It’s been 25 years since New Zealander Paul Radisich took it to the established runners to take the win on the Gold Coast streets and gave Dick Johnson Racing a dominant win.
Back in 2000 there was a strange situation as the Bathurst 1000 was held in November, therefore a month after the non-championship Gold Coast support races to the CART World Series.
This led most leading teams to put spare chassis into action to ensure their Bathurst 1000 campaigns were not compromised.
Ford’s AU Falcon had endured a tough run since its debut the previous year following a variety of deficiencies being identified compared to its key rival, Holden’s dominant VT Commodore.
Many of these deficiencies were being ironed out during the 2000 season and Paul ‘The Rat’ Radisich took full advantage on the Gold Coast.
Having left the British Touring Car Championship to replace John Bowe at Dick Johnson Racing in 1999, Radisich soon became a popular driver due to his aggressive nature spawning from the high stakes manufacturer war taking place in the motherland.
Season 2000 was when Radisich really came to the fore in leading Ford’s hopes as he proved a worry to the Holdens and won his maiden ATCC round at Sandown before heading to the Gold Coast.
Radisich had to wage war with Russell Ingall in the Castrol Perkins Holden Commodore in all three races, with the scoreboard reading two wins to one in favour of the New Zealander.
After losing the start to Ingall in Race 1, Radisich made an early move at Turn 5 to secure the win despite a pile-up behind forcing an early safety car.
Race 2, Radisich led from start-to-finish and was runner up in the finale to secure the victory and enter the Bathurst 1000 with plenty of confidence.
Also, the New Zealander walked away with a record five wins on the trot on the Gold Coast after success in 1999.