Long live the King
The King of the Mountain is deadAs unbelievable at it seems, Peter Brock was killed today when his Daytona Coupe hit a tree side-on in the early stages of Targa West, a tarmac rally in Western Australia.
The country is in mourning as the reality dawns that the man who was its most popular racing driver, and in the eyes of most its greatest, is gone.
Brock was idolised for winning the touring car endurance race at Bathurst's Mt Panorama nine times.
But he was revered as much more than a racing driver.
He was loved the length and breadth of the country, by men and women alike.
There was a magic about Brock. He was a Pied Piper. People flocked around him, worshipping him, mesmerised by him.
He lived his life in the spotlight and loved it, but he gave back to his adoring fans as much as they showered on him.
He made every one of them feel special, simply with an autograph, a smile, a wink, a word, or two, or three. Or many.
Brocky was up there with Bradman and Phar Lap as a national icon.
Yet he retained the common touch. A man of the people.
As marvelous as his record on the track was, there have been others perhaps in the same league in terms of talent, but nobody captured the public imagination in the way Brocky did.
He officially retired from motor racing almost a decade ago, but nothing was ever going to stop him.
He'd even been back to the Mountain in a V8 Supercar in recent years, but historic events and tarmac rallies had become his thing.
Last weekend he drove an old Holden at the Goodwood Revival in Britain. Today he was in Perth. Next weekend he was going to the Speed on Tweed.
Instead, Targa West -- in only its second year -- was halted today after he crashed on only its second stage. The other competitors will observe a minute's silence in Perth's Northbridge tonight at 8 o'clock, WA time. The three manufacturer teams -- Mitsubishi Ralliart, Subaru and CarPoint-sponsored MINI -- have withdrawn, but the event may well go on tomorrow and Sunday. Hopefully safely, but certainly in a sombre mood.
Brock's co-driver, Mick Hone, is in hospital with thankfully nothing more than a fractured pelvis and rib.
Mick lost a great mate today. Indeed, millions of Australians lost a man they regarded as a mate. The archetypal mate.
Long live the King.
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