Motor Australia – September 2019

six-cylinderSkyline,I thought‘Wow,that’sgoingtobegreat’.I
expectedit tobea V6twin-turbo,”Gibsonsays.
“Whenit lobbedwitha straight-sixtwinturbo,it waspretty
rare.Oneoftheproblemswasthattheenginewaslongand
hungoutoverthefrontsubframe,sothecarwasfront-heavy.
If it hadbeena compactV6,it wouldhavebeena rocketship.”
Heavytobeginwith,Godzilla’sracingweightwasincreased
from1350kgto1500kgasCAMStried–unsuccessfully–to
rein in the ATCC-devouring monster. Following intensive
developmentandrefinement,theredrocketswereproducing
650 horsepower(485kW )inracetrim– laterreducedto 620 –
and,withtheboostwoundup,700bhp(520kW )forqualifying,
withdrive tothefourwheelscontrolledby whatwasthen
sophisticatedcomputermanagement.
In fullflight,both Gibsonand Skaiferememberthatthe
2.6-litretwin-turbostraightsix“bellowed”.
“It was already a heavy car, but they (CAMS) just kept
puttingweightonit,”Gibsonsays,clearlystillbitter.“Wewere
handicappedbecausewebuilta bettermousetrapwithinthe
regulations.Wedidourhomologationproperly– andthattook
timeandmoney.
“WebecamethebenchmarkforGT-Rintheworld.”
So well developed werethe Australian GT-Rs that when
GibsonreceivedofferstocompeteintheFuji 500 inJapanand
theMacauGrandPrix’sGuiatouringcarrace,Nismovetoed
theideaforfearofbeingupstaged.
DespitethehistoricalmyththattheR32GT-Rwasunbeatable
fromtheoutset,Gibsonisadamantittooka lotofintensive
localworktocapitaliseonthecar’sinherentadvantages.
“Itwasveryunreliableatthestart,”Gibsonsays,shakinghis
head.“Itwasa nightmare.Alotofworkhadtogointothecar
andwehadtodevelopit.Weuseda lotofAustraliansuppliers
tohelpusgetit right.”
GodzillabecamesodominantthatBergangerrevealsthat
evenrivalteamsexpressedinterestinswitchingtothefour-
wheel-drivemonster.
“WhenpeoplerealisedtheGT-Rwasgoingtobethegun
car,theyknockedonourdoorandwantedtorunGT-Rs– until
wetoldthemthebudget,”herecalls.“Twothingskilledthat
(customercars)– onewasthebudgetrequired,andthesecond
wasthattheywouldhavetodealthroughFredbecauseNismo
didn’twanttodealwithindependentteamsinAustralia.They
saidtheywerehappytosupplythroughGibsonMotorsport.

MARKSKAIFEfoundout

justhowgoodhislocally

producedGroupA R32

GT-Rwaswhenheraced

a Japanesecustomercar

(pictured)in1991.

WhileGibsonMotorsport

hadbeen‘dissuaded’by

Nismofromenteringraces

inJapanandMacau,Skaife

secureddriveswiththe

semi-factoryTaisanteam,

co-drivingwithKeiichi

Tsuchiya.

Theyfinishedthirdinthe

’91Fuji500,butSkaifefailed

tofinishtheGuiaclassicat

Macau.

Herecallsthattheexercise

confirmedthesuperiority

oftheAustralian-developed

GT-R,whichdeviatedsomuch

fromtheJapaneseversion.

“Itwasgoodforusto

goanddrivebecausewe

actuallyendedupputtingour

(AustralianHolinger)gearbox

init anda fewotherthings.

“Ithighlightedjust

howgoodourcarwas in

comparison.Thedifference

wasmassive– (theJapanese

car)wasjustnotinthe same

league.”

Soimpressedwasthe

Japaneseteam,it considered

buyinga Gibsoncar,but the

movewasblockedbyNismo.

“Thatwouldhaveshaken

theestablishmentup,” Skaife

smilesruefully.

Australia’scategory-killing

Godzillawastheultimate

expressionofGroupA, the

lastinternationaltouring

carcategorytorelyon wild

homologationspecialroad

cars.Nofour-wheeldrive,

computer-controlledFord

SierraCosworthRS500 or

BMWM3Evowouldfollow.

GroupA wasreplaced by

2.0-litreSuperTouring, while

Australiawentwithlocal V8s.

When Skaife raced in Japan

FARLEFT

TheGT-Rwas

fragilewhenit

debutedin1990,

butwithina year

hadthereliability

tomatchitsspeed

OPPOSITE

BOTTOM

Skaifetakesthe

flagatBathurstin

1991.Inqualifying

heseta recordtop

speedof293km/h

ABOVE

PaulBerangerwas

responsiblefor

thelocalroadcar

homologation,and

designedtherace

cars’iconicliveries

➜

d motorofficial f motor_mag^115