Tony Longhurst
| Tony Longhurst | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born |
1 October 1957 Sydney, New South Wales |
| ATCC / V8 Supercar | |
| Years active | 1985-2007 |
| Teams |
JPS Team BMW Tony Longhurst Racing Longhurst Racing Stone Brothers Racing Rod Nash Racing Holden Racing Team Perkins Engineering Team Dynamik |
| Starts | 191 |
| Wins | 5 |
| Best finish | 3rd in 1991 & 1992 Australian Touring Car Championship |
| Previous series | |
| 1983 1986-91 1994 |
Alfasud Series AMSCAR Australian Super Touring |
| Championship titles | |
| 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1994 2001 2009 |
AMSCAR AMSCAR Bathurst 1000 AMSCAR AMSCAR AMSCAR Australian Super Touring Bathurst 1000 Bathurst 12 Hour |
Tony Longhurst (born 1 October 1957 in Sydney, New South Wales) is an Australian former racing driver and Australian Champion water skier. He is most noted for his career in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar series.
Career
Longhurst is a two-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, winning the event in 1988 with Tomas Mezera[1] and in 2001 with Mark Skaife,[2] and is one of only four drivers to win Bathurst in both a Ford and a Holden (the others being Craig Lowndes, Steven Richards and Jamie Whincup).[3]
He has raced internationally in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship and 1993 FIA Touring Car Challenge, both times for BMW. He also won the Australian Super Touring Championship for BMW in 1994.
After four years of service to the Frank Gardner run JPS Team BMW from 1984–87, Longhurst started his own touring car team in 1988 named Tony Longhurst Racing which based itself on the Gold Coast behind the Longhurst family owned Dreamworld. For sponsorship reasons the team was known by various names during its time including Freeport Motorsport and Benson & Hedges Racing. Initially running the powerful Ford Sierra RS500 from 1988–90, the team then began using the evolution model BMW M3 (1991–93), and Holden Commodore VP (1994). In 1995, Longhurst sold out to fellow shareholders Gardner and Terry Morris and formed Longhurst Racing to compete in the V8 Supercars series with a Ford Falcon EF.
Tony Longhurst is the only driver to have won five of the now defunct AMSCAR series run at Sydney's tight Amaroo Park circuit. He won the series in 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990 and finally in 1991.
He announced his retirement from competitive racing after the 2005 Bathurst 1000, where he and co-driver Max Wilson failed to finish the race. He also made an appearance at the Targa Tasmania that year. He returned to this event in 2006, finishing fourth overall. He went one better in the event in 2007, placing third overall in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. In 2009 he added a Bathurst 12 Hour victory, co-driving with Damien White.[4]
The Benson & Hedges Ford Sierra driven by Longhurst and Tomas Mezera to victory at Mount Panorama in 1988 is on display at the National Motor Racing Museum in Bathurst, New South Wales.
Longhurst now lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland.
Career results
Complete World Sportscar Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | JPS Team BMW | BMW 320i | MNZ | SIL | LMS | NUR | BHT | MOS | SPA | IMO | FJI | KYL |
SAN 14 |
NC | 0 |
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | DC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | JPS Team BMW | BMW M3 | MNZ | JAR | DIJ | NUR | SPA | BNO | SIL | BAT 4 |
CLD Ret |
NC | 0 | ||
| CiBiEmme | WEL 7 |
FJI |
Bathurst 1000 Results
| Year | Number | Team | Car | Co-driver | Position | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | 33 | Dreamworld | Chevrolet Camaro Z28 | Mike Burgmann | DNF | 121 |
| 1984 | 31 | JPS Team BMW | BMW 635 CSi | Jim Richards | DNF | 39 |
| 1985 | 1 | JPS Team BMW | BMW 635 CSi | Jim Richards | 4th | 160 |
| 1986 | 1 | JPS Team BMW | BMW 635 CSi | Jim Richards | 6th | 161 |
| 1987 | 44 | JPS Team BMW | BMW M3 | Jim Richards | 4th | 156 |
| 1988 | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | Tomas Mezera | 1st | 161 |
| 1989 | 25 20 |
Benson & Hedges Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 Ford Sierra RS500 |
Neville Crichton Alan Jones / Denny Hulme |
DNF 5th |
27 158 |
| 1990 | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | Mark McLaughlin | DNF | 53 |
| 1991 | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | BMW M3 Evolution | Alan Jones | DNF | 138 |
| 1992 | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | BMW M3 Evolution | Johnny Cecotto | 4th | 142 |
| 1993 | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | BMW M3 Evolution | Steve Soper | DNF | 79 |
| 1994 | 25 | Benson & Hedges Racing | Holden VP Commodore | Charlie O'Brien | 4th | 161 |
| 1995 | 25 | Castrol Longhurst Ford | Ford EF Falcon | Wayne Park | 9th | 149 |
| 1996 | 25 | Castrol Longhurst Ford | Ford EF Falcon | Steven Ellery | 3rd | 161 |
| 1997 | 25 | Castrol Longhurst Ford | Ford EL Falcon | Charlie O'Brien | DNF | 110 |
| 1998 | 25 | Castrol Longhurst Ford | Ford EL Falcon | Geoff Brabham | 8th | 157 |
| 1999 | 25 | Tony Longhurst Racing | Ford AU Falcon | Adam Macrow | DNF | 150 |
| 2000 | 9 | Stone Brothers Racing | Ford AU Falcon | David Besnard | DNF | 151 |
| 2001 | 1 | Holden Racing Team | Holden VX Commodore | Mark Skaife | 1st | 161 |
| 2002 | 66 | Team Betta Electrical | Ford AU Falcon | Matthew White | 6th | 161 |
| 2003 | 2 | Holden Racing Team | Holden VY Commodore | Jim Richards | 5th | 161 |
| 2004 | 8 | Perkins Engineering | Holden VY Commodore | Paul Dumbrell | DNF | 129 |
| 2005 | 44 | Team Dynamik Longhurst Racing |
Holden VZ Commodore | Max Wilson | DNF | 32 |
| 2006 | 55 | Rod Nash Racing | Holden VZ Commodore | Steve Owen | 7th | 161 |
References
- ↑ Sierras fill top three at Bathurst
- ↑ "Motorsport: Skaife supreme in topsy-turvy Bathurst race". The New Zealand Herald. 8 October 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ↑ "Richards a chip off the old block". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 October 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ↑ Bathurst 12: Event race report
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Peter Brock David Parsons Peter McLeod |
Winner of the Bathurst 1000 1988 (with Tomas Mezera) |
Succeeded by Dick Johnson John Bowe |
| Preceded by Peter Doulman |
Winner of the Australian Manufacturers' Championship 1994 |
Succeeded by Paul Morris |
| Preceded by Garth Tander Jason Bargwanna |
Winner of the Bathurst 1000 2001 (with Mark Skaife) |
Succeeded by Mark Skaife Jim Richards |
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