Peter Geoffrey Brock, AM (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006) otherwise known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain" or simply as "Brocky" was one of Australia's best-known and most successful motor racing drivers. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, although he raced vehicles of other manufacturers including BMW, Ford, Volvo, Porsche and Peugeot.[1] He won the Bathurst 1000 endurance race nine times, the Sandown 500 touring car race nine times, the Australian Touring Car Championship three times, the Bathurst 24 Hour once and was inducted into the V8 Supercar Hall of Fame in 2001. Brock's business activities included the Holden Dealer Team (HDT) that produced Brock's racing machines as well as a number of modified high-performance road versions of his racing cars.
Brock was born at the Epworth Hospital, Richmond, Victoria. Brock's parents were Geoff Brock and Ruth Brock (née Laidlay).[2] The family lived in the country town of Hurstbridge (now an outer suburb of Melbourne) and Brock continued to live there throughout his life.[3] He attended Eltham High School in Eltham Victoria [4] His first car was an Austin 7[3] that he bought for £5 (A$10).[5] His driving skill improved greatly at this point of his life because the car didn't have brakes (or a body, which was removed with his father's axe).[5] He ended up trying to stop the car by sliding and anticipating the line.
Peter Brock was also in the first call up (conscription) in to the Australian Army during the mid-1960's, remaining with the rank of Private before being discharged in June 1967. Although he didn't show it while on the army base, Brock was against sending conscripts to Vietman, something the Australian Government was considering. According to his brother Lewis, while he never served in the Vietman War, Brock believed that the volunteer's should be sent there rather than those made to be there be conscription. While at the base, for fun, Peter and others used to race the ambulances they drove through the base.
Although neither knew each other then, also stationed at the Army base near Wagga in New South Wales at the time was a young Dick Johnson, who, during the 1980's and 1990's, would become one of Brock's chief rivals in touring car racing.
Brock at Symmons Plains 1982
During his early career Brock raced some "wild and woolly" creations including the famous blue 6-cylinder Holden-powered Austin A30. Brock rose to public attention in touring car racing.
Brock's Bathurst winning Torana
In 1969 he raced in the Bathurst 500, as it was then known, Australia's most prestigious endurance road race and won it for the first time in 1972 (the last year the race was run over 500 miles). Brock would win the event a total of nine times between 1972 and 1987, a feat that has not been equalled. His 1979 win was remarkable in that he claimed the flag by six laps, a record that (due to changes in race regulations introduced in the 1990s) may never be broken, and broke the circuit lap record for touring cars on the 163rd and final lap of the race. In 32 starts at Bathurst he claimed pole position a record six times. His record at this race earned him the titles King of the Mountain and the Bradman of Bathurst after Australia's record breaking cricketer of the 1930's and 1940's Don Bradman, although Brock himself cared little for the latter title.
Along with his record at the Bathurst race, Brock also claimed victory in the traditional lead up race to Bathurst, the Sandown 500, nine times, including a string of seven consecutive wins from 1975 until 1981. He won a total of 37 races during his career in the Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar championships, a record only eventually equalled by Mark Skaife in 2006 and beaten in 2007.[6]
As the lead driver for the Holden Dealer Team in a succession of both 6 and 8 cylinder Holden Torana's and later, V8 Commodores the smooth-talking clean-cut Brock became a household name that transcended motor racing as he emerged to be one of the best-known modern Australia and New Zealand racing drivers, spoken of with the same reverence as Formula One World Champions Jack Brabham, Alan Jones and Denny Hulme.
Brock and the Holden Dealer Team worked in partnership, with full factory approval and assistance, to produce a number of high-performance modifications to the Commodores under existing CAMS Group C regulations from 1980 to 1987. Some of these were HDT "homologation specials", one step away from race cars. It was around this time that Brock began his run of six Bathurst 1000 wins in seven years with a pair of hat trick wins from 1978-80 (with Jim Richards) and 1982-84 (with Larry Perkins and John Harvey), including his record breaking six-lap victory with in the 1979 event.
In 1986, Brock was crowned King of Moomba by the Melbourne based festival committee.[7]
Unlike several other Australian drivers including Alan Jones and Larry Perkins, Brock did not seek a full-time racing career outside Australia. He did attempt the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times in privateer vehicles, firstly in 1976 in the Team Brock BMW 3.0CSL which was bought in South Africa in late 1975 and shipped to Melbourne where it was completely stripped and rebuilt. His co-driver was former Aussie and UK resident Brian Muir with the BMW lasting 17 hours before a head gasket blew. He then returned for the 1981 race teamed with former HDT team mate Colin Bond and Bathurst co-driver Jim Richards in the Porsche Cars Australia #74 Porsche 924 Carrera GTR but while the team practiced, they were only named as a reserve, not participating in the race itself.
Then in 1984 Brock drove the orange Bob Jane T-Marts sponsored Porsche 956 rented from John Fitzpatrick Racing. With co-driver Larry Perkins, Brock finished 21st at the 1000 km of Silverstone. The pair then drove in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After Perkins qualified the car 15th, they were running as high as 5th at one stage of the race before retiring after Perkins crashed on lap 145 while trying to make up for lost time which included a lost wheel while Brock was in the car.[8] This attempt was covered extensively in the Peter Mckay/Barry Naismith book "LeMans The Australian Assault"
While in Europe in 1984, Brock was in the unusual situation (for him) of being the second billing in his driver pairing with Perkins. From 1974 until 1977 Larry Perkins had made 11 starts in Formula One and, to the large number of European motoring press covering the two World Sportscar Championship races, ex-F1 driver Larry 'Larrikins' Perkins was the star driver with Brock seen as nothing more than a saloon car driver. According to Perkins, "The Porsche exercise at Le Mans was great although PB (Brock) struggled with the 'Euro media' because no one knew who he was!"
Brock also drove a Vauxhall Magnum with British driver Gerry Marshall to a surprise second place in the 1977 Spa 24 Hours. He also won the 1979 Repco Round Australia Trial driving for the HDT in a 6cyl Holden VB Commodore along with co-drivers Noel Richards and Matthew Philip. The Repco was a long-distance endurance rally that drove clockwise around Australia featuring some dirt road sections completely different to the circuit racing where he made his name. The Round Australia Trial was revived in 1995 (sponsored by Brock's long time backer Mobil) with Brock again racing for Holden in Holden Racing Team prepared VR Commodore. Brock finished 3rd in the trial which was won by team mate (and former Australian Rally Champion) Ed Ordynski.
Brock also worked with the Victorian authorities promoting the campaign against drink driving. The most obvious sign of this association was the race car number 05 which related to the 0.05% blood alcohol limit in Victoria, which he utilized constantly from the mid-1970s. Most cars he raced in, regardless of the motor racing division, bore this number, including the car in which he died.
Brock, who lived hard in his early years, changed his lifestyle considerably after the failed 1984 Le Mans attempt left him physically and emotionally drained.[9]
After his return from Le Mans, Brock began to consult Melbourne based health practitioner Eric Dowker. He gave up alcohol and cigarettes, and became a vegan.[10] Brock began publicly supporting and, eventually, began to fit to all Holden Dealer Team specials a device called the "Energy Polariser" containing crystals and magnets in an epoxy resin that, it was claimed, improved the performance and handling of vehicles through "aligning the molecules".[11] The device was based on the principles of orgone pseudoscience.[11] The "Polariser" is being sold once more in an official HDT, Brock tribute upgrade pack.[12]
The overwhelming majority of the Australian motoring community regarded the device as pseudoscience,[10] and Brock's promotion of it drove away HDT drivers like Larry Perkins.[11] Brock also recommended tyre pressures of 22psi (150kPa) for his polariser-equipped vehicles, a level which many regarded as near-dangerously low. Holden, fearing the consequences of being associated with the device and a resulting breakdown in communications over Brock's plans for new models, cut ties with Brock and set up an alternative racing/modification operation, Holden Special Vehicles. During this period, Brock also became involved in the importation and even the modification of the Lada Samara, a cheap Soviet-built hatchback a world away from the high-performance V8-powered Commodores he was famous for.[13]
After his work with Lada, Brock, during the period 1988-1990 sold around 200 personally modified EA-series Ford Falcons, Fairmont Ghias, Fairlanes and Mavericks through Austech Automotive Developments.[14]
While Brock was always typecast in a Holden, he did have 'brief flirtations' with other makes in touring car racing. After his 1987 Holden split, he campaigned a BMW M3 (1988), and a Ford Sierra RS500 (1989–90). During 1988 Brock also campaigned a Ford Falcon in the Calder Park based AUSCAR series.
With the increasing costs of running two Sierra's, and with the teams technical support from the UK based Andy Rouse also stopping thanks to Rouse moving to drive for Toyota, Brock returned to driving a Holden in 1991, teaming with former HDT co-driver Perkins (who had left the HDT in mid-1985) to run a pair of VN SS Group A Commodore's. The association with Perkins only lasted for one year, though Brock continued to run the ATCC driving in Commodore's.
A further flirtation away from Holden was in 1994 when he raced a Volvo 850 in the one-off Eastern Creek 12-Hour. He also competed for Volvo in the Australian Super Touring Championship in 1996, finishing 6th in the championship with a best finish of 2nd in Round 7 at Lakeside in Brisbane.
After 1991 when teamed with Perkins, Brock continued to race in his own privately supported Commodores in 1992 and 1993, but returned to the factory Holden Racing Team in 1994. Brock retired from full-time driving following the 1997 Australian Touring Car season.
He announced to a packed race track he was forming 'The Peter Brock Foundation' A philanthropic organisation funded by corporate sponsors and donations from the public. Aimed at disadvantaged youth and others experiencing difficulties in Australia. As of 2008, the Foundation still continues operating and has financed many activities and people.
After his nominal 'retirement' he made two returns to Bathurst. In 2002 he paired with Team Brock lead driver Craig Baird to a 23rd place finish in the teams . He then returned to the Holden Racing team for the 2004 Bob Jane T-Marts 1000, teaming with Englishman in a VY Commodore. The pair failed to finish after Plato was involved in a spectacular accident with the Ozemail Falcon of fellow BTCC regular (and Brock's 1993 Bathurst co-driver) John Cleland while Cleland was lapping the Commodore on lap 29. The clash caused the Falcon to roll and enough damage to the HRT car to be out on the spot with Brock failing to get a drive in his last Bathurst race after Plato had started the car and was due to hand over to Brock a few laps after the crash.
Brock also drove a Holden Monaro for Garry Rogers Motorsport (GRM), winning four from four races in what was thought to be a one off appearance in the support races for the 2003 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. This led to him driving a 2nd Monaro built and run by GRM in the Australian Nations Cup Championship, a GT-type championship for highly modified and exotic road cars in 2003 before setting up his own team for himself and son James in 2004 (with Monaro's supplied by GRM). He achieved a tenth Bathurst endurance win in 2003 at the Bathurst 24 Hour, when he won, with Greg Murphy, Jason Bright and Todd Kelly in a his GRM Monaro, controversially powered by a 7.0L 427 cui V8 engine rather than the 5.7L Gen III as used by the production Monaro CV8 (the controversy came from no other car in Nations Cup being able to run a different size engine from the production model it was based on).
In 2002, he returned to top-level touring car racing as a team patron with Rod Nash Racing in V8 Supercar Commodore and drove in that year's Bathurst 1000 with the team was renamed 'Team Brock' as a branding exercise. The 'Team Brock' branding exercise was revived for 2003 this time with Paul Weel Racing but this time Brock's role was as a mentor rather than a driver. Frustrated with the lack of control he held over a team bearing his name, Brock and the team parted company at the end of the season.
He occasionally competed in various enthusiast-level motorsport events such as the Targa Tasmania with the Monaro's he drove actually constructed by Holden Special Vehicles. His smooth on-camera persona and familiarity to older Australians continued to sell products, including Mobil Oils and Bridgestone tyres, as the controversy of the Energy Polarizer had been largely forgotten.
Peter Brock finished in the top 5 at Bathurst 16 times in his 32 starts in The Great Race. This included his record nine wins, one second place, two third, two fourth and two fifth place finishes.
* In 1983 the Brock/Perkins #05 car was a DNF due to engine failure on lap 8. He and Larry Perkins then moved into the HDT's #25 Commodore (their winning car from 1982) and won the race with John Harvey. Despite being the third fastest of the four in qualifying (faster than Perkins), Brock's brother Phil missed out on a drive in the race.
**In 1987 the Brock/Parsons #05 car was a DNF due to engine failure on lap 34. The pair then joined Peter McLeod in the teams 2nd car and finished 3rd on the road. They were awarded the win after the Eggenberger Ford Sierra's were disqualified in January 1988 for illegal wheel arches. Bathurst rookie (and 1986 Australian Formula 2 champion) Jon Crooke missed driving in the race as a result of Brock/Parsons moving into his car.
Due to his extraordinary success on the racing track Brock became the Australian racing driver with the highest-profile as he undertook several media commitments. When not racing he often appeared on New Zealand television screens as a presenter; hosting motoring shows such as TV3's Police Stop (1996–1998) and TVNZ's Love that Car (2000).
He was also due to star in a racing film King of the Mountain in early 2007.[15]
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This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (November 2010) |
Brock has been the subject of several DVD documentaries—The Legend (1997 - updated 2004) [2] Peter Brock - Nine Times a Champion, Holden First Around Australia (Repco Trial VB Commodore)25 Years of HDT Special Vehicles Collectors Edition (2006) and 35 Years on the Mountain (2005) [3].
Brock married Heather Russell in 1967. The marriage ended in divorce two years later.[16]
Several years later Brock met 1973 Miss Australia pageant winner and Channel Seven weather presenter Michelle Downes. They married in April 1974 but this marriage was to be even shorter than his first, ending after only one year.[16][17] In 2006, Downes claimed Brock repeatedly beat her, and forced her to have an abortion.[18]
Brock next entered into a relationship with Bev McIntosh, the wife of one of his motor racing team.[16] After his two failed marriages Brock was hesitant to marry McIntosh.[16]
Although the couple never formally married, Peter always called Bev his "wife", and she changed her surname to Brock by deed poll. They had two children together, Robert and Alexandra. Her oldest, James, is Bev's son from a previous marriage.
Bev wrote Peter's biography[19] herself in 2004 after finding most potential authors had incorrect preconceived notions about him. She also expressed a desire to show his human side, to encourage others that they, too, can achieve their goals.[20] "Even Allan Moffat said it's okay for him—it's us mortals that have the problem," she said.[20]
Brock split with Bev in May 2005 after 28 years together. Alexandra gave birth to their grandson Oliver on 28 June 2006, two months before Brock's death.[21]
According to Bev, Brock was not an entirely faithful partner. She has described in a book her eventual tiring in the early 1990s of his relationships with "one too many secretaries".[22]
After splitting with Bev, Peter began a relationship with Julie Bamford,[23] whom he had met through his former partner Bev some 20 years previously.[24] Subsequently Bamford's estranged husband Ron McCurdy, who had once been a close friend of Brock's, assaulted Brock during a chance meeting outside the Peter Brock Foundation's office.[24][25]
On 8 September 2006, while driving in the Targa West '06 rally, Brock was 3 kilometres from the finish of the second stage of the race at Gidgegannup, about 40 km from Perth, Western Australia [26] when he skidded off a downhill left-hand bend on Clenton Road for over 50 metres in his 2001 Daytona Sportscar[27] and hit a tree. The 61-year-old Brock was killed instantly. His co-driver, Mick Hone, was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.[28][29] Video footage of the crash (provided by a fan and the in-car camera) was reviewed by Western Australian police to help determine the cause of the accident. Coroner Alastair Hope decided that his death was caused by high speed and that no coronial inquest would be performed.[30]
Brock's children accepted the offer of a Victorian state funeral, with former partner Bev telling ABC Radio:
- "[Brock] was loved. He was in the public eye, and everything had to be done with a flourish and with a bang. It's probably the way he would want to go out, (and) he would want to be remembered."[31]
The editor of Wheels Magazine, Ged Bulmer, said that Brock would be remembered for his nine victories at Bathurst, for "He had a long and very successful career there, he was the 'King of the Mountain' as he came to be known."
Brock was farewelled with a state funeral[32] at Melbourne's St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral, on 19 September 2006. A permanent memorial was placed at Peter Brock's "home" raceway, Sandown Raceway, on 22 September.[33]
Brock left three wills and a complex estate.[34][35][36] The court battle between his family members was protracted and took over three years to complete.[37]
In honour of his achievements and in recognition of his contribution to Australian motorsport, the Bathurst 1000 winner's trophy now carries his name.
In addition to his racing championships, Brock's efforts to society have been recognised in various ways:
- ^ [1]
- ^ "The Argus, Wednesday 7 March 1945". Historic Australian Newspapers. National Library of Australia. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/1098208.
- ^ a b "Peter Brock transcript, screened 2006 Sept 11". Talking Heads. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.abc.net.au/talkingheads/txt/s1735343.htm.
- ^ http://www.elthamhs.vic.edu.au/newsletters/yr2004/040518.htm
- ^ a b "That "evil natured" machine, the A30". Peter Perfect - The Race Days. Peter Brock - The Ultimate Resource. 2000-03-13. http://www.brock05.com/brockA30.php. Retrieved 2006-09-19.
- ^ Ray Kershler (9 September 2006). "Nine Wins Made Brock the Bradman of Bathurst and a household name". The Saturday Daily Telegraph (News Ltd): p. 46.
- ^ Craig Bellamy, Gordon Chisholm, Hilary Eriksen (17 Feb 2006) Moomba: A festival for the people.: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/rsrc/PDFs/Moomba/History%20of%20Moomba.pdf PDF pp 17-22
- ^ Scott, Phil (September 1984). "Brock at Le Mans". Wheels Magazine (Australian Consolidated Press).
- ^ Fogarty, Mark (2006-09-10). "Brock at ease with public role". Melbourne: The Age. http://www.theage.com.au/news/motorsport/brock-at-ease-with-public-role/2006/09/09/1157222386695.html. Retrieved 2006-09-15.
- ^ a b "Interview transcript". Enough Rope with Andrew Denton. 18 July 2005. http://www.abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/transcripts/s1417325.htm.
- ^ a b c David Robertson (19 February 1987). "Holden's, Brock fall out over energy box". Sydney Morning Herald: p. 3.
- ^ http://brisbanetimes.drive.com.au/motor-news/polariser-hdt-drawn-together-again-20111014-1lnx0.html
- ^ [|Bolton, Andrew]. "I'd rather a Lada!" (Review excerpts from Australian motoring magazines). http://www.wa.apana.org.au/~abolton/samrview.html. Retrieved 2006-09-15.
- ^ [|Walsh, Terry]. "EA-series Ford Falcons, Fairmont Ghias, Fairlanes and Mavericks.". Archived from the original on 2006-09-01. http://web.archive.org/web/20060901034905/http://www.geocities.com/brock_fords/index.html. Retrieved 2006-11-20.
- ^ Staff author (21 July 2006). "Pete in a panorama". Herald Sun - Carsguide (News Ltd): pp. G19.
- ^ a b c d Ray Kershler & Rupert Guinness (15 October 2005). "Wives in the fast lane". The Daily Telegraph (News Ltd): p. 31.
- ^ "Miss Australia Divorce". The Daily Mirror. 4 August 1975.
- ^ The Age Saturday 18 November 2006, p.11
- ^ Brock, Bev (2004). Peter Brock: Living with a Legend. Sydney: Macmillan Australia.
- ^ a b Stanford, James (30 October 2004). "Brocky marriage". Herald Sun (News Ltd): p. W29.
- ^ Mike Edmonds, Luke Dennehy & Chloe Adams (3 May 2005). "Brock to drive solo". Herald Sun (News Ltd): p. 20.
- ^ "Brock's affair shattered my family: mate". The Australian (News Limited). 12 September 2006. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20395745-2702,00.html. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ Rebehah Devlin, Andrew Capel & Doug Robertson (10 October 2005). "Brock's new model". The Advertiser (News Ltd): p. 44.
- ^ a b Power, Emily (17 March 2006). "Brock feud erupts: Jilted man comes out swinging". Herald Sun (News Ltd): p. 17.
- ^ Haberfield, Ian (2 July 2006). "Brock 'had it coming': Jilted husband has no regrets". Sunday Herald Sun (News Ltd): p. 4.
- ^ "Australian Motor Racing Legend Dies in Targa West". Confederation of Australian Motorsport. 8 September 2006. http://www.cams.com.au/content.asp?PageID=Article&ObjectID=775.
- ^ "Racing legend Brock killed in car crash". ABC News. 8 September 2006. http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200609/s1736485.htm.
- ^ "Peter Brock killed in crash". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 September 2006. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/peter-brock-killed-in-crash/2006/09/08/1157222310976.html.
- ^ "Motor racing legend Peter Brock 'reportedly killed'". The West Australian. 8 September 2006. http://thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=28&ContentID=6044.
- ^ Taylor, Paige (20 March 2008). "No inquest into Brock race death". News.com.au. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23404806-2,00.html.
- ^ "Brock family accepts state funeral". News.com.au. 9 September 2006. http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20375524-2,00.html. [dead link]
- ^ "'Remarkable' Brock's hard road". The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 September 2006. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/remarkable-brocks-hard-road/2006/09/19/1158431681495.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1.
- ^ "Brock's body returns to Melbourne". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 September 2006. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/brocks-body-returns-to-melbourne/2006/09/12/1157826937657.html.
- ^ "Mystery over 'new' Brock will". The Daily Telegraph. 16 September 2006. http://www.news.com.au/mystery-over-new-brock-will/story-e6frfzhr-1111112221825.
- ^ "Family tussle over Brock's three wills". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 September 2007. http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/family-tussle-over-brocks-three-wills/2007/09/25/1190486311858.html.
- ^ http://www.hunthunt.com.au/download/publications/tax-and-estate-planning/Tax_Estate_The_Peter_Brock_Case.pdf
- ^ http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/money/julie-bamford-and-bev-brock-near-settling-peters-estate/story-e6frezc0-1225742124751
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