For this Ryco Rewind we're going back to the 1991 Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst, a year when Nissan and ‘Godzilla’ finally slayed the Mountain.
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This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like you know to check you have the tickets in you while at first before you drive two hours to the big game. Seriously, you had one job. Now the closest you'll get to the 50-yard line is parking lot D. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Savings vary, terms apply, Allstate Fire & Casualty Insurance Company & Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. Please leave your message after the term. It's PC here, mate. I saw a journalist on what's on to their phone. So I'm just double checking your V8 booth night at Bathurst on the Thursday night October 10th. I'm a shooting school 730 kickoff at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Center. Gave you records only need a toilet because I only get one person there, so you better double check that. Anyway, it's going to be a hell of a night, buddy. You and I session for over an hour with the fans as well. Do you like anything else you want? Careful what you wish for, mate. It's going to be no-how bad. We'll have a few laughs, track a few jokes. You'll be boring, I'll be exciting. But that's OK, that's probably used to that. Anyway, oh good mate, look forward to it. Lots of stories, lots of bullshit. Should be a rip of a night. Any good, speak soon. A motorsport podcast network production. It's time for another Ico Rewind on the V8 salute podcast today of this day. October the 6th, we're looking back at a great race that occurred on this day. The Great Race, the 1991 G time flies when you're having fun. Twoies 1000 at Bathurst, so on this very day, Japan's own Nissan GTR broke through to become the first Japanese car. To win the race, Jim Richards-Mucks gave taking the checkered flag a lap clear of reigning champions, win Percy and Alan Grice, for the Holden Racing team in the VN Group A Commodore. And the podium rounded out by the customer, GIO Nissan GTR of Mark Gibbs and Rowan Enzlo. Now, the 1991 race is an interesting one because really, a Nissan was always going to win that race, really. But when you look back on it, it's actually sitting in time as the race that is the last time a Bathurst 1000 was held and run complete, the 161 laps, 1000 Ks without the appearance of the safety car. Not one, didn't have to fire it up at all. Safety car driver had a very, very quiet day at Bathurst on this day. October the 6th, back in 1991. So it was Nissan 1.3, the winning car led 155 of the 161 laps. The only other car to lead laps with the GIO car led two laps in the early stages. Glenn Seaton led two laps in the pit stop shuffle in his Sierra. And the Dick Johnson-John Bausier led two laps in among the shuffle as well. But the reality was the Nissan dominated and it won in record time. At that stage, 6 hours, 19 minutes, 14.8 seconds was the race record time to get it done. No safety cars, GTR was quick, it got the job done. Of course, this was the year that there had been a mooted plan. It didn't go through. The production cars could have joined touring cars. It was floated by the promoters and organizers of the time, the Australian Racing Drivers Club. And of course, 91 is the period where we're talking recession. We're talking Group A touring car championship round fields of 11 cars, 13 cars, 15 cars, small fields. But for Bathurst in 1991, they were able to put together an entry list that ended up with 49 cars at Bathurst. Now, not all of them started the race because there was an old Mitsubishi Staring that didn't qualify. There was a Corolla that didn't start with Mike Conway. And there was also another car that didn't start the product, well, product entered Commodore. But it was the GIO Commodore that was for Bob Tyndall and Darren Stewart. But it was as a bit of a backup crossover car for the GIO Nissan team. Should anything go wrong with their car, which in the end, it coughed and spotted in the last few stages. But they did get it home to finish on the podium to round out the top three. This race on this day in 1991 was actually the second of two races for the Australian Endurance Championship. Sand down 500 was the first. This was the last time that there was actually an Endurance Championship proper. Of course, supercars did bring the Enduro Cup in some years later. I'd love to see that come back. I know it's not a big ticket thing in the grand scheme of things, but it's nothing to talk about. It's another thing to add to the history books. So in '91, we're at the peak of Group A. '92 was the last year of Group A, albeit with Australian-based modifications to the cars. But Nissan GDR V8-VN Commodore, Ford Sierra's, BMW M3s, they're pretty much the leading cars at the front of the pack that are running up front and contending for the race. So you had the podium finishes that I mentioned. Fourth-place car didn't keep fourth-place though, because Charlie O'Brien and John Franco Brankitale in the Allen Moffett Sonova Sierra, they got excluded post-race for a non-homologated diff ratio in that car. So that meant that the class-winning BMW of the late Denny Harm, and the now late-sadly recently departed Peter Fitzgerald, not only won their class, but finished fourth overall, which was an impressive effort in the little BM. Kevin Waldock, Brett Peters, the playscapes Sierra, was always there or thereabouts in the Group A era. They finished fifth ahead of the grants, Alf and Tim in the Sizzler. Remember the Sizzler Nissan Skyline? Remember Sizzler? I think if you're in Queensland, you would have been a big Sizzler fan, because I think from memory, that's where it originally really grew legs. Peter Brockett and Andrew Medici finished seventh in the Mobile Commodore. Of course, that is the car. That is the year that Brock turns in that absolutely wild top-ten shootout lap with the things sideways dancing across the road, across the top of the mountain, bucking and bronking and lifting wheels and sideways coming out of the chase, that famous piece of vision from over the years that's only got more famous as the years go on. Then of course in the race, now Andrew spoke about this with us on a podcast episode earlier in 2024. If you haven't had a listen, go back into the archive and have a listen to his episode. He talked about how he had to hotwire the Brock car to get it back into the race. They used the race cam and the mechanics in the Channel 7 TV compound to get the camera to focus in on the areas that he needed to work on inside the car, to basically hotwire it back to life, get it back to the pits and they could get it back into the race. So, only at Bathurst, isn't it? I mean, seriously, where else does that sort of stuff happen in world sport? Now, plenty of contenders in this race who ran strong early on but just couldn't keep up with the pace and had their own dramas, Glenn Seton Sierra with Greg Hansford, they came home ninth, they had some dramas that slowed them down, Chelsea eras, they ended up all going out, the Johnson Bower car, they had the engine go with that one and then the engine went in the other car with Paul Radisich at the wheel with Terry Shields, the lead BMW of Tony Longhurst and Alan Jones, electrical drama took them out, the second Nissan GTR. There was two factory cars that year which a lot of people forget drew price in Gary Walden with the nominated drivers of the other car but Mark Scafe cross-entered into that car and set the fastest lap of the race in that car, two 14.5 if you were wondering which by the way is about two seconds faster than the time he did or the time that the number one car did for its fastest time in the race. I think Jim might have been at the wheel but you have this scenario where you could cross enter the drivers so with Richards behind the wheel of car one in the late stages in the second part of the race, they put Scafe in the other car just to let it rip, it had been delayed and had some dramas and they eventually retired it but from my reckoning by Scafe jumping into the number two car I don't think you could jump back into the number one car so had Jim Richards been suddenly ill or had some drama I guess they would have had to plug Drew Price or Gary Walden into the one car to finish the last stint or the last laps or if anything had got wrong maybe that was a decision that could have backfired on them but in the end it didn't, Nissen won the race and ended up finally breaking the domination that had been held at Bathurst for so many years by Holden and by Ford and of course Nissen had been trying since the early 80s when the Blue Bird Turbo came on the scene but they really did dominate on this day October the 6th back in 1991. The other top runner that I haven't mentioned yet, Larry Perkins and Thomas Mezzerer in the second mobile car of course those were Larry's cars, Brock's sponsorship but that was the famous one where Thomas came into the pits and the engine was no good and Larry couldn't hear him and the vision shows him sort of grabbing his helmet and lifting the visor up quite aggressively to find out what was going wrong and the fact was that that car was cooked it was it was out of the race as well so on this day in '91 Nissen dominated the Bathurst 1000 and and really has there been a more dominant victory ever since or one that we considered was a lay down mazare since then probably not the case but nevertheless the four-wheel drive twin turbo six-cylinder four-wheel drive what an amazing car albeit not popular in period but I think over the years those Nissons have become more accepted more fondly remembered I think the rose-colored glasses do sometimes come into play but it's on this day on Riker rewind on October the 6th 1991 the Jim Richards and Mark Scafe won the race at Bathurst and of course that was the first of Mark's Bathurst 1000 wins Jim had a few more in him as well and they went back to back in 1992 albeit in slightly more controversial circumstances now whether it's for a regular service you're prepping for your road trip Bathurst road trip maybe or looking for a filtration upgrade you can trust our great mates at Riker to get you ready ricofilters.com.au bringing you our Riker rewinds throughout the course of 2024 hope you enjoyed this look back at the '91 Bathurst 1000 I'll go away now you can have a think about Nissons and Commodores and BMs and that era of Group A and I'll catch you soon with another Riker rewind. Supercars in the Gold Coast. We're paradise meets power. Witness a festival like atmosphere in an adrenaline fuel weekend vote on and off the track. With Boost Mobile boosting the party vibes. Supercars on the Gold Coast it's the place to be. Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 October 25 the 27th book now a ticket tech. Supercars unforgettable. The National Motor Racing Museum is a must-see if you're in the central west of New South Wales. It's on the outside of Murray's Corner at the famous Mount Panorama in Bathurst and celebrates the rich history of Australian motorsport. There's famous cars, bikes, memorabilia so much to take in including the spectacular immersive room. It gives you an amazing taste of the speed, the sound and the excitement of the mountain. The museums generally open six days a week and also during events so visit their Facebook page or themuseumspathurst.com.au website for further details. [BLANK_AUDIO]
