Tony Longhurst

Anthony Lawrence Longhurst (born 1 October 1957 in Sydney) is an Australian racing driver and former Australian Champion water skier. He is most noted for his career in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar series. 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 five drivers to win Bathurst in both a Ford and a Holden (the others being Craig Lowndes, Steven Richards , Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert).[3]

Tony Longhurst
NationalityAustralian
Born (1957-10-01) 1 October 1957
Sydney
ATCC / V8 Supercar
Years active1985–2007
TeamsJPS Team BMW
Tony Longhurst Racing
Longhurst Racing
Stone Brothers Racing
Rod Nash Racing
Holden Racing Team
Perkins Engineering
Team Dynamik
Starts191
Wins5
Best finish3rd in 1991 & 1992
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

He also had a long association with BMW, racing internationally in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship and 1993 FIA Touring Car Challenge, and winning the 1985 Sandown 500 and the 1994 Australian Super Touring Championship for the marque.

Career

JPS Team BMW

JPS Team BMW M3 of Jim Richards and Tony Longhurst which finished 4th outright and first in class at the 1987 James Hardie 1000.

After a self-entered Bathurst 1000 debut in 1983 with Mike Burgmann, Longhurst joined Frank Gardner's JPS Team BMW team for the 1984 Australian Endurance Championship. Co-driving with Jim Richards, Longhurst continued with the team in 1985, winning the 1985 Sandown 500 in a one-two finish for the team. Longhurst also entered three solo rounds of the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship, finishing third at the Amaroo Park Raceway round on only his second appearance. Longhurst entered the entire 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship, again finishing on the podium at Amaroo, and finishing fifth in the championship. In 1987, Longhurst would finish fourth in the championship with four round podiums. Frank Gardner then shut his team at the end of the 1987 season.[4]

LoGaMo Racing

The Ford Sierra RS500 Longhurst drove to win 1988 Bathurst 1000

With the demise of JPS Team BMW, Longhurst started his own touring car team in 1988, which based itself on the Gold Coast behind the Longhurst family owned Dreamworld. Both Gardner and Terry Morris would take a shareholding in the team which became known as LoGaMo Racing. 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 to 1990, Longhurst won the 1988 Bathurst 1000 driving with Tomas Mezera. The car (pictured right) remains on display at the National Motor Racing Museum, which is located on the outside of the final turn of the famous Mount Panorama Circuit. Longhurst also won his first championship round in 1988 at Amaroo. The team then used the evolution model BMW M3 from 1991 to 1993, and Longhurst finished a career-best third in both 1991 and 1992. In this period, Longhurst saw particular success at Lakeside International Raceway, winning three rounds at the circuit in 1988, 1991 and 1992.[5]

From 1993, the ATCC moved to the Group 3A Touring Car formula based on Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores. LoGaMo continued to run the BMW M3 in 1993 before running a Holden VP Commodore supplied by Perkins Engineering in 1994. In 1994 Longhurst won the first race of the 1994 Barbagallo ATCC round, his final solo race victory in the championship.[6]

Outside the ATCC, Longhurst was the only driver to have won five of the now defunct AMSCAR series run at Sydney's Amaroo Park circuit. He won the series in 1986 (BMW 325i), 1987 (BMW M3), 1989 and 1990 (Ford Sierra RS500) and 1991 (BMW M3 Evolution). Longhurst also saw success in the New Zealand endurance events held for Group A regulations. In 1992 he won the Wellington 500 in the team's BMW M3 and came 3rd in the 1989 event.[7] He also finished 3rd in 1989 and 2nd in 1986 in the Pukekohe 500 event which was held in conjunction with the Wellington event.

Longhurst Racing

In 1995, Longhurst sold out to fellow shareholders Gardner and Morris (who wanted to focus on the Australian Super Touring Championship) and formed Longhurst Racing to compete in the Australian Touring Car Championship with a Ford EF Falcon backed by Castrol. The team's highlight was a podium at the 1996 Bathurst 1000 with Longhurst and Steven Ellery. Despite this, the team experienced limited success and Longhurst sold the team at the end of the 1999 season.[8]

Contracted driver

For 2000, Longhurst was hired to drive for Stone Brothers Racing. Longhurst came close to winning the 2000 Bathurst 1000 with David Besnard, despite making the most pitstops of anyone in the race, until an incident scuppered their chances while leading with ten laps to go.[9] In 2001, Longhurst competed with Rod Nash Racing during the single-driver events before being drafted into the Holden Racing Team for the endurance races. Driving with Mark Skaife, Longhurst won the 2001 Bathurst 1000. 2002 was Longhurst's last full-time season, driving for Briggs Motor Sport.

In 2003, Longhurst only entered the endurance races, pairing with Jim Richards as he had done in the 1980s. He would sign for Perkins Engineering in 2004, but did not see out the full season. In 2005, Longhurst bought the license for Team Dynamik's second car, running the No. 45 car for Max Wilson under WOW Sight & Sound sponsorship.[10] Following Simon Wills's rollover at the Sandown 500, Longhurst purchased the remaining license from Team Dynamik and replaced Wills as Wilson's co-driver for the following round at Bathurst. He announced his retirement from competitive racing after the 2005 Bathurst 1000, where he and Brazilian co-driver Max Wilson failed to finish the race.[11]

He also made an appearance at the Targa Tasmania in 2005 and 2006, finishing fourth overall in the latter.

Retirement and comebacks

Despite his retirement announcement, Longhurst made two subsequent returns to the V8 Supercar Championship Series. In 2006, he was co-driver for Steve Owen in the Rod Nash Racing AutoBarn Commodore. The pair put in solid drives finishing 12th at Sandown and 7th at Bathurst. Longhurst's final drive came at the 2007 Sandown 500 where he paired with Glenn Seton following a series of last minute driver swaps in the Holden Racing Team following Mark Skaife having surgery to remove his appendix.[12]

In 2009 he added a Bathurst 12 Hour victory, co-driving with Rod Salmon and Damien White.[13] By winning the 12 Hour, Longhurst joined Allan Grice, Gregg Hansford, Dick Johnson and John Bowe as the only winners of both the Bathurst 1000 and Bathurst 12 Hour races at the time of his achievement. In 2016, Longhurst returned to competition making an appearance at the Sydney Motorsport Park round of the Australian GT Championship in a MARC Ford Focus and at the Silverstone Classic driving his 1994 Australian Manufacturers' Championship winning BMW 318i Super Touring car.[14][15]

Longhurst returned to Bathurst for the first time since winning the 2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour when he contested the 2017 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour driving a BMW M6 GT3 for BMW Team SRM alongside Timo Glock, Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall. The entry did not finish. Longhurst again entered the 2018 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in a GT4 BMW and won his class with Aaron Seton and Matthew Brabham. After this result, Longhurst again called time on his career.[7]

Other activities

Longhurst continues to live on the Gold Coast in Queensland and owns and manages the Boat Works facility at Coomera.[16] Before entering motorsport, Longhurst was successful in water skiing, holding the Australian speed record.[10]

Career results

Sourced from Driver Database[17]

Season Series Position Car Team
1983 Australian Endurance Championship 65th Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Mike Burgmann
1984 Alfasud Series 1st Alfa Romeo Alfasud Longhurst Racing
Australian Endurance Championship NC BMW 635 CSi JPS Team BMW
World Endurance Championship NC BMW 320i
1985 Australian Touring Car Championship 16th BMW 323i JPS Team BMW
AMSCAR Series 2nd
Australian Endurance Championship 2nd BMW 323i
BMW 635 CSi
1986 AMSCAR Series 1st BMW 325i JPS Team BMW
Australian Touring Car Championship 5th
Australian Endurance Championship 3rd BMW 325i
BMW 635 CSi
1987 AMSCAR Series 1st BMW M3 JPS Team BMW
Australian Touring Car Championship 4th
World Touring Car Championship 42nd JPS Team BMW
CiBiEmme
1988 Australian Touring Car Championship 5th Ford Sierra RS500 Freeport Racing
Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship 5th Benson & Hedges Racing
1989 Nissan Mobil 500 Series 2nd Ford Sierra RS500 Benson & Hedges Racing
AMSCAR Series 1st
Australian Touring Car Championship 5th
1990 AMSCAR Series 1st Ford Sierra RS500 Benson & Hedges Racing
Australian Touring Car Championship 6th
Australian Endurance Championship 24th
1991 AMSCAR Series 1st BMW M3 Evolution Benson & Hedges Racing
Australian Touring Car Championship 3rd
1992 Australian Touring Car Championship 3rd BMW M3 Evolution Benson & Hedges Racing
1993 Australian Touring Car Championship 9th BMW M3 Evolution Benson & Hedges Racing
Touring Car World Cup 22nd BMW 318i Bigazzi Team
1994 Australian Manufacturers' Championship - Drivers 1st BMW 318i Benson & Hedges Racing
Australian Touring Car Championship 11th Holden VP Commodore
1995 Australian Touring Car Championship 11th Ford EF Falcon Castrol Longhurst Racing
1996 Australian Touring Car Championship 11th Ford EF Falcon Castrol Longhurst Racing
1997 Australian Touring Car Championship 8th Ford EL Falcon Castrol Longhurst Racing
1998 Australian Touring Car Championship 8th Ford EL Falcon Castrol Longhurst Racing
1999 Shell Championship Series 14th Ford AU Falcon Castrol Longhurst Racing
2000 Shell Championship Series 10th Ford AU Falcon Stone Brothers Racing
2001 Shell Championship Series 13th Holden VX Commodore Rod Nash Racing
Holden Racing Team
2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series 11th Ford AU Falcon Briggs Motor Sport
2003 V8 Supercar Championship Series 37th Holden VY Commodore Holden Racing Team
2004 V8 Supercar Championship Series 29th Holden VY Commodore Perkins Engineering
2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series 39th Holden VZ Commodore Rod Nash Racing
2007 V8 Supercar Championship Series 45th Holden VE Commodore Holden Racing Team
2011 Australian V8 Ute Series 48th Holden SS VE Ute Auto One Wildcard

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 Australia JPS Team BMW BMW 320i MNZ SIL LMS NUR BHT MOS SPA IMO FJI KYL SAN
ovr:14
cls:1
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 Australia JPS Team BMW BMW M3 MNZ JAR DIJ NUR SPA BNO SIL BAT
ovr:4
cls:1
CLD
Ret
NC 0
West Germany BMW Motorsport
Italy CiBiEmme
WEL
ovr:7
cls:2
FJI

Not registered for series & points

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Car# Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Overall
position
Class
position
1983 33 Australia Dreamworld Australia Mike Burgmann Chevrolet Camaro Z28 A 121 DNF DNF
1984 31 Australia JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi Group C 39 DNF DNF
1985 1 Australia JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi C 160 4th 4th
1986 1 Australia JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi C 161 6th 5th
1987 44 Australia JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards BMW M3 2 156 4th 1st
1988 25 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Tomas Mezera Ford Sierra RS500 A 161 1st 1st
1989 20 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Alan Jones
New Zealand Denny Hulme
Ford Sierra RS500 A 158 5th 5th
25 New Zealand Neville Crichton Ford Sierra RS500 27 DNF DNF
1990 25 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Mark McLaughlin Ford Sierra RS500 1 53 DNF DNF
1991 25 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Alan Jones BMW M3 Evolution 2 138 DNF DNF
1992 25 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Venezuela Johnny Cecotto BMW M3 Evolution A 142 4th 4th
1993 25 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing United Kingdom Steve Soper BMW M3 Evolution A 79 DNF DNF
1994 25 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Charlie O'Brien Holden VP Commodore A 161 4th 4th
1995 25 Australia Castrol Longhurst Ford Australia Wayne Park Ford EF Falcon 149 9th 9th
1996 25 Australia Castrol Longhurst Ford Australia Steven Ellery Ford EF Falcon 161 3rd 3rd
1997 25 Australia Castrol Longhurst Ford Australia Charlie O'Brien Ford EL Falcon L1 110 DNF DNF
1998 25 Australia Castrol Longhurst Ford Australia Geoff Brabham Ford EL Falcon OC 157 8th 8th
1999 25 Australia Castrol Longhurst Ford Australia Adam Macrow Ford AU Falcon 150 DNF DNF
2000 9 Australia Stone Brothers Racing Australia David Besnard Ford AU Falcon 151 DNF DNF
2001 1 Australia Holden Racing Team Australia Mark Skaife Holden VX Commodore 161 1st 1st
2002 66 Australia Team Betta Electrical Australia Matthew White Ford AU Falcon 161 6th 6th
2003 2 Australia Holden Racing Team New Zealand Jim Richards Holden VY Commodore 161 5th 5th
2004 8 Australia Perkins Engineering Australia Paul Dumbrell Holden VY Commodore 129 DNF DNF
2005 44 Australia Team Dynamik
Australia Longhurst Racing
Brazil Max Wilson Holden VZ Commodore 32 DNF DNF
2006 55 Australia Rod Nash Racing Australia Steve Owen Holden VZ Commodore 161 7th 7th

Complete Sandown Endurance results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Overall
position
Class
position
1984 Australia JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi Over 3000cc 72 DNF DNF
1985 Australia JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi A 129 1st 1st
1986 Australia JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi B 127 5th 5th
1987 Australia JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards BMW M3 B 118 DNF DNF
1988 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Tomas Mezera Ford Sierra RS500 A 123 5th 5th
1989 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing New Zealand Neville Crichton Ford Sierra RS500 A 87 DNF DNF
1992 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Paul Morris BMW M3 Evolution 3A 136 2nd 2nd
1994 Australia Benson & Hedges Racing Australia Charlie O'Brien Holden VP Commodore V8 161 4th 4th
1995 Australia Castrol Longhurst Ford Australia Wayne Park Ford EF Falcon 160 4th 4th
1996 Australia Castrol Longhurst Ford Australia Steven Ellery Ford EF Falcon 160 4th 4th
1997 Australia Castrol Longhurst Ford Australia Charlie O'Brien Ford EL Falcon 151 10th 10th
1998 Australia Castrol Longhurst Ford Australia Geoff Brabham Ford EL Falcon 7 DNF DNF
2003 Australia Holden Racing Team New Zealand Jim Richards Holden VY Commodore 140 10th 10th
2004 Australia Castrol Perkins Racing Australia Paul Dumbrell Holden VY Commodore 159 8th 8th
2007 Australia Holden Racing Team Australia Glenn Seton Holden VE Commodore 160 13th 13th

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Overall
position
Class
position
1992 Australia BMW Australia Pty Ltd Australia Alan Jones
New Zealand Neville Crichton
BMW M5 C 251 2nd 1st
2009 Australia TMR Australia Australia Rod Salmon
Australia Damien White
Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo X C 239 1st 1st
2017 Australia BMW Team SRM Germany Timo Glock
Australia Mark Skaife
Australia Russell Ingall
BMW M6 GT3 AP 134 DNF DNF
2018 Australia Boat Works Racing Australia Matthew Brabham
Australia Aaron Seton
BMW M4 GT4 C 250 22nd 1st

References

  1. Sierras fill top three at Bathurst
  2. "Motorsport: Skaife supreme in topsy-turvy Bathurst race". The New Zealand Herald. 8 October 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  3. "Richards a chip off the old block". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 October 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  4. Greenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011). The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4.
  5. Noonan, Aaron (14 July 2017). "On This Day: David defeats Goliath". Supercars. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  6. Bartholomaeus, Stefan (19 April 2021). "THE 27-YEAR WIN DROUGHT BROKEN BY MOSTERT | V8 Sleuth". V8 Sleuth. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  7. "Longhurst calls time on chequered career". Supercars. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  8. "Saturday Sleuthing: Brad Jones Racing's First V8 Supercar". Supercars. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  9. "Saturday Sleuthing: Last Gasp Queensland Winner". Supercars. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  10. "Tony Longhurst". Speedcafe. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
  11. Greenhalgh, David; Tuckey, Bill (2013). The official history of The Great Race Bathurst : 50 years. St Leonards, New South Wales: Chevron Publishing Group. ISBN 9780980591231.
  12. Lynch, Michael (14 September 2007). "Skaife ruled out of Sandown after appendix surgery". The Age. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  13. Bathurst 12: Event race report
  14. Longhurst eyes Bathurst amid race return Speedcafe 1 July 2016
  15. Longhurst to race title winning BMW at Silverstone Speedcafe 25 June 2016
  16. The Boat Works Rising Ocean Magazine 14 August 2015
  17. Tony Longhurst at Driver Database
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