FAST FALCONS
10 best motorsport moments
DOES it seem bizarre that Ford Australia chose to shutter forever its Broadmeadows factory on Friday, October 7 – the same day the V8 Supercars qualify for the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama? The significance should not be lost. The Australian-built Falcon has been the weapon du jour of the Blue Oval’s racing campaigns since 1960, unsighted on the grid only during the era of international Group A cars between 1985 and 1992 (when the turbo Sierra was the Ford spearhead). The fanaticism and loyalty of local Blue Oval followers is legendary, even in the face of at times bewilderingly inconsistent Ford factory support for its revered drivers and hero teams. So while the Falcon may be no more, these are the motorsport memories that live on…
THE 2006 Bathurst 1000 was set to be a race paying homage to the King of the Mountain. Much-loved Peter Brock had died just two weeks earlier, and emotions and pain on both sides of the fence were still very raw.
Precocious youngster Craig Lowndes had burst on the scene in the mid-1990s and immediately hailed as Brock’s clear successor; gifted with an effortless natural ability, and a cheerful persona outside the car.
Brock took Lowndes under his wing. The two were close; the master and his apprentice.
But after winning his first Bathurst 1000 in 1996 and three national championships, Lowndes defected to Ford, lured by a record deal for a local driver.
Motorsport fans flocked to Bathurst to mourn Brock’s passing and pay tribute. Brand allegiances were tossed aside in their grief. It was about remembering Peter. Many hoped that Lowndes, Ford’s poster boy but unsuccessful in the 1000 since that first victory a decade earlier, might overcome the odds and win for his mentor.
He and his driving partner, the developing Jamie Whincup, qualified sixth and were expected to have an uphill struggle against overwhelming favourite and pole man Mark Skaife in an HRT Commodore.
A moving tribute to Brock just before the race left Lowndes in tears. He quickly had to pull himself together and focus on the task ahead. And the race was thrown wide open when Skaife crashed out early.
Lowndes and Whincup combined beautifully, staying away from the usual carnage. Whincup’s mid-race stints were decisive as he grabbed the lead from Todd Kelly off a safety-car restart, before handing over to Lowndes for a grandstand finish.
Lowndes didn’t give Kelly a look, posting the fastest lap of the day on lap 158. He was in tears again as he took an emotional win, his second and Whincup’s first at Bathurst.
Holding aloft the new Peter Brock Trophy, Lowndes dedicated the win to his racing hero and mentor. It was a fairytale finish and his proudest Bathurst moment.
HOLDINGH ALOFTA THE NEW PETER BROCK TROPHY,T LOWNDESL DEDICATED THE WIN TO HIS RACINGR HERO AND MENTOR