Peter Brock: I can win Bathurst
10/9/2004 12:47 (Press Release) -
Australian motor racing great Peter Brock is hoping some Olympic inspiration will help drive him to conquer the Betta Electrical Sandown 500 in Melbourne this weekend and ultimately an unprecedented tenth Bathurst 1000 crown.
The undisputed ‘King of the Mountain’ was one of four inspirational team liaison officers for the record breaking Australian Olympic team in Athens, along with the likes of rugby union great John Eales and swimming legend Laurie Lawrence.
He returned the favour today for Olympic Gold Medalists Anna Meares and Brooke Hanson, Silver Medalist Kate Mactier and Bronze Medallist Shane Kelly. Brock treated them to an insight into his business with a fast lap of the Sandown circuit.
Brock is now back in the driver’s seat having accepted an offer to drive his re-introduced and legendary 05 Holden Commodore at Sandown and Bathurst at the request of Holden Racing Team owner Mark Skaife.
He will partner British driver Jason Plato in the two enduro events where lead drivers Skaife and Todd Kelly will drive in the first car for HRT.
“I still feel quite humbled by the fact I’m here,” Brock said.
“Firstly when Mark called I thought ‘Please don’t ask me because it will just be too good and I won’t be able to say no’. Then when I had the chance to get into the car again the memories began flooding back.”
The still superfit Brock, who has won Sandown in the past and Bathurst a record nine times, refused to concede he wasn’t a chance of winning either event.
“I never like to discount any opportunity in life and although I’d be foolish to think I can out-drive these guys you never, ever know. When it’s your day, it’s your day.”
And he claimed to have taken some driving tips from the chaotic streets of Athens.
“I saw drivers there that would do anything, we might as well have been on the road with a truckload of Russell Ingalls! I think I’m fully prepared for Sandown,” he said.
Glenn Seton, another of the V8 Supercar Championship Series greats, knows first hand that a good performance at Sandown can often mean bigger things at Bathurst. He has twice won Sandown, as has his team-mate and co-driver Craig Lowndes.
“It has always been the traditional buildup to Bathurst, is a very good build up and is a very important one,” Seton said.
“Things can go wrong in your first endurance race with drivers pairing up so here you get the opportunity to iron things out. Looking back on last year we didn’t have such a great Sandown but we performed very well at Bathurst.”
Seton and Lowndes finished second to Greg Murphy and Rick Kelly at Bathurst last year.
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