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Australia's all-time most popular nameplate, the Holden Commodore, will continue its 21st birthday celebrations by attempting to win a record-breaking 12th Bathurst 1000 title on 13-14 November.
The Commodore - originally launched in 1978 under the VB model designation and currently Australia's number one selling passenger car in VT guise - is the most successful contender ever to tackle the prestigious Mount Panorama endurance event. Commodore's outstanding track record includes 11 wins, nine second placings and eight thirds for a total 28 podium positions (including three 1-2-3 performances) in 19 Bathurst appearances. All 10 Commodore models, from the VB through VC (1980), VH (1981), VK (1984), VL (1986), VN (1988), VP (1991), VR (1993) VS (1995) and VT (1997), have achieved podium success at Bathurst.
Making its Great Race debut in 1980, the Commodore quickly asserted its dominance. Holden Dealer Team (HDT) pairing, Peter Brock and Jim Richards, led a Holden Commodore avalanche, with VB and VC models filling the first seven placings.
The next Holden Commodore to star at Bathurst was the VH, piloted in 1982 by the formidable partnership of Peter Brock and Larry Perkins. The pair claimed the title after an exciting battle with Allan Grice and Graham Browne, also in a VH. The second HDT Commodore, driven by John Harvey and Gary Scott, came in third, and the Peter Janson/David Parsons combination completed a Holden Commodore sweep of the top four slots. A year later, Brock joined HDT's Perkins and Harvey to take Holden and the Commodore nameplate to a second successive victory.
The winning streak continued in 1984 with a 1-2 Commodore finish, as Peter Brock and Larry Perkins brought a fluorescent VK home into first place. Their win capped the first of two three-year winning streaks for Commodore.
Allan Grice tasted his first Bathurst victory in 15 attempts in 1986, driving a VK Commodore with Graeme Bailey. A minute and a half behind in second place were John Harvey and Neal Lowe in the HDT Mobil Commodore - yet another Holden 1-2 result.
The Commodore VL entered the Bathurst racing scene in 1987, the year that saw Brock, Peter McLeod and David Parsons awarded the race title following the Ford Sierra competition's disqualification.
The VL went on in 1990 to score a hugely popular Holden win courtesy of Win Percy and Allan Grice. Racing under the new Holden Racing Team (HRT) banner, the pair's Commodore racer (nicknamed the 'Batmobile' for its futuristic body kit design) overcame spirited opposition from Shell Sierra and Nissan GT-R challengers.
In 1993, Commodore stalwart Larry Perkins joined Gregg Hansford in a Commodore VP and Mark Skaife teamed with Jim Richards in the Gibson Motorsport VP for a classic head-to-head shootout. It was a Commodore whitewash, with Perkins/
claiming victory, followed by Skaife/Richards in second place and HRT newcomer Wayne Gardner and co-driver Brad Jones in third.
Piloted by Larry Perkins and Russell Ingall, Commodore wrote itself into Holden folklore in the 1995 race with a now-legendary last-to-first performance. The Castrol Racing Team's VR Commodore was forced to pit early after a clash with Craig Lowndes, but returned to take the lead with just nine laps remaining. The win was greeted with euphoria by the big Bathurst crowd and made sweeter by Wayne Gardner and Neil Crompton's third placing in the Coca-Cola Commodore.
1996 saw young gun Craig Lowndes dominate the touring car season in his HRT Commodore VR before taking out, with co-driver Greg Murphy, his first Bathurst 1000 title.
The trusty pairing of Ingall and Perkins carried the Commodore torch in 1997 in the new-look VS, making it an emphatic third win in five years for Perkins and marking Holden's third - and Commodore's second - Bathurst hat trick.
1998 saw the racing debut of the all-new VT Commodore, in which Mark Skaife set the fastest-ever Bathurst pole time. Russell Ingall and Larry Perkins continued the good form to take out second place in their VT.
The Holden Commodore now looks to celebrate its 21st year by continuing its winning ways at this month's Bathurst 1000 spectacle. There is every chance a Holden team will make it Commodore's 12th win on the mountain - and a first for the popular VT model.
| Holden Commodore Bathurst 1000 Record |
| |
| First Bathurst race: |
1980 (VB/VC Commodore) |
| Total Bathurst 1000s: |
19 |
| Total Bathurst victories: |
11 |
| Second placings: |
9 |
| Third placings: |
8 |
| Total podium placings: |
28 |
| Most successful Commodore driver at Bathurst: |
Larry Perkins
(6 wins, 2 seconds, 1 third) |
| Bathurst records: |
Fastest ever pole time
(Mark Skaife, VT Commodore,
2m.09.8954s - 1998)
Touring car lap record
(Larry Perkins, VS Commodore, 2m.12.3398s - 1997) |
| Results: |
| |
| 1980 |
| 1st |
Brock/Richards |
Commodore VC |
| 2nd |
Janson/Perkins |
Commodore VC |
| 3rd |
Radburn/Smith |
Commodore VB |
| 1982 |
| 1st |
Brock/Perkins |
Commodore VH |
| 2nd |
Grice/Browne |
Commodore VH |
| 3rd |
Harvey/Scott |
Commodore VH |
| 1983 |
| 1st |
Brock/Perkins/Harvey |
Commodore VH |
| 3rd |
Grice/Browne |
Commodore VH |
| 1984 |
| 1st |
Brock/Perkins |
Commodore VK |
| 2nd |
Harvey/Parsons |
Commodore VK |
| 1986 |
1st |
Grice/Bailey |
Commodore VK |
2nd |
Harvey/Lowe |
Commodore VK |
| 1987 |
1st |
Brock/Parsons/McLeod |
Commodore VL |
| 1990 |
1st |
Percy/Grice |
Commodore VL |
3rd |
Perkins/Mezera |
Commodore VL |
| 1991 |
2nd |
Percy/Grice |
Commodore VN |
| 1993 |
1st |
Perkins/Hansford |
Commodore VP |
2nd |
Skaife/Richards |
Commodore VP |
3rd |
Gardner/Jones |
Commodore VP |
| 1994 |
2nd |
Jones/Lowndes |
Commodore VP |
3rd |
Perkins/Hansford |
Commodore VP |
| 1995 |
1st |
Perkins/Ingall |
Commodore VR |
3rd |
Gardner/Crompton |
Commodore VR |
| 1996 |
1st |
Lowndes/Murphy |
Commodore VR |
| 1997 |
1st |
Perkins/Ingall |
Commodore VS |
2nd |
Richards/Richards |
Commodore VS |
| 1998 |
2nd |
Perkins/Ingall |
Commodore VT |
3rd |
Bargwanna/Richards |
Commodore VS |
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