Brock is back, heading two-car Holden team
15/3/2002 11:31 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Peter Brock yesterday confirmed his long-awaited comeback to the sport that made him a household name, announcing a partnership with Rod Nash and Ron Harrop in a two-car Holden team.
The cars and team will bare Brock’s illustrious name, 26 years after Team Brock made its debut on the Australian racing scene.
Following his retirement in 1997, it seemed inevitable the nine-time Bathurst champion would lend his unrivalled expertise to race management. It has taken five years, but Brock says the time has now come.
“People have wanted this to happen since my retirement from competitive racing. It’s all about timing, and this is the time,” he said at yesterday’s launch in Adelaide.
“I know I’ve been accused of having alpacas loose in the back paddock for getting back into the V8 scene, but the prospect of Team Brock success gives me a good reason to be involved.”
31-year-old Kiwi Craig Baird, a race winner on the V8 Supercar circuit with the Stone brothers, will drive the Brock Commodore in the opening rounds, beginning in Adelaide this weekend. James Brock will pilot a second car for his father later in the season.
Brock, 57, described his role as more of a team figurehead, coordinating media and sponsorship arrangements.
The team will compete under the Rod Nash franchise, with Nash to continue managing the Melbourne-based operation on a day-to-day basis. Experienced spanner man and long-time associate of Brock, Harrop will act as chief engineer.
“This partnership has some good synergy going with the three of us operating in our areas of expertise,” Brock said.
A major sponsorship announcement is expected in the coming weeks. Already, Holden, Bridgestone, Mobil, NGK, Autotek, Eibach and Biante have thrown their support behind the team.
“We should be fairly competitive as this season unfolds,” Brock said.
“Recent testing at Winton saw us lapping within three tenths of a second of Mark Skaife’s lap times on the same day and Ron has a few ideas to improve things as the season unwinds.
“It’s really a case of ‘softly, softly, catchee monkey’ as far as the team is concerned. If we can build our competitive stature and do a job for our sponsors, that will be great. Come the latter part of the year who knows what can happen.”
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