Peter Brock and Holden bows out at Bathurst 2022

Peter Brock – The 2022 running of the Great Race will bear witness to a number of significant events both on and off the track, with celebrations of the much loved Holden Lion taking centre stage at Bathurst during the week leading up to race day.

• 2022 will be the final time a Holden Supercar competes in the Bathurst 1000
• It has been 50-years since the first of Peter Brock’s nine Bathurst wins (1972)
• Australia Post to release a series of commemorative ‘King of the Mountain’ stamps
• This year’s Bathurst will be Craig Lowndes 300^th Touring Car/ Supercar round start

The 2022 running of the Great Race will bear witness to a number of significant events both on and off the track, with celebrations of the much loved Holden Lion taking centre stage at Bathurst during the week leading up to race day.

“Bathurst is one of the most iconic races in the world and we want to appropriately recognise this historic end of an era for Holden in racing,” said Chris Payne, General Manager Chevrolet Racing.

“Sunday will be emotional for a lot of Holden fans, including ex-Holden & race team employees and ex-Dealer staff, the final time a Holden races in a Supercars event at Bathurst.

“It would be an outstanding way to farewell Holden from the Mountain if one of the Commodore  drivers can add to the brand’s 35 race wins at the circuit.”

There will also be a number of special moments which focus on the 50^th anniversary of Peter Brock’s first Bathurst victory in 1972.

“When you think of Bathurst, it’s difficult not to think of Peter – the King of the Mountain,” said Mr Payne.

“He was an incredible driver who achieved an unrivalled nine wins here for Holden, an achievement I don’t ever think will be bettered.”

“Peter’s first win here for Holden was in 1972, so 50 years on it’s just a wonderful tribute to him that Supercars have created a Peter Brock Tribute display at Bathurst, so the fans can come into the Harris Park precinct and enjoy seeing some of his cars again and just remember the great moments and memories he gave to us all,” he added.

In conjunction with Australia Post and the Brock family, GMANZ today showcased a limited stamp release dubbed ‘Peter Brock – King of the Mountain.’  The stamps feature five of Brock’s famous victories at Mount Panorama and are available now at Australia Post Offices.

One of Holden’s other famous sons will also have special reason to celebrate this weekend, as he takes to the track for his 300^th combined Touring Car/ Supercars round starts – a record unmatched in the history of the sport.

“I’ve enjoyed an incredibly memorable career and am humbled to be here for my 300^th round start,” said seven times Bathurst winner, Craig Lowndes.

“I have a strong affinity with the Mountain and would like nothing more than to add to the wins I have savoured here.

“It’s a long race, one in which anything can happen – and it usually does – but to be in the running come Sunday would be hugely satisfying.” Lowndes added.

Peter Brock – King of the Mountain

In a 15-year period between 1972 and 1987, Peter Brock made the daunting Mount Panorama circuit his own, winning the Bathurst 1000 a record nine times – and always in a Holden. No other driver has been able to match his achievements.

Peter Brock fell under the spell of the Mount Panorama circuit as a spectator at the Hardie-Ferodo 500 in 1966 and, just three years later, was contesting the famed race in a factory-backed car. He finished an incredible third outright on his Bathurst debut, driving a Monaro GTS 350 alongside veteran Des West, cementing his future with the Holden Dealer Team (HDT).

Three years later in 1972, Brock took his first win in The Great Race, driving solo in the iconic HDT prepared LJ Torana XU-1.

Having established himself as one of Australia’s best young drivers and with a growing fan base, Brock took his breakthrough Bathurst victory on a wet and greasy track that claimed experienced competitors such as HDT teammate Colin Bond and Ford rival Allan Moffat. Brock went on to leave the Bathurst record book in tatters, winning again in 1975, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1987.

The media-driven ‘Supercar Scare’ of 1972 curtailed plans to fit the LJ Torana XU-1 with a V8 engine. Thankfully it rained at Bathurst that October and Peter Brock made the most of his Torana’s lithe handling and braking to overcome the more powerful V8-powered Ford Falcon GT-HOs.

Holden slipped a V8 engine under the bonnet of the slightly larger LH generation Torana. The L34 race homologation model provided a second Bathurst win for Brock, racing as a privateer under the banner of Melbourne engine builders Gown-Hindhaugh. The L34 model came with a rear spoiler and bolt-on wheel-arch extensions to cover wide racing wheels and tyres. More importantly the engine package included a strengthened block, race-spec crankshaft, upgraded rods and pistons, a special camshaft, roller rockers, bigger valves, twin-coil ignition and a Holley 780 carburettor.

Peter Brock returns to HDT

After three years as a thorn in the side of the factory team, Brock returned to the HDT in 1978 after Holden appointed John Sheppard to replace founder Harry Firth. The combination of Brock’s exceptional driving skill, Sheppard’s impeccable car preparation and the more refined Torana A9X proved an irresistible force, leading to two more Bathurst victories – the second in 1979 by a record six laps. The A9X ‘option package’ addressed the L34’s shortcomings.

It introduced rear disc brakes, improved front and rear suspension geometries, a heavy-duty gearbox and a tough rear axle from the Holden one-tonne ute, with a tall diff ratio that just happened to be perfect for Bathurst. It also had a rear facing bonnet scoop that allowed the engine to breathe better. With the introduction of a more aerodynamic two-door hatchback body style, the A9X became the ultimate Torana race car.

Brock turned HDT into a genuine dealer-backed team in return for providing special road cars that served as the basis of the new Commodore race car. He was rewarded with not only immediate on-track success but also a new road-car business – HDT Special Vehicles – that for seven years was the biggest little carmaker in Australia.

At Bathurst, Brock made it a hat-trick of victories driving a VC Commodore. Although he was forced to concede to Dick Johnson and his rapid Ford Falcon XD in 1981, the Holden star switched to the latest VH Commodore SS model and again reigned supreme in 1982 and 1983, the latter after switching to the team’s second car.

Brock made it six Bathurst wins in seven years in 1984 driving the ultimate Group C Touring Car – the ‘Last of the Big Bangers’, a VK Commodore with an eye-catching dayglo orange paint scheme. HDT celebrated a famous 1-2 result with a formation finish that pointedly mirrored a devastating display seven years earlier by great rival Allan Moffat’s team.

International Group A regulations

The introduction of international Group A regulations from 1985 disadvantaged the small local carmakers. Brock and Holden persevered and managed to produce a competitive Commodore V8 that surprised the world in 1987, when the first World Touring Car Championship took place.

Against the might of increasingly dominant turbocharged cars from Ford and Nissan at Bathurst, and despite having broken his ties with Holden, Brock again stepped into his backup Commodore after his own had failed and drove it with enormous energy and bravery on a wet track.

He was welcomed to the podium as the local hero after finishing third behind two international Ford Sierras, but months later was declared the winner when the German-built Fords were excluded for technical infractions.

Brock was now a nine-time Bathurst winner, and an even greater hero to the legion of Holden fans around the country.