It would be very interesting to find (if it exists) one or more pictures of the tests that Jacky made for Brabham in 1982. To my knowledge, it is the last time that we saw him at the steering wheel of a F1 in activity.

During the inter-season, Bernie Ecclestone, Brabham Team manager, had decided to test several drivers to help Nelson Piquet… He also had a view on Thierry Boutsen…from Belgian to Belgian…

Jacky was called too. At the time, after a short retirement, the devil of the race was back into him… Paris-Dakar on one side, endurance and most of all the 24 hours of Le Mans, on the other side.

Never he asserted that he wished to return in F1, even if in endurance he was comparing himself with another “ghost” of his generation, Niki Lauda, author of a magnificent second career in F1… What would be happened if the tests with Brabham had been decisive ?

Complement of information by the Julien Garnier :

In view of the comments and since I have found a photo from this event, I decided to complete this article.
During my second meeting with Jacky Ickx, I asked him if it was about a test session to support Nelson Piquet during the season 1982. His answer was immediate: “It was about absolutely nothing… Bernie Eccelstone had invited me to the Paul Ricard and, for a laugh, had asked me to make some laps of circuit. Nothing else! I drove some laps and I was moreover faster than Boutsen! We had a good laugh.”
Since, I found the article which Auto-hebdo had published in that time. It confirms completely the comments of Jacky Ickx and I propose you the content of this article:

Parmalat-Brabham BT49
An extraordinary car of homogeneity and efficiency. It is thanks to BMW Motorsport that Boutsen was able to drive it in November 1981 on the circuit Paul Ricard, but it was still about the model BT49 Cosworth. Corrado Fabi and Mandfred Winkelhock also participated in this test session : The German was the fastest in front of the Belgian and the Italian, but even there the comparison was not evident with tyres.
The next day, Geoff Brabham and… Jacky Ickx also made some laps of the 3,3 km of the Provencal circuit at the wheel of the car which had just brought a first world title to Nelson Piquet. For the footnotes of history, with new tires, Jacky showed himself faster that Thierry and it is Eccelstone who was laughing by preparing new tires for every pit stop of the “old man” and by seeing the head of the “young guys” which lengthened!

Results the tests
1. Nelson Piquet (Brabham BMW Turbo – Goodyear) 1’02″41
2. Riccardo Patrese (Brabham Cosworth – Avon) 1’02″43
3. Riccardo Patrese (Brabham Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’02″60
4. Nelson Piquet (Brabham Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’02″85
5. Alain Prost (Renault Turbo – Michelin) 1’02″90
6. Keke Rosberg (Williams Cosworth 4 wheels – Goodyear) 1’02″95
7. Nigel Mansell (Lotus Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’03″97
8. Michele Alboreto (Tyrrell Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’04″05
9. Didier Pironi (Ferrari 126CK/B Turbo – Goodyear) 1’04″20
10. Riccardo Patrese (Brabham BMW Turbo – Goodyear) 1’04″20
11. John Watson (McLaren Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’04″30
12. Gilles Villeneuve (Ferrari 126CK/B Turbo – Goodyear) 1’04″66
13. Derek Warwick (Toleman Hart Turbo – Pirelli) 1’04″70
14. Niki Lauda (McLaren Cosworth – Michelin) 1’04″70
15. Jean Pierre Jarier (Williams Cosworth 4 wheels – Goodyear) 1’04″79
16. Nelson Piquet (Brabham Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’04″80
17. Nelson Piquet (Brabham BMW Turbo – Avon) 1’05″20
18. Jacques Laffite (Talbot Ligier Matra – Michelin) 1’05″30
19. Eddie Cheever (Talbot Ligier Matra – Michelin) 1’05″40
20. René Arnoux (Renault Turbo – Michelin) 1’05″80
21. Jean Pierre Jarier (Osella Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’06″30
22. Geoff Brabham (Brabham Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’06″30
23. Jacky Ickx (Brabham Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’06″60
24. Manfred Winkelhock (Brabham Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’06″60
25. Corrado Fabi (Brabham Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’06″80
26. Jonathan Palmer (Williams Cosworth 4 wheels – Goodyear) 1’06″80
27. Marc Surer (Toleman Hart Turbo – Pirelli) 1’07″00
28. Thierry Boutsen (Brabham Cosworth – Avon) 1’07″70
29. Slim Borgudd (Tyrrell Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’07″70
30. Keke Rosberg (Williams Cosworth 6 wheels – Goodyear) 1’07″71
31. Eliseo Salazar (Lotus Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’08″20
32. Riccardo Paletti (Osella Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’08″25
33. Thierry Boutsen (Brabham Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’08″70
34. Jonathan Palmer (Lotus Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’08″80
35. Roberto Moreno (Lotus Cosworth – Goodyear) 1’10″20