Latest / Rusty's Garage / Andrew Miedecke | Part 2 - Brock & Moffat memories & GT business

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Andrew Miedecke | Part 2 - Brock & Moffat memories & GT business · Rusty's Garage

0:02
Listener.
0:03
G'day, it's Rusty here.
0:04
All set for part two of my feature episode with Andrew Medici.
0:07
As we always say, if you've arrived at this point and somehow not given part one a listen first, make sure you hit the gas on that one.
0:15
Jump back to the library and do that.
0:17
His memories of Longford as a youngster and the heroes of the day, borrowing some money off his mum.
0:23
for his first ever race car, heading to England to pursue the single-seater dream, only to be told that he probably didn't have enough dough.
0:31
Why he's a subscriber to Say Yes Now, figure it out later.
0:36
And also being in Japan very recently with an Aussie-run Mustang and some gun GT3 drivers as a part of the expanded program that he's doing in this part of the world.
0:47
You'll really enjoy that.
0:48
Let's launch into part two here now.
0:53
Tell me about the 84 Bob Jane Playboy Porsche.
0:58
Tell me about that thing.
1:00
That was a real opportunity that I think Pee Wee Siddle organised.
1:07
I do.
1:07
He's been on the podcast.
1:08
He's been a guest on it.
1:10
He should have been.
1:10
He said to me, it's the one and only time I'll do this, Gregory.
1:14
Which is so him.
1:15
Keep going.
1:15
That's so him.
1:16
So Pee Wee.
1:18
Anyway, Pee Wee was sort of...
1:21
managing me at the time.
1:23
And I'd finished in single-seaters and hadn't gone into touring cars yet.
1:29
And Rob Luck was the editor of, at the time, editor of Playboy.
1:35
And Bob Jane was, Peewee was close with Bob.
1:39
Bob, yeah.
1:40
And Bob and I knew each other.
1:42
I didn't know him well.
1:43
But they fronted up enough money to rent one of John Fitzpatrick's 956 Porsches.
1:49
In fact, that particular car was a very early 962.
1:52
And we thought, who else is going to drive?
1:55
And we end up...
1:57
calling Colin Bond.
2:00
And it was a great choice, great bloke.
2:02
And, you know, I still see Bondy a couple of weeks ago.
2:06
Yeah, yeah.
2:07
And we went quite well.
2:09
You know, it was a bit, you know, I had to, we both had to learn sports cars.
2:13
Yeah.
2:14
And there's no testing.
2:15
You turn up at the race meeting and do your best.
2:18
But not sure we're qualified, but we finished sixth.
2:22
And in a car that was a bit of a rent-a-car.
2:25
It wasn't the best.
2:27
The track had been modified too for that race, hadn't they?
2:29
Yeah.
2:29
To ensure that it, whatever it complied with, the sports car regs of the day, so to speak.
2:34
It was length, yeah.
2:36
And they ruined one of the best corners in the country, which is that.
2:39
Down to Dandenong Road.
2:40
Down to Dandenong Road.
2:41
It's one of the great corners, anyway.
2:42
Yeah.
2:44
But we still did it, and it was good.
2:46
And I got on well with John Fitzpatrick.
2:49
And John, he almost put a deal together for me to drive for him at Le Mans.
2:58
Yeah.
2:59
In that car?
3:01
Yeah.
3:01
Or in the 956 that he had as well, which was a much better car.
3:06
Okay.
3:08
But quite late in the pace.
3:11
He was running a commercial team, and he had some people from Japan with some cabin cigarette sponsors.
3:20
Okay.
3:20
I missed that deal.
3:21
But then he said, look…
3:22
I need a driver for Malaysia.
3:25
I know you've, I knew the track, you know, why don't you come and do that?
3:31
And we'll see if we can try and jack up some sponsorship in Malaysia through my old sponsors.
3:36
Okay.
3:37
As it happened, which was a freight company, ASCL.
3:40
And as it turned out, that didn't happen.
3:43
But I drove with Franz Conrad and we qualified, I think, six or seven.
3:48
And this was the 956, which was,
3:51
had been quite developed by John.
3:53
Okay.
3:53
And it had won the Silverstone, a thousand-kilometre race in Silverstone, and it was a much, much better car than the early.
4:03
The next model was a 962, which was a longer car.
4:07
Yes.
4:07
Because the driver's feet had to be behind the front axle-centre line.
4:11
Yes, yes.
4:12
But it wasn't sorted.
4:14
Whereas this 956, earlier model, but very well sorted.
4:17
Brilliant thing.
4:18
How powerful was that thing?
4:19
I mean, they're an iconic car.
4:21
What was that thing like?
4:21
As much as you like.
4:23
In those 956 turbos, there's a big wheel on the dash, and you can turn it up as much as you like.
4:30
But you can't let the cylinder head temperature go up.
4:32
Okay.
4:33
That's with the rule.
4:34
You know, you couldn't exceed whatever number it was, 200 degrees.
4:38
Yeah.
4:39
And probably in, yeah.
4:41
That's the fun dial, basically.
4:42
That's the fun dial.
4:44
So it was good.
4:45
I think we qualified six.
4:47
And then because it was a factory Porsche team, two or three factory Porsches, factory Jaguars.
4:54
Yeah.
4:56
And we were one of the independents.
4:58
Now, I lost our independence.
4:59
But we qualified the best of the independents and finished fourth behind, I think, a Jag one and a couple of Porsches.
5:08
That was great.
5:09
Yeah.
5:09
But, you know, at the time, I did the race, but at the time, I was really pushed for time and the business was under real stress.
5:17
Okay.
5:19
But I pulled.
5:20
You'd take money out of it to fund the motor racing, et cetera.
5:25
And I didn't even stay for the end of the race.
5:27
Really?
5:28
I had to get back.
5:29
I said, John, I'll do the first stint and got it up there and stayed quite right there.
5:34
And then I was in a cab to the airport and...
5:36
Get back even without a shower, you know.
5:38
Yeah, wow, wow.
5:39
Anyway, that's what you do.
5:41
It leads me now to Bathurst, 86, AMG, Mercedes.
5:46
I think Bob John is connected to all this as well.
5:49
And Helmut Marko is in the mix as well.
5:52
He owned a car.
5:53
Crazy.
5:55
They were, Mercedes was sponsoring DTM, but not on the top of the counter, below the counter.
6:04
Okay.
6:06
So the money went to AMG and AMG then gave the money and did some of the development on the car.
6:11
And at the time, AMG was separate to Mercedes.
6:14
Yes.
6:15
AMG was owned by a couple of ex-Mercedes employees.
6:19
But it was separate.
6:19
And then Helmut Marko was paid to run the team.
6:23
And so it was Team Marko.
6:25
And out to Bathurst came Dr. Alfric, who's the A&B, and Helmut Marko, whose reputation as a hard-ass was entirely deserved.
6:38
Was it?
6:38
Yeah.
6:39
He was okay.
6:40
Okay.
6:40
But, you know, he was a hard-ass.
6:43
You knew what you were...
6:45
walking into kind of thing.
6:46
Yeah.
6:47
I think the record show, correct me if I'm wrong, there was an incident too, wasn't it?
6:50
It had nothing to do with you and I don't think you got to turn a lap in the race.
6:53
Is that right?
6:54
No, no.
6:55
I didn't.
6:56
I was originally scheduled to drive with Denny Holm and I really liked Denny.
7:01
Yeah.
7:02
Denny's a great bloke.
7:03
They called him the bear and he could be a bit of a bear but he was a really good bloke.
7:07
Yeah.
7:07
Yeah.
7:08
And then – but our car was a slightly different spec to the factory, to the German car.
7:17
Usual.
7:17
Yes.
7:21
Theirs is a bit more modified.
7:22
They had different cam and different – but Denny's and mine ran reliably all through the Friday and the Saturday.
7:33
But the other car had a constant misfire and they struggled.
7:37
So in the end, they decided they would put Denny, the ex-world champion, and Franz Klammer, who's a very, very good bloke too.
7:46
But the world, probably one of the world's greatest ever downhill ski racers and a very handy racing driver as well.
7:53
together, and put in number 41, the car that Denny and I started with, and I would move into the German car, hopefully fixed, with Jorg van Omen.
8:08
And on Sunday morning, I drove the car and fixed it, and I could tell.
8:13
This is the morning warm-up, Sunday morning warm-up.
8:16
Yeah, right.
8:17
But this car was a go-in, number 14.
8:19
It was fantastic.
8:22
It was good.
8:22
So I went into the bus that Helmut Marko and Dr. Alfric were using as a base because conditions of Bathurst weren't as salubrious as they are now.
8:36
And they said, what do you think?
8:37
And I said, well, I think it's got more top-end power and you've got a different front bar.
8:42
And they said, oh, oh.
8:44
You might know what he's talking about.
8:45
And so as I walked out of the bus, I said, you watch, we'll be past that, the 41 car, but not to be.
8:54
Yeah.
8:55
And so that was it.
8:57
I wanted to.
8:57
So I've always kept in touch with Helmut.
8:59
Yeah.
9:00
Rang him last Grand Prix.
9:01
Did you?
9:02
Yeah.
9:02
Yeah.
9:03
He's a good guy.
9:04
We have this image of him courtesy of Formula One modern day, of drive to survive, whatever, of being that tough guy.
9:15
But sometimes I also think, too, for young racers that are coming through, you need a bit of that truth serum, don't you?
9:19
You need someone to go, hey, you've got to achieve this.
9:23
And if you can't do that, the reality is you just won't cut the mustard kind of thing.
9:28
You sort of need to hear that sometimes, don't you?
9:30
Absolutely.
9:32
And he's good at that.
9:34
He is an unfazed by that, isn't he?
9:36
He's very Austrian.
9:38
I mean, blunt to the point of view of almost being a sledgehammer, but yes, you do need that.
9:45
There are a lot of kids that go into motor racing, wealthy parents, they're tad spoiled.
9:51
They need to be reality.
9:54
Not all.
9:55
There are some great kids.
9:56
Like, we've got some great ones in our team.
9:59
But it's interesting.
10:02
I've got to say, Greg, when I started, it was all driver control.
10:08
And, you know, drivers are much older.
10:10
Because...
10:11
By the time you got to where you were going to be and get a decent car under you, you're already 30 or 40, you know.
10:19
But now we've got kids, they're kids sort of 13 and 14, full-time maternity.
10:24
Yeah.
10:24
Yeah.
10:25
And now I've got 18-year-olds in my team.
10:27
And they handle them.
10:28
I've got to say that.
10:29
I think they're a bit more mature than I was at 18.
10:32
Cooper Cuts, who's in your second car, came and commentated with us at the weekend, did a superb job.
10:37
And I think Blake Dowdle in that second car as well has learned that in order to make a career of motor racing, okay, what you do behind the wheel is super important, but it's also what you bring beyond that in a business sense, in a commercial sense, in a public relations sense.
10:55
And I can see him...
10:58
With this opportunity in Australia when he comes over, you know, jumping at that, he'll come and say g'day and he does, you know what I mean?
11:04
So, and that's pleasing.
11:05
That's pleasing that they are realising that.
11:07
Yeah.
11:08
Yeah.
11:08
And they're quick kids.
11:10
Yeah.
11:10
They're quick and downward now.
11:11
Yeah.
11:12
I think they were a tenth or two faster than George and Lake Tracy.
11:18
Okay.
11:19
Yeah.
11:19
So, yeah.
11:20
I told them that too.
11:21
So they're good.
11:22
Good.
11:23
But, you know, Cooper Carr's such a laid-back kid.
11:25
Very.
11:25
Yeah.
11:26
Yeah.
11:27
He was reading a novel.
11:28
Was he?
11:29
You know, first part of the race.
11:31
Talented guitarist too.
11:32
He's damn good.
11:33
Oh, is he?
11:33
Yeah, he's very good.
11:34
So amongst his university studies, he's –
11:37
He's a very, very good guitarist, yeah.
11:39
Come to the Sierra, have a little sip of your coffee there, because in the restos that you have done, you have a Sierra now too.
11:47
So firstly, tell me about acquiring one for the first time and when you drove it, what it was like and things like that.
11:54
Well, it was 10 odd years ago and probably a bit longer.
11:59
It was probably 12 years ago.
12:01
I thought, oh, I'd like to try it.
12:03
Get that back.
12:04
Yeah.
12:05
And so I rang the guy that I sold it to.
12:08
I still had his number.
12:09
Names Mike Steele in Perth.
12:13
And I rang him and I said, Mike, have you still got my old Sierra, the old Yokohama Sierra?
12:18
He said, yeah, yeah.
12:21
I said, would you be interested in selling it back to me?
12:23
He said, yeah.
12:24
So I went over there, and Mike's a terrific guy.
12:28
He's a Kiwi.
12:29
Kiwi, yeah.
12:30
Went to, you know, his background's a car dealer and imported cars out of Japan into Western Australia.
12:38
And so I bought it back.
12:41
But also, he also bought the last 05 Sierra a year after he bought mine.
12:48
So we had them both.
12:50
And he was going to restore, the O5 car was pulled bits, and he was going to restore that.
12:56
Okay.
12:58
So I brought the Yokohama car back, and we started into it, Les Laidlaw, another key mechanic who was on it in the day, is restoring it faithfully to how it was.
13:11
And then Mike rang me, this is a year after, and said,
13:18
Andrew, you know, you should buy the O5.
13:19
And I said, oh, I don't know.
13:21
I've already got one, Mike.
13:23
And I wasn't being cute.
13:25
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:26
He said, don't forget, this is the one you and Peter won the New Zealand Mobile Series in.
13:32
Yeah.
13:33
Oh, yeah.
13:33
Yeah.
13:34
Okay.
13:35
I said, are you sure you don't want to do it?
13:38
And he said, no, look, I'm crook.
13:41
I've got a melanoma and I don't think I'll finish it.
13:44
So, okay.
13:45
Did a deal with him.
13:46
Bought it.
13:47
And I didn't even need to go back.
13:49
He was such a great guy.
13:51
I got Bob Middleton.
13:52
Oh, yes.
13:52
My friend of a white lion transport who transports.
13:55
stuff from Adelaide to Perth all the time, and we just picked everything up.
14:00
And then later on, I rang him and didn't answer, and didn't hear for a couple of days, which is...
14:13
Odd.
14:15
Terrible.
14:15
I couldn't even get to the funeral.
14:17
Anyway, long and short of it is...
14:20
So then I had two Sierra's and it was coming up to the, it was only a few months before the 10th anniversary of Peter's passing.
14:30
Peter Brock's passing.
14:31
Yeah.
14:32
So we rushed to put that car forward in the queue and got it finished just in time to be at Bathurst 10 years ago.
14:38
Yeah.
14:38
And now it's 20 years.
14:39
Yes.
14:40
Yeah.
14:40
And so that car is sitting in the Bathurst Museum.
14:43
Yep.
14:44
Ready to be on display.
14:45
In the coming weeks.
14:46
In the coming weeks.
14:47
Yeah.
14:48
And then the Yokohama car was put back a bit, then brought forward, and that was the car I thought I'd raised because that was the one I spent most time in.
14:55
Yep.
14:55
And George drove it at Phillip Island a couple of years ago and did really well and gave him a thrill.
15:03
Yeah.
15:04
Yeah, I said, George, you know, no one's liked to drive a real man's car, and I'm the son of this power steering.
15:10
And yeah, that's like crap.
15:14
Get on with it.
15:15
Proper.
15:16
Proper.
15:17
What you need is a thousand-degree turbocharger just under your right foot.
15:23
And it was hot in those things, too.
15:25
Yeah, so anyway, so then I...
15:30
I'd like to do a bit more driving before I stop.
15:33
I'm getting old now.
15:34
And it's just, you can't hold of the fact.
15:39
So, but I can still do a reasonable time.
15:42
Cool.
15:43
So I ran it at the muscle car master's meeting.
15:46
I had a ball.
15:47
Had a ball.
15:48
The car, correct me, I think it's the Don Smith car originally.
15:51
You teamed up with him recently.
15:54
there is some sort of significant moments here in its history, isn't there?
15:59
And one of them involved – is there a roll over at Sandown from memory?
16:01
Is that right?
16:02
Yeah.
16:03
What happened there?
16:04
A very quick thing.
16:05
I was in New Zealand.
16:06
I must have gone to New Zealand and watched a touring car racing.
16:09
And I was in the plane and up the aisle –
16:14
Walked Bo Seaton.
16:15
Yeah.
16:16
And Bo didn't walk that well because he had club foot.
16:19
Yes, yes.
16:20
And he was always very brief in his words.
16:24
So he leaned over and said, you want to get into a car racing?
16:28
I said, yeah.
16:30
Should call my mate Don Smith.
16:32
He's got a Sierra and it's only getting dudded, you know.
16:35
And that was about it.
16:36
Okay.
16:37
So I called Don Smith when I got back to Australia and did a deal in that Don had most of the things already in place.
16:46
I just bought a car, which relieved the cash for Don and became the driver.
16:52
And there was the OXO team.
16:54
Oh, I went, yeah.
16:56
And so we ran that year, and I was quite, Don would drive the other car, I would drive, but we were quite competitive.
17:04
And then we got to, then we had the RS500 upgrade, which turned a 300-horsepower car into a 500-horsepower beast, you know.
17:15
Yeah, yeah.
17:16
And a bit more aerodynamics.
17:19
And so we ran a stand down on pole.
17:23
Good.
17:24
I like that.
17:26
Don was driving with me.
17:27
It's Bathurst, the Sandown 500.
17:30
And he said, and Don wasn't as fast.
17:34
He was getting older.
17:35
He wasn't all that fit.
17:37
And he said, look, Andrew, I'll just take the car out for one more run and see if I can.
17:41
Sure, sure.
17:42
Yeah.
17:42
Straight down the end, past the pits, first corner left.
17:46
Don miscues into the sand, rolls it over.
17:51
Two weeks before Bathurst.
17:53
Oh.
17:55
What do we do now?
17:56
Well, fortunately, Don had another shell, a bare shell, already painted in Oxlade Red back in Sydney at the Guru Green Moot Shop.
18:06
So straight away we piled up the wreck, put in the truck, overnight into Sydney.
18:12
Boys flew home Sunday, Monday morning.
18:15
Les Laidlaw is my main man still there.
18:19
And get stuck in on the change, everything over, and to be ready for Bathurst in two weeks' time, which we did.
18:27
And Bathurst, rolled out at Bathurst, and we were really rated, you know, not compared to the big names of the era.
18:36
And those guys were down on the pit road.
18:40
We were in a tent.
18:41
up behind scrutineering.
18:44
And so we, but we just went about our business and qualified pretty reasonably.
18:52
You know, again, no boost or any special effort, just look after it.
18:57
Look after it.
18:58
And then rolled out in the race and, you know, I just, I think I started fifth.
19:06
Got fourth, that wasn't too bad.
19:08
Caught up on the back of one of the Texaco cars.
19:13
Mm-hmm.
19:14
He's no, this guy's no superstar.
19:17
He's good.
19:18
But, you know.
19:20
You can run with him, yeah.
19:22
Pass him.
19:23
I'm in the back of Andy Rouse.
19:25
Same thing, Andy, great bloke.
19:28
And on the back is Steve Soper.
19:30
And Steve's in the lead.
19:33
And then Steve and I have this really good race.
19:36
Very, you know, we were both having a real crack.
19:40
Both gave each other room.
19:42
Ended up in front.
19:44
Drew away a bit.
19:45
And I remember the, I'd gone up, this is really my first time at Bathurst, up Mountain Straight, then, you know, Speed Stick Corner, whatever it's called, and then go over the top.
19:55
As I went over the top, I could hear the crowd.
19:58
The crowd was just raving about an Aussie in front.
20:02
And it was a huge race.
20:03
It was a world championship race.
20:04
Yes, yes.
20:06
And so that gave me a thrill.
20:08
Yeah.
20:08
And then proceeded to lead it until I had an electrical problem.
20:13
And I suppose really, given Don was seven seconds a lap slower at the time, it was...
20:18
That was the best we were ever going to do in the race.
20:21
It was something that made my name, I suppose.
20:24
Yeah.
20:25
The transition from single-seaters to touring cars.
20:28
Yeah.
20:33
In doing a bit of homework in recent months for a Michael Dowson episode, I found some stuff of him racing a Toyota at Lakeside.
20:40
And so I'm watching YouTube and I get engrossed because I see your car via the onboard of another Sierra.
20:47
I can't remember if it was Dick or whoever it was, and you were harassing them.
20:49
Like, so your thing is like this angry.
20:52
It was a Brock.
20:52
It was like, you're right on his hammer.
20:54
And I was really, really enjoying that.
20:56
But as you go along in that vid, and this is probably maybe a little...
21:02
tough wound to open.
21:04
It ends in a crash and a fire, doesn't it?
21:06
What happened?
21:07
And it was a bit of a scary day for you, I think.
21:08
Is that right?
21:09
Oh, it's terrible.
21:10
I mean, I had my own team by then.
21:15
You know, Don said that at the end of 87 that he wanted to go out and step back.
21:22
And I hired Ross Stone from New Zealand.
21:27
I knew him in New Zealand.
21:28
Jimmy joined a little later too, I think.
21:30
Is that right?
21:30
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:31
Mid, yeah.
21:32
Great guy, Jimmy.
21:33
Excellent, excellent.
21:35
And we had this team, but we struggled a bit.
21:39
We were always fast, but not always reliable, and money was always an issue.
21:47
And then we ran this race, and yes, I was trying to get past Peter, but we were reasonably fast there.
21:57
And as I followed him through, we went around another competitor, Graham Lusty, I think it was.
22:05
The road's very bumpy.
22:06
The legs are still there.
22:08
Yep.
22:08
Still there, probably bumpier now, but it was bumpy in those cars, and the cars were just moving everywhere.
22:13
Mm-hmm.
22:13
Anyway, Graham and I had a touch.
22:15
Both of us end up in the wall on the outside.
22:18
This is right at the back of the pits in that fast, under the bridge.
22:21
Yep.
22:23
And my car went in.
22:24
It wasn't a B.
22:27
It was a fair shunt, but nothing.
22:29
Mm-hmm.
22:29
It wasn't, near the car, it wasn't a write-off at all, you know.
22:34
And so I thought, but, you know, you could hear, they didn't stop the race.
22:38
Okay.
22:38
And they didn't even flag it.
22:40
So cars were coming past at full speed.
22:43
And I thought, so I'm going to sit here, I'm going to sit here, you know, I'm not sure what I want.
22:48
And then, bang, Glenn Seaton came over and ran into me.
22:53
And we sent the car spinning down.
22:55
I didn't enjoy that much.
22:57
And that wasn't good.
22:58
And then...
23:01
I suppose half a lap later, bang again, you know, and there was Murray Carter who was in the accident and they still didn't stop the accident.
23:09
By this time, my car had caught fire, so I had to get out.
23:13
So I got out and forgot to hit the fire extinguisher, you know,
23:20
really hurt, but probably wouldn't have helped because the fuel collector was in the boot at that time and that had been ruptured and there was no fire, I mean, depression down there.
23:33
Yeah, gotcha.
23:34
All on the engine.
23:36
So I got out and there's smoke and flames everywhere.
23:39
And I went to, at Lakeside, you can't get out on the other.
23:45
The fan side on the other, on the outside.
23:47
Is that what you're saying?
23:48
Yeah.
23:48
There is no, there was a fence or something.
23:50
And the only thing to do is cross the track and jump the fence to the pits.
23:54
Yep.
23:55
Back at the pits.
23:57
And as I stepped out, a car just came through the smoke.
24:02
Roof.
24:05
I nearly stepped into that, and I looked up, and there were a bunch of spectators at the back of the pits going with their hands up, their palms up, they don't, stop, stop, stop.
24:14
And so I waited there for a bit, but the flames were going up, and then they said, go, go, go.
24:20
So I ran across the track, vaulted the fence, and then was there another?
24:26
That might have been when Murray joined the accident.
24:30
Bang.
24:32
And I turned around and watched my $200,000 lifetime investment thing just burn for no reason, you know?
24:42
So tough, tough time.
24:44
Did you, I mean, in the fear of all of that, did you stop and think, oh, maybe that's it for me?
24:48
Or it never deterred you from getting back behind the wheel of a race car?
24:51
That's a pretty big day.
24:52
Yeah, it was.
24:53
And it was close as I've been to dying, you know, at a racetrack.
24:58
But I don't think it stopped me.
25:01
You know, it was a hell of a day.
25:04
Yeah.
25:05
Things...
25:06
stuff.
25:07
But Yagahama and Kenwood both helped and we rebuilt the car and we were back in a couple of races.
25:17
And you have it today.
25:18
And I have it today.
25:19
That's awesome.
25:20
Can I come to Brock because you've brought him up there.
25:23
We're only weeks away from the 20th anniversary of his passing.
25:28
Can you remember where you were on the day?
25:29
Most people know when they learnt of the accident in WA there.
25:34
Yeah, no.
25:36
Where I was particularly, I'm almost sure I was at home, but I can't remember that.
25:43
But I remember being profoundly shocked.
25:45
Yeah.
25:47
But I was always concerned with Peter because he wasn't very confident in his own ability and didn't often do a recce.
25:56
And I felt that for those sorts of things.
25:58
I think he was laid in from Goodwood and stuff like that or some suggestion like that.
26:01
Yeah, there was.
26:02
Yeah, yeah.
26:03
And there were people saying that he got off the plane and hadn't slept, but I understand that wasn't the case.
26:07
He did have a sleep.
26:09
But you don't sleep that well after when you're so different in time zones.
26:15
What was he like?
26:17
When did you first meet him?
26:18
Can you recall that?
26:19
I think there's some story too around like you met him, Gow was there and then Gow was off to the UK for BTCC.
26:24
Tell me about that.
26:26
Well, I had my own team and we were competitors, and I always got on well with Pete.
26:29
He's very affable, nice bloke, you know, and –
26:33
But Alan Gow was the team manager at the time, and Alan was always saying, come and drive with us.
26:38
Peter Brock's team is Peter Brock's team.
26:42
And the guy that's in the number six car, he doesn't get good stuff.
26:47
Okay.
26:48
It's not good for you.
26:49
It wouldn't be good for my reputation, Alan.
26:51
Okay.
26:52
And Alan said, no, no, well, ever I'm there, I'll make sure you get a fair go.
26:56
Okay.
26:57
But Alan was at me for a year or two.
26:59
And in the end, the losing the car and being stretched financially and, you know, the time I was spending in the business, with the team should have been better spent with the business.
27:16
And things at home weren't that good.
27:21
I was undergoing an enormous amount of pressure.
27:24
So rather than your own train set, you could play with someone else and just walk in and do it.
27:27
Is that what you were thinking?
27:28
That was it.
27:30
That was it.
27:30
And that was great.
27:32
And so at first race...
27:34
My first race in the team was in the New Zealand Series.
27:37
It must have been January of 1990, maybe, or 1989.
27:41
And I didn't get quite the same, but the car I had was pretty good.
27:49
Same speed, speed.
27:51
Well, we'd race together, and that was good.
27:55
I didn't get the pick of the tyres.
28:01
First run in qualifying, I was quicker.
28:04
And there were two kinds of qualifying tyres.
28:08
Pete had chosen two and I had the other two.
28:13
I was quicker on the other two than Pete was on his.
28:16
So he took the other.
28:17
What was left of mine.
28:19
And I got with him to his.
28:21
Okay.
28:22
So the next session, Pete was slightly faster than me.
28:24
Yeah.
28:25
But that was, he's the boss.
28:27
Yes, yes.
28:29
And that was cool.
28:30
And Alan was keeping an eye on him.
28:31
Yeah.
28:32
And then we, I forgot where we ended up in that series, but somewhere there.
28:36
Yeah.
28:38
And then I got a phone call from Alan a little while ago, a little while later, a couple months later.
28:43
Yeah.
28:44
Before it might have been, yeah, been the start of the series.
28:47
And he said, yeah.
28:48
I've got something to tell you.
28:49
And he said, I've been offered this job to start a new series in England, which turned out to be the BTCC, the British Touring Car Championship.
28:58
And I'm going, mate.
28:59
Oh, fuck.
29:01
Where's that leave me?
29:03
And it just left me like every other co-driver that's ever been in that team.
29:08
You know, you end up sort of.
29:11
with less and less gear and money was tight in the team at the time and they just had to focus on Brock's.
29:17
But you end up doing stuff that I felt, oh, this is not doing my reputation much good.
29:24
But also, too, I was getting old.
29:26
Yeah.
29:26
older and I was well and truly in my 40s and in the end I wasn't that unhappy to go back to Port Macquarie and run the business and have the kids and just do long distance.
29:41
Yeah.
29:42
Can I just, on the Brock side of things, if memory serves, you were driving with him one year at Bathurst and...
29:51
I think something goes wrong electrically and the car pulls over on the run up the hill.
29:55
And Mike Raymond famously is talking commentary about you passing like an auto electrical exam or something.
30:00
But you got it going again, am I right?
30:02
Yeah.
30:02
What happened that day?
30:04
What happened where there is...
30:08
91 or 92.
30:08
That sounds right.
30:09
Yeah, yeah.
30:10
And it was Peter's VP.
30:13
And, you know, that meeting, I did seven laps of practice.
30:19
And no testing him before that, you know.
30:21
And I come in after the first session and Pete said, you're a bit off the pace.
30:24
I'm like,
30:28
And the car was a dog.
30:31
It was very difficult to drive.
30:33
And Kenny Aboul owns that car now, by the way.
30:36
Yeah, which is cool.
30:37
It is cool.
30:38
And so we're well into the race.
30:44
I'm into my stint.
30:45
Peter had started.
30:47
I'm into my stint and nothing fails.
30:49
Going up Mountain Straight.
30:50
So I pulled over to the right-hand side.
30:53
And I'm on the radio to the team.
30:55
Who are you talking to?
30:58
Are you talking to George?
30:58
George.
30:59
George.
30:59
Okay, George.
30:59
Okay.
31:00
Probably George.
31:00
Yeah, yeah.
31:01
And he said, well, you know, tell me, you know, say no fuel pressure.
31:05
Okay.
31:05
No fuel pump.
31:06
Yep.
31:06
Switched to the other one.
31:08
Still no fuel pressure.
31:09
All right.
31:10
And then it turned out that there were two fuel pumps, all right, but only one fuse.
31:17
Oh.
31:17
So the first fuel pump had failed, blown the fuse.
31:20
Yeah.
31:20
So then we had, but we said we had a,
31:23
a fuel pump that would work, but we couldn't get any power to it.
31:26
So they had taped the back to the roll bar, which I opened the back door, got out and there were a pair of pliers there and I got the pliers and bridged the connector for the fuse, you know, so we're on pump to- You were literally hot wiring this thing.
31:41
Literally.
31:43
And, you know, you're steaming, you know, it was a hot day, if you remember, and-
31:48
That car was physically very heavy to drive and I was panning and puffing and, you know, and I was pretty fit.
31:54
And so you've got to get back in the car, get some belts on, then get this thing started with a pair of pliers and there's a gear lever there and a starter button there and a manual steering here.
32:09
Yeah.
32:10
So anyway, the thing cranked up and I was sticking it in the first gear and then trying to get around the track driving one-handed with, you know, cars coming up at max speed behind, you know, and stay out of the way.
32:25
And I got it back to the pits.
32:28
And I get out of the car because I'm absolutely fried, you know, sweat running over me.
32:34
And Pete said, what are you doing getting out of the car?
32:38
He said, you've got to get back in now.
32:42
In the meantime, George and the boys are in there hot wiring the fuel pump number two and off we go again.
32:50
Amazing.
32:50
Finish the race.
32:51
I don't know where we end up.
32:52
Yeah, and to be honest, if I can win, we're not in a position to win.
32:56
I don't want to.
32:58
You know, I just...
33:00
I would have been happy to go home.
33:01
Would you?
33:02
How will we best remember him 20 years on, do you reckon?
33:04
What is the thing for you?
33:06
And this charismatic, unbelievable sports person did some amazing things statistically with race cars.
33:13
How will you best remember him?
33:15
Yeah, absolutely.
33:18
A real, you know, charismatic is right.
33:21
He lit up, Peter lit up a room when he walked in.
33:24
He had a great way about him and dedication to the fans.
33:28
He really knew how valuable fans were.
33:34
In an authentic way, though, didn't he?
33:36
Oh, yeah.
33:36
Not a, yeah.
33:38
In a completely authentic way.
33:40
You know, he was...
33:41
He was an Aussie, you know, and a good guy and followed football and was a genuine guy.
33:48
You know, it had to be Peter first.
33:49
Of course he had to look up because this was his livelihood and his income.
33:55
But I...
33:57
Genuine guy.
33:58
I think, you know, I think he was a bit gullible as well.
34:02
I think that whole polariser thing, you know, and a lot of that stuff, you know, and I thought a lot of that stuff really came through Bev.
34:11
And that wasn't a good road for him to travel, I don't think.
34:14
Yeah.
34:16
Yeah, very charismatic.
34:20
One of those people who love him.
34:23
Can we, while we're, time is going to beat us here, but I wonder if I can get a memory of Moff too, because we lost him in the past year.
34:30
And there is a chapter of your career here, mate, where you do...
34:34
you know, some, some stuff with him here.
34:36
I need to bounce around, but I want to say, you know, in that mobile chapter, the three years there, there was two with, with Moff, wasn't there?
34:43
Yeah.
34:44
Yeah.
34:44
And enjoyed it and very much enjoyed Alan.
34:47
When he was a competitor in Sierra, so I found him with Gruff and,
34:53
and unfriendly and uncooperative and all that stuff.
34:57
When I actually drove with him, I found he'd be a lovely man.
35:00
Yes, agreed.
35:00
Once you crack that.
35:01
Yes.
35:02
And I had lunch with him several times.
35:04
He's a favourite little Italian in Iraq.
35:07
Yes, yes.
35:08
And so, yeah, it was good.
35:10
Really, really enjoyed it.
35:11
And the cars, you know, the…
35:13
Money was tight and the cars were never really competitive, but that car actually, the chassis had a lot of potential.
35:21
Much missed.
35:22
Yes, much missed.
35:24
A good bloke.
35:24
I went to his memorial and, yeah, liked him very much.
35:30
There are other aspects of your career here from Tiger, for example.
35:36
I want to come to the last Supercars Bathurst, if you can, and a reflection of that.
35:40
Was it 2003?
35:41
Yeah.
35:41
Tell me about that.
35:42
Yeah.
35:43
Driving with Dougal McDougal in one of Larry's cars.
35:45
That was good fun.
35:48
Really liked Dougal and really liked his father, Peter.
35:51
And the car was reasonable.
35:55
Probably was never going to be a front-of-the-grid car, but it was a pretty reasonable car and Dougal was a handy driver and it was, you know, by this time, this is getting pretty late in my career and probably 50-odd, I suppose, and...
36:12
One of those years with Dougal, we got right to the front because it was wet or something, you know, it was one of those cases where...
36:25
We were right on the money at the time, and I don't even remember where it finished, but it was… But you made a conscious decision at that stage that that would be your last before you even started, or you decided afterwards?
36:37
What did you decide?
36:37
Decided sort of during the event, you know, really.
36:41
And if they wanted me for next year, I probably would have done it with Dougal.
36:55
Yeah.
36:56
One thing we haven't talked about is the podium with Larco.
36:59
That's mint.
37:00
I do.
37:00
Yeah.
37:00
That's mint.
37:01
Yeah, that was good.
37:03
That was Stone Brothers, of course, my old team.
37:06
And the cars were competitive and Larco was competitive.
37:10
You know, I think...
37:12
Uh, Mark was on pole at Sandown and we had, um, and we were going to, we were doing that race together.
37:17
And then I think it had diff value fairly early.
37:19
So I didn't drive, but at Bathurst, we were, we're up on the money and we're in it, um,
37:28
What happened?
37:29
Marco had had, you know, we had somebody come in a door and we couldn't open the driver's door.
37:36
So we were changing drivers through the passenger seat, getting past the gear lever and, you know.
37:42
But it was one of those races that we drove –
37:45
Absolutely flat out all race, both of us, just flat out.
37:49
And their times were absolutely even.
37:52
And in the end, we were rewarded with a third place.
37:57
I think it was a race where Larry...
38:00
Larry was, that might have been the race that Larry had a puncher on the first lap and then dropped to the back but still in the same lap and caught back up.
38:11
But it was, I remember, it was an epic race and a very, just tough day.
38:15
Tough, tough, hard work all day but a great result.
38:19
That was worth it.
38:19
A couple to finish if we can.
38:21
Firstly, sharing some success with George, getting to actually drive with him.
38:27
What's the high point of that in your mind?
38:30
And does that rank right up there with the things that you are most proud of?
38:34
Absolutely it is.
38:35
You know, it's to share a car with you, you know, doing what you love with someone you love.
38:42
Love, yeah.
38:44
And earn it, you know, absolutely earn it, which was that, you know, we won a big race at Sydney Motorsport Park
38:53
2016 probably.
38:55
It was the 101, I think it was called.
38:57
It was the 101.
38:57
You were in Aston Martin then too, weren't you?
38:59
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
39:01
And it was just great.
39:04
He put a lot of pressure on me, George, because he was fast.
39:08
He's a very, very good driver, it's obvious.
39:11
And I was probably already in my 60s, one of the truly.
39:16
But, you know, I...
39:19
I stepped up to the plate and I was on the money too.
39:24
I was a pretty good co-driver.
39:26
But it was just great to be on the podium and, you know, just great.
39:33
We both have that podium photograph.
39:36
We both have in a prominent place now.
39:39
At home.
39:40
Yeah.
39:41
Cool.
39:41
There is time in TA2 machinery, among other things that you've driven along the way.
39:47
A quick thought, if I can, on Touring Car Masters, because for both of you, you've enjoyed your time there, haven't you?
39:54
Yeah, yeah, a great team.
39:56
Bob and Sharon Middleton were just fantastic to drive for and just wonderful.
40:01
So I probably had the best fun in all my time in motor racing with them.
40:06
They were just great people, complete believers in me, you know.
40:11
And, uh, uh, in, in my time and later on with George, you know, so they were, they were great years, a great formula and those cars, they are terrific to drive so much more, you know, talk about grunt over grip.
40:27
Yeah, fun.
40:28
Pure fun.
40:29
Fun, yeah.
40:30
Now, we've covered a little bit of stuff around the historics and bits and pieces.
40:34
Are you about to do another race at some point soon?
40:36
What is the next race that you'll do in an historic sense?
40:42
Well, Baskerville Classic, Baskerville Historic.
40:46
And then I think it's December is Eastern Creek with the March in Australia.
40:56
But before that, I bought a Formula Atlantic Swift and I'm sending it to New Zealand.
41:01
I'm going to do some...
41:02
racing in New Zealand at Manfield.
41:06
Superb.
41:06
And then Taupo.
41:08
Taupo.
41:08
Yeah, you're saying it right now.
41:09
We've all been taught how to say it right.
41:12
So that's great.
41:13
I look forward to catching up with you there.
41:16
Can I finish kind of back in the blend of business and motor racing, if I can?
41:20
And that is Multimatic, what you're doing with Midiki Motorsport in this country and the connection there with MPC.
41:26
Yeah.
41:28
The statistic is amazing.
41:29
What is it you've sold?
41:30
I mean, there are more Mustang GT4 cars that you've sold in this country, I think, than maybe even America or something, right?
41:36
If we isolate each of those, tell me about that.
41:40
More on a go.
41:41
I think when I bought the Mustang, it was hard to buy one, hard to contact anybody at Multimatic, and I tried for months and eventually got onto the Mustang.
41:53
Onto the right guy.
41:54
And then when we started talking, I got on with this guy, Sean Mason is his name, that runs, is head of GT4 in Canada.
42:05
And so I said, well, what about parts and support?
42:10
And he said, you know, end up doing a deal.
42:12
Right, I'd supplied the parts.
42:15
Yeah.
42:16
And I said, well, you want me to sell some cars down there if anybody else inquires?
42:23
He said, yeah, sure.
42:24
So it turned out there was strong inquiry, and I know how to sell a car.
42:31
Still.
42:33
Not the deadening or butter all in it.
42:35
No, no.
42:35
But I do it for the love of it, really.
42:38
And Parts has worked out well.
42:41
And we provide support for everybody.
42:45
And so – but the whole thing is growing, you know, the relationship.
42:50
It's multi-batic.
42:51
Yep.
42:52
who contract to Ford, but also Ford Motorsport itself.
42:56
And the relationship is growing stronger.
42:58
And to be asked to do the Japan race, it was a real, it was an honour, really, I felt.
43:07
It's underscored by Mark Rushbrook coming here at the beginning of the year.
43:09
I know it was Bathurst 12 hour and stuff, but I mean, he was there for the launch of what you guys were doing and so on.
43:13
Yeah.
43:14
Mark's.
43:15
Terrific guy and a real enthusiast.
43:16
Yes, proper.
43:18
Yeah, and so they gave us that.
43:21
And I get the feeling in my bones that it won't be the last time we'll be asked.
43:27
And together with the NPC in GT3 and with our own team in GT4, there'll be something.
43:34
So...
43:35
what I intended to be just a little parts business on the side to help to defray the cost of my racing turned into a business of its own.
43:44
Yeah.
43:44
And I'm pretty pretty.
43:45
Chris O'Toole's an employee there, isn't he?
43:46
Chris O'Toole's an amazing guy, you know, ex-Tickford.
43:50
Yeah.
43:51
And, uh, he, you know, he'd, he'd taken a step back and was working with, with Rob Herod.
43:57
Yeah.
43:57
And, uh.
43:58
And in the end, Rob was gracious enough to let him go and work for us full time.
44:05
And he's now, we share premises at MPC.
44:10
And it's worked out really well, really well.
44:13
So it'll be great for MPC in the long term and great for Chris.
44:18
And I'll have built something that I'll be proud of, I reckon.
44:21
Yeah.
44:21
Well done.
44:21
There's lots of things that you can be proud of.
44:23
This conversation is kind of proof of that.
44:25
We've done it in the studio in Sydney today, but I feel like we could have done this in the transporter because these are the style of conversations when I walk in there and I see you and George or whatever and a little bit of reminiscing about something.
44:36
It has been a joy for me, Andrew, to sit here and kind of capture a snapshot of that for your career.
44:42
Thank you for coming in today.
44:43
Congrats on all that you've done.
44:46
And I love the fact that whatever age you are now, we've not even talked the
44:50
that you are still enjoying the motor racing that that young kid borrowing money off mum set out to do.
44:55
Well, thank you, Greg.
44:57
And I must say you're a fight ambassador for our sport and you, you know, you, you share the love of it and you, you let,
45:08
all those fans and enthusiasts that listen to your podcast, you know, get to know what it's like really through the people and through the personalities.
45:17
So well done too.
45:18
Thank you.
45:19
I'm grateful because I feel like the listeners today will get to know Andrew Medici even better.
45:25
And you know what?
45:26
I'm finishing this right because I pronounced it right.
45:27
Thank you, mate.
45:28
Thank you.
45:29
Well done.