A selection of well-known drivers and motorsport identities will help to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Leyburn Australian Grand Prix during the Sprints this weekend.
Fittingly for this celebration, three guests – Warwick Brown, Bruce Allison and John Bowe –impressive AGP records. Warwick Brown won in 1977, Allison took pole position in 1975 and John Bowe was on the front grid row in 1984 ahead of several Formula 1 stars.
The others guests made their careers in tin-tops – Dick Johnson, Ron Harrop and Brian Gelding.
All the guests will take part in a range of activities during the weekend, including autograph sessions and the official opening and commemoration ceremony. Bowe also will compete in a Ford Escort.
The return of frequent Leyburn guest Dick Johnson and first visit by his old DJR Shell racing teammate John Bowe will be a special treat for visitors.
In a career of barely 10 years, Warwick Brown won the Australian Grand Prix (1977), New Zealand Grand Prix (1975), Tasman Series (1975) and Rothmans International Series/Australian National Formula 1 (1977, 1978).
He was the only Australian to win the Tasman Series. In the US, his rivals were many of the world’s best drivers, including Mario Andretti, James Hunt, Al Unser and Vern Schuppan.
He raced versions of the fearsomely-powerful Lola F5000 car, but in 1976 drove a Wolf-Williams at the United States Grand Prix in his sole Formula 1 appearance, finishing 14th. In 1978, he finished second in the American Can-Am series in a Lola sports car.
Like Brown, Queenslander Bruce Allison raced Lola F5000s in Australia, the United States and New Zealand. He took pole position for the 1975 AGP and appeared again in the race in 1976 and 1981.
After a year in the American F5000 series, Allison headed to the United Kingdom, showing his talent aboard a Chevron B37 F5000 in the Shellsport International series for Formula 1, F5000, Formula 2 and Formula Atlantic cars.
Finishing the series seventh overall with four podiums and three poles, Allison earned the coveted Grovewood Award as the most promising Commonwealth driver.
Allison returned to England for the 1977 British F1 Championship, winning at Mallory Park in a Formula 1 March-Cosworth. He then stepped back from motorsport after declining a Formula 1 opportunity, but returned in 1981 to win the Formula Pacific Series in Australia and the Shah Alam Grand Prix in Malaysia.
Dick Johnson AM and John Bowe AM are both members of the Supercars Hall of Fame. They competed as teammates in the Dick Johnson Racing team from 1988 to 1998, winning the Bathurst 1000 in 1989 and 1994.
Johnson’s achievements include three Bathurst 1000 races and five Australian Touring Car Championships. He was named a Queensland Q150 Icon in 2009.
Bowe’s driven open-wheelers, sports cars and touring cars.
His trophy tally includes two Gold Star Australian Drivers Championships, an Australian Touring Car Championship, Australian Sports Car Championship, two Bathurst 1000 wins, six Touring Car Masters titles and a Bathurst 12-Hour win. He raced five times in the Australian Grand Prix, in 1984 at Calder qualifying in second place ahead of Formula 1 stars Keke Rosberg, Andrea de Cesaris and Lucio Cesario.
Bowe competes this season in a BMW GT4 and will guest-drive Dennis Brown’s Ford Escort at Leyburn.
Harrop and Gelding are well-known in the garages at many Australian circuits. A former driver, Harrop became better known as an engineer of performance parts for road and race cars.
Gelding, like Johnson and Bowe, was associated closely with Fords over a long period in the sport. He’s a “small Ford” specialist in his Sydney parts business and worked for many years as a crew member for Jim Richards.
