, Allan Moffat and Dick Johnson.

In the past quarter of a century, though, Australia's motor racing superstars have been predominantly on two wheels -Mick Doohan, Wayne Gardner and Casey Stoner.

But Australia still has, and keeps producing, top racing car drivers, even if they haven't reached the heights of Brabham and Jones.

So who are they? Or who are the best of them?

My BackPageLead masters have been at me to name the top 10 Australian racing drivers today. It's a task fraught with danger, but here goes.

1. Mark Webber

Along with Brabham and Jones, the only Aussie to have won an F1 grand prix. Indeed two. That alone stamps him as the best Australian driver of this era. Webber has been much maligned, but to have made it to F1, to have stayed there almost a decade and to have finally triumphed after all the woes (mainly mechanical) has been a mighty achievement. Now he is in arguably the best car in F1, Red Bull Racing's RB6, but in four GPs this season has notched only one podium finish - second in Malaysia. In this author's estimation, he is no.8 among the eight drivers in F1's four top teams this year. Perhaps no.7 if Michael Schumacher is over the hill. And there are others in lesser teams, like Poland's Robert Kubica, who are better. But just to be in F1 makes Webber a member of an elite club, although he must deliver more now that he has the car to do it. Whatever he produces at this weekend's Spanish GP, next week's Monaco GP, and beyond, it's unlikely - with Webber in his mid-30s - to end in a world title. His career equates in some ways to making an Olympic 100-metre swimming final in lane eight, but unlike Kieren Perkins, we can't see the ultimate gold medal coming his way - although he deserves a medal for perseverance.

2. Jamie Whincup

A month ago he would have been no.3 on this list. He's just had a dud V8 Supercar Championship round at Queensland Raceway, yet he's been elevated to no.2. Whincup has been the class act of Australia's premier race series for three years now, in the process putting his superstar teammate Craig Lowndes in the shade. Triple Eight Race Engineering/Team Vodafone consistently gives Whincup the best machinery in the field to work with, and he consistently gets the very best out of it, with multiple championship crowns and Bathurst 1000 victories to prove it. Now he needs to compete internationally, without sacrificing his V8 Supercar career. The end-of-year International Race of Champions is the ideal, but the V8 season needs to be shorter for him to get there.

3. Will Power

Often the underdog and seldom (until now with America's Team Penske) in the best car, Power had me wondering a few weeks ago whether he might have been better than Webber if he'd got a crack at F1. He's leading the IndyCar season with two race wins and three pole positions this season. All that success came on street and road courses but now Power has to conquer the oval tracks that look simple but are a black art - especially the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this month. To be the first Aussie to win the Indy 500 would make Power one of our greats.

4. Marcos Ambrose

The most varied career of Australia's modern-day racing stars, with perhaps the fiercest commitment to achieving his goals. Had reasonable success in Europe in junior open-wheelers, was instantly a winner in V8 Supercars and won two championships, although not Bathurst, but dared to venture into American stock car racing, becoming a full-timer in NASCAR's top division, the Sprint Cup. Just days after we highlighted here that his second Cup season was not bearing the fruit of the first he bobbed up with a top 10 finish at Richmond, Virginia. Has international success that Whincup doesn't, although he's older, and the absence of a Bathurst victory is something he may yet need to attend to after a couple more years in America.

5. Garth Tander

Bathurst winner, V8 Supercar champion, and perhaps the fastest driver in Australia's main series when his machinery allows him to show it. Hosed off V8 Supercar racing's most successful racer Mark Skaife in the Holden Racing Team and may now be doing the same to Will Davison after they appeared pretty equal last year. Tander is one tall terrier.

6. Daniel Ricciardo

Like Tander, from Perth, but - out of view to the Australian public - has risen to be Red Bull Racing's F1 reserve driver, yet he's still two months from turning 21. Has won 21 junior open-wheeler races in Europe in the past two years and two titles - Formula Renault's West European Championship and the prestigious British Formula Three Championship. Has had a charmed run, aided by hefty Red Bull sponsorship that puts him in top teams, but is now facing the inevitable bigger hurdles in the World Series by Renault (also called the Formula Renault 3.5 Championship) awaiting an F1 opening. The wily and vastly experienced David Brabham, the youngest of Sir Jack's three sons, says of Ricciardo: "You just know you are watching someone special - someone who has that bit more than others. I have no doubt Daniel can become a world champion. He could be the best yet to come out of Australia."

7. Ryan Briscoe

Came so close to making it into F1 racing, getting as far as a Friday practice driver and did countless thousands of kilometres of testing for the now-defunct Toyota F1 team. Won the last Gold Coast Indy in 2008 but let an IndyCar series title slip through his grasp last year. Made a stunning V8 Supercar debut in a Holden Racing Team Commodore in 2006 and will be back for more V8 action at the Gold Coast this year. Has not quite fulfilled the enormous potential so obvious for so long, but an Indy 500 victory this month could change that perception. Like Power, he's with Team Penske - which has won the 500 a record 15 times.

8. James Courtney

Has now hit his straps in V8 Supercars, emerging as the main challenger to Jamie Whincup and coming out on top at last weekend's Ipswich round. Like Briscoe, got as far as F1 testing in Europe but the door didn't open. Golden opportunity now to become a very big fish in a smaller pond - and to become as well known for his race results as his dancing on television. Maturity married to abundant talent evident since his world karting glory promises to be a formidable combination and give Ford V8 fans something to celebrate again.

9. Chris Atkinson

Australia's best rally driver, sidelined when Subaru folded its world rally team at the end of 2008, but now back in harness in the Asia-Pacific championship with Malaysian manufacturer Proton. A regular stage winner and podium finisher in his days with Subaru, a "victim" of a form of motorsport in which the true talents of the top guns are so often under-appreciated and under-exposed. Deserving of another World Rally Championship stint, and more so if he can top Proton teammate Alister McRae, the brother of Scotland's late world champion Colin McRae. But, like Webber, a world title is probably beyond him.

10. David Brabham

Doesn't have the sheer speed of any of the first nine, but for versatility, racecraft and longevity he can't be overlooked, even though his career has been almost entirely outside Australia - and out of view of the Australian public. Made it to F1, although with two dud teams, and last year's Le Mans 24-hour sports car classic victory, outright, was an outstanding achievement - emulating eldest brother Geoff's 1993 feat.