Following on from seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi’s debut at Bathurst last weekend, Repco The Garage has devised a list of the best to make the transition to four wheels and race at Mount Panorama.
Gregg Hansford
Best Bathurst finish: 1st 1993
The Bathurst 1000 winner of 1993 alongside Larry Perkins in the last victory for a Holden engine, Hansford had been racing with a roof over his head for more than a decade. His motorcycle efforts were the stuff of legend, winning consistently on home soil and in New Zealand before making the move to Europe in 1978 with Kawasaki. Victory in 10 Grand Prix during this time in 250cc and 350cc machinery were achieved before Hansford’s retirement following injuries sustained at Spa.
Turning his attention to touring cars from this moment on, he aligned with Mazda’s Allan Moffat until the end of the Group C era in 1984. Having held previous links to the Moffat team in the late-1970s, Hansford’s stock rose culminating in he and the team boss combining to win the Oran Park 250 in 1984.
Group A provided a mixed bag for Hansford as he linked up with Alfa Romeo and Colin Bond, before gaining a full-time seat alongside Dick Johnson in his team, now backed by Shell. It was a fraught season as development of the Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth was disappointing.
Linking up with Moffat again, a win in the 1000 was lost in 1988 with the team in a dominant position until a head gasket failure on lap 129 forced the ANZ Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth into retirement.
A brief stint with Glenn Seton was followed by an opportunity to join Larry Perkins and it proved successful immediately as the pair won the Bathurst 1000.
Another Bathurst victory, this time in the 12 Hour came in 1994 partnering Neil Crompton.
Unable to gain a full-time Australian Touring Car Championship seat, Hansford turned to Super Touring, but was fatally injured in an accident at the opening round in 1995 at Phillip Island driving a Ford Mondeo.
Hansford’s legacy lives on through son Ryan, who has enjoyed success in Touring Car Masters and competed as high as what is now Super2.
Wayne Gardner
Best Bathurst finish: 3rd 1993, 1995
The first Australian winner of the World 500cc Grand Prix Championship, Gardner finished second on debut in the national title at Amaroo Park and was then hired by Mamoru Moriwaki in 1981. The Australian Superbike Championship was followed by pole in the Suzuka 8 Hours, a podium at Daytona, then a program in Britain after linking up with Kiwi ace Graeme Crosby.
His association with Honda began in 1982 as Gardner rose from the British 500cc Championship, which he won in 1984 to the World 500cc Grand Prix Championship. A collision with then reigning champion Franco Uncini was a setback for the wild Aussie in 1983, but three years later he was a fully supported factory Honda rider where he finished second in the title.
The next season proved Gardner’s breakthrough as he became the first Australian to win motorcycling’s top honour. A further four seasons failed to yield another title success as he made his Bathurst 1000 debut in 1992 alongside veteran Graham Moore.
Signing up with the factory Holden Racing Team for the first Australian Touring Car Championship season of the V8 era, he quickly gained the nickname ‘Captain Chaos’.
Third at Bathurst in 1993 and a win in Adelaide were the highlights as he formed his own team for 1994 featuring iconic Coke sponsorship alongside Neil Crompton. It was a competitive set-up as he won a heat at Mallala in 1996, before taking a round win at the first V8 Supercar event at Calder Park in 1997.
Money began to get tight earlier than this, as Gardner pursued a career in the Japanese Super GT Championship instead, retiring in 2002.
Graeme Crosby
Best Bathurst finish: 13th 1986
A long-time rider for Kawasaki, ‘Croz’ as he became affectionately known learned his trade on the street circuits of his native New Zealand before switching to Australia where he linked up with Mamoru Moriwaki. Third at the Suzuka 8 Hours in 1978 was followed by entries into the Formula and Isle of Man TT events resulting in Crosby being ranked third in the Formula 1 Class.
Switching to Suzuki in 1980, Crosby raced the Formula TT World Championship and 500cc World Championships, in addition to also winning the Suzuka 8 Hours. His second place in the German Grand Prix highlighted Crosby’s season in 500cc on the way to eighth in the standings, while he won the Formula TT World Championship.
Improving to fifth in the 500cc title and won a second Formula 1 TT World Championship in 1981, a move to Agostini Yamaha followed the next season, but it proved a challenging season due to bike development problems and internal politics as he quit the Grand Prix scene.
Becoming a commercial pilot after retirement, Crosby was more than competitive on four wheels as he entered the Australian Touring Car Championship in the mid-1980s with backing from Bob Jane T-Marts. He went onto win the 1992 New Zealand Touring Car Championship and was inducted into his home country’s Motorcycling Hall of Fame.
Warren Weldon
Best Bathurst finish: 4th 1964
Holding the honour of being the first to lead a lap around Bathurst during the 500/1000 in his big Studebaker Lark, Weldon finished a best of fourth in 1964 as brakes proved troublesome for the big American sedan as he scored pole four times in the first seven events. Weldon also holds the distinction of winning the first and last races at Oran Park.
Unlike other racers in this list, Weldon went the other way and raced bikes in the early-1970s finishing a best of second at the Australian 250cc Grand Prix at Bathurst in addition to many runs in the Castrol 6 Hour.
Retiring from racing at the age of 40, Weldon raced at club level until his death in 2012 at the age of 71.
Michael Dowson
Best Bathurst finish: 17th outright, class victory
West Australian Dowson was one of the riders to rise out of the golden era of local motorcycle racing like Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan, Darryl Beattie, Kevin Magee, Matt Mladin and many more. Taking the most victories in the Castrol 6 Hour, Dowson was regarded as a promising talent as with Yamaha he contested the World Superbike Championship winning two races.
A move to Kawasaki proved exhausting as he developed its latest challenger into a winner against the mismanagement of upper office. During his career, Dowson won on his bike 11 times at Mount Panorama.
However, he took a class win on debut in the 1000 after being involved with Toyota’s Star Search program during 1989. Dowson was entered in the ATCC round at Lakeside as he outqualified John Faulkner, though was caught up incidents during a chaotic round. Paired with Neal Bates, the pair won the small car class at Bathurst as in the same year he raced in the inaugural Australian 500cc Grand Prix, the only time this has ever happened.
Making just one more Bathurst start, Dowson finished 27th outright and third alongside Paul Stokell, with John Faulkner moving across from his retired entry.
Dowson’s need for speed wasn’t quenched with his motorcycle and touring car outings, with Formula 1 jet boats his next move.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Johnny Cecotto
Best Bathurst finish: 2nd 1987
One of the most successful to switch from two to four wheels, Cecotto won the 350cc and Formula 750cc titles before making the transition in the early-1980s. The Venezuelan reached the heights of Formula 1 competing for the lowly Theodore and Toleman teams scoring one career point across 1983-1984.
Cecotto moved to touring cars with BMW and was hired to race at Bathurst three times. In 1985, partnering Italian Roberto Ravaglia he finished second, while two years later when the World Touring Car Championship visited the Mountain he was seventh alongside Gianfranco Brancatelli. One final start came in 1992 partnering Tony Longhurst to fourth.
Daryl Beattie
Best Bathurst finish: DNF 2002
A race winner and title contender in 500cc motorcycles, Beattie came up against fellow Australian Mick Doohan and Honda in the midst of a dominant era. Once he had given up the leathers, Beattie was enticed to return to the track, but this time on four-wheels. Driving for privateer team Imrie Motorsport, Beattie contested the Queensland 500 and Bathurst 1000 in 2002, but with little success. Turning to the media, Beattie was a popular figure on the Channel 10 broadcast.