Colin Bond Racing
| Manufacturer | Alfa Romeo (1984-87) Ford (1988-92) Toyota (1991-93) |
|---|---|
| Team Principal | Colin Bond |
| Race Drivers | Colin Bond (1984-93) Alfredo Costanzo (1984) Alan Jones (1985, 88) Gregg Hansford (1985) Peter Fitzgerald (1986) Warwick Rooklyn (1986) Lucio Cesario (1986-87) John Giddings (1988) Bruce Stewart (1988-89) Ken Matthews (1989-90) Domenic Benica (1989) Graeme Crosby (1990-91) John Smith (1992-93) Terry Bosnjak (1992-93) Peter Hopwood (1992) Neal Bates (1993) |
| Chassis | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 Alfa Romeo 75 Ford Sierra RS500 Toyota Corolla FX-GT E90 Toyota Corolla Seca E100 |
| Debut | 1984 |
| Round wins | 2 |
| 1993 position | 2nd (Smith), 3rd (Bond) |
Colin Bond Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship between 1984 and 1993.
History
Alfa Romeo
Colin Bond Racing was founded in 1984 by Colin Bond as the factory distributor-supported Alfa Romeo team through the Australia and New Zealand distributor, Network Alfa. The team initially built up a Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 to run in the Group E Series Production "Super Series" before being upgraded for the Sandown 500 and James Hardie 1000 to run in the new to Australia Group A international touring car category.[1] A second GTV6 was purchased from the Belgium based Luigi Racing team and added for the start of the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship with former world champion Alan Jones driving the car until he returned to Formula One late in 1985.[2] Gregg Hansford took over Jones' position in the team. The team was initially sponsored by Ignis Fridges as a secondary sponsor to Network Alfa.
In 1987, the team raced the Alfa Romeo 75 turbo with new major sponsorship from Caltex. Like the team's second GTV6 in 1985, the Alfa 75 was purchased from the Luigi team, though unlike the GTV6, Bond's team found a number of problems with the new car. Development work on the car throughout the season, including switching it from being left hand to right hand drive which allowed the use of a better exhaust system, brought power up to approximately 320 bhp (239 kW; 324 PS).[3] The team had begun to come to grips with the car and a good showing was hoped for at the 1987 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, though the race turned to a nightmare for the team after Bond's co-driver Lucio Cesario destroyed the front of the Alfa when he launched the car over Skyline and clouted the wall above The Dipper.
Bond finished his association with Alfa Romeo by qualifying 4th for the South Pacific Touring Car Championship Group A support race at the 1987 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. After a steady race, Colin Bond finished in 5th place.
Ford
Following Alfa Romeo's withdrawal from motorsport in mid-1987, the team switched to Ford Sierra RS500's from 1988.[4][5] Highlights included a third place at the 1988 Bathurst 1000 and wins in 1990 at Lakeside and Mallala.[6] Bond's win at Lakeside in 1990 was his first Australian Touring Car Championship race win since 1978.
Toyota
1991 saw the team branch out into Group E Production Car racing with a succession of Toyotas, Toyota MR2s and Toyota Celicas. Long time Toyota drivers John Smith and Neal Bates joined Bond in a succession of campaigns which were later run by Smith and/or Bates. In 1993, the team expanded its involvement with Toyota, competing in the 2 litre championship fielding a two-car team of Toyota Corollas. John Smith commenced the season in a 1990 Toyota Team Australia built 1.6 litre Corolla FX-GT while Bond developed the new 2.0 litre BTCC specification Corolla Seca.
Smith's FX-GT was unable to match the speed of M3 Motorsport's BMW M3s while Bond was fast but unreliable in the new Seca. Once both new cars were completed, reliability had improved to the point where Smith was taking wins away from Peter Doulman's M3. A dramatic winner-take-all championship finale at Oran Park saw Doulman's BMW win the title after a controversial collision between Smith's race leading Corolla Seca and Doulman's team mate John Cotter. Smith and Bond ended the series second and third. The team were again beaten by M3 Motorsport at the Bathurst 1000 with both Corollas retiring from the race.[7]
The team closed at the end of 1993 as a motor racing team, but continued its involvement in the new 2.0 litre touring car class as a constructor. One of its Corollas moved on to the Inspired Racing team. The team used the Corolla builds as the basis for the construction of a pair of Hyundai Lantras for the factory-supported HVE Motorsport team in 1994 and 1995.
References
- ↑ Colin Bond Speedcafe 12 February 2010
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- ↑ The Least Raced Group A Sierra in History V8Sleuth 12 August 2014
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