Formula Racing
After Craig Lowndes' 100th V8 Supercars win, our experts pick their favourite Aussie racer.
At last month’s SKYCITY Triple Crown Darwin V8 Supercar race down in Australia Craig Lowndes, driver of the number 888 car in the 888th V8 Supercars race, took his 100th ever win in the series – a truly awesome achievement.
That made us wonder – does Craig Lowndes’s achievement qualify him as the greatest ever Australian driver?
We asked the experts for their opinion – if you don’t agree with their choices, let us know in the comments section below…
David Addison, circuit commentator – Mark Skaife
A great driver needs to be more than just somebody who drives a racing car – they need those little extra bits in order to be the complete package – so you would have to look at V8 Supercar driver Mark Skaife.
Skaife was good both as a driver and a figurehead, someone who was able to build the team around himself. He was a bit like the Schumacher of his era in that sense, he was able to get everything just right and became the dominant driver of the age. He polarised fans a little bit, but he was an excellent driver, quick in all kinds of machinery and successful in different eras.
In and out of the car, Skaife was a leader
While the Nissan Skyline was the dominant car of the late Group A days, he still had to drive it, which he did very well. He was also able to work with the media, with the sponsors out of the car, and became a good broadcaster when he went to Channel Ten. In and out of the car, Skaife was a leader. He led races, he led the team and he made HRT into a very dominant force.
Follow David on Twitter @addison1972
Sam Tickell, Racer Views – Sir Jack Brabham
A three-time Formula One World Champion, Sir Jack Brabham absolutely changed the sport as we know it. He came from nowhere to make his name and became an absolute legend, not only of Australian motorsport, but of motorsport in general.
Winning the F1 World Championship in his own car in 1966 is certainly not something we’re ever going to see again – motorsport now would probably never allow such a thing. Those were very different times. Few people back then could even come close to his race pace and engineering skills, and because he knew the car so well it meant he was able to look after the machinery. Very rarely did you ever hear of, or read about, Jack Brabham crashing or damaging a car – he always managed to bring the car over the line.
Brabham was a jack of all trades. He didn’t have the flash or charisma of Jim Clark or Stirling Moss, but he had the results and was extremely successful over a long period. His F1 career was around 15 years, which was extraordinary back then.
Brabham made going to Europe seem achievable
Quite apart from the Brabham family legacy, which has certainly helped him be remembered here in Australia and hopefully around the world, he made going to Europe seem achievable and made it something people wanted to do. He was a real inspiration to the next generation of drivers, whether they just raced here in Touring Cars or went overseas. Brabham’s success meant that Australia became more powerful in motorsport than it ever would have without him.
Follow Sam on Twitter @RacerViews
Trent Price, eRacing Magazine – Frank Matich
I’d like to cast my vote for the man who was very much Jack Brabham’s measure, but never got the chance to validate his sublime talent on the old continent.
The mid-1960s were a golden era for the Australian and New Zealand Tasman Series, attracting the biggest names in Formula One to compete against the best local talent. Frank Matich proved time and again the strongest partisan opposition to the European brigade, often matching and occasionally trouncing F1’s finest.
Matich would consistently out-qualify Jim Clark
At Warwick Farm, Matich would consistently out-qualify the likes of Clark, Surtees, Hulme and Hill. His 50-lap arm-wrestle with Jim Clark in 1965 is the stuff of legend; when a broken distributor forced Matich to pit, Clark slowed, awaiting Matich’s return, just so they could resume their battle. After the race, the acknowledged greatest driver of his generation requested that Matich should ride with him on the winner’s parade truck - the spirit of the race being of greater importance than the result.
Commitments on the home front prevented Frank from chancing his arm in Europe, despite insistences from Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart; those drivers still lobbied for Matich to be granted Grand Prix Drivers Association membership, despite never competing as a Formula One driver. Like Brabham, Matich was also a fine designer and constructor, developing the McLaren M10 in association with good friend Bruce McLaren as well as his own unheralded creation, the Matich SR3.
In the driving stakes there was perhaps one element that separated Matich and Brabham, as the man himself recalled back in 2011: “Maybe [Jack Brabham] did influence me a bit,” said Matich. “But not in the driving – I never deliberately blocked anyone!”
Follow Trent on Twitter @realtrentprice
Carl McKellar, CMC Media – Alan Jones
When you went to a Grand Prix and Alan Jones was on track, it was very clear to see from the body language of the car which one he was driving. He was one of those drivers who really stood out, particularly when he was in a car that was capable of winning races. You always knew he meant business.
The cars back then were at the height of the ground-effect rules, so they were very hard to drive. But whether in qualifying, or in a race situation when he was dicing with other cars, Jones had the ability to make it look easy and make the rest look ordinary. While Piquet was a real master of mind-games, Jones did most of his talking on the track.
You have to remember that for a period in the mid-1970s, Williams were on their knees and very nearly didn't continue in grand prix racing. Patrick Head and Frank Williams did a great job to turn around their fortunes, but they still needed a driver to lead the team and Alan Jones was the final component in that sense. The fact that the team is still racing today is not just a legacy of Williams and Head, but Jones as well.
Had Jones stayed on for 1982 he could well have had another title
I remember he was absolutely walking away with the British Grand Prix in 1979, but a very minor mechanical problem meant Clay Regazzoni won the first race for Williams. It would have been fitting if Jones had got it. It’s a great shame that he effectively left the sport at the end of 1981, because had he stayed on for 1982 he could well have had another title – particularly as Keke Rosberg only did it with one win!
Follow Carl on Twitter @CarlMcKellar
Aaron Noonan, V8 Sleuth – Peter Brock
Even 10 years after his death, Peter Brock remains the biggest name in the sport in our country.
Being a racing driver is more than just driving the car, a fact we are constantly reminded of in the commercial world, and Brock was proof of it. He took motor racing mainstream through media, corporate and sponsor work and became the driver that the general man in the street came to know.
He wasn't perfect, despite his ‘Peter Perfect’ nickname. He had his flaws, but the public generally looked past them. When he died in 2006, the national reaction was mammoth. I can't imagine any other Aussie racer having the same level of reaction among the public when they make their final pit stop of life.
You don't win Bathurst nine times without being bloody good, and Brock was bloody good!
Follow Aaron on Twitter @aaronnoonan
Thanks to this weeks contributors: David Addison, Sam Tickell, Trent Price, Carl McKellar and Aaron Noonan.
