Tasmania punches above its weight in terms of motorsport success across many categories and the Repco Garage highlights this ahead of the Supercars Championship’s annual trip to Symmons Plains.
David ‘Skippy’ Parsons
Beginning his career in trial bikes, David ‘Skippy’ Parsons raced on a slim budget early as he became a reliable co-driver with many of the top teams during the 1980s and 1990s.
Purchasing a Holden Commodore, Parsons completed a part-season in 1982 finishing 12th in the standings with fourth being his best finish three times.
Picked up as co-driver by Peter Janson he finished fourth and retired the next year with ‘The Captain’ before the Holden Dealer Team called.
It was the start of a lengthy relationship with Peter Brock, though he paired with John Harvey for the next two 1000s finishing a best of second in 1984.
A short stint with Larry Perkins led to a return to Brock following his split with Holden, but it led to victory at the World Touring Car Championship round at Bathurst in 1987. Parsons was crucial to the team’s success.
Staying with Brock through the BMW and Ford eras as he switched to Glenn Seton in 1991. Parsons partnered Seton in 1995 when during the closing stages the Peter Jackson Racing Falcon cried enough.
Two starts with Gibson Motorsport, including partnering up with David ‘Truckie’ Parsons followed before he ended his co-driving career with Paul Romano. He has continued to compete in HQ racing until recently.
Greg Crick
A star in multiple disciplines, Launceston car dealer Greg Crick was competitive right until he was forced to retire from racing after ongoing health problems following the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour.
Crick became known on the mainland thanks to the Elfin-built Honda Prelude Sports Sedan during the early 1990s winning multiple titles along the way.
He won the inaugural Targa Tasmania event in a Honda NSX, racing a version in GT Production’s early days.
Making his Bathurst 1000 debut alongside Chris Lambden in the latter’s Beaurepaires Holden Commodore, resulting in a DNF.
It was the first of Crick’s 14 starts linking up with the likes of Dick Johnson in 1992 and a variety of privateer outfits. A highlight was in 1993 when Crock linked up with Bob Jones to finish second at Sandown and seventh in Bathurst.
Only completing one full-season in 1996 for the Alcair Air Conditioning team, Crick was a leading privateer before the Tasmanian linked up with Paul Weel.
The young Queenslander and Crick ran strongly for two seasons, finishing a best of eighth in 1999.
A short stint partnering Marcos Ambrose at Stone Brothers followed as he returned to the privateer ranks as a co-driver and transitioned to Procar’s Nations Cup competition.
Racing a Dodge Viper in Nations Cup then the Australian GT Championship, Crick won the title in 2006 and was third five years later.
Racing a Valiant Charger closed the book on his full-time career in Touring Car Masters finishing fifth in 2014.
Crick has since become a respected Driving Standards Observer and administrator, which he continues to be this day.
John Goss
John Goss was born in Hobart as he started his career racing Holden DJs and Ford Customlines on the local circuits, before he built his own Tornado sports car in the late 1960s.
The Ford-powered Tornado launched Goss onto the mainland winning two Australian Sports Car Championships before entering Series Production as part of McLeod Ford in Sydney.
Goss endured hard luck during the early-1970s at the Mountain, but also led the development of Ford’s XA Falcon Hardtop when the factory squad was still using the XY at the beginning of Group C.
The development proved fruitful for Goss as he scored pole position for the 1973 Bathurst 1000, but a DNF was the result partnered by Formula 5000 rival and mate Kevin Bartlett.
Goss made up for this in 1974 by taking victory with Bartlett in treacherous conditions.
In honour of this achievement Ford Australia released the John Goss Special limited edition in 1975.
Formula 5000 duties too precedence after this until the updated Group C regulations were introduced when Goss entered a Jaguar XJS. It proved a troublesome task, but proved an integral link to Tom Walkinshaw.
After stopping on the start line in 1984, Goss linked up with Walkinshaw’s gun Jaguar squad for the first Group A Bathurst winning with Armin Hahne.
Post-1985, Goss has had limited races and continues to attend historic events to this day.
John Bowe
Coming from a motorsport family, John Bowe made his name in open-wheelers and Elfin in particular.
Following a pathway to eventual race Formula 5000 and Pacific competition in the Australian Drivers’ Championship, Bowe’s first tin top chance was in a Holden Commodore.
Competing against an array of drivers including Jack Brabham, Dick Johnson and Peter Brock in a celebrity race supporting the Australian Grand Prix, Bowe won it.
However, his first serious chance was partnering New Zealander Robbie Francevic in the Volvo 240 Turbo in 1985, which proved a challenging experience.
Elevated to a full-time member of the new Volvo Dealer Team, Bowe joined mid-season when the squad expanded to two entries. Bowe had adapted to the turbo-powered Volvo to set a pole, plus nearly scored victory at both Calder and Wanneroo.
When the Volvo team imploded at the Sandown 500 in 1986, Bowe went to the factory Nissan squad as a co-driver resulting in a Bathurst podium.
A call from Dick Johnson came and a long partnership started. Two Bathurst wins and the 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship followed in a 10 year association.
Starting with the dominant Sierras to the powerful Ford Falcons, Bowe was a frontrunner throughout this stint.
Moving to the CAT-supported, West Australian-based PAE Motorsport for 1999, which was then bought by John Briggs before the season was out resulting in just one victory before he was fired after Bathurst 2001.
Another longer term partnership with Brad Jones Racing finishing a best of ninth in the championship in 2004, before he finished his career at Paul Cruickshank Racing in 2007.
A regular in GT racing, Bowe won the Bathurst 12 Hour twice and was a frontrunner in Nations Cup, while a hired gun in the Australian GT Championship.
His Touring Car Masters career is one to be envied having achieved 101 wins and six titles from 2010 to 2023.
Bowe is one of the great all rounders.
Marcos Ambrose
Another to emerge from a racing family, Marcos Ambrose was a star and paved the way for the likes of Shane van Gisbergen to race in NASCAR.
A lack of budget forced Ambrose to return to Australia, but it came at a good time as he joined the rising Stone Brothers Racing squad.
Although the AU Falcon was uncompetitive compared to the Holden VT/VX Commodore, Ambrose was immediately on the pace mixing up the established names.
When the BA Falcon entered the track, Ambrose and Stone Brothers racing became a force winning the next two Supercars Championships.
After teammate Russell Ingall won the title in 2005, Ambrose headed to the US to race in NASCAR first racing in the Truck Series finishing third in the Rookie of the Year standings.
Driving the Nationwide Series, he lost a race in his maiden season in Canada and finished eighth in the standings.
Winning a race at Watkins Glen in 2008, Ambrose secured four further wins in the second-tier series all on road circuits.
Moving to the Sprint Series full-time in 2009, he raced until 2014 where he secured two wins, three pole positions and 46 top 10s finishing a best of 18th.
A brief returned to Supercars followed in 2015, but he stepped away from DJR Team Penske into retirement.
Ambrose has remerged at Garry Rogers Motorsport, but has stepped back from this role as he supports his daughters burgeoning racing careers.