The only son of a firefighter, Brookes made his competitive debut in club events in 1963. Initially, he drove a number of privately entered cars, including a BMC Mini Cooper. Progress was slow until 1973 without the support of family money in a sport which, at that time, did not permit sponsorship of individual cars.
Brookes came to the attention of the Ford Motor Company Ltd when contesting their Ford Escort Mexico (One Make) championship. In 1974, he began a long-running sponsorship deal with Andrews - Heat for Hire, a portable heating and air conditioning company. Their distinctive yellow colour scheme was featured on most of his cars until 1991. During this period, the sponsors' turnover grew from £1.5m to over £60m, establishing a benchmark for other sponsorship deals.
In 1976, Brookes joined the Ford 'works' team to drive an Escort RS1800 in the British Rally Championship. The British Championship at that time was highly competitive, having eclipsed the World Rally Championship for publicity. Brookes' teammates included future world champions Björn Waldegård, Hannu Mikkola, and Ari Vatanen. He won the Open Championship in 1977 and remained with Ford until the end of the 1979 World Rally Championship season.
Following two years with the Talbot team, Brookes joined the Vauxhall/Opel dealer team, driving first the Chevette HSR and then the Opel Manta 400. His time with the Opel Manta led to a close contest with teammate Jimmy McRae for the unofficial title of 'Top British Driver'. McRae won in 1984 and Brookes in 1985.
After a year in the uncompetitive Vauxhall Astra and a one-off event in a 'works' Lancia Delta Integrale, Brookes rejoined Ford in 1988. He competed in the British Rally Championship, initially in a Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, and later in a Ford Sapphire Cosworth 4x4, which secured Ford's first international win with a four-wheel-drive car. He stayed with Ford until the end of 1991, after which he largely retired from competitive rallying. Until shortly before his death, he continued to make sporadic appearances in historic rallies and motorsports events. In September 2008, Brookes participated in the Colin McRae Forest Stages Rally in Perth, Scotland, driving a historic Ford Escort RS1600. He was among several former world and British champions who took part in the event in memory of Colin McRae, who died in 2007.
Brookes died on 30 October 2019, at the age of 74, from injuries sustained in a bicycle accident.
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