Mountain men: Elder statesmen reunite for final run
2/10/2002 17:10 (V8 Wire - Jason Whittaker) -
Is this the end of an era?
Bathurst’s legendary mountain men – multiple winners Peter Brock, Jim Richards, Larry Perkins and Allan Grice – will reunite at their field of dreams next week, in what will be a collective swansong for this 50-plus club.
Never will they grace Mount Panorama as a group again – and, perhaps, individually.
Add Formula One champion Alan Jones and John Bowe, race stalwarts in the twilight of their careers, with race sponsor and inaugural Bathurst winner Bob Jane watching on, and you have a celebrated line-up of geriatric talent.
Brock headlines the bill. Bathurst is Brock – this for the final time...again.
The nine-time winner emerges from V8 racing retirement to give his fledgling team a kick-start, sharing the drive with Kiwi Craig Baird. And there’s the lure of a tenth title, something he refuses to discount, as unlikely as it seems.
At 57, he’s fitter than ever, despite a back injury sustained in a recent karting accident.
He’s also won a battle with officials to resurrect his famous 05 number, a lucky charm and a piece of racing history thought lost. The King of the Mountain is back on his rightful throne.
Two-time winner Grice will slip quietly into the Bathurst paddock next week for the first time since 1997, unbeknownst to most.
The 59-year-old former Queensland politician will share an underpowered Falcon with Ross Halliday, after a season in the V8 BRutes series.
"I certainly know my way around the place, I won’t have to ask for street directions," he joked.
"We are going there with a car that is a couple of years old, so a bit of rain wouldn't hurt.
"I have always said that it doesn't matter what you do the miles in, as long as you are doing them and the Utes have certainly helped me keep my eye in.
"Maybe I have a bit of career in this game."
Perkins and Richards, with twelve Bathurst crowns between them, keep on keeping on.
Richards, driving with Mark Skaife in the race-favourite Holden Racing Team Commodore, remains a formidable driver come the endurance events.
It’s something Perkins hopes to emulate when he enters semi-retirement next year. The 52-year-old is teaming with his young protégé, Paul Dumbrell, in a traditionally bulletproof Castrol Commodore.
It seems there's only one driver missing from this bygone 1000 – Ford hero Dick Johnson. But don’t expect a surprise comeback.
"If I thought I could do a better job than the guys I have in the car I would get in myself,” the two-winner, now team boss, said.
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