LEGENDS OF BATHURST: PREVIEW

Dick Johnson has had many memorable moments around Mount Panorama and the Australian legend is looking forward to reliving some of them at the Legends of Bathurst festival at Hampton Downs.

The 73-year-old will join some of the greats of the Australian Touring Car Championship at the festival including the Stone Brothers, John Bowe, Jim and Steve Richards and Paul Radisich.

Johnson has had some strong connections to New Zealand motorsport over the years with Ross and Jimmy Stone managing his racing team in the early 1990s.

It promises to be a special homecoming for the Stone brothers who grew up building gokarts in nearby Onewhero, just 30 kilometers from Hampton Downs, before moving to Australia and establishing one of the most successful teams in V8 Supercars.

“It’s a great excuse to get home to New Zealand and catch up with all my old friends from the sport before I moved across to Australia,” says Ross Stone. “I first went to Bathurst in the early 1970’s. I was an apprentice mechanic and I didn’t have a lot of money but the guy I was working for shouted me a trip. Jim Richards and Rod Coppins finished third that year and I remember promising myself I’d get back there someday because there was something magical about the place. To go back and win the race as team manager for Dick Johnson in 1994 and win it with our own team in 1998 was very, very special.”

Ross was Johnson’s team manager in 1994 while his brother Jimmy was an engineer. The brothers went on to form their own team, Stone Brothers Racing in 1998 and won the Bathurst 1000 in their debut season in a Ford EL Falcon driven by Jason Bright and Steve Richards.

Paul Radisich raced with the Dick Johnson team for four years and despite some frustrating results he’s excited about catching up with his old boss.

“Dick could be a tough boss but he’s a very funny guy and great company and I had a really enjoyable few years with him,” says Radisich. “He’s so popular in Australia. He was the People’s Champion back then and he still is.”

Johnson is looking forward to the opportunity to catch up with some old friends at Hampton Downs.

“I’m sure it will be a very enjoyable time and it gives Kiwi motorsport fans an opportunity to see some of us old geriatric farts,” says Johnson. “I’m not sure if I I’ll jump in a car. I’ll have to see how I feel on the day. It’s not that I don’t have the desire to get in a car but I don’t bend as good as I used to do and getting in and out of these things can be a struggle.”

The Legends of Bathurst will do autograph signing sessions over the course of the weekend while there will also be a massive Show ‘n’ Shine exhibition. The Legends on Stage dinner on Saturday evening at Hampton Downs Pavilion promises to be another highlight of the weekend.