Motor Australia – September 2019

“And, motorsport being what it is, those people always
believedthey’d getsecond-rateservicebecause Fredwould
betheworksteamandtherestwouldgethand-me-downs.
Therewasn’tenoughmoneyinitforthoseteamownersplus
thedevelopmentcosts.
“Fred was successful,of course, withthe GIOcar which
ranunderhim,buttherestofthepeople– andI meanoil
company-sponsoredteams– actuallyknockedonmydoorand
askedusif theycouldbepartofGT-R.Ultimatelytheywalked
awayfromitbecauseofthecostofdoingit,evencompared
witha SierraCosworthRS500.”
AccordingtoMarkSkaife,whiletheR32GT-Rracerwasthe
classofthefield,it stillwasn’teasyforheorRichotoextractits
fullperformanceonceit wasfullysorted.
“Itwasthemosttechnicallyadvanced touringcarof the
daybya longmargin,”Skaifesays.“Butitwashardtodrive.
Itsoutrightpacewassimilartotoday’sSupercar,butwitha
smallertyreandnoaero.I mean,it wouldhavehadlift.
“Andwhenitwasfinallyhandicappedto 1500 kilograms,it
wasa big,heavycarwithsmalltyresandnoaero.Itwasa real
handful.Intheslowstuffthecarwasobviouslygreat,butinthe
faststuffit waswild.
“Itsbigadvantagewasinthewet,especiallyatplaceslike
Mallala,AmarooParkandWinton(tight,twistytracks).
“Whenit rained,thethingwasjusta weapon.”
But even in the wetthe GT-R couldn’t defy the lawsof
physics.Richardswasonslickswhenhecrashedwhileleading
Bathurstin’92,runningoutofgripinthefloodingdownpour
andtriggeringtheredflagthatstoppedtherace.
Inthosedays,theresultwasdecidedbythepositionsonthe
lapbeforethecancellation,handingvictorytoRichardsand
Skaife.Thecontroversialfinishenragedthefans,whohadbeen
incitedbyDickJohnson’sclaimthatheandJohnBoweshould
havebeenthewinnersintheirsecond-placedSierrabecause
theywerestillactuallyrunningwhentheracewasdeclared.
More than a quarter of a century later,Gibson remains
defiant,maintainingtheracewasinthebagregardless.
“Didn’tmatter,”hescoffs.“Weweregoingtowinanyway.We
hadthebestdriversandthebestteam,andthecarwasa good
car.Simpleasthat.Butthecarwasa goodcarbecauseitwas
developedwithintheregulationstobea goodcar.”
Gibson,whowonthe 1967 Bathurst 500 inafactoryFord
FalconGT– thefirstfora V8– startingthearmsracethatled

ABOVE

SkaifeandGibson

reuniteforMOTOR

inthecockpitof

theR32roadcar

nowownedby

NissanAustralia

BELOW

RIGHT

Richardsgivesthe

booingcrowdhis

famousserveafter

controversialcrash-

marred‘92race

RIGHT

Handicappedfor

theirlastBathurst

in1992,theworks

GT-Rstillcame

throughtobeatthe

HoldensandFords

➜

116 september 2019 whichcar.com.au/motor