by 
15th March, 2002
Brock
is back!
`Peter Perfect' to head
two-car Holden team
Peter Brock has confirmed his long-awaited
comeback to the sport that made him a household name, announcing a
partnership with Rod Nash and Ron Harrop in a two-car Holden team.
The cars and team will bare Brock’s illustrious name, 26 years after
`Team Brock' made its debut on the Australian racing scene.The kid who
used an axe to take the body off an Austin Seven to make a
paddock-basher came a long way.
 Following his
retirement in 1997, it seemed inevitable the nine-time Bathurst champion
would lend his unrivalled expertise to race management. It has
taken five years, but Brock says the time has now come.
“People have wanted this to happen since my retirement from
competitive acing. It’s all about timing, and this is the
time,” he said at yesterday’s launch in Adelaide.
“I know I’ve been accused of having alpacas loose in the back
paddock for getting back into the V8 scene, but the prospect of Team
Brock success gives me a good reason to be involved.”
31-year-old Kiwi Craig Baird, a race winner on the V8 Supercar circuit
with the Stone brothers, will drive the Brock Commodore in the opening
rounds, beginning in Adelaide this weekend. James Brock will pilot
a second car for his father later in the season.
Brock, 57, described his role as more of a team figurehead, coordinating
media and sponsorship arrangements.
The team will compete under the Rod Nash franchise, with Nash to
continue managing the Melbourne-based operation on a day-to-day basis.
Experienced spanner man and long-time associate of Brock, Harrop will
act as chief engineer.
“This partnership has some good synergy going with the three of us
operating in our areas of expertise,” said Brock.
A major sponsorship announcement is expected in the coming weeks.
Already, Holden, Bridgestone, Mobil, NGK, Autotek, Eibach and Biante
have thrown their support behind the team.
“We should be fairly competitive as this season unfolds,” said
Brock.
“Recent testing at Winton saw us lapping within three tenths of a
second of Mark Skaife’s lap times on the same day and Ron has a few
ideas to improve things as the season unwinds.
“It’s really a case of ‘softly, softly, catchee monkey’ as far
as the team is concerned. If we can build our competitive stature
and do a job for our sponsors, that will be great. Come the latter
part of the year who knows what can happen.”
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