Vince Diecast Cars

After his now infamous and very public bust-up with Holden, Peter Brock did something that his most ardent of fans would have never seen coming in 1988, he became a BMW man. The nine-time Bathurst winner took over the BMW inventory from Frank Gardner and a two-car team emerged for 1988 with Brock and BMW ace Jim Richards re-united in a pair of Mobil 1-backed M3 BMWs.

The 2.3-litre machines had been giant killers in 1987 as Richards won the Australian Touring Car Championship, however the turbocharged Ford Sierra teams had found some reliability to go with their pace in ’88 and the little ‘Beemers’ never stood much of a chance. Richards finished fourth in the ATCC and Brock equal fifth, though the endurance races to come perhaps gave a greater opportunity for the bullet-proof nature of the M3 to shine through.

It made sense that the two regular aces, and former Bathurst winners together in 1978, 79 and 80, would be paired together in the lead car, while TV commentator/racer Neil Crompton and David ‘Skippy’ Parsons teamed up in the second car. But the Brock/Richards entry for the 1988 Tooheys 1000 at Bathurst would be a little strange given it would not carry Brock’s familiar number 05.

Being a round of the short-lived Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship and under the control of FISA (later to become the FIA), it was deemed that the number could not be carried given it started with a zero and seeing as the car was in Class 2 (1601-2500cc), the numbers allocated to that class started from 51 onwards anyway. So therefore, the lead car, which was the newer of the team’s cars and raced by Richards in the ATCC, became #56 for the Bathurst classic, while Crompton/Parsons assumed #57.

Not surprisingly, the power of the Sierras, Skylines and Commodores left the BMWs out of breath at Bathurst in qualifying, hoping that their reliability and endurance would pull them through come the end of 161 laps. The #56 car qualified 16th on the grid, its 2m23.76s lap comparing to the pole lap of Dick Johnson’s Sierra at 2m16.46s.

Given the race was under FISA ruling, the regular Top 10 Shootout was not permitted to determine grid positions, however the traditional Saturday session was still run with a twist. The 10 fastest cars were permitted to run, with Brock and 1986 winner Allan Grice’s Commodore added to the field. Brock ran a 2m25.11s time to be slowest, but the times didn’t matter and it was purely a case of racing against the clock for prizemoney and ego purposes.

So come race day, Brock kicked off the day behind the wheel of #56 and started to make up places as others failed and struggled to keep the pace of the Johnson and John Bowe Sierras. By lap 36 he had risen to fifth place, though a lap down, behind a handful of Sierras and the HSV Commodore of Larry Perkins and things were looking good as the other thirstier cars pitted for fuel and the BMW kept ticking around like clockwork. The plan was to make it to around lap 45, meaning a three-stop race for fuel and the plan was working. That was until lap 37 when he was following Bowe down Conrod Straight. The Sierra driver pulled over to the right as they crested the second rise in the straight, however Brock was tucked right up behind in the slipstream and desperate to get as much aerodynamic benefit he could from the Ford’s speed.

He crashed into the stationary wheel and tyre at full noise, ripping the front end out of the car and sending #56 straight into the pits for repairs. The repairs were made over a long period of time, (including bypassing an oil cooler) and the car rejoined, however with Crompton now behind the wheel.

The Seven Network commentator started the race in the network’s commentary box before heading down to pit lane to jump into car #57. But when the lead car hit troubles, the plan switched for Richards and Brock to commandeer the back up car and thus Crompton was sent out for his first-ever Bathurst 1000 start in the repaired #56 machine.

He rejoined 30th and many laps behind, however did create some brilliant Bathurst memories on the in-car camera later in the day as his fellow commentators, and even Brock on a headset, chimed in for a chat, during which time they passed on all sorts of wild and wacky advice to the poor rookie!

Car #56 had got back up to 19th place but then its engine died after 89 laps and the day was done. Richards had climbed into the #57 car beforehand but it overheated and so both BMWs were casualties of yet another grueling Bathurst 1000.

It was the one and only time Brock competed in a BMW at Bathurst and it was the last time he and Richards shared a car together at Mount Panorama.