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The phone rings, and it’s Julian, one of AutoSpeed’s
contributors. “Give this PR guy a call, as he wanted me to co-drive Peter Brock
in this rally coming up, but I can’t do it. You can if you want to.”
Well, that
was an interesting phone call. I call Greg Brindley, have a chat, and before you
know it I am pencilled in as Peter Brocks’ co-driver for the ‘Shannons
Ford-Holden Challenge’ lead up event to the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. I didn’t
know quite what to expect, but having competed in the Forest Classic Rally last
year, I presumed it would be quite similar. Although saying that, there was one
major difference. I would be sitting next to Peter Brock in the red ‘05’ Holden
Monaro prepared for Targa Tasmania and Targa
New Zealand, and
telling him where to go!
The
Ford-Holden Challenge is an event borne of Silverstone Events. The idea is to
get together anyone who owns a Ford or Holden and compete in a social
navigational rally. Dick Johnson and Peter Brock come along to compete and act
as ‘team captains’. A great idea I think, and getting organised the night before
we start, I am beginning to look forward to a fun week.
Day
1
I’m
up early and I get a lift to Booran Holden in Dandenong for the start of the
event. I hang around for a while, and check out some of the vehicles on display.
There were some nice cars including another ‘T3’ Monaro with the same
specifications as Peter’s car, a bright yellow Corvette C5, some more fast cars,
and some slower ones too. In all, 35 challengers lined up.
Dick Johnson
was competing in his own Rob Herrod-prepared DJR 320 BA Falcon, Peter Brock is
driving his ‘05’ Holden Monaro T3 as driven in Targa
Tasmania last
year.
Spectators
and competitors milled around, shuffling along between the cars lined up for
scrutineering. A small throng of Holden fans began to converge on the workshop
entrance where Brocky was due to arrive shortly. As the Monaro pulled up to get
scrutineered, I saw a preview of the week’s activities to come. Peter got out,
sat down at a table and madly signed autographs and posed for pics for an hour.
With the car checked out, I quickly took the chance to introduce myself as his
co-driver, hopped in, grabbed the road book with navigation notes and guided him
out into the event. We left one hour late.
On
to Holden’s Lang Lang Proving Ground for a number of competitive tests, a venue
I had not seen before and not that many of the public have either. The short
trip there was taken up with discussion about the Monaro. Peter was happy to
explain to me some of the modifications made to the car, including some ‘mild’
engine and ECU changes, suspension, tyres etc. I noted how tractable the engine
was. Just as we pulled up next to Dick Johnson and co-driver Gary Beers (of band
INXS fame) Gary and I shared an expectant look as we guessed the ‘fastest car’ bet
might settled on the way to Lang Lang. Instead, we crawled away from the traffic
lights, listening to the great sound of the Falcon exhaust. Peter and I both
commented on how good the car looked. Maybe I was a little surprised that he
gave this much credit to the ‘opposition’, being predominantly a Holden
personality for so long.
We
arrived at Lang Lang with the aid of the pace notes. Peter stopped the car, and
a group of competitors immediately moved in for an autograph.
I
moved away, looking at our competitive route instructions to prepare Peter for
what was coming.
First
competitive event : completing 3.1km at a driver nominated average speed around
Lang Lang’s high speed bowl.
First moment
of worry : Peter telling me his speedometer was out and looking to me for advice
on what to do!
I
did some quick calculations with the mobile phone, and told him to start the
stopwatch, then cross the finish line at 1min 33secs, which would be 120km/h. I
must have had a note of apprehension in my voice, so Peter suggested I drive it
the second time to have a go. Fine, I can drive a Monaro, no dramas.
Second
moment of worry : Peter then tells me that NO ONE drives his car. Apart from himself only the car's
builder, Greg Stephenson and Garth Tander have driven the car.
Peter comes
in, tells me he nailed the time (was there ever any doubt?) and I hop in for a
go. The car is very easy to drive. The button clutch is nice to use, and the
engine has ample torque for cruising up to the start line. Of course, on this
average speed event I don’t have the chance to really test the car out, but I
can’t resist giving it enough throttle to get well and truly sideways on the
launch. Peter sets the closest average time, and I get the second best in the
next round so we are off to a good start.
After the
run through the ride and handling track and the skidpan motorkhana sections that
Peter completes in what seems to be a mix of anger and precision, we are leading
after the first day, but overall Ford heads the battle of the
marques.
Day
2
It’s Monday,
and after spending the night at home, I head off in the morning with Greg
Brindley and his bag of cameras to capture images for the event. A trip to
Calder Park should
normally only take one hour, but we get there in a spectacularly slow two hours
and fifteen minutes – a new record!
Peter is
getting ready for the two events, a 400m drag down the strip and a ‘go to whoa’
down the back straight. This is when I realise that it may not be too easy to
win overall... A number of cars post fast times, of note a yellow VH Commodore
driven by Les Dombi reeling off a 12.89 second pass. Peter manages a 13.77 with
a slippery start. ‘I thought the drag strip would have more grip!’ he explains
later in the car.
We
then begin the drive to Heathcote for some more events. As the green countryside
turns to yellow and brown fields we discuss various aspects of motorsport. I ask
Peter about his beginnings, preferring to hear him tell me directly about the
buildup of his first racecar – an Austin A30 with a 189 Holden grey motor – and
the exploits he had in it. We talk about his upbringing with a father interested
but not fanatical about motorsport, growing up on the farm, and tinkering with
cars and engines from an early age. I ask Peter when he realised that racing was
what he wanted to do, and his reply surprised me.
“The very
first time I hopped into a car to drive fast, I grabbed the wheel and after one
lap I knew that this was it. This is what I’ll do”. Peter raced in many events
at an early age, racing wherever he could, recalling memories of the
Neptune racing team
in northern Victoria and some of
the characters involved.
By
the time we pull into Heathcote I am starting to get an insight into the
determination and focus of Peter. Happy to talk about life, politics and cars
without prompting, when that Monaro lines up at the start of an event, every ounce of
energy is focused on performance.
Two
more drags at Heathcote, a quick radio and TV interview and we are off
again.
The
country is drier now, with sparse vegetation and long fields of wheat. We talk
about country life and its relevance to us both. Peter still sees the farming
community and country towns as holding the true spirit of
Australia, lost in
the hustle and bustle of city life. Peter of course lives on 20 acres near
Melbourne and enjoys
his time outside. Pulling up to the start of an average speed section during a
transport stage a local farmer approaches to say hello. We sit there and listen
to his plight. Peter loves to hear people’s stories, and learn more about
Australia life. I
think it keeps him grounded.
We
arrive at Winton Raceway to compete in a wet circular skidpan event, the first
time I really get to see how much grip this car has. We find out that Dick
Johnson was only very slightly faster and we earn second place. Next event prior
to lunch is 3 flying laps around Winton’s short track. We unload our gear from
the rear of the car, and Peter heads off. He seems pretty confident of doing
well, and he proves it by setting the fastest lap time.
We
have a quick bite to eat, and make our way to DECA, the Driver Education Centre
of Australia based at Shepparton. I know this place well enough myself, having
competed in Motorkhanas and on the rear roads in short sprints previously. We
look through the motorkhana layout, and make our way to the start line. A few
photographers perch themselves on the far side of the smooth cement surface
area, orange witches hats poking out of the surface like motorsport’s little
garden gnomes. We try not to kill any, and slip slide our way around in a
reasonable time. “A good time, I think we did well,” I chirp.
‘We
could do better with road tyres’ says Peter ‘as these don’t have deep enough
grooves to move water’. His opinion rings true later, a few other vehicles are
faster. Dick isn’t though, and we figure Gary, his co-driver, must have been getting
left and right confused as they meandered their way around!
My
admiration of Peter’s generosity to his fans remains as we pull into a car
display in Shepparton township by the river bank. Local radio waits for an
interview, and we have to organise the throngs of people to walk in file behind
Peter and Dick as they make their way up to the small group of erected tents for
the radio cross. I get a small buzz as I move the car up nearby, ready for a
quick getaway in case the crowd lined up for his signature doesn’t look like
shrinking. Mums, dads, kids and grandparents all clamour about trying to shove
themselves, their shirts, model cars, posters and even glove box lids in front
of the rally’s two celebrities hoping for that all-important signature. After a
while I am forced to drive the car up to him, passenger door open so he can
climb in and escape for a shower in our hotel and dinner. I think maybe the
autograph hunters are starting to get to him, and I refrain from jokingly asking
him if he can sign my arse when we hop out of the car (but I am sure my sense of humour will get me in trouble one day).
At
dinner I realise the value of an event like the Ford Holden Challenge. All the
competitors are friendly and social, and their backgrounds vary dramatically. I
talk to winemakers, large business owners, and just plain old mums and dads with
kids. It is a great mix of people that I would never get the chance to meet if
it wasn’t for this event.
Tomorrow we
need to get up early to leave for Echuca after some early morning tests. Peter
looks over with an ‘are you ready to leave?’ sort of look. I nod and we get up
and leave the others to keep drinking wine and chatting so we can get forty winks
and be fresh for tomorrow. A few local lads circling the block – waiting for
some time, I think - stop and get Peter to sign their dashboard, and we head
back to the hotel.
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