Peter Brock

Childhood heroes are not supposed to die, especially while doing the thing that made them a hero in the first place. Yet that is what happened on Friday when Peter Brock was killed while driving in a rally in Western Australia.

My earliest memory of watching Brocky race on TV was in 1984, aged 8. Brock's Holden Dealer Team picked up a one-two finish at Bathurst, John Harvey was driving the second of the team cars. It was the end of a triffecta of Bathurst 1000 wins and of an era as the Group E 'big bangers' were replaced by international Group A touring cars the following year.

Brock's luck was not so great until 1987 when Bathurst became a round of the World Touring Car Championships. Crossing the line third, following an inspired drive in the wet in the second team car (having previously retired the first car due to mechanical problems), Brock was promoted to first following the subsequent disqualification of the two Texaco Sierras which had finished first and second. That was win number nine in the touring cars. A 'perfect 10' was to allude Brock in the touring cars but he later picked up a tenth Bathurst victory in a 24 hour production car race.

Peter Perfect rarely seemed to have an accident, especially at the Mount Panorama circuit at Bathurst. And he walked away from the couple of accidents he did have including one in 1997
in which he rolled a 2 litre engine Vectra. Before going out for a practice session for the 2 litre Bathurst 1000 race of that year, Brock had said to his team mate, John Cleland, "I think you can take the kink (the right hand corner at the bottom on Conrod Strait which leads into Caltex Chase) flat out". During the session Brock ran off the track at the corner and rolled his car several times in an attempt to prove the theory. The accident was at very high speed and the car was a wreck. But Brock was OK and came back to the pit area to inform Cleland that "I was wrong".

Apart from putting a foot wrong driving wise, in endurance races Brock had a knack for looking after his car. Rarely did he personally retire from the race. Often the car would develop mechanical troubles while his co-driver was at the wheel. For a man who would race at the limit, Brock seemed to possess a sixth sense for the 'health' of the car he was racing.

While I never saw him race in person, I was lucky enough to meet Peter Brock at a media day at Mount Panorama in 1997. And it is very true about him spending time with fans. He had to be well persuaded by minders to leave the adoring throngs behind in order to fulfill other commitments.

It was a shock to get the call from my friend, Stu, at breakfast time here in London on Friday to tell me that Brock had died. Brock has been called a legend of Australian motorsport for many years now. And while my childhood hero has died, the legend will live on strong.

Postlogue: While watching the post race analysis of the Italian F1 grand prix on Sunday I saw an interview between a pitlane commentator and a Ferrari technician. The technician was still carrying his clipboard with technical information for the race. On the back of the clipboard was a picture of Brock's famous 05 Torana along with a simple message: "Farewell P B".