RACING LEGEND DICK JOHNSON REVS THINGS UP AT LEYBURN SPRINTS
AUSSIE sporting legend Dick Johnson and his race driver son Steven were trackside at Leyburn Sprints at the weekend.
They shared their most memorable racing moments and why the Sprints was one of their favourite events.
With five Australian Touring Car Championship wins and three Bathurst 1000 wins notched under his belt, Dick was no stranger to the spotlight.
The iconic Australian race car driver attended Saturday’s Historic Leyburn Sprints where he was honoured as a Leyburn Legend for his commitment to the sport. The title was an honour he said he cherished.
“It’s the respect you get from these people over the years, they’ve been a big part of my career, I owe an awful lot to them,” he said.
As he faces the back-end of his illustrious career in motorsports, Dick now watches from the sidelines as both his son and grandson compete in the sport.
While Dick loves seeing the next generation take to the track, he admits that he knows how his parents felt when he first started racing.
“The older you get the more cautious and protective you become and you never think they can do the things that you used to do, but they do it better,” he said.
Dick said his favourite race win was the 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship at Lakeside, followed by the Bathurst 1000 the same year.
It wasn’t just the wins that made these races special for Dick but the fact that just one year earlier he was in second place at the Bathurst 1000 when his car spun off track after hitting a rock, costing him the win.
“Coming back that next year and to win was so cool,” he said.
His 1983 Bathurst accident where he hit a tree and was forced to build his car overnight is his most memorable crash and one he says almost cost him his life.
“I can remember heading toward a couple of trees and I was just glad they were there. Hitting a tree is not fun but it was better than the prospect of being spit off the back of the mountain,” he said.
Son Steven Johnson, also a race car driver, said it was “really cool” to come to the Leyburn Sprints.