A fi ery end to
Jones’ 1996
Bathurst 1000.or a Ford Falcon. I always wanted to race a Holden,
because I thought they were a better race car.
“They had a smaller frontal area and they always
seemed to handle a bit better than the Falcon. So I was
pretty pissed off with Ford for what I saw as a token
amount. I was so pissed off that I went onto the grid
at Bathurst wearing a Holden cap just to show them
what I thought.
“Regardless of Ford’s effort, Philip Morris supplied
enough money to set up a workshop and get all the
equipment, transporter, engines, dyno... the whole
deal.
“I then contacted Ross Stone, who always prepared
a good car, and got him and his brother Jimmy on
board to look after it all.
“I knew I wasn’t mechanically minded enough to
run the cars and I didn’t want to worry about the
small things, I just wanted to race. The Stone brothers
looked to be the perfect solution.
“We ended up with sponsorship issues when the
government blocked cigarette sponsorship on cars –
bloody Jones’ Law, here was a good sponsor and the
relationship was already terminal. That is when we
switched to Pack Leader with a colour scheme that
evoked the Peter Jackson brand. The government
cracked it with us – but they did say we could take the
sponsorship money but not market products.“Eventually we weren’t
allowed to take their money, even if we
were driving a plain white car with no stickers, which
I just find extraordinary.
“Anyway, the relationship lasted a couple of years
until they closed that door on us. At that point I was
in a bit of trouble. We had the team and all the equip-
ment. I had a factory up and running and I had my
office at the front and the Stone brothers were operat-
ing the workshop at the back. Because I was having
trouble getting sponsorship for 1998, I sold them the
team.”ANTHONY TRATT RACING
“I did three sets of endurance races with Anthony
Tratt and that included a couple of extra races in the
championship to get ready. We had no speed in 1999
and finished the Queensland 500 but then retired at
Bathurst in the closing laps of the race. We finished
neither race in 2000 and then finished both in 2001- but we weren’t racing, we were making up the
numbers.”
DICK JOHNSON RACING
“My final opportunity in V8 Supercars came up with
Dick Johnson Racing and the chance to drive a Falcon
with Greg Ritter while Paul Radisich and Steve John-
son ran the lead car. It was good to be back in a serious
team. This was 2002, at the end of the era where the
team was a powerhouse of the sport.”RETIREMENT
“I never announced or even declared a retirement
proper from racing. I would never close the door to a
good opportunity if it came up, but I was now in my
late 50s and knew I was stretching it. I just walked
away from it, no fanfare, no farewell tour, just me
being me and doing it my way. So in a very quiet and
private way, that was it for my motor-racing career as
a driver.”
Edited extract from AJ: How Alan Jones Climbed to
the Top of Formula One. By Alan Jones and Andrew
Clarke. Published by Penguin Random House Aus-
tralia. Available now. RRP $34.99.BELOW: Jones’ fi nal Bathurst
1000 start in 2002.
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