It might be hard to believe, but it's exactly 10 years since the great Peter Brock was killed doing what he loved: wowing crowds and crushing the competition in fast cars. Here's our pick of the six best performances by Australia's undisputed King of The Mountain.
6. 1972 Bathurst 500
The last 500-mile race, the last time solo drivers were still allowed and the first win for Brock.
Used the legendary HDT LJ Torana GTR XU-1 to overcome Allan Moffat and the mighty Ford Falcon GH-HO Phase III in wet conditions, kick-starting a legend that continues to this day.
5. 1977 Spa 24 Hour
No, not a win, but by far the most successful of his few overseas forays. Brock and co-driver, the weighty Englishman Gerry Marshall, qualified only 28th but drove through the field to finish second in a Vauxhall Magnum.
4. 1979 Repco Round Australia Trial
Won the 20,000km event with co-drivers Matt Phillip and Noel Richards to deliver the new-fangled Holden Kingswood replacement, the Commodore VB, its first major motorsport victory.
Brock’s inclusion in the rally was dismissed as a publicity stunt by many who had forgotten his dirt success in rallying and rallycross in the early 1970s.
3. 1979 Bathurst 1000
Brock’s fourth win was capped by a lap record on his final tour of the Mount Panorama circuit.
His and Jim Richards’ winning margin was an incredible six laps in the MHDT Torana A9X hatchback.
2. 1987 Bathurst 1000
Third home on the day but uprated to first after the Eggenberger Sierras were disqualified, this was Brock’s ninth and last win in the October classic and also came after his polariser-driven split with Holden.
Footage of him manhandling the Mobile Commodore in wet conditions on slicks is mandatory for anyone wanting to understand Brock’s innate skill.
Brock’s win only came after he jumped in the second team car after his own ‘05’ entry broke down.
1. 1994 Eastern Creek ATCC round
Brock returned to the factory fold in 1994 with the Walkinshaw family-owned Holden Racing Team and won its first ever Australian Touring Car Championship round at the new Sydney venue in 1994.
Coincidentally, his HRT protégé Craig Lowndes would take his first win at the same venue two years later. In 2005, Lowndes would win the first race in Australia for his current team Triple Eight Race Engineering at the Sydney track.
In 2017, T8 will take over the HRT brand from the Walkinshaw family.
Brock also won...
Bathurst 500/1000 a record nine times
Sandown 400/500 a record nine times
Australian Touring Car Championship three times
Images: www.autopics.com.au and www.veracitymedia.com.au