Tony Longhurst (born 1 October 1957 in Sydney, New South Wales) 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.
| Tony Longhurst | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 1 October 1957 Sydney, New South Wales |
| ATCC / V8 Supercar | |
| Years active | 1985-2007 |
| Teams | JPS Team BMW Tony Longhurst Racing Longhurst Racing Stone Brothers Racing Rod Nash Racing Holden Racing Team Perkins Engineering Team Dynamik |
| Starts | 191 |
| Wins | 5 |
| Best finish | 3rd 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 |
Career
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 four drivers to win Bathurst in both a Ford and a Holden (the others being Craig Lowndes, Steven Richards and Jamie Whincup).[3]
He has raced internationally in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship and 1993 FIA Touring Car Challenge, both times for BMW. He also won the Australian Super Touring Championship for BMW in 1994.
After four years of service to the Frank Gardner run JPS Team BMW from 1984–87, Longhurst started his own touring car team in 1988, which became known as LoGaMo Racing, which based itself on the Gold Coast behind the Longhurst family owned Dreamworld. 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 1988–90, the team then began using the evolution model BMW M3 (1991–93), before running a Holden Commodore VP supplied by Perkins Engineering in 1994. Longhurst saw particular success at Lakeside International Raceway, winning three rounds at the circuit in 1988, 1991 and 1992. In 1995, Longhurst sold out to fellow shareholders Gardner and Terry Morris and formed Longhurst Racing to compete in the Australian Touring Car Championship with a Ford Falcon EF.
Tony Longhurst is 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).
In 1992 he also won the NZ Wellington street race in BMW M3. Came 3rd in 1989 Wellington street race and 3rd 1989 and 2nd in 1986 in the Pukekohe Nissan Mobil race in NZ.
In 2005, Longhurst bought the license for Team Dynamik's second car, running the #45 car for Max Wilson under WOW Sight & Sound sponsorship. 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. He also made an appearance at the Targa Tasmania that year. He returned to this event in 2006, finishing fourth overall.
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[4].
In 2009 he added a Bathurst 12 Hour victory, co-driving with Rod Salmon and Damien White.[5] By winning the 12 Hour, Longhurst joined Allan Grice, Gregg Hansford, Dick Johnson and John Bowe as winners of both the Bathurst 1000 and Bathurst 12 Hour races (this list was later joined by Paul Morris and Jonathon Webb).
In 2016, Longhurst returned to competition making an appearance at the Sydney Motorsport Park round of the Australian GT Championship in a Marque Sports Ford Focus and at the Silverstone Classic driving his 1994 Australian Manufacturers' Championship winning BMW 318i Super Touring car.[6][7]
The Benson & Hedges Ford Sierra RS500 driven by Longhurst and Tomas Mezera to victory at Bathurst in 1988 (pictured right) is 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 continues to live on the Gold Coast in Queensland and owns and manages the Boat Works facility at Coomera.[8]
Longhurst will return to Bathurst for the first time since winning the 2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour when he will drive at the 2017 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour driving a BMW M6 GT3 for BMW Team SRM alongside Timo Glock, Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall.
Career results
Sourced from Driver Database[9]
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 |  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 | JPS Team BMW
|
BMW M3 | MNZ | JAR | DIJ | NUR | SPA | BNO | SIL | BAT ovr:4 cls:1 |
CLD Ret |
NC | 0 | ||
 BMW Motorsport CiBiEmme
|
WEL ovr:7 cls:2 |
FJI |
† Not registered for series & points
Complete Bathurst 1000 Results
Complete Sandown Endurance results
Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Overall Position |
Class Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | BMW Australia Pty Ltd
|
Alan Jones Neville Crichton
|
BMW M5 | C | 251 | 2nd | 1st |
| 2009 | TMR Australia
|
Rod Salmon Damien White
|
Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo X | C | 239 | 1st | 1st |
| 2017 | BMW Team SRM
|
Timo Glock Mark Skaife Russell Ingall
|
BMW M6 GT3 | AP | 134 | DNF | DNF |
| 2018 | Boat Works Racing
|
Matthew Brabham Aaron Seton
|
BMW M4 GT4 | C | 250 | 22nd | 1st |
References
- ^ Sierras fill top three at Bathurst
- ^ "Motorsport: Skaife supreme in topsy-turvy Bathurst race". The New Zealand Herald. 8 October 2001. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ^ "Richards a chip off the old block". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 October 2007. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ^ Lynch, Michael. "Skaife ruled out of Sandown after appendix surgery". The Age. The Age. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
- ^ Bathurst 12: Event race report
- ^ Longhurst eyes Bathurst amid race return Speedcafe 1 July 2016
- ^ Longhurst to race title winning BMW at Silverstone Speedcafe 25 June 2016
- ^ The Boat Works Rising Ocean Magazine 14 August 2015
- ^ Tony Longhurst at Driver Database