Fred Gibson (racing driver)

Last updated

Fred Gibson
Nationality Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australian
Born (1941-01-16) 16 January 1941 (age 84)
Retired1983
Australian Touring Car Championship
Years active1968, 1972-74, 1982-83
Teams Ford Works Team
Nissan Motorsport Australia
Best finish4th in 1968 Australian Touring Car Championship
Championship titles
1967 Bathurst 1000
Awards
2004 V8 Supercars Hall of Fame

Frederick Charles Gibson (born 16 January 1941) is a former Australian racing driver and race team owner.

Contents

Career

A replica of the Ford XR Falcon GT driven to victory in the 1967 Gallaher 500 by Fred Gibson and Harry Firth Ford XR Falcon GT of Kris Argento.JPG
A replica of the Ford XR Falcon GT driven to victory in the 1967 Gallaher 500 by Fred Gibson and Harry Firth

After a career that began in small production sports cars, first an MGA, and later the first Lotus Elan to run in Australian competition, Gibson quickly moved up into the touring car ranks. In just his second Bathurst start he claimed second place in the 1966 Gallaher 500. [1]

In 1967, Frank Matich, who was to co-drive one of the new Ford XR Falcon GTs at Bathurst with Harry Firth, had to pull out due to other commitments, and recommended Gibson as his replacement. [1] Gibson first met Firth on the Thursday before the Gallaher 500 and later set the second fastest qualifying time behind their Sydney based teammates Ian and Leo Geoghegan, 1967 was the first year at Bathurst that grid positions were determined by qualifying times and not by class.

Alongside his team boss, Gibson scored his first major win, defeating the Geoghegans after a re-count of laps (the Geoghegans were flagged in 1st but a lap scoring error had been made during their first pit stop). The leading V8 Falcon GT's battled for most of the race with the Alfa Romeo 1600 GTVs, but for the first time in the history of the race, the bigger cars proved up to the challenge and went on to a strong win over the leading GTV of Doug Chivas and Max Stewart. [2]

Gibson became a mainstay with the Ford Works Team for the next six years, taking much success at Sydney's Oran Park and Amaroo Park in particular. He won the competitive Oran Park production sedan series, the Toby Lee Series, in 1970 and 1971 driving his Falcon GTHO supported by his Sydney speedshop, Road & Track. [1] At Bathurst however in the early 1970s he suffered a string of retirements. When the racing industry went into decline during the 70s Gibson raced less frequently but was a still regular at Bathurst.

In 1981 Gibson joined the newly formed Nissan touring car team, headed by his former Ford Australia boss Howard Marsden. Gibson became the team's regular number two driver alongside George Fury driving the Group C Nissan Bluebird Turbo, pioneering turbo charged touring cars in Australia. Gibson's racing involvement generally was as lead driver of the team's second car at the Sandown and Bathurst enduros, selected Australian Touring Car Championship races and at the AMSCAR series at Amaroo Park. [1]

Fred Gibson gave Nissan its first touring car race win in Australia (and the first turbocharged win in Australian touring car racing) when he won heats 2 and 3 of Round 3 of the 1983 AMSCAR series. [1] After finishing 2nd in heat 1, Gibson won the round, going on to eventually finish 3rd in the series final pointscore.

Gibson's win in the AMSCAR round was his first major touring car win since he drove the Ford team's new XA Falcon Hardtop to win the Chesterfield 250 at the Adelaide International Raceway in 1973, giving him the distinction of being the first winner in both the Falcon Hardtop and the turbocharged Bluebird. His 1983 AMSCAR win would also prove to be the last win of Gibson's driving career.

During the early 1980s Gibson's Road & Track business also built Group C Ford Falcons for Sydney privateer Joe Moore. The Ford XD Falcon built by Gibson and raced by Moore at the 1981 James Hardie 1000 was co-driven by Fred Gibson's wife Christine (formerly known as Christine Cole, she was a talented driver in her own right, having previously driven at Bathurst for the Holden Dealer Team, and she had finished 5th outright in the 1975 Australian Touring Car Championship finishing ahead of both Bob Morris (6th) and defending ATCC champion Peter Brock (7th)).

Team Owner/Manager

Gibson retired from driving after 1983 and replaced Marsden as Nissan team boss at the end of 1984, overseeing the introduction of the turbocharged Nissan Skyline DR30 in 1986. [1] Highlights included winning the Australia Touring Car Championship in 1990 and 1991 with Jim Richards and 1992 series with Mark Skaife. Richards and Skaife won the 1991 and 1992 Bathurst 1000s.

With Nissan being forced out by the new for 1993 V8 formula, Gibson Motorsport switched to Holden Commodores with Skaife winning the 1994 series. The team would go through a down period following the banning of tobacco sponsorship at the end of 1995, running only a limited program in 1997. The team returned to full-time competition in 1998 with Steven Richards and Greg Murphy winning the 1999 Bathurst 1000. At the end of 1999, Gibson sold the team to Garry Dumbrell. [3]

In 2001, Gibson returned as the public face of Gibson Motorsport. Although initially portrayed as Gibson buying back his own team, it later emerged that it was Bob Forbes and not Fred Gibson who had bought the team, with Gibson only have purchased the franchise. A falling-out between Forbes and Gibson saw the latter leave the team after Bathurst. As Forbes owned his own franchise, Gibson sold his to Briggs Motor Sport. [4] After leaving the team, Gibson retained ownership of the team's Dandenong workshop. It was later leased to Paul Weel Racing and today is Garry Rogers Motorsport's base.

In 2004 Gibson was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame. [5] In 2013, Gibson reformed Gibson Motorsport with Alan Heaphy as a race car preparer for cars participating in the Heritage Touring Cars series. Amongst its clients are the owners of former Gibson Motorsport Nissans. [3] [6] [7]

Personal life

In the mid-1970s, Gibson married to fellow former racing driver, Christine Gibson (née Cole); herself a successful racer, the couple have two daughters. [8]

Career results

SeasonSeriesPositionCarTeam
1968 Australian Drivers' Championship 9th McLaren M4A Ford NE Allen Comp. Pty Ltd
1968 Australian Touring Car Championship 4th Ford Mustang NE Allen Competition Pty Ltd
1970 Grace Brothers / Toby Lee Series 1st Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase I Road & Track Services
1971 Grace Brothers / Toby Lee Series 1st Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II Road & Track Services
1972 Australian Touring Car Championship17th Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III Road & Track Services
1973 Australian Touring Car Championship6thFord XY Falcon GTHO Phase IIIRoad & Track Services
1974 Australian Touring Car Championship31st Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop Road & Track Services
1975 Australian Sports Car Championship 3rd Alfa Romeo T33 Fred Gibson's Road & Track
1982 Australian Touring Car Championship28th Datsun Bluebird Turbo Nissan Motor Australia
1982 Australian Endurance Championship 3rdNissan Bluebird Turbo Nissan Motor Co
1982 AMSCAR Series [9] 3rdNissan Bluebird TurboNissan Motor Co
1983 Australian Touring Car Championship15thNissan Bluebird TurboNissan Motorsport Australia
1983 AMSCAR Series [10] 3rdNissan Bluebird TurboNissan Motorsport Australia

Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

YearTeamCar12345678DCPoints
1968 N.E. Allen Competition Pty Ltd Ford Mustang WAR
4
4th-
1972 Road & Track Auto Services Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III SYM CAL BAT
4
SAN AIR WAR SUR ORA 17th4
1973 Road & Track Auto Services Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III SYM CAL
2
SAN WAN SUR
4
AIR ORA
3
WAR
Ret
6th19
1974 Road & Track Auto Services Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop SYM CAL SAN AMA
DNS
ORA
6
SUR AIR 31st1
1982 Nissan Motor Australia Datsun Bluebird Turbo SAN
7
CAL SYM ORA LAK WAN AIR SUR 28th4
1983 Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Bluebird Turbo CAL
7
SAN
Ret
SYM WAN AIR SUR ORA
10
LAK 15th27

Complete Bathurst 500/1000 results

YearTeamCo-driversCarClassLapsPos.Class
pos.
1963 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ken Nicholson Morris 850 A8944th12th
1966 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Vaughan & Lane BMC Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bill Stanley Morris Cooper S C1292nd2nd
1967 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ford Australia Flag of Australia (converted).svg Harry Firth Ford XR Falcon GT D1301st1st
1968 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ford Motor Company of Australia Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry Seton Ford XT Falcon GT D11331st11th
1969 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ford Australia Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry Seton Ford XW Falcon GTHO D93DNFDNF
1970 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ford Motor Co of Australia Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry Seton Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II E33DNFDNF
1971 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Road & Track Auto Services Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry Seton Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III E32DNFDNF
1972 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ford Motor Company of Australia Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III D22DNFDNF
1973 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ford Australia Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry Seton Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop D17DNFDNF
1975 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alfa Romeo Dealers Australia Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Fitzpatrick Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV B12DNFDNF
1977 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Pioneer Electronics Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ron Dickson Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop 3001cc – 6000cc14710th7th
1978 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Moffat Ford Dealers Flag of Australia (converted).svg Colin Bond Ford XC Falcon Cobra A59DNFDNF
1979 Flag of Australia (converted).svg King George Tavern Flag of Australia (converted).svg Joe Moore Holden LX Torana SL/R 5000 A9X 4-Door A125DNFDNF
1980 Flag of Australia (converted).svg King George Tavern Flag of Australia (converted).svg Joe Moore Ford XD Falcon 3001-6000cc51DNFDNF
1981 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nissan Motor Co. Flag of Australia (converted).svg George Fury Nissan Bluebird Turbo 4 Cylinder30DNFDNF
1982 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nissan Motor Co. Flag of Australia (converted).svg George Fury Nissan Bluebird Turbo B40DNFDNF
1983 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Nissan Motor Co. Australia P/L Flag of Australia (converted).svg John French Nissan Bluebird Turbo A13422nd20th

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Where are they now? Fred Gibson Speedcafe 15 April 2013
  2. "Falcon Wins Gallaher 500 Outright!". The Age . 4 October 1967. p. 10. Retrieved 27 August 2010.
  3. 1 2 Fed Gibson Part 2 Speedcafe 25 April 2013
  4. Gibson Motor Sport Merchandise Pty Ltd v Robert James Forbes [2005] FCA 749 (29 June 2005), Federal Court (Australia).
  5. Hall of Fame V8 Supercars
  6. About Us Archived 5 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine Gibson Motorsport
  7. Phillip Island: Gibson Motorsport Classic Report Heritage Touring Cars 25 March 2014
  8. Christine Gibson Speedcafe 1 June 2012
  9. Stuart Wilson, Better Brakes AMSCAR, Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1982/83, pages 198 to 209
  10. Stuart Wilson, Better Brakes AMSCAR Series, Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1983/84, pages 254 to 263
Sporting positions
Preceded by Winner of the Bathurst 500
1967
(with Harry Firth)
Succeeded by