Australian Muscle Car – July 01, 2019

Topdogat Nissan

A

s hisIndycarcareerwaswindingdown
in 1987,Brabhamwasapproachedby
NissanIMSAteamdesignerTrevorHarris,
whohadworkedwithhimat VDSandEagle.
Long-timeDatsunracerDonDevendorf
rantheteam,usinga 2.1-litreturbocharged
enginein thebackofa Lolachassis.
“It’sfunnybecauseoneweekendI just
happenedto bewatchinga raceonTVandsaw
DoncrashhisLola– anotherreallybadLolacar

• andalltheseatbeltspoppedout,sohewas
  kneelingonthegroundnextto thecarobviously
  havingrealdifficultybreathing.Thenabouttwo
  dayslaterthephoneringsandit’sTrevor,asking
  meto comeandtestforthem!
  “I madeanexcusethatI hadanIndycartest,
  whichwasbullshit,buthepersisted,soI went
  outandI wasreallyimpressedbytheirattitude.
  Theyshowedmethecarandwentthrough
  everythingthatwaswrongwithit andwhatthey
  weregoingto do,andI justhadcondencethat
  theyweregoingto sortit out.
  “I endedupdoingRiverside,whichhada
  reallylongstraightandthena kinkbeforeyou
  gotto Turn9, whichwas200mphorsomething
  in thosecars.Thatwasbeforerestrictors,soI
  had1100-plushorsepowerforqualifyingand
  about 950 fortherace.Thethingwasa hand
  grenade,butit wasfast!
  “About 10 lapsintotheraceI cameintothat
  kinkandthecarwouldn’tturnandI onlyjust
  madeit through.Thesteeringarmhadbroken
  andit scaredthecrapoutof me.BythetimeI
  gotthecarsortedto goaroundTurn9, I went
  upin thewallandwasoutof therace.
  “ThenI wasthinking,‘I don’tknowaboutthis’,

butbythetimeI drovethecarnextthey’ddone

wholenewbodyworkforit andgotridof allthe

Lolaaerodynamics.Justdrivingoutthepitlane,

I knewit was 10 timesbetterthanwhatit was

before.”

ThatcarwasGeoff’sfavouriteandhe

dulydroveit to victoryin the 1988 IMSA

championship,therstof anamazingfourin

succession.Eventhoughthenew-for-1990

chassiswasnotasgood,theenginewasbetter

andNissanwasableto seeoffa Walkinshaw

Jaguarattack.

Theonlydownsideof theNissanprogram

wasa hugeaccidentin testingat ElkhartLake

in 1991whena tyreblew,puttingGeoffin

hospitalwithbrokenribs,a crushedvertebrae

andteethknockedout.Buta monthlaterhestill

clinchedhisfourthtitle.

“WhenI wentto NissanI actuallyforoncein

mylifefellintotherightteamat therighttime.

Sothatmadeit special,eventhoughI would

havepreferredto stillbein Indycars.Butthecar

wasbulletproof,theteamwereallreallygood

andwewonfourchampionshipsin a row.I felt

at thattimeit wasprobablythebestI drove.I felt

reallyontopof mygameat thattime.

“ThetroublewiththeNissanprogramwas

wewentfroma smallteamof about 30 people

sponsoredbyNissan,andthenNissandecided

to takeit overandit becamea corporatething

whereyouhadto have 10 purchaseordersto

doanything.It balloonedoutto 200peopleand

theyhada budgetof $25millionorsomething,

andwecouldn’tgetanythingdone.In thefth

yearwewerethreesecondsa lapslowerthan

theToyotasandtheyshutit alldown.”

I had 1100-plus horsepower for qualifying and about 950 for

the race. The thing was a hand grenade, but it was fast!

Nissanknowhow...towinwhentheyputtheirmindto

it.BrabhamwonfourconsecutiveIMSAtitles, 1988 to

1991,seeingoffJaguar’sTWR-runchallenge.