Tragic tale behind five words that rocked a nation

1 year ago 72

Five words cemented Jim Richards successful Bathurst 1000 folklore, and the communicative down them is possibly 1 of the turbulent and tragic tales successful Australian motorsport.

Richards is simply a fable of the sport, known for his 7 wins astatine Mount Panorama that placed him conscionable 2 shy of the precocious Peter Brock, King of The Mountain

The 1992 Bathurst 1000 was to beryllium the swansong for the four-wheel-drive Nissan Skyline GT-R successful the lawsuit and what was past known arsenic the Australian Touring Car Championship.

Richards was among those racing the GT-R, driving with Mark Skaife and Fred Gibson's eponymous team, Gibson Motorsport.

Nissan's dominance had turned up the noses of dyed-in-the-wool Ford and Holden fans and for 1993 the regulations would alteration to regularisation it retired of the competition.

It was thing but a fond farewell, arsenic Richards recounted successful his recently released book: Gentleman Jim.

On that Sunday successful 1992, Richards and Skaife rocketed to the pb aboriginal and controlled proceedings thereafter.

The dominance that the GT-R had been known for continued until the dying moments of the contention erstwhile dense rainfall began to lash The Mountain.

A decisive telephone not to pit and proceed connected slick tyres portion the circuit was battered by rainfall proved the difference.

Despite crashing and subsequently becoming the taxable of iconic scenes arsenic the car slid retired of power into a pile-up, Richards and Skaife were crowned winners.

As contention officials stopped proceedings early, the effect was coiled backmost to the past afloat completed thigh – which was erstwhile Richards and Skaife led.

At the time, the Kiwi thought his hopes had been dashed. He'd made his mode backmost to the pit lane successful a aesculapian car expecting the worst.

"I thought, 'Well, that's it, I've buggered it, we've mislaid the contention due to the fact that I deed the wall'," Richard recalled.

"When I got retired of the aesculapian car, I thought the squad was going to beryllium pissed off.

"Then they each came moving implicit waving and carrying on, Skaifey was yelling, 'We've won! We've won!'"

"It was unbelievable. You could accidental that was 1 of the happiest moments of my life."

Having gone from agony to ecstasy, Richards' excitement soon turned to choler arsenic the fans beneath the podium fto their feelings beryllium known.

What was to beryllium the sweetest infinitesimal turned sour arsenic the assemblage hurled maltreatment and brew cans flew astatine the rostrum, the already anti-Nissan assemblage upset that the car that had crashed retired was fixed the win.

"Skaifey and I were waiting to spell retired onto the podium, inactive laughing and giggling due to the fact that we'd thought we'd mislaid the race," Richards explained.

"Then they called for the 3rd placegetters to caput retired onto the podium, (Neil Crompton) and Anders (Olofsson), and determination was each this booing and carrying on, and the assemblage were throwing cans astatine the podium.

"There was a barroom successful the country we were waiting in, and Skaifey abruptly starts picking up brew cans and putting them successful his Tooheys Top Gun leather overgarment that they gave to the contention winners.

"I stopped him, 'No, hide it; we'll conscionable spell out, accidental hi, convey the sponsors and disappear, and successful astir 1 infinitesimal we'll beryllium backmost present having a beer."

What followed was 1 of the astir iconic lines ever uttered successful Australian motorsport arsenic Richards fto the assemblage cognize however helium felt.

"I'm conscionable truly stunned for words," helium said astatine the time, lasting connected the podium.

"I can't judge the reception. I thought Australian contention fans had a batch much to spell than this.

"This is bloody disgraceful. I'll support racing but, I archer you what, this is gonna stay with maine for a agelong time. You're a battalion of arseholes."

It each came aft a calamity a fewer hours earlier connected thigh 32 erstwhile his countryman Denny Hulme suffered a bosom onslaught astatine the instrumentality of the Benson & Hedges-backed BMW M3.

The brace had been bully friends. 'The Bear', arsenic helium was fondly known, won the 1967 Formula 1 World Championship successful an Australian-built Brabham.

Richard said helium was told aft his archetypal pit halt that Hulme had died suddenly, though the emotion of it each didn't descend successful until later.

"I dependable a small spot callous but proceeding that Denny had died had nary effect connected maine astatine each during the race," helium explained.

"It deed maine aft the contention was over. I had a brew and shed a fewer tears.

"I've ever been capable to bull things similar that reasonably well; I conjecture the younger you are the little it affects you.

"If you were going to walk away, astatine slightest Denny died doing what helium loved doing."

Richards remains 1 of New Zealand's astir celebrated figures successful motorsport.

His lad Steven went connected to triumph the Bathurst 1000 5 times, making it the astir palmy household astatine Mount Panorama.

Richards' grandson Clay has begun racing and precocious competed astatine The Mountain for the archetypal time.

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