Colin Bond
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Colin Bond (born 24 February 1942) is an Australian former racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly-formed Holden Dealer Team. He quickly found success, winning the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 mile race (now the Bathurst 1000) at Bathurst, New South Wales in a Holden Monaro.
Bond was a particularly versatile driver, also finding success in the Australian Rally Championship, winning the title in 1971, 1972 and 1974 driving a Holden Torana. He also won the 1975 Australian Touring Car Championship in a Holden Torana & was a three time NSW Hillclimb Champion in 1965,66 & 67 driving a Lynx Peugeot S/C.
[edit] Torana GTR XU-1
The nimble 6 cylinder Torana GTR XU-1 debuted in late 1970 and in 1971 Bond began racking up an impressive list of race and rally titles in his Torana. He secured the Manufacturer’s Championship for Holden by winning 3 out of 5 rounds, including the Sandown 250 enduro in his XU-1. He also won the Australian Rally Championship and the Southern Cross Rally, along with the South Pacific Series that year.
Late in 1971 Bond had a couple of drives with Frank Matich’s F5000 team. One was in the Australian Grand Prix at Warwick Farm and driving in a wet practice session Bond put in lap times seconds faster than his more experienced F5000 rivals. After his open-wheeler stint he opted to stay with the Holden Dealer Team.
The following year Bond won the Australian Rally Championship for the second year in a row. Bond ran his rally Torana GTR XU-1 in rallycross events at Catalina Park, Katoomba and won various races on the bitumen including the Toby Lee Final at Oran Park.
In 1974, as well as winning his third national Rally Championship, Bond won the Amaroo Park Sun-7 Chesterfield Series against a strong challenge by Bob Morris.
[edit] Torana L34
In late 1974 driving the new V8 Torana, the SL/R5000 L34, he won the Manufacturer’s Championship for Holden - again winning 3 out of 5 rounds.
Peter Brock left the Holden Dealer Team at the end of 1974. So for the 1975 season Colin Bond was the team’s No.1 driver. That year he won the Australian Touring Car Championship and also won the South Pacific Touring Car Series. At Bathurst Bond won pole position and led for much of the early part of the race but a broken axle at half distance put him too far back to challenge Peter Brock.
Bond was involved in a dramatic finish in 1976 at the Bathurst 1000. Late in the race when it seemed Bond, in the Holden Dealer Team Torana L34, had the race sewn up he was forced to pull into the pits with fanbelt trouble allowing the Bob Morris Torana to take the lead. In the final laps Morris’s co-driver, British touring car ace John Fitzpatrick, nursed home an ailing car trailing smoke ahead of Bond’s Torana which finished about 40 seconds behind.
Years later, motoring writer Bill Tuckey in his book The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock claimed that there had been a lap scoring error in the 1976 race and that Colin Bond’s Torana was the first car to complete the distance. Tuckey claimed Holden declined to challenge the result because a privately-entered Holden team had won in such a memorable, emotional finish. It remains however a contested footnote, Bob Morris denies that this was the case, claiming most team lap scorers agreed that the results were correct.
[edit] 1-2 Formation Finish at Bathurst
In 1977, Bond came close to becoming the first driver to achieve victories for both Holden and Ford Motor Company at the Bathurst 1000 (a feat which wouldn't be achieved until Steven Richards in 1999). He was driving the second car (a Ford Falcon XC Hardtop) in Allan Moffat's team, with Moffat driving the lead car which was experiencing mechanical problems in the closing laps of the race. Although Bond had the opportunity to pass Moffat and take victory, he controversially chose to observe Moffat's team orders and allowed him to pass the line first in the now famous 1-2 formation finish. Bond has stated in interviews since then that he regretted not taking victory from Moffat.
From 1977 to 1980 Bond ran the Ford works rally team, with Greg Carr and Bond driving the very competitive BDA Escort. The highlight for the Ford team was Greg Carr winning the 1978 Australian Rally Championship.
[edit] The 1980’s
During the 1980’s Bond was less prominent than he had been the previous decade, due mainly as others recognised his engineering ability and he was hired to front smaller operations like Steve Masterton's Capri team, Alfa Romeo's three year factory effort and in the 90's Toyota's shortlived foray into Supertouring. But he did register two more Bathurst 1000 placings, finishing 3rd in 1983 and 1988; the latter occasion with former F1 World Champion Alan Jones as co-driver in a Ford Sierra. And in 1985 Bond and former motorcycle racer Gregg Hansford won their class at Bathurst in an Alfa Romeo GTV. He was also third in the 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship.
Bond drove a great variety of machinery during this period including the Ford Capri, Chevrolet Camaro, Triumph TR8, Alfa Romeo GTV, Alfa Romeo 75, Ford Sierra RS500, Toyota Corolla, and Porsche (including a Porsche 944 Turbo for Allan Hamilton’s team in the Australian GT Championship).
[edit] Wins in the Caltex Sierra
Colin Bond made an impact on the Touring Car Championship in 1990, winning two consecutive rounds of the championship at Lakeside and Mallala driving a Caltex sponsored Ford Sierra. Both these wins involved memorable drives where Bond came from behind to pass the leading cars one by one until taking the lead and holding off his rivals to win.
In 1994 Bond was lured back for one last tilt at the Bathurst 1000 by Fred Gibson, manager of the Winfield Racing Team. Driving a Holden VP Commodore with Swede Anders Olofsson, Bond briefly led the race early on when many cars were pitting to change tyres. He finished in 6th place on the same lap as the winning car.
Bond retired as a driver in 1994, but continues to contribute to the sport as a driving standards observer for V8 Supercar racing.
[edit] Career results
| Season | Series | Position | Car | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Australian Rally Championship | 1st | Holden Torana LC GTR XU-1 | Holden Dealer Team |
| 1972 | Australian Rally Championship | 1st | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | Holden Dealer Team |
| 1973 | Australian Rally Championship | 2nd | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | Holden Dealer Team |
| 1974 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 14th | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | Holden Dealer Team |
| 1974 | Australian Rally Championship | 1st | Holden Torana LJ GTR XU-1 | Marlboro-Holden Dealer Team |
| 1975 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 1st | Holden Torana LH L34 | Marlboro-Holden Dealer Team |
| 1976 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 2nd | Holden Torana LH L34 | Marlboro-Holden Dealer Team |
| 1977 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 2nd | Ford Falcon XB GT Ford Falcon XC |
Moffat Ford Dealers |
| 1978 | Australian Rally Championship | 3rd | Ford Escort BDA | Ford Australia |
| 1978 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 5th | Ford Falcon XC | Moffat Ford Dealers |
| 1979 | Australian Rally Championship | 3rd | Ford Escort BDA | Ford Australia |
| 1980 | Australian Rally Championship | 2nd | Ford Escort BDA | Ford Australia |
| 1981 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 3rd | Ford Capri V6 | Masterton Homes |
| 1982 | Australian GT Championship | 3rd | Porsche 944 Turbo | Porsche Cars Australia |
| 1983 | Australian GT Championship | 7th | Porsche 944 Turbo | Porsche Cars Australia |
| 1985 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 6th | Alfa Romeo GTV6 | Ignis |
| 1986 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 9th | Alfa Romeo GTV6 | Ignis |
| 1987 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 9th | Alfa Romeo 75 | Caltex CXT Racing |
| 1988 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 3rd | Ford Sierra RS500 | Caltex CXT Racing |
| 1989 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 8th | Ford Sierra RS500 | Caltex CXT Racing |
| 1990 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 4th | Ford Sierra RS500 | Caltex CXT Racing |
| 1991 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 10th | Ford Sierra RS500 | Caltex CXT Racing |
| 1992 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 12th | Ford Sierra RS500 | Caltex CXT Racing |
| 1993 | Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship | 3rd | Toyota Corolla Seca AE93 | Caltex CXT Racing |
[edit] References
- Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999 (Chevron) © 2000
- Giant Killers 1972
- Racing Car News October, 1976
- The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock (Bill Tuckey) 1987
- Highlights of Bathurst 1000 – 1993, 1994 DVD (Chevron)
- Torana SL/R5000 DVD (Holden Motorsport/Chevron)
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Bruce McPhee Barry Mulholland |
Winner of the Bathurst 1000 1969 (with Tony Roberts) |
Succeeded by Allan Moffat |
| Preceded by Peter Brock |
Winner of the Australian Touring Car Championship 1975 |
Succeeded by Allan Moffat |
| Preceded by Bob Watson |
Winner of the Australian Rally Championship 1971 and 1972 |
Succeeded by Peter Lang |
| Preceded by Peter Lang |
Winner of the Australian Rally Championship 1974 |
Succeeded by Ross Dunkerton |
