The man in the cans

As team manager for the mighty Holden Racing Team at the peak of its powers, Jeff Grech was almost as recognised as the great drivers he led. Here he recalls his rollercoaster ride through motorsport, which began in the Group C era.

For many long-time motorsport fans, Jeff Grech is almost as recognisable as the great names he guided to Bathurst and Australian Touring Car Championship glory. The nuggety and businesslike demeanour, usually in pitlane wearing headphones, captured plenty of attention as the likes of Peter Brock, Larry Perkins, Jim Richards, Mark Skaife, Greg Murphy and Craig Lowndes piloted his machines to win after win. He remains a strong gure in the sport.

Grech’s rst Bathurst, on the crew of Peter Brock’s Marlboro Holden Dealer Team, set the tone for his career. They won, of course. He would go on to rack up a neat 10 Bathurst 1000 wins, one more than his idol Brock, as well as eight ATCC and Supercars Championships.

It wasn’t always easy or straightforward, though. Like many others, he fell out with Brock during the Polarizer era, only to become his boss at HRT a decade later. It was a sometimes uneasy relationship, as Grech groomed inevitable replacement Lowndes, which resulted in the King’s premature retirement in 1997. After a glorious period of success, the Lowndes relationship also ended in acrimony.

He had earlier enjoyed exciting times helping Larry Perkins establish his race business before getting involved in the development of the incredible Nissan GT-Rs that nally killed Group A racing, before joining a then-struggling HRT. They narrowly escaped extinction before all the hard work nally paid off when Brock joined and Grech recruited the young Lowndes.

Even after Lowndes controversially walked out, the Holden team enjoyed continued success with Skaife. It seemed the road ahead would always be paved in gold. But then the Walkinshaw empire collapsed and the politics began.

Racing would never be the same for Grech. He tried to make a success of Holden Motorsport, then PWR Racing, Tasman Motorsport and, for the past three years, Team 18, but circumstances always conspired against him. Just the day before we sat down for this interview, the 59-year-old was ‘redeployed’ by team boss Charlie Schwerkolt. It was still raw, but his love for the sport is such that he was still happy to recall his tumultuous career.