With Bathurst approaching this weekend, there has been much focus on the famous victory in the 1990 Tooheys 1000 by Win Percy and Allan Grice, driving for the then newly formed Holden Racing Team.
The race holds a special place for a lot of people – particularly Holden fans – after a long drought of success during the Group A period of Australian motor racing, Holden returned to the winners circle, against the odds.
I include myself in that, and the race also holds an extra significance for me, as this was the very first race to enter my video collection. The winning car lives on in a private collection:
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of that race, the Holden Racing Team will appear at this years race this weekend in a tribute livery, with the drivers and crew also wearing replicas of the 1990 uniforms worn by the team.
Racing has coming a long way since 1990, and the simpler technologies belied the fact that these were still fast cars. Things are certainly taken a lot more seriously these days – as this shot of the steering wheel of the 1990 car shows, there was more fun back then.
I’m not specifically a Holden Racing Team fan, but given the tribute livery, and the special anniversary, a repeat win this weekend would be kind of fitting.