MotorSport Legends Issue 16

MotorSport Legends THE MAGAZINE THAT BRINGS YOUR MOTORSPORT MEMORIES BACK TO LIFE

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R J D F O BIRTH RALIAN RACING ICON M A G A Z I N E

Mezera magic

Q U A R T E R L Y

Muscle Cars fire up at the Creek

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Contents

Editorial Mezera was a fast nice guy.

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News Who did what on the historic and nostalgia motorsport scenes.

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The making of a hero!

12-20 Dick Johnson’s story is unique. The Queenslander became the symbol of the Aussie battler in Australian motorsport.

Historic Racer 23-30 Welcome to the 10th edition of our historic racing section, which includes coverage of the Winton Festival of Speed and chronicles Lakeside’s 50th anniversary.

Webb of Intrigue 31 Mick’s not scared to tell it how it was.

Bathurst? What’s that?

32-37 He may not have escaped eastern Europe in the boot of a car or on skis under machine gun fire, but Tomas Mezera still has a story to tell!

Muscle Car Masters 38-40 All the colour from what is fast becoming the biggest celebration of classic touring cars in the world.

Peter Giddings 42-45 We take a look at just two of the machines from the Giddings collection.

The man in charge 46-49 Often controversial and always colourful, Tony Cochrane is never scared to have his say. He made plenty of promises back in 1996 and he’s still around 15 years later.

Christmas pressies 50 We take the drama out of shopping for the festive season with our great selection of gifts for the motoring enthusiasts in your family.

Issue 16 12

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Contributors in this issue Glenis Lindley Glenis has once again been busy. Her feature on Dick Johnson written from a fellow Queenslander’s point of view puts a different spin on his story. She has also covered Lakeside’s 50th anniversary and the Muscle Car Masters.

T H E M A G A Z I N E T H AT B R I N G S Y O U R M O T O R S P O R T M E M O R I E S B A C K T O L I F E

Managing Editor Allan Edwards Pole Position Productions Address: PO Box 225 Keilor, Victoria, 3036 Phone: (03) 9331 2608 Fax: (03) 8080 6473 Email: admin@motorsportlegends.com.au Website: www.motorsportlegends.com.au Staff Journalist Briar Gunther

Briar Gunther Our staff journalist had a great laugh with Tomas Mezrea as he dispelled the myths of how he left eastern Europe and ended up racing cars in Australia.

While there were no James Bond-like stories, Mezrea’s tale is still a good read.

As you’ll find out on page 32, he had hardly heard of Bathurst before he won it!

Artist/Design House Craig Fryers Raamen Pty Ltd (03) 9873 8282

Grant Nicholas Peter Giddings likes to collect classic racing cars. In this issue of Motorsport Legends Grant Nicholas takes time to have a look at just two of Peter’s favourite machines – his Grand Prix Maserati 250F, which raced in over 40 GPs, including five at Monaco, and his Alfa Romeo Tipo B ‘P3’. Turn to page 42 for the story.

Distributors Fairfax Media Publication Solutions

Contributors Glenis Lindley, Grant Nicholas, and Mick Webb.

Photographers Autopics.com.au, John Doig/Torque Photos, Glenis Lindley, John Lemm and Lee Kirk.

Advertising Manager Jennifer Gamble Phone: 0431 451 470 Email: advertising@ motorsportlegends.com.au

Material in Motorsport Legends is protected by copyright laws and may not be reporoduced in any format. Motorsport Legends will consider unsolicited articles and pictures; however, no responsibility will be taken for their return. While all efforts are taken to verify information in Motorsport Legends is factual, no responsibility will be taken for any material which is later found to be false or misleading. The opinions of the contributors are not always those of the publishers.

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CLASSIC

Lines Welcome to issue 16 of MotorSport Legends magazine. Motorsport Legends includes motor racing nostalgia and historic events.

O

ne of my favourite quotes from a racing car driver came from Tomas Mezera (pictured above with yours truly) soon after he barrel-rolled across the sand trap at the Chase in the Bottle Magic Commodore at Bathurst in 1997.

Asked what happened by a bunch of eagerly gathered press, he simply replied in his strong eastern European accent, “I don’t know, one minute I was getting ready to turn into the Chase and the next thing it was just blue, brown, blue, brown…”

Tomas has a great ability not to take motor racing too seriously and he’s not afraid to have a joke at his own expense.

Nearly everyone involved in the sport has tried to imitate Tomas’s accent, but not many can capture it.

Tomas is one of the sport’s nice guys;

however, he does not prescribe to the theory that nice guys finish last.

Mezera had a long and distinguished career, including a Bathurst 1000 victory, so when he needed to get serious he could certainly apply himself.

During his racing days he was respected as a hard but fair racer and it is these attributes that have seen him become the Driver Standards Observer for V8s.

Later in this issue we have a feature on Tomas which dispels some urban myths about how he ended up living and racing in Australia – it’s well worth the read!

This issue’s cover story is on Dick Johnson as our regular writer and photographer Glenis Lindley gives her unique version of the Johnson tale.

I’ve taken a trip down memory lane with the often-controversial boss of V8

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Supercars, Tony Cochrane.

We check out just two of the beautiful machines from Peter Giddings’ classic racing car collection.

We have also captured the colour of the Australian Muscle Car Masters and Winton Festival of Speed, and we were there as Lakeside celebrated its 50th anniversary.

As we head towards the end of another year and into a new one, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with Motorsport Legends, from the readers and advertisers to the writers, photographers and the production staff.

Until next time, drive safely on and off the race track.

Cheers, – Allan Edwards, Managing Editor

NEWS

BROCK TRIBUTES: FIVE YEARS ON The motorsport community took a few moments on September 8 to mark five years since the death of motorsport legend Peter Brock.

Tributes flowed on the internet’s social networking sites including Facebook and Twitter while numerous newspaper articles marked the five year anniversary of the King of the Mountain’s death, which occurred during Targa West.

Coinciding with the anniversary, a number of cars related to Brock have come up in public auctions.

The last Holden raced by Brock – just a week before he died – sold to a Melbourne collector at the Shannons Australian International Motor Show Auction on July 10 for $320,000.

Conceived by Melbourne-based Brock fan Phil Munday, the 1953 ‘FX’ was built for the nine-time Bathurst winner to race at the 2006 Goodwood Revival in England.

Brock finished a fighting fourth in the main St Mary’s Trophy race for Saloon Cars at the meeting, but his performance in the FX saw his team awarded the event’s prestigious ‘Spirit of Goodwood’ trophy, which was

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included with the race car in the auction.

And in October, Sotheby’s Australia will auction off the Holden Adventra Dakar T3 prototype that Brock was supposed to race in the 2006 Dakar Rally.

The prototype is based on the shape and dimensions of the 4WD Holden Adventra but using a bespoke full spaceframe chassis and nonstressed composite panels, the format still used today by Dakar cars.

Brock’s thousands of fans have a unique opportunity to have their names permanent-

ly applied to the bodywork of the car through a donation to the Peter Brock Foundation (PBF).

The PBF has nominated the Cathy Freeman Foundation to receive all donations with monies collected going to improving education opportunities for indigenous Australian children, a cause very close to Peter Brock’s heart.

For just $25 for an individual or $100 for a business, supporters will join V8 Supercar driver Craig Lowndes with their name applied to the car’s livery.

“We never got to Dakar but commemorating the five year anniversary by allowing fans to pay tribute to Brock in this manner and forever link themselves to the great man, with every dollar raised going to charity, is a fitting end to the project,” said Robert D’Ercole of Design D’Ercole, the company to whom Peter Brock had signed for the Dakar program.

For more information on getting your name on the car or the auction, visit the official website www.brockdakar. com.au MSL

E-TYPE IMMORTALISED TOURING CAR REVIVAL AT GOODWOOD AT 2012 GRAND PRIX A 28-metre tall sculpture of an E-type Jaguar was erected at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed to celebrate 50 years of the model.

The sculpture was created using half a kilometre of 1.2 metre diameter painted steel tubes, with Tata Steel, a subsidiary of Jaguar’s parent company, donating much of the metal.

At 150 tonnes, the installation weighs the same as 122 Series 1 E-types and took 10 days to install by a firm specialising in bridge building.

World-renowned sculptor Gerry Judah began the design process began in January which was followed by detailed engineering calculations and planning stages that lasted four months.

Previous Goodwood installations have incorporated actual cars into the design but this year’s scuplture was different.

“The E-type is famous for its shape but too small and delicate to hoist into the air,” Judah said.

“I thought I would like to express the form of the car itself without any embellishments.

“Everyone recognises the Etype, the shape speaks for itself.

You can’t compete with it, you can’t digress from it.”

Jaguar UK Managing Director, Geoff Cousins, said the company has always been proud of its heritage.

“And we feel particularly honoured to have been asked to provide the Goodwood sculpture for a second time,” he said.

“The E-type captures the essential beauty, drama and passion of every Jaguar; engineering and design DNA that is equally apparent in the current range.” MSL

The eclectic mix of Australian and overseas touring cars that turned heads in the 1970s, ‘80s and early ‘90s will take to Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit as a feature support category of the 2012 Formula One Australian Grand Prix from 15-18 March.

This follows the appointment of the Victorian Historic Racing Register by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation to run a Group C and Group A Touring Car support event in 2012 and builds on the successful collaboration between both organisations in staging Formula 5000 races at the Grand Prix in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

A capacity grid of up to 40 of the actual Holden, Ford, Jaguar, Nissan, Volvo cars and other makes that raced in the Australian Touring Car Championship during the golden Brock-Johnson-MoffatRichards era from 1973-1992 will be invited to compete at Albert Park.

Only original competition cars from the period will be eligible to take part, with the Touring Car Revival series including many former Bathurst-winning cars and drivers.

Entrants will be required to ‘prequalify’ for the Australian Grand Prix support races by competing in preceding 2011-2012 Touring Car Revival series events conducted by the VHRR at Sandown and Phillip Island.

The Touring Car Revival at the 2012 Formula One Australian Grand Prix will consist of two eight-lap

races with rolling starts in peak spectator time during the Saturday and Sunday of the meeting.

Practice and qualifying will take place on the Thursday of the Grand Prix program.

Well-known drivers from the Group C and A Touring Car era and legendary drivers from the past will either drive, officiate or meet the public in autograph sessions at all meetings in association with a special display marking more than half a century of Australian Touring Cars racing featuring many famous cars.

Long-term partner Shannons Insurance will continue its on-going support of VHRR events in a major supporting role with these races, including those at the Grand Prix and Shannons ambassador Jim Richards has been appointed the ‘Active Ambassador’ of the Touring Car Revival.

“This is a celebration of an era that was an important part of my life,” the four-time Australian Touring Car Champion said.

“I drove Toranas. Commodores, an XB Falcon, BMWs and Nissans and the variety of makes and models created fantastic racing for both drivers and spectators.

“I am currently restoring the first Group A BMW M3 that I raced in the 1980s and I’ll be competing in the Revival at the Grand Prix, either in my own car if it is finished in time, or another car from that era,” he said. MSL

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NEWS

FIRST TIMER WINS LEYBURN SPRINTS Warwick Hutchinson, who entered the Leyburn Sprints for the ďŹ rst time in 2011, ended up taking the outright trophy at the August event.

He set the fastest time of 47.6584 seconds on the sixth of his seven runs around the 1.1 kilometre street course in his self-developed Van Diemen RF92-Rotary.

Hutchinson eclipsed the defending champion and multiple Leyburn winner, Ray Vandersee and his Skelta G-Force sports car, by almost two seconds.

Grant Watson, the 2010 runner-up, came home third on Sunday in a Prosport Eclipse sports car.

The 16th annual Sprints, commemorating the 1949 Australian Grand Prix held at a nearby airďŹ eld, accepted 210 entries from historic, classic and high-performance cars built between 1926 and 2010.

Entrants travelled from many parts of Queensland and New South Wales.

Although track times were aected until rain stopped and the sun came out on Saturday, organisers were pleased with the overall outcome of the event. “The Leyburn Sprints

Warwick Hutchinson’s Van Diemen RF92-Rotary

is one of the longest continuously-running historic motorsport events in the country and again it was very well supported this year by spectators, competitors and sponsors,� organising committee President, Ann Collins, said. “People come for the relaxed country atmosphere, the camaraderie among competitors and of course the great racing. “We’ve had wonderful feedback already from many people who attended saying how much they enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to 2012.�

On Sunday, a full complement of competitors, a big spectator crowd and 80 glit-

tering cars in the Shannons Show ‘n’ Shine competition, one of three new attractions for 2011, turned out in warm, sunny weather for an actionpacked day.

Times continued to tumble on a drying track, with the top drivers trading tit-for-tat fastest laps throughout the day.

Spectators also enjoyed a spirited unoďŹƒcial competition in the V8 Supercar Drivers Challenge between veteran Dick Johnson and young guns James Moat of Johnson’s Jim Beam Racing team and Alex Davison from Irwin Racing, who all shared three classic racing cars. MSL

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MIEDECKE TAKES FATHER’S DAY HONOURS Andrew Miedecke secured his second consecutive round win in the WesTrac CAT/ Lubrimaxx Camaro at the Muscle Car Masters event held over the Father’s Day weekend at Eastern Creek.

With John Bowe taking out pole position for the fourth successive time and Jim Richards sharing the front row, Miedecke qualified in third and lined up next to Touring Car Masters debutante Glenn Seton for race one.

Seton smoked it off the line as Bowe, Richards and Miedecke launched and fired towards turn one, with Miedecke already eyeing second place.

It was a battle from the green as Miedecke took to the inside of Richards to secure second and hunt down the Mustang of Bowe The series’ big guns charged, dived, held off and made challenges, swapped fastest sector times, and kept the fight hot until the safety car made an appearance with five laps to go.

It would be a full throttle five laps with Miedecke and Bowe out front, going side by side through the corners and stretching their machines along the straight, with Bowe

holding off to take opening honours.

The top 10 in the first race on Father’s Day was reverse grid which put Bowe and Miedecke on row five.

A manic start saw Miedecke charge through the field to take sixth by the close of lap one and make a move on Steve Mason into turn one for fifth, hot on the bumper of Eddie Abelnica.

When Wayne Mercer went into the dirt on the exit of Corporate Hill, the safety car was again called, bunching the field and passing valuable lap time.

Under green once more, Miedecke made the pass on Abelnica and was on the hunt

for the Fords of Bowe and the Tilley brothers, but another safety car period was called.

Miedecke was hot on Bowe’s heels as the Mustang edged through to second.

Miedecke took to the inside of Brad Tilley’s GTHO through turn two before Cameron Tilley’s tyres gave up allowing Bowe through for the lead, with Miedecke just a tenth behind in second.

When Bowe headed for the pits on the outlap for the third and final race of the weekend, Miedecke got the front row to himself but had a slow start and lost track positions.

Racing in third, Miedecke set the fastest lap of the race on lap two while a three way

battle for fourth developed in his mirrors.

Starting lap four, it was the WesTrac CAT/Lubrimaxx Camaro under Richards into turn one taking second on track, and then hunted Tilley.

Making a move under the #60 on the front straight to the delight of the crowd, Miedecke secured the race lead and never looked back, greeting the chequered flag to take his second consecutive round win and move into the lead of the series points standings.

“It sure was nice to win the class and even nicer to win overall and I guess that now really puts us in contention for the series lead,” an excited Miedecke said. MSL

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DICK JOHNSON

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BATTLER & SURVIVOR Life hasn’t exactly been all fun and games for Dick Johnson, popular Ford hero and likeable legend, but Dick’s always been a fighter.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY GLENIS LINDLEY

F

or passionate Queensland Ford fans, Johnson was probably their first ever hero, despite ‘that Canadian bloke’ Allan Moffat, being the established Blue Oval star of that era.

He’s managed to overcome major obstacles, sometimes with an (outwardly) calm shrug of the shoulders, sometimes with tears – beginning with that welldocumented Bathurst rock incident, and culminating in the near financial collapse, on two occasions, of his racing team.

Johnson has been through hell, but along the rough road there’s been tremendous success, attributed to his gritty determination and never-say-die attitude. During his impressive touring

Above: Dick’s racing pedigree has been passed on to his son Steve, who has remained loyal to Dick Johnson Racing throughout his V8 Supercar career.

Top: Johnson working on his car in 1986.

car career, he clinched three Bathurst victories, five Australian Touring Car Championships and won two team titles. That’s no mean achievement, as he proudly stands equal first on the championship winner’s list with one of his

boyhood heroes, Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan, and Mark Skaife.

Having contested more than 200 races (with only four other drivers in this position), he’s collected 28 poles and 22 victories – not bad for a dedicated Ford man who began his racing life in an ex-taxi FJ Holden in 1964. Obviously talented, he scored his first win after only two attempts.

Born in Brisbane, Johnson began his working life with several job changes, ranging from an apprentice fitter and turner, delivery van driver, spare parts salesman at Repco, to changing rings and bearings on Holdens at a BP service station, before completing two year’s army training (National Service) as a motor mechanic. ❯ MotorSportLegends

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DICK JOHNSON

Above: Johnson sends a message of thanks to Brock at Lakeside in 1981 after the latter raced fair during the final ATCC race that year.

“I disliked school, loved sports and showed some potential as a swimmer, but all I ever wanted to do was work on cars,” Johnson explained.

His father Bob sold Holdens for a living at Eagers, a large Brisbane Holden dealership, and Dick remembers being propped up on the steering wheel as his father was driving as an incentive to attend early morning swimming training while he was also allowed to drive the car as a youngster.

He inherited his father’s love of motorsport, as Bob was a part-time racer (of little note) and an enthusiastic spectator, something Dick also enjoyed.

Crawling through the fence at Lakeside as a teenager, watching international stars such as Graham Hill and Jimmy Clark doing battle with locals Frank Matich and Alex Mildren was a way of life then.

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However, his real love was cheering for the likes of Norm ‘Stormin’ Norman’ Beechey (especially), Peter ‘Skinny’ Manton, Jim McKewan and Geoghegan.

“I used to idolise these blokes.

“It was about this time that I decided that’s what I’d like to do (race cars),” Dick said.

Johnson never really wanted to race open-wheelers. In fact, he promised his mother he wouldn’t go down that path.

“In return, Mum signed my indemnity papers so I could get my racing licence,” he explained.

As a backyard self taught mechanic, initially working from under his parents’ house until that became too disruptive, Johnson, a self-professed ‘car hoon’ (you know – lowered, loud and hotted-up – the ones which attracted police attention) did all the work and car modifications himself. Fuelled by tremendous enthusiasm, he competed

Above: Johnson (right) chats to Holden Dealer Team drivers John Harvey and Peter Brock.

Right top: With Larry Perkins and Gregg Hansford. Right: With wife Jill.

in club events and hill climbs before progressing to local tracks such as Lakeside and Surfers Paradise when money permitted.

Class records, creditable results and a gradual rise to fame became a new way of life. He soon found himself mixing it with the likes of McKewan, Manton and Beechey from the Neptune Racing Team and was invited to become part of the Queensland Shell team and so began his long association with Shell.

After his prized FJ ‘Humpy Holden’ he upgraded to a hot EH Holden, then a Torana GTR, which was later converted to XU-1 specs matching the more competitive ‘southerners’ as Johnson, a man from humble beginnings, began to make a name for himself.

Married to his ‘true love’ Jillie in 1970, he and his very supportive wife began venturing south to take on the ‘big boys’.

They towed the race car themselves: in those days there were no fancy transporters, nor the bank account to afford luxury hotels and restaurant meals.

“Everything happened on a shoestring budget.

“We did things the hard way, but it was fun,” Johnson declared.

Limited sponsorship and help from people like Zupps (Brisbane’s biggest Holden dealer) made things easier for this new boy on the block, who by this

time had moved into a Shell Service Station with large workshop attached at the inner Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba. Dick’s brother Dave, also known as ‘Dyno’ , is described by Dick as “a qualified mechanic who could do anything”, joined him and remained a loyal employee of Dick Johnson Racing until just recently.

By 1974, Johnson had made his second appearance at Bathurst.

“I co-drove with good mate Frenchy ( John French) in an Alfa Romeo which did its best to kill me,” said Dick grinning, remembering how it kept catching fire!

It was around about this time that Dick was offered a Holden Dealer Team Torana drive by Harry Firth,

whose top drivers were Peter Brock and Colin Bond. However because of various circumstances (the HDT workshop was in Melbourne, Johnson was based in Brisbane and running his own business), nothing much eventuated.

However, Firth always regarded ‘Tricky Dicky’ as he called him as a very capable driver.

“He always had his own ideas, and did well because he’s ‘old school’,” Firth said.

“Dick thinks differently; does things in a practical way,” explained Harry, who happily acted as his ‘unofficial adviser’ a few years later when Johnson moved into his Ford era.

1976 marked the first turning point of Johnson’s career when he switched to Ford – not by choice, but neces❯

Right: Johnson celebrates a win over Peter Brock at Surfers Paradise.

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DICK JOHNSON

Above: Johnson in action at Lakeside in 1979 in a Bryan Byrt Ford XC Falcon. Top right: Johnson’s iconic Tru Blue Falcon failed to finish at the 1982 Bathurst. Right: The ruined Greens Tuf Falcon after Johnson slammed it into a tree during qualifying in 1983. Luckily, a spare car was brought to the race and it was ready with five minutes to spare, but sadly the car blew a fuse and the battery kept going flat.

sity, as this budding young racer was prepared to drive anything – so long as he could follow his passion. With rule changes posing problems for the Holden brigade, Zupps was having second thoughts about pouring more money into this venture.

So, as chance would have it, Frenchy

(then driving for Ford rival Bryan Byrt Ford) wasn’t able to drive his two-door hardtop Falcon (it was “an absolute dinosaur”, according to Dick), so he jumped at the chance to race at Lakeside.

One thing led to another and before long Johnson found himself flying the

Ford flag for Queensland fans – later being embraced as their new ‘Folk Hero’. The big names at that time were Allan Moffat (Ford) and Peter Brock (Holden’s ‘golden haired boy’), so beating those guys was never going to be easy.

But Dick drew on his famous saying,

Where the car’s major sponsor was ‘real steel’, the Tru-Blu Falcon was the ‘real deal’ in the crash-shortened 1981 race.

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“Don’t tell me I can’t do that” which is also the name of his autobiography.

After increased sponsorship from Bryan Byrt Ford came a long-standing association with friend, Ross Palmer’s company, Palmer Tube Mills, which was responsible for creating the iconic Tru-Blu and Greens Tuf Falcons. Finally Johnson didn’t have to convert his road car to race car at weekends! This colourful character with a quick-witted sense of humour was no longer just a struggling privateer!

With the history-making dramatic Bathurst rock crash in 1980 and subsequent emotional, nationwide flood of public support and donations behind him, Johnson’s next major turning point came in 1981, beginning in Tasmania. Claiming pole position, setting the fastest lap and winning the ATCC round by beating Brock set the ball rolling, unlike the stray rock that rolled on to the Bathurst track.

Johnson had a tremendous year, extending to Lakeside where he clinched his first ATCC. Going into the final race, only one point separated the

Johnson finished seventh at the 1985 Bathurst 1000 co-driving with Larry Perkins in the Greens Tuf Mustang.

popular Queenslander and Brocky, but with another pole, fastest lap and his determined victory over the ‘Holden Hero’, Dick was ecstatic! He deserved his championship, along with the respect and recognition that followed.

“I wanted that win so badly,” Johnson declared.

As team photographer at the time, I’ll always remember the amazing emotion and elation attached to that triumph – the fulfillment of Dick’s dream. He stood until after dark signing autographs for the mass of happy, adoring fans. It wasn’t until Brock himself retired at Bathurst in 1997 ❯

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DICK JOHNSON

Above: Shell drivers Dick Johnson and John Bowe with Shell Sponsorship Manager Ross Brodie at Lakeside 1995. Right: Leading the pack at Lakeside in 1997. Bottom left: Dick Johnson is honoured with an 18 year Ford loyalty award at Lakeside in 1995. Bottom right: Pitting at the Queensland 500 at Queensland Raceway in 2000.

that I can recall a similar crowd.

Notching up his first Bathurst victory that same year, albeit in a shortened race, was the icing on the cake.

“It was one of the best moments I’ve ever had – standing up there with Frenchy,” Dick recalled.

That high was followed by another low two years later when Johnson sickeningly slammed his Greens Tuf Falcon through the trees during the top ten shootout.

His misfortune didn’t end there either.

On the way home when the badly damaged car was being towed, the trailer rolled over.

But against all odds he actually got to race that Sunday, until the car blew a fuse and the battery kept going flat.

Ross Palmer had bought another similar Ford which was converted overnight and finished about five minutes before race start, with the paint still wet!

Bathurst wasn’t exactly kind to Johnson over the years, as 10 years later,

18

MotorSportLegends

the Shell Falcon he shared with John Bowe was T-boned by an out-of-control slower competitor.

But with Dick’s fighting spirit, he returned with a vengeance the following year to conquer the mountain again, this time with Bowe.

“A big disappointment was never winning Bathurst with Steve, and not winning in 1992 (when Nissan controversially won),” Johnson said.

Ups and downs have become part of Johnson’s life. When Dick was approaching retirement at the end of 1999, son Steven was ready to take over the reins and step into the famous #17 seat.

Like his father, Steve became a mechanic and always wanted to race and from the time he and older sister Kelly were taken to race meetings, young ‘Junior’ would wander around the pits, driving everyone crazy. For Steve’s safety (and everyone else’s sanity) I can remember Dick tying him to the transporter on occasions, but

that was all part of the fun of motor racing as it was back then.

Steve has proudly and loyally remained with DJR during his career.

“Dad’s been my hero: someone I respect and admire tremendously,” Steve said.

Strong rumours suggest he will one day become team owner of Australia’s longest-established motor racing team, when Dad’s had enough.

Having always put his heart and soul into motorsport, looking at the positives in Johnson’s life reflects his amazing career. For more than 30 years he and his team have been in the limelight, not for personal gain and fame, but because racing is his passion.

DJR had expanded to two cars, racing Mustangs then Ford Sierras before the coming of the V8 era, with many drivers joining this top Ford outfit over the years, including Bowe who remained for 11 years. He and Johnson shared the

Left: The Bathurst winning Johnson/French Tru-Blu Falcon still going strong at at the Lakeside Classics in 2011 and above, the 1981 Great Race winners catch up 30-odd years later.

heartbreaks, but also notched up some memorable Bathurst, endurance, and round wins, while the Tasmanian gave the team a championship in 1995.

Other interests along the way included a brief period driving NASCAR in America. Dick’s comment was “if you

don’t get the set-up right, they’re the most evil piece of cast iron you could ever put your backside in” and of course there were other choice words too!

An extensive workshop and museum complex at Stapylton plus relocation to the Gold Coast marked another

positive phase of his life, but when Shell withdrew sponsorship after around two decades this was a major blow.

Fans will undoubtedly remember some of the classic Shell advertisements, especially those with the late Barry Sheene. ❯

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19

DICK JOHNSON

Above: Three generations of Johnsons; Steve, Dick and young Jett Johnson … certainly has the name for racing pedigree!

Having the ‘gift of the gab’ and his off-beat wit also helped Dick with his entertaining onboard commentary while racing flat-chat around places like Bathurst and from personal experience I know he’s also an excellent guest speaker.

Persevering through toughness and overcoming negatives is second nature to Johnson, so after Shell, he sought new sponsors. Westpoint, a large finance, construction and property management company at the time, claimed naming rights but then collapsed, causing DJR to come crashing back to earth again.

Johnson’s personal group of companies added short-term support until Jim Beam came to the real rescue in 2007, easing financial woes considerably. By this time Dick’s much-loved boat, racing and car collection plus some other assets had been sacrificed.

Enter friend and financial saviour Charlie Schwerkolt in 2008 which was followed by an ugly falling out between the partners after simmering tension and turmoil within the team during 2010.

However, as some of the details are well documented and known to fans (and could fill a book), I won’t dwell on that unpleasant ownership dispute which detracts from Johnson’s overall achievements.

Against all expectations, that challenging year produced another championship for DJR, when James Courtney snared the V8 Supercar title.

This legend has savoured success and been sickened by failure: he’s overcome the odds and bounced back into contention.

Who knows what the future holds for Dick Johnson AM? MSL 20

MotorSportLegends

BUY YOUR OWN PIECE OF JOHNSON HISTORY Dick Johnson’s famous #17 Palmer Tube Mills Greens Tuf Falcon doesn’t need much introduction, but then again nor does his 1983 Mustang GT with a similar colour scheme.

DJR purchased this Mustang from Zakspeed, Germany in 1984 – prepared for Klaus Ludwig by Ford Motorsport for the European Touring Car Championship.

Painted white when it arrived at Bathurst in 1984, this Johnson/French car qualified for the first ever Group A race. In 1985 it was repainted to the familiar Greens Tuf livery for Bathurst and the ATCC – Dick finished runner-up to Jim Richards’ BMW 635.

When Johnson took the Mustang

to New Zealand it was repainted yet again, this time to JPS black and gold colours, teaming with Neville Crichton for the Wellington 500 street race and finished second to Brock/Moffat.

1986 was its last racing year with DJR then replacing it with a Ford Sierra. This competitive little car was sold to New Zealander Robbie Ker, with enthusiast Bob Carlyle then buying and storing it.

In 2006, Aussie racing enthusiast Ross Donnelley fully restored it to Johnson/Perkins “as new” Bathurst livery, and was last raced at Muscle Car Masters in 2009.

Ross, currently driving the ex-Seton Sierra, wants $169,000 (ono) for the Mustang. Phone 0409 666 302.

Burthurst 1985, in his Palmer Tube Mills Greens Tuf Falcon – now for sale.

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HISTORIC RACER

Andrew Robson in his Lola T332 takes the lead in the Formula 5000 race. Inset: Robert Harborow drove the Elfin MR8 B-C driven by James Hunt in the original 1978 Rose City 10,000.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN DOIG/TORQUE PHOTOS

ROSE CITY 10,000 RE-ENACTED… The Formula 5000 racing car that Formula One World Champion James Hunt drove in Australia and the race that he won in it featured at the Winton Festival of Speed.

I

n 1978, Winton Raceway hosted the 1976 World Champion, the enigmatic and tempestuous James Hunt, in his one and only race appearance in Australia.

It was a race he was expected to win and he did not disappoint.

Australia’s premier racing category at that time was Formula 5000, featuring open-wheelers powered by ‘stock-block’ five-litre V8s. It was an international class and Australians excelled in its fierce competition around the world.

Driving a locally designed and built Elfin MR8 B-C Formula 5000, Hunt

won the Rose City 10,000 against the cream of Australian open-wheel drivers.

History reveals that after winning the event, Hunt partied ‘long and hard’ and the local ladies were very helpful and he made quite an impression!

The race was re-enacted as the ‘feature’ event for the second ‘Festival of Speed’ for historic and classic racing and competition cars.

This time the Rose City 10,000 was run as two separate 10-lap races with an hour’s break in between on Sunday August 14. Practice and an eight-lap warm-up race was held on the Saturday.

The driver of Hunt’s car was Robert Harborow, who is probably the most experienced Formula 5000 driver currently competing.

At 69 years of age Harborow says he probably will not be “able to do the car justice”.

“That said, I will still be able to do pretty well as the Elfin was one of the last of those monsters to be made and is in very good nick and is very quick!” he added.

As well as the F5000s, the Festival of Speed also featured the Rose City Touring Car Trophy – a 20 lap mini-endurMotorSportLegends

23

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DO YOU HAVE A HISTORIC RACING CAR or a classic road car with motorsport heritage that you want to sell? Motorsport Legends is offering free classifieds for private sellers. All you need to do is email us a photograph of the car and up to 30 words.

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Email to: classifieds@motorsportlegends.com.au

ance race for historic tourers sponsored

by Shannons and featuring a rolling start and a pit stop.

Of further interest was the inclusion of four very rare cars on loan from the Porsche Museum.

The hero car of the Porsche quartet was the much-decorated Porsche 962C sports car that won the 1987 Le Mans 24-Hour race.

It was the middle of a purple patch for Porsche, as their 956/962 took victory in the world’s most famous sports car endurance race seven times between 1982 and 1994.

The year 1987 was a particularly good one for the 962C, which also won the Daytona 24-Hour race, the Sebring 12Hour and the Suzuka 500 and Fuji 500 endurance classics in Japan that year.

Regarded as the most successful sports racing car of all time, the 962 is powered by a mid-mounted flat six-cylinder 2994cc water-cooled boxer engine that with twin turbochargers produces 582kW at 8200rpm – enough to propel the car at speeds in excess of 340km/h.

Also from the Porsche Museum was Le Mans veteran, the even more spectacular Porsche 935 Coupe that finished eighth at Le Mans in 1978.

Nicknamed ‘Moby Dick’ because of its extended aerodynamic bodywork that allowed it to reach 366km/h on Le Mans’ Mulsanne Straight, the unique coupe was the ultimate development of the 911-based 935 coupe that was the most successful customer-racing car produced by Porsche in the 1970s.

Porsche 935 coupes won the 1976 and 1977 World Sports Car Championship and dominated the 1978 season, thanks to their 3.2 litre rear-mounted flat sixcylinder air-cooled boxer engine with a

John Bowe won all three Formula Ford and Invited Cars races in a Brabham BT23B-2.

LeMans Porsches were on display (below left) and Andrew Robson’s T332 on the grid (below right).

single large turbocharger that developed up to 630kW at 8200rpm.

Winton FOS visitors were also treated to the rare sight of two Porsche Carrera GT models on track from two different eras – a 1959 356A Carrera GT powered by a rear-mounted 1588cc quad camshaft four cylinder engine producing 86kW at 6500rpm and the Carrera GT supercar from 2003 that features a mid-mounted 5.7-litre double overhead camshaft V10 engine developing 456kW at 78700rpm.

Andrew Robson was declared the

winner of the Rose City 10,000 in his Lola T332 while Harborow finished sixth.

Tony Hubbard won the Rose City Touring Car Trophy in his Chev Camaro, while former V8 Supercar and Bathurst champion John Bowe won all three races for Formula Ford and Invited Cars in a Brabham BT23B-2.

Below left: Tony Hubbard won the Rose City Touring Car Trophy in his Chev Camaro. Below: The Formula 5000 and Invited Cars podium of Michael Glynn, Andrew Robson (winner) and Bill Hemming.

MotorSportLegends

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HISTORIC REPORT

Terry Ashwood puts the Skaife/Richards Skyline GTR through its paces, eventually securing the Group A title.

CELEBRATING LAKESIDE Lakeside International Raceway celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2011, and what better way for the resurrected track to come alive again than to stage four extremely popular events, paying tribute to its motor racing pioneers and legends.

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS

BY GLENIS LINDLEY

Tony Sawford follows Craig Harris around Lakeside.

N

ow called Lakeside Park after re-opening in 2009, the first full-on celebration meeting titled Tribute to the Originals in April 2011 featured some real ‘oldies’ – namely fragile pre-1970 road cars and Australian Specials. These were home-made sports/racing cars created through necessity and ingenuity.

Then followed the Festival of Formula Cars and Sports Cars meetings, culminating in the Festival of Touring Cars on August 12-14.

It all began in 1957, when businessman, motoring enthusiast and racer, the late G.S. (Sid) Sakzewski purchased a dairy farm by the banks of Lake Kurwongbah 26

MotorSportLegends

north of Brisbane, and by 1961, Lakeside. had opened its gates to racing. Becoming firmly established with the Australian Grand Prix in 1966 and 1969, this rather challenging 2.4 km circuit also attracted everything from sports cars to tourers, ensuring the track’s ongoing popularity.

International stars like Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart sang

its praises, while the locals, including Jack Brabham who raced there in 1962 also loved this fast-flowing circuit.

But it was the crowd-pleasing, ‘big banger’ muscle cars, which drew the motoring fans in the 70s – a trend which continued into the late ‘90s.

Southern drivers such as Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan, Norm ‘Stormin’ Norman’ Beechey,

and Bob Jane stole the limelight before the Queenslanders like John French and Dick Johnson rose to fame.

Various track changes, modifications and improvements took the circuit from strength to strength, while motorcycle racing also became very popular.

Then came demands for the circuit to be upgraded, plus Queensland Raceway near Ipswich was granted the right to stage touring car events in 1999, so some lean years followed. Receivers stepped in, and sadly, the track closed in May 2002.

To condense a long and involved story, Queensland Raceway was then granted permission to re-establish Lakeside after some costly, bitter battles. Thanks to dedicated perseverance, this much-loved, grand old circuit

is now alive and well and fanatical fans and drivers are the big winners.

Anyway, enough history – the final Lakeside Classic Festival of Touring Cars attracted a bumper crowd approaching 14,000 enthusiastic fans, and featured more than 160 historic touring cars from seven categories.

What a great weekend it was – a chance to step back in time, reminisce and relive some nostalgic memories from a past era, while some of our former heroes put these treasures through their paces with some lively action.

Heading the inspiring collection were some of Australia’s best-known tin-top tourers – Allan Moffat’s 1969 Trans Am Boss Mustang (driven by Dan Bowden), Beechey’s 1970 Australian Touring Car Championship-winning GTS 350 Monaro (driven

by Chris Bowden), and the late Pete Geoghegan’s GTA Mustang, in Jim Richards’ capable hands.

The line-up of celebrity drivers was equally as impressive, with Jim Richards the event Grand Marshall, plus John French, Kevin Bartlett, John English, Barry ‘Bo’ Seton and son Glenn some of the notables.

David Bowden also deserves a special mention for allowing some of his priceless collectables from his Sunshine Coast car museum to be driven so competitively.

Creating special attention were Dick Johnson’s famous 1978 and 1979 Bryan Byrt Ford XC Falcon Coupes.

The ‘79 hardtop was driven

by Craig Harris, son of John Harris, who took control of the Ford dealership following the death of Bryan Byrt. Another legendary car which captured the crowd’s attention was the Dick Johnson/John French 1981 Bathurst-winning Tru-Blu XD Falcon, driven on Sunday, by none other than John French himself. This was a far cry from a ‘slow Sunday drive’, as Frenchy kept pace with the younger generation, hurling the well-known Blue Oval car around.

Touring car classics - Group A and C – were the big drawcard, with an entry list of more than 20.

Those familiar looking cars included Nissan GTRs once raced by Jim Richards and Mark Skaife. The ex-Skaife ‘Godzilla’ in particular, (driven by Terry Ashwood), had some exciting, epic battles with Glenn Seton’s Mustang, taking the chequered flag ❯

Top: Rohan Barry and Rod Dawson battle it out while Chris Bowden drives the Norm Beechey GTS 350 Monaro. Below: Harvey Black slides his Escort out of Hungry Corner.

Dick Johnson once drove this Bryan Byrt Ford XC Hardtop.

MotorSportLegends

27

HISTORIC REPORT

in three from four races.

Others golden oldies of interest were Craig Harris’ Bob Morris/Bill O’Brien XD Falcon in original Channel Seven livery, the Allan Grice Craven Mild Torana (Tony Sawford), the Win Percy/Neil Crompton Holden Racing Team (Norm Mogg), Glenn Seton’s Sierra (Ross Donnelly) and the Colin Bond/John Smith Caltex Sierra RS 500 (Brett Maddren).

Geminis were there in force, including Rod Dawson’s (who holds the track record), along with a host of HQ Holdens, numerous Group N cars, thundering Trans Am ‘beasts’, plus regularity competitors and club enthusiasts.

Some modern-day V8 Supercars and drivers made an appearance. Andrew Thompson drove the

Lowndes Vodafone Holden, while Paul Morris set a new (unofficial) lap record in his Fujitsu. Glenn Seton’s previous long-standing record of 51.44 seconds, set in 1997, was shaved to 51.16 seconds.

LAKESIDE WINNERS WINNERS GROUP A ................. Terry Ashwood (Nissan GTR Skyline R322) GROUP C ........................................................ Craig Harris (Ford Falcon XD) HQ HOLDENS ........................................................................... Ramon Connel GEMINIS ....................................................................................Rohan Barry GROUP N ...................Spike Jones (BMW 2002); Jason Black (Ford Escort) TRANS AM ........................................................Grant Wilson (Chev Camaro) REGULARITY ................................................. Michael Wedge (Commodore)

The Geoghegan Mustang passes the Bryan Thomson Camaro.

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WEBB OF

Intrigue Mick Webb remembers his first encounter with Dick Johnson.

I

first encountered Dick Johnson in 1972 during the latter rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship. Back then I was working for the Stillwell team and Michael Stillwell had a fantastic chance of winning the championship in his mighty Ford Escort that I built and maintained.

In those days the cars competed in two classes: Up to 2000cc and Over 2000cc. Points were awarded for the first six places in each class, with additional points given to the first four outright places.

Bob Jane won the title after enlisting the help of Dick Johnson, who was racing a Holden Torana in those days.

Bob needed a series ‘ring-in’ to push Michael down the field, so he paid Dick to race at Warwick Farm and again at Surfers Paradise.

At that stage Dick was a hero in Queensland but he hadn’t ventured south very much.

I had no doubt Dick’s Torana would have taken full ‘advantage’ of the rules.

It was probably a sports sedan that came to Sydney to run as an ATCC car.

The ploy worked because Dick finished one place ahead of Michael on both occasions and we missed out on winning the championship by just a few points.

After that, I got to know Dick and his wife Jill very well. I always relied on them for coffee at breakfast time because Moffat was too miserable to put on any eats for the boys. We had to bludge off Dick.

Over the years we had some inter-

esting encounters; one in particular occurred at Wanneroo Park during the ‘80s. I had gone over there a couple of weeks before the race meeting to run in six or seven RX-7 rotary engines that I had just rebuilt. The process involved a lot of driving because I had to run them at 3000 revs for half an hour, then at 3500 for half an hour and so on all the way through the rev range. Then for three or four laps I would run each engine to 8500, 9000, 10,000 revs to make sure everything was running well.

I drove very carefully because we didn’t want to smash the cars but I had always fancied myself as a driver so I started to do some reasonably quick laps.

Dick arrived at the track by the time we had finished running the engines in and I ended up driving around behind him. Mind you I was only wearing one of Moffat’s old helmets, a t-shirt, a pair of shorts and a pair of runners because it was so hot.

I came up behind Dick and tagged on to the back of him so he went a bit faster.

Even though I was driving well within my limit I was soon all over Dick like a rash and I ended up passing him.

He thought Allan was in the car and when we both pitted and I got out, Dick was gobsmacked. He said “Bloody sports

car, it’s so quick even with you driving it”.

I thought about sticking Dick into the Mazda to do a few laps but I decided against it. I wish now I had let him drive it; I probably would have gotten away with it.

Moffat turned up on the Friday morning, did three laps and said the car was perfect and the next day he put it on pole. At dinner, Allan asked to see the lap chart book from Andrew Cowcher and he studied the laps he had done on Saturday and Friday. Then turned one too many pages and went back to Thursday.

All the boys on the team thought, “Oh shit, we’re in trouble now, he’s going to wake up that Mick was driving the car”.

Moffat commented how consistent he had been on Thursday and that he could have even put the car on the front row that day. He closed the book and we had another beer before he said, “I wasn’t here on Thursday, who was driving the car?”

From that time on I never sat in the car again because like a lot of drivers with big egos, Moffat didn’t want his mechanic driving as fast as he could drive.

– Mick Webb

“I ALWAYS RELIED ON THEM FOR COFFEE AT BREAKFAST TIME BECAUSE MOFFAT WAS TOO MISERABLE TO PUT ON ANY EATS FOR THE BOYS. WE HAD TO BLUDGE OFF DICK.” MotorSportLegends

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MotorSportLegends

BATHURST? WHAT’S THAT? Tomas Mezera went from racing a Skoda in Czechoslovakia to winning Australia’s Great Race in 1988, a feat he never quite understood the significance of. His victory is one of many interesting chapters in Mezera’s life, however he was never smuggled out of Czechoslovakia inside a car boot...

STORY BY BRIAR GUNTHER; PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUTOPICS.COM.AU

T

omas Mezera had barely heard of the Bathurst 1000, let alone understood the significance of winning it when he claimed victory on the Mountain in 1988.

“I grew up in Europe and to be honest those days you never heard about racing in Australia,” he recalled.

“You heard about the blokes like Tim Schenken who raced in Formula One in Europe and (Larry) Perkins and Vern Schuppan and that was really the only Australians you sort of heard about; no one knew Peter Brock existed.

“Therefore, I never knew about the Bathurst race. I followed motorsport but I never knew about the Bathurst race or any touring car racing in Australia until I

Above: The Longhurst/Mezera Sierra on track at Bathurst. Top: The drivers celebrate their 1988 win on the podium.

came here.”

Born in Czechoslovakia, Mezera left the country not for greener pastures but to race cars.

“I started in a Skoda in Czecho in hillclimb racing, a mate of mine built the

car and I started racing in the hillclimb racing but I started seriously here,” he said.

Mezera’s journey was an interesting, but not nearly as exciting as the wellheld belief that he was smuggled out of Czechoslovakia in a car boot.

“That’s bullshit!” he exclaimed.

“Journos, they get a little whiff and they twist it and turn it around to make a bloody story of it.

“But there was an even better story going around when I was in England; I was escaping over the mountains on cross country skis under machine gun fire!” he said with a hearty laugh.

“No, the bottom line is I hitchhiked but I wasn’t in the back of the boot; I was in a back seat.” ❯ MotorSportLegends

33

TOMAS MEZERA

Mezera’s first stop was Hungary.

“I just walked over the bridge there over the Danube, and I was hitchhiking there,” he explained.

“Then I got a lift with some German tourist and I got to Yugoslavia and I went to an Austrian embassy and asked for a visa to go to Austria and I got the visa to go to Austria then I kept hitchhiking and went to Austria.”

Mezera said he lived on the streets for a few weeks while he tried to get a visa into Germany, because he had relatives living there, but his application was unsuccessful.

“Then I tried to cross the border illegally (into Germany) but I didn’t manage,” he said.

“Border patrol stopped us. Usually they wave people through but I was a bit unlucky and they sent me back.”

But the journey didn’t stop there, because Mezera headed back to Austria in the hope of going to America and he ended up in a refugee camp.

“And as I was applying to go to America they said it’s no problem but it will take up to two years before the paperwork is done and I said ‘two years, I don’t want to be in a refugee camp for two years’ and someone said ‘well the fastest way out of here is to apply to go to Australia’.

“And I applied to go to Australia and I also had relatives in Sydney but my aim was never to come to Australia.

“It took only about three months or something and I got out of there and arrived in Sydney just before Christmas of ’79.”

The hard work was just starting for

“I JUST WALKED OVER THE BRIDGE THERE OVER THE DANUBE AND I WAS HITCHHIKING... ”

Mezera, who worked three jobs to save up for a Formula Ford, his first race car.

“I started early at 4am on a garbage run, then I went to a panel shop where I sprayed cars and then I was just a kitchen hand in a restaurant in Kings Cross at nights,” he said.

“I was reasonably busy but trying to get ahead and save up some money to go racing and I think in ’82 I bought a Formula Ford and started racing Formula Ford and then I got a few lucky breaks and I ended up winning the Formula Ford Championship in ’85.”

The prize was a return ticket to Europe so Mezera headed back there in 1986.

“I went to England and I had one race guaranteed there which they called the

Race of Champions when all the Formula Ford champions from all over the world went there and did one race and I ended up there for five years,” he said.

“I stayed there till 1990 in England and did alright in Formula Ford.

“I came second in the British Championship there in ’87 and then I did a few races in Formula Three and sports cars and touring cars and always came back and did the race at Bathurst.”

The first time Mezera attended Bathurst was in 1980 as a spectator and eight years later returned to conquer the Mountain with Tony Longhurst.

“I just came back to do the race and ended up winning it and I thought ‘jeez, what’s the big deal about it’ and I went

Mezera leads the field in the Dalcar Formula Ford.

34

MotorSportLegends

back to England.

“After that I went there probably another 15 times and finished on the podium a few times but never won it again and probably was better prepared and I was probably a better driver as well but it just didn’t happen.

“A few times I was very close and a few times we should have won it but we didn’t.

“That’s just the way it is with that race.

First time lucky, huh, is what I would say.”

Mezera and Longhurst’s Ford Sierra RS500 was the first turbocharged car to win the race after they qualified in

second.

“We ran all day in the sort of top three, depending on pit stops, sometimes we were leading and sometimes we dropped back,” Mezera said.

“At the end I think it was a battle between us and Niedzwiedz (German Klaus Niedzwiedz driving for Allan Moffat Enterprises) with Moffat’s Sierra and the car, I think, shit itself; it was just bloody easy at the end.

“But really it still probably doesn’t mean that much to me as it does for the people who grew up on it here, who followed the battle between Holden and Ford. It was basically just another race.”

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Mezera raced in the British Touring Car Championship in 1989 and returned to Australia to drive for Holden Racing Team at Bathurst.

“That time Larry (Perkins) was running the team for them and I drove with Larry and the second car was Win Percy and Neil Crompton and we came sixth with Larry,” he said.

“We were the best Holden, all the ones in front were the turbos; the Sierras and Nissans and all that. You couldn’t beat them then.”

Mezera returned to England to race sports cars for Vern Schuppan and in 1990 did LeMans along with the ❯

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TOMAS MEZERA

Above: Mark Skaife and Tomas Mezera on track at Sandown in 1994.

Right: Mezera finished third with Larry Perkins in a VL Commodore at Bathurst in 1990.

Below: Mezera spectacularly crashed out of the 1997 Bathurst 1000.

Bottom: 1998 was another DNF with Alain Menu co-driving.

Above: Mezera co-drove with Peter Williamson in this Toyota Supra at Bathurst in 1985. The pair failed to finish the Great Race that year.

Japanese Sports Car Championship and of course Bathurst.

“I drove for Larry in his car when he sort of split with the Holden Racing Team and I ended up doing three races with him at Sandown, Bathurst and I did the first ever race at Eastern Creek when they built the new track in 1990,” Mezera recalled.

“We didn’t finish at Sandown; we had some brake failures and we came 36

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third at Bathurst and we won at Eastern Creek, so it was a good year for me.”

He continued to race at Bathurst for Holden Racing Team and went on to become the team’s manager.

“Halfway through ’93 there was some sort of a drama with the team manager, they sort of sacked the team manager and there was no one to finish the year off and then for half a year I was kind of in charge there which sort of worked

out alright,” Mezera said.

“It was a very tough time for HRT in those days, a very tough time, but maybe it was a little bit of a turnaround and it sort of got better.

“I was there for another couple of years and I got the arse in ’96; they got (Craig) Lowndes in there, and then I drove the long distance races for them as a part-time driver.”

In 1998 Mezera started his own V8

Mezera rounded out the Bathurst podium again in 2002, this time with Jason Bright.

Supercar team, but he acknowledges it was “very difficult” and something that just didn’t work out.

In an ironic end to Mezera’s V8 Supercar career, the man who did not understand the significance of the Bathurst 1000 when he won it now ensures the current crop of drivers are playing fair during the Great Race as the category’s Driving Standards Observer.

“It’s a bloody shit of a job. It’s nothing enjoyable about it but somebody has to do it,” he laughs.

Racing cars has not been Mezera’s only sporting passion.

He was a downhill skier before leaving Czechoslovakia, hence the rumour about fleeing officials over the mountains of Europe on skis.

“Back at home I did ski racing as a kid and then all the way as a junior and

the year before I left, in ’78, I was ranked number 15 in the downhill skiing in the country which wasn’t too bad,” he said.

“When I came to Australia I started a few different jobs and I spent a season at Perisher as well teaching skiing as an instructor.”

Mezera now indulges in golf, when his job with V8 Supercars allows it.

“I love golf,” he stated.

“When I was in England, purely by accident you know, the boys got me on a golf course and I started playing. I enjoyed it.

“And a few years later when I stopped racing when I was about mid-40s, I set myself a goal and said when I get over 50, I want to try to go and get on a seniors tour.

“Earlier in the year I went to qualifying school and I managed to qualify on a tour and that was a bigger achievement than winning at Bathurst I think for me,” he laughed.

“I have a handicap between one and two and I’m very proud of it.

“You need to have a bit of a dream always, no matter how old you are.” MSL

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MUSCLE CAR MASTERS

MASTERS PAST & PRESENT Sydney turned on magic weather for the seventh annual running of the Father’s Day Australian Muscle Car Masters at Eastern Creek International Raceway – and the competitors added some magic racing to match.

STORY BY GLENIS LINDLEY; PHOTOGRAPHS BY AUTOPICS.COM.AU GLENIS LINDLEY & JOHN DOIG/TORQUE PHOTOS

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bumper crowd as big as many V8 Supercar meetings was treated to capacity fields in most of the seven listed categories at the Australian Muscle Car Masters at Eastern Creek International Raceway on Father’s Day. Catering for around 280 eager drivers, the racing generated plenty of thrilling action.

Then there was Sunday’s lunch-time Featured Muscle Marques Parade, which allowed numerous car club enthusiasts to enjoy three laps of glory and excitement as they cruised the circuit in style.

Also on Sunday’s program were three five lap Heritage Hot Laps Demonstrations where another band of “replica” devotees showcased their restored treasures.

Three sessions of Master Blast Demo 38

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Masters of the Muscle Car Masters, John Bowe and Jim Richards

Clockwise from above: The Touring Car Masters on track; Harry Firth with former Racing Car News editor Max Stahl; Motorsport Legends magazine’s Brian Reed signs autographs; John French, Fred Gibson and Colin Bond; Glenn Seton.

runs (again over five laps) gave the appreciative crowd a taste of some exotic and rather expensive machinery from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.

Museum Director, Klaus Bischof, flew out from Germany especially for this occasion, helping celebrate 60 years of Porsche in Australia.

Star attractions were two Le Mans 24-Hour winners – the ’79 winner called Moby Dick, a whale-tail 935 model – and the Porsche 962, which won in 1987. Supercar driver Jason Richards, struck down with cancer late last year, was given the privilege of putting this magnificent machine through its paces on one occasion in a fitting honour and mark of respect for this deserving driver.

“That beats a dose of chemo,” beamed Richards.

Over the weekend, Richards also acquitted himself well in the ex-John Harvey, Paul Stubber-owned Marlboro HDT Torana A9X, winning the Group C Trophy Race and finishing second in the Group A & C Feature Race.

This popular event isn’t just about racing. It’s a must-do family outing providing the opportunity for the growing band of muscle car enthusiasts and car lovers in general to drool over an amazing array of nostalgic vehicles. Ardent fans can re-live traditional ‘battle royales’ between famous marques of that golden era fondly remembered by so many.

There were Monaros, Minis, Mazdas and Mustangs, Fords and Holdens, Camaros and Chargers, Toyotas and Toranas, Nissans of all descriptions, and some rarer makes like BMW, Jaguar,

Volvo, Alfa Romeo and Fiat.

So much to see, so much to do – where does a fanatical fan go first?

Alongside the usual massive car displays, this year Toyota joined in, by assembling 17 classic racing cars of historic achievement. Some of the notables included the ex-Peter Williamson Toyota Celicas, Bob Holdens’ Hatch/ Sprinter models and John Smith’s Supra Turbo. Also present were those legends themselves, with Smith winning the combined Group A & C Race 1 after a spirited dice with Terry Ashwood’s Skyline GT-R (ex-Mark Skaife Nissan).

“The great part is, when I raced at Bathurst in 1991, that’s how it was then,” Smith enthused.

Another crowd-pleasing category was the Touring Car Masters. This official ❯ MotorSportLegends

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MUSCLE CAR MASTERS

Group C and Touring Car Masters were the popular races. Jason Richards hopped into John Harvey’s famous A9X Torana (top left), Phil Brock wandered the paddock (top right) and Allan Moffat checked out Merchandise Alley.

round featured full-on racing with qualifying and three closely-contested races.

From 34 entrants, including several former touring car legends Jim Richards (Falcon Sprint), John Bowe (Trans Am Mustang), Andrew Miedecke (Camaro SS) and the latest recruit, Glenn Seton (Falcon XB Coupe), Miedecke claimed round honours, and leads the championship.

For fans who love new ‘gear’, a visit to Merchandise Alley is an absolute must.

There’s everything from caps, jackets and shirts to model cars, badges, books and magazines (MotorSport Legends too!) which can all be personally autographed.

Here’s where the fun begins!

Almost 40 celebrities were on hand 40

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as special guests and all were in demand by fans for autographs and casual chats.

Organised autograph sessions were featured and high-profile former racing identities were happy to stop and chat as they too wandered around the pits and paddocks, reminiscing about how good they once were.

As Queenslander John French (of Johnson/French Bathurst fame) said: “I wouldn’t miss this (Muscle Car Masters) for quids.

“I loved driving the car again (the XD Tru-Blu Ford)… so many good memories.”

Another legend, Allan Grice, added: “The atmosphere and attitude of the fans are absolutely amazing.”

Allan Moffat summed it up – “It’s always a pleasure to be invited.”

Moffat, along with the likes of Harry Firth, Leo Geoghegan, John Goss and Bob Jane usually have a display of past cars or special memorabilia for sale – you just have to be prepared to queue a little (which never seems to worry adoring fans).

Other personalities included Fred Gibson, Colin Bond, John Harvey, Bo Seton, Phil Brock, Charlie O’Brien, Frank Matich and Kevin Bartlett.

Oh… and Alan Jones (former F1 champion) was there too – driving the fancy Toyota Lexus.

Saturday evening’s Legends Dinner, offering wining, dining, and lively debates, lived up to its reputation, with Moffat and his son James, Jim Richards and son Steve, along with Allan Grice, providing plenty of laughter. MSL

PETER GIDDINGS

ITALIAN F1 MASTERPIECES Many motorsport historians believe that two Italian masterpieces helped to transform Grand Prix racing – the 1931/32 Alfa Romeo Tipo B ‘P3’, the first genuine single-seat open wheeler and 20 years later the magnificent Maserati 250F. STORY BY GRANT NICHOLAS; PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN DOIG/TORQUE PHOTOS, JOHN LEMM AND LEE KIRK

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alifornian-based Englishman Peter Giddings has pristine examples of these works of engineering genius in his racing stable that he races on a regular basis.

When the Grand Prix regulations changed to make the riding mechanic next to the driver obsolete, Alfa Romeo engaged Vittorio Jano to design a new car for the 1932 series. The Tipo B P3 monoposto had exceptional power to weight ratio thanks to its supercharged 2654cc in-line eight-cylinder engine built on two four-cylinder blocks with power delivered to the rear wheels via two driveshafts that allow the driver to sit lower in the chassis.

The Tipo Bs were quick right out of

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Above: Peter Giddings notices many differences between driving the Tipo B (top) and the much newer Maserati 250F (above).

the box. At the ‘32 French GP Tazio Nuvolari, Umberto Brorzacchini and Rudolf Caracciola scored an impressive top three finish with Nuvolari taking victory at an average speed of 145 kilometres per hour (90 mph), similar to three all-new F1 Ferrari or Red Bull Racing cars making a clean sweep in a current Grand Prix. Nuvolari and codriver Giuseppe Camparo went on to win the Italian GP at over 160 kmh (100 mph), and then they followed with a win at Avus in 1933 at over 205 kmh (128 mph) – an amazing performance for nearly eight decades ago. Giddings’ Tipo B (Chassis #5006) was run by Scuderia Ferrari from 1932 to 1934 with Achille Varzi winning the ‘34 Bordino, Tripoli, Penya Rhin, and Nice GPs plus the

Targa Florio and Coppa Ciano endurance events.

“Driving the Tipo B is quite different to my 250F as you are sitting quite high on it rather than in it and it is not the best handling of the early Alfa Romeos that I have either owned or raced over the years – it is quite skittish,” Giddings said. “The Monza which was also designed by Jano immediately before the Tipo B was a fantastically good handling car, more by accident than design I believe, as you can really slide and drift it. The Monza was a two-seater so it was heavier and had a less powerful engine.

“My car was the sixth car built so it has a slim body and came with half elliptic rear suspension. The story goes that when Rene Dreyfus left Bugatti and became a Ferrari/Alfa Romeo works driver he was pretty horrified with the

handling of the Tipo B and asked Enzo Ferrari to fit quarter elliptic suspension as fitted to the Bugatti Type 35 and 59, as those cars handled like a dream.

Ferrari did what we would call today a recall, and converted all of the P3s which was quite feat in those days. All of the cars were modified except for two of them and mine was one that was not upgraded, so being a racer I simply unbolted the older suspension and replaced it with the new quarter elliptic package.

It is still not a great handling car, however it is very quick in a straight line and I would describe it as a tricky handling car. I’m still able to beat the later updated models that have more engine power, hydraulic brakes and independent front suspension, so that is satisfying.

“You have to hold the Tipo B’s woodrim steering wheel very lightly between

your fingers. If you grip it tight you are off into the bushes, as the car has to kind of find its own way and you have to trust it. Almost the car is making little corrections over the bumps and undulations as the chassis is twisting and it’s only when you get near the corners that you grip a little tighter and say that I want to go left or right now and if you have been a good boy it will respond correctly – if not it will say I’m going straight ahead,” laughs Giddings. “I was delighted with the car’s performance at the recent Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca as I managed to gain a good win in the early morning race when the track was cold due to the fog coverage, then a convincing 33-second victory in the afternoon event. I have pleaded with the organisers to have our cars on the program later in the day as we have

The driver sits fairly high in the Tipo B and it has a skittish manner to it.

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PETER GIDDINGS

extremely powerful cars running on the skinniest tyres.”

Spend time with elderly motorsport enthusiasts at any historic gathering or race meeting and when they start reminiscing about past events of note, the conversation always seems to go back to 1956 when Melbourne hosted the Olympic Games and the Australian Grand Prix around Albert Park Lake. December 2 that year saw young English hero Stirling Moss and French driver Jean Behra dominate the ‘Olympic Grand Prix’ on the Albert Park street circuit as they roared to an impressive 1-2 finish in their works Maserati 250F open-wheelers – finishing a lap clear of a Ferrari 555 Super Squalo driven by Englishman Peter Whitehead.

“Most of the Italian cars from the ‘30s had centre throttle pedal, and as I have owned a vast number of cars from that era it kind of comes natural to me to be able to drive them with a centre throttle.

That’s not to say that I haven’t occasionally put my foot down on the brakes and wondered why I was accelerating,” laughs Giddings.

“Prior to the recreation of the ’56 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in 2006 I was asked if I would ship my 250F and let Stirling drive his former winning car at the event. He is a good mate of mine, going back to the days

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Above: The Maserati 250Fs of Peter Giddings, Tom Price and Jeff O’Neill on the straight at Phillip Island sharing with Ron Townley’s Lago Talbot. Below: Peter Giddings exits Honda Corner in his 250F Maserati.

when my mum took me to meet him as a little nipper. I have always admired him from the period as I was a timekeeper at Goodwood and over the years we have become good mates. Even though I am a racer and I don’t want to share my cars around, I decided to be a good sport so I said yes it was okay for him to run the 250F. Three or four weeks before the event Stirling phoned me and asked if my car had a throttle on the right-hand side of the brake pedal, I replied it was where the Pope had intended it to be and that was in the middle being an Italian car. He then said he couldn’t drive the car as the first time that he drove a factory 250F he had stood on the throttle instead of the brake and crashed

the car. My response was ‘Stirling that is my car’ and we had a great laugh. The organisers rushed around and found him another 250F that had been altered, but over the years he has sat in my car and had the odd gentle drive in it but he does not want to compete in races in it in case he has brain fade again like he did back in ’54.”

The Maserati chronicles show that in 1953, Giddings’ car (Chassis #2501) was the very first 250F built, powered by a 2.5-litre double overhead camshaft inline six cylinder engine developing 240 bhp at 7200 rpm, before making its first public appearance at the prestigious Paris Salon in October 1954. Immediately after the Salon it made its racing debut at the season-ending Spanish Grand Prix in the hands of Maserati’s latest young gun Stirling Moss.

During ’55 the factory continuously updated the car while Italian driver Luigi Musso contested a Grand Prix and other selected events throughout Europe and Argentina – scoring second placings

at the Bordeaux, Naples and Syracuse Grand Prix events. The next season factory drivers Behra and Argentinean Carlos Menditeguy shared the car until Moss elected to race it in the German Grand Prix at the challenging Nurburgring circuit where he finished a gallant second to Juan Fangio’s more powerful Ferrari. Several months later he and Behra thrilled over 100,000 spectators surrounding the Albert Park circuit as they roared to a convincing and historic 1-2 finish.

Ongoing updating in ’57 resulted in the engine developing 270 bhp at 8000 rpm as factory drivers Harry Schell (USA), Hans Hermann (Germany), Giorgio Scarlatti (Italy), Fangio and Behra – Behra finishing a fine second in the Grand Prix de Reims in front of his home crowd. Early in ‘58 the chassis was rebuilt to the latest specifications then a new engine (No #2523) was fitted and the chassis number was changed to #2523/3. Steering the car that season was Italian driver Maria Teresa de Filippis, the first female to race in Formula One Championship Grands Prix; she competed in five events and scored no series points. Scarlatti campaigned the car throughout Europe in ’59 against the lighter and more nimble rear-engine Cooper Climax open-wheelers as Australian driver Jack Brabham claimed the championship honours.

In early 1960, New Zealander Ross Jensen purchased the car and over the next 25 years the car was modified as it passed through a succession of owners around the world before Giddings acquired it in ’86 and had it completely restored back to its original #2501 configuration for historic racing. Prior to

“THE MORE MODERN MICKEY MOUSE TRACKS… ARE DIFFICULT FOR A CAR LIKE THE 250F…” its restoration this astonishing 250F had raced in more than 40 Grands Prix since 1954 including five starts at the world famous Monaco Grand Prix plus four appearances at the Syracuse, Italian and French ones and two at the Argentina, Belgian, Buenos Aires, Naples and New Zealand Grand Prix. In Giddings’ hands it has attracted a strong following from motorsport fans by performing magnificently in more than 180 historic races internationally.

“The Maserati just loves fast flowing tracks; the more modern Mickey Mouse tracks and the shorter tracks with lots of bends and no full-blooded straightaways are difficult for a car like the 250F. It thrives on long straights and fast flowing bends; it is these types of circuits where it really comes into its own. Phillip Island is the only track in the world where I can get into fifth gear and my rev-line of 7000 rpm, the factory used to take them to 9000 rpm; they could as they had spare engines. Having the other

250Fs of Jeff rey O’Neill and Tom Price racing alongside me at Phillip Island was a delight in dry conditions, but things got a little tricky when we had the rain shower on the Sunday morning.

“I don’t know why, but the Maserati is not the greatest of cars in the wet, my earlier cars like the Tipo B and the 1935 Alfa Romeo Tipo C actually are easier to race in the rain possibly because they are on skinnier tyres than the 250F. For the likes of Fangio or Moss it would not be difficult to race it in the wet, but with my skill level I have to be a little cautious,” explains Giddings. “The Tipo B is good for 240 kmh (150 mph) down the main straight at Phillip Island and if I’m invited to return in 2012, I would love to bring it back for another run as I am able to beat the more nimble short wheelbase Maserati and ERAs on that style of circuit. It is a wonderful track and you guys are very fortunate to have such a great track and I feel very privileged to run on it.” MSL MotorSportLegends

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TONY COCHRANE

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15 YEARS AT THE HELM It’s been a decade and a half since Tony Cochrane first turned up on the V8 Supercar scene. He made a lot of promises, most of which he has kept. Motorsport Legends Managing Editor Allan Edwards recently caught up with the V8 Supercars Chairman to discuss the performance of Australia’s leading motorsport category while under the reign of the often controversial but straight-shooting Queenslander.

STORY BY ALLAN EDWARDS; PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN DOIG/TORQUE PHOTOS and AUTOPICS.COM.AU

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e first introduced himself to the press at a get-together in a big tent at the rear of the pits at Sandown in 1996. The scene was hardly grandiose. The media gathered and sat on plastic chairs in the breezy canvas structure, but the man the press were introduced to was making plenty of big promises. Most walked away from that press conference thinking Cochrane was just the latest fast-talking ‘shark’ trying to make a quick buck out of motorsport. Many thought he wouldn’t be around long. But they were wrong. A decade and a half later he is entrenched at the helm of what is now known as V8 Supercars. Love him or hate him, there are not too many who would dare to suggest that he has failed to deliver on the promises he made that day at Sandown.

AE: Let’s go back even before you were involved in V8 Supercars. How much of a motorsport fan were you before you got involved from a business point of view?

TC: Look, I would say I was a moderate fan. I followed Group A Touring Cars for years and I very much became engaged in the bikes and IndyCars because of my association with both Eastern Creek and the Gold Coast Indy event.

AE: So would it be fair to say that you perhaps saw a huge opportunity of what a big business V8 Supercars could be?

TC: I was offered an opportunity to go to America and do something in IndyCars which was being run under Andrew Craig. And it gave me an insight into thinking that I should look more closely

The Consortium turned to Super Touring as the ‘future’ of Bathurst, but Cochrane was convinced it was on the wrong track... and he was proven correct.

at Group A Touring Cars to see where that was at. And, quite frankly, the more I looked the more I realised that it was a sport in huge trouble; really fighting for its life, as other than Bathurst, the rest of it was in quite a bit of difficulty.

It just got me thinking about what the possibility was, and at no stage at that point, which was around mid-1996, did I believe it could be built into what it’s become today. I knew it could be improved and I knew I could make a difference and help, as I thought the teams needed a lot of help, particularly with marketing, media and all of those opportunities. But I would be completely overstating the case to believe it could grow into what it’s become today, 15 years on.

AE: Would it be fair to say you underestimated how important Bathurst was to the Australian motorsport scene?

TC: I thought that when we went back to the Consortium– which was Channel Seven, the ARDC and the Bathurst City Council – I thought that they would agree to drawing up new terms for what was Group A Touring Cars, who were the main backbone of the then Bathurst race.

I realised it was conducted with more than one category, but I always just assumed that the backbone of the race was Group A Touring Cars – and I assumed wrongly that they would negotiate a new arrangement with us. ❯ MotorSportLegends

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TONY COCHRANE

AVESCO ran its first all-V8 Supercar Bathurst 1000 race in 1997.

Of course, when we got into that meeting they had decided that Group A Touring Cars was a thing of the past and they believed that the future of the Bathurst event lay with the Two-Litres.

And so we very quickly discovered that we were going to be put out on well and truly the outer.

Hindsight’s a 20-20 vision, but I suspect what they really had as a plan back then was that they thought they could bring on the Two-Litres for the Sunday, and I think they thought they had us in such a position that we would reluctantly agree to do a race on the Saturday and they would just keep going forward with that format in the future. Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for ourselves, we dug in by running our own Bathurst two weeks later – and the rest, I guess you could now say, is history.

AE: I think at the time, correct me if I’m wrong, you made some comments when you were looking to move away from Bathurst, that Bathurst is not a sacred territory in motorsport.

TC: Actually, I made that comment when I announced the formation of AVESCO in September of 1996 at the then Sandown 500. And I made that comment 48

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in answer to a question from a member of the media present in the tent that day when we announced the formation of AVESCO. Somebody asked me what happens if you don’t get that deal renewed with the Bathurst 1000 consortium, and I said, well, what they’ve got to understand is that Bathurst is not a sacred site.

What I meant by that answer was that everything was up for grabs. What some people took at the time to mean – and some have lived off that ever since – was that I was saying we were not interested in going to Bathurst; that Bathurst didn’t matter to us. But the intention of my response was that I was actually using it to put the Bathurst Consortium on notice that we were open to other ideas. It wasn’t meant to be intended that we were going to drop Bathurst, which was the great cornerstone of Group A Touring Cars at the time in those days. Today we’ve got the Adelaides, the Sydney 500s, the Gold Coast event and events increasingly around the world, but back then Bathurst was the cornerstone of what Group A touring cars did – and the intention of that statement was to ruffle the feathers and hopefully get the consortium to reach a new agreement with us to run the Bathurst 1000 as it was then; it wasn’t a

catchcry that we would leave Bathurst completely – as we subsequently proved the following year by running our own Bathurst.

AE: Another big achievement was the introduction of Adelaide, how did that come about?

TC: The Adelaide conversation started from me dropping in with the then Premier John Olsen, who was an acquaintance. I had a cup of tea with him in his office one day and he expressed to me that Adelaide had really been suffering from the loss of the Formula 1 race and he’d love to think of something to in part replace it.

AE: Many people ask ‘why go to these international events?’ What’s the philosophy of going to Abu Dhabi or wherever?

TC: It goes back about five or six years ago when the board looked at all the options available to us, and clearly one option was to just stay as an Australian series and recognise that that was our glass ceiling and just keep going to events in Australia. That was all well and good.

The other philosophy that was put to the board, which I was very much in favour

of, I might add, as well as the teams, was that we’ve got a great category here with a great future, but why don’t we take up seriously the possibility of running offshore and seeing how it goes. Now, no one ever said it would be easy and no one ever said that every single deal we did would be a massive success, but overall it has been quite successful for us and it’s made us grow our international product with our television arrangements going to 131 countries. Now, we aren’t for a moment suggesting that we are the number one sport on TV in those 131 countries, but the mere fact that we can drive our revenues, viewership and interest in V8 Supercars across such a widespread sector of the world is a true testimony to the success that we’ve been able to gather as a category. It doesn’t matter where you walk in the world of motorsport today, whether it’s England, USA or Hong Kong, V8 Supercars is very well known; most people have a good understanding of the championship – they’ve certainly watched races on TV – and we’ve developed a fan base in a lot of those countries on TV. So, we took a big plunge and invested quite a bit of money at the time, all of which has been a success and will continue to grow – and I’m very confident that by season 2013 or 2014 we’ll be at 18 events with at least four to six events outside of Australia.

AE: V8 Supercars is planning to race in Texas USA in 2013; a lot of people would question going to a country that already has such a strong category in NASCAR. What is your rationale in going there?

TC: You would have to rate NASCAR alongside Formula 1 as one of the true success stories of motorsport in the world. I’m well and truly on the record as being a massive NASCAR supporter – and the job that they’ve done is well and truly awe-inspiring. So that’s a given.

I don’t think us going to a market like the USA once a year is going to impact, derail or upset NASCAR in the slightest.

And nor do we have any intention to do any of that in any case. We are only going there and someone’s only paying what is a very expensive cost to get us there because the demand is there. The purists out there who think it’s some type of destroyer to Australian motorsport, who want to see us going to America as some

type of negative, are quite frankly like the people who thought the world was flat.

The truth is demand has got us there. We had three or four circuits putting their hand up wanting to negotiate with us.

I’ve had three trips over there this year talking about what they had on offer and what they’d like to do with us, and we made a decision to go with Circuit of the Americas. We can only race once in the USA each year as just like any other FIA category, you can only go to a foreign market once, which is why we only go to New Zealand once. The reality is the circuit really suits our cars. We really like their attitude, their marketing approach to us. We think Texas is very much like Australia. The circuit has a 20 million population to draw on from within a three-hour drive. And we didn’t want to particularly go to a circuit that already had a NASCAR tradition. So when we weighed up all those options, Circuit of the Americas, we felt, was a really, really good choice – and I have to say I am

the whole organisation could become.

People by nature are scared of change, and certainly in that initial phase there was an awful lot of work and talking in a very careful process to get everyone to see the bigger picture and work towards the common goal. That’s not an issue today as they’ve seen the results. Those on the inside know what’s been delivered and that it’s not a fabrication. They’ve dealt with fairly significant changes along the way. People within the V8 Supercars family accept that change is an important part of our lives and in the main part it has been good. If you gave us a report card there’d be more ticks in the columns than the crosses.

AE: With Archer Capital coming in as the new owners of the business following its sale earlier this year, what do you see as the new challenges for the sport?

TC: The future challenges are exactly what they’ve been for the last five years, and that’s to continue to grow the busi-

“I REALISED THAT IT WAS A SPORT IN HUGE TROUBLE; REALLY FIGHTING FOR ITS LIFE OTHER THAN BATHURST…” absolutely delighted with everything that they’ve provided, the discussions and all the planning for 2013. I simply can’t get my head around any Australian having a negative to it. Most Australians and our fans I speak to are over the moon as they see it as a great credit to our sport that we’ve been able to pull such a coup in getting to that point in the championship. I can count on one hand the people who have been negative about it.

AE: What have you seen, personally, as your biggest challenge in the last 15 years?

TC: Running any sport is an enormous challenge because you forever have new things thrown underneath you all the time. I think the biggest challenge has been, in the first five to eight years, taking everybody with the vision because it’s a big group – team owners, drivers, the media and all the associated parts of the puzzle – and it was a very big challenge to get them all moving in the same direction and understand just how big

ness. So the future challenges lie in Car of the Future, getting that out and right.

You spoke earlier about NASCAR, and they’ve got themselves badly caught up with their Car of Tomorrow and are caught up in making changes to that program. We want to get that right off the bat and I think we are heading in the right direction but it is a huge ongoing challenge – and it will be till the end of 2013. Clearly, international expansion is a huge challenge. We want to retain 12 significant events here in Australia and trying to getting that spread coupled with up to six internationals is going to be a very big challenge over the next five years and at the same time, keep our sport and teams relevant in a challenging economy.

Since 2008, along with other motorsport categories, the global financial crisis hit hard and still continues to do so. You’re not ever in a position where you take your foot off the accelerator. I think the next five years will be the most exciting and yet the most demanding of our existence. MSL MotorSportLegends

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CHRISTMAS SPECIALS

MODEL CARS Motorsport Legends has a collection of classic racing car models for sale at great prices, including the 1978 Bathurst Ford XC Falcon Hardtops of John Goss/ Henri Pescarolo and Murray Carter/Graeme Lawrence in 1:18 scale from Biante at just $160 each plus P&H; the Triple Eight Threepeat in 1:43 scale from Classic Carlectables at $120 plus P&H; the 2009 V8 Supercar 1-2 finish of Jamie Whincup and Will Davison in 1:43 scale from Classic Carlectables at $80 plus P&H. Call us to order these on (03) 9331 2608.

THE BEST OF MOTOR SPORT LEGENDS This 96-page A4 hardcover book includes all of your favourite articles from the first four editions of Motorsport Legends magazine as well as some new material on Formula One great Ayrton Senna and an interview with Peter Brock’s mechanic, Ian Tate. It has a great mix of colour and black and white photos. This is an amazing book for just $35 plus $10 P&H. Visit www.motorsportlegends.com.au and follow the links to the ‘Marketplace’ page or call us on (03) 9331 2608.

MOTORSPORT DVDs The Golden Age of Motor Sport films were commissioned by well-known team owner and patron, Alec Mildren. They capture the colour, sounds, famous drivers, cars and Australian circuits in the ’60s, which was known as the Golden Age of Motor Sport. This price of $100 including P&H for the complete set of four DVDs is a special Motorsport Legends deal and is only available through us. You can also buy them individually at the usual price of $30 each including P&H. Also available is the Remuera Racer, which is a tribute to Bruce McLaren. This great DVD is just $35 including P&H. Visit www.motorsportlegends.com.au and follow the links to the ‘Marketplace’ page or call us on (03) 9331 2608.

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MotorSportLegends

CARBON FIBRE PENS These high-quality carbon fibre pens come in two styles – twist and the more traditional example with a cap. The pens come in a classy gift box and are a must have for anyone into motor sport. They are also a perfect gift for the person who has everything. Only $39.95 plus postage and handling. Visit www.nobrac.com.au or call us on (03) 9331 2608.

CARBON FIBRE WALLETS These high-quality carbon fibre wallets come in two styles – the more traditional example has a coin pouch while the other has extra credit card pockets. The wallets come in a classy gift box and are a must have for anyone into motor sport. They are also a perfect gift for the person who has everything. Only $129.95 plus P&H. Visit www.nobrac.com.au or call us on (03) 9331 2608.

CARBON FIBRE

MEN’S ACCESSO RIES

Order yours today by calling (03) 9331 2608 or by visiting www.nobrac.com.au

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