Tomas Mezera

Tomas Mezera
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1958-11-05) 5 November 1958 (age 67) Czechoslovakia
Retired	2004
ATCC / V8 Supercar
Years active	1992-2004
Teams	Peter Williamson Toyota Tony Longhurst Racing Perkins Engineering Holden Racing Team Daily Planet Racing Gibson Motorsport Tomas Mezera Motorsport Brad Jones Racing Romano Racing Imrie Motor Sport Paul Little Racing
Starts	67
Best finish	5th in 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship
Previous series
1982-85 1987 1988-89 1990	Australian Formula Ford Series British Formula Ford British Formula 3 All Japan Sports Prototype

Tomas Mezera (born 5 November 1958 in Czechoslovakia) is a naturalised Australian racing driver. Mezera won the 1988 Bathurst 1000, and for many years was a member of the Holden Racing Team as both a driver and team manager. Mezera's sporting career began as a downhill skier in his native Czechoslovakia, before he emigrated to Australia to be a ski instructor. Mezera retired from racing in 2004 but continues to hold roles in motorsport, most recently as a driving standards advisor to several domestic motor racing championships.

Personal life

Born in 1958 in communist Czechoslovakia, Mezera was a skilled tennis player and skier in his youth - qualifying for and placing in national level ski events under the tutelage of his father, a ski coach in his own right. Mezera had an interest in motor racing at a young age and took part in amateur hillclimbs in the family Škoda. Mezera took up a Physics course at university after leaving school and joined their ski team, escaping to Hungary during an event and defecting to Austria via Belgrade. Having spent the second half of 1979 in a refugee camp outside Vienna, he arrived in Sydney prior to Christmas where he moved in with relatives. To make his start in racing, he worked as a garbage man, a panelbeater and a restaurant hand in Kings Cross. ^[1]

Formula racing

Mezera quickly was introduced to racing and joined the ranks of Formula Ford in 1982. In November 1983, he was offered a drive for the 1984 FF season in a Reynard FF83, after being spotted by David Haydon of Dalcar Industries. Mezera finished fifth in the 1984 Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series, and won the 1985 Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series driving the Dalcar Reynard FF83 prepared by motorsport enthusiast and team owner David Haydon (with engines supplied by the Frank Gardner run JPS Team BMW). In 1987, he returned to Europe and the British Formula Ford Championship, finishing second. He had two poor years in British Formula 3 compromised by lack of budget. He found work as driving instructor to stay in Europe with hopes of reaching his goal as a professional in Europe.

Touring / Sports Cars

During 1988 while working as a driving instructor in England, Mezera was able to secure much needed parts for the Ford Sierra RS500 Group A touring car team run by Frank Gardner and Tony Longhurst. As it was Gardner's protest at Bathurst in 1987 that had led to the disqualification of Ford Europe supported Eggenberger Motorsport Sierras and caused them to lose the 1987 World Touring Car Championship to BMW, Ford did not want to supply parts to Tony Longhurst Racing team manager Gardner, and Mezera was asked to buy the needed parts for the team. As a reward Mezera was given the job of Longhurst's co-driver for the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000 races.

The pair won the 1988 Tooheys 1000 in their Benson & Hedges backed Ford Sierra RS500, with Mezera driving the car across the finish line. He then returned to Europe to continue his pursuit of racing professionally overseas, returning to Australia for the endurance season, racing for Perkins Engineering from 1989 until 1991. He finished third with Larry Perkins in the 1990 Bathurst 1000, and the pair won the 1990 Nissan Sydney 500 at Eastern Creek Raceway.

This led to racing a Porsche 962 for fellow Aussie Vern Schuppan in the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship and a drive in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1990 finishing 15th with co-drivers Eje Elgh and Thomas Danielsson. He had five races in the British Touring car Championship in 1989 and 1990 with two podium finishes.

When Win Percy returned to England after the 1991 season, Mezera was hired to drive for the Holden Racing Team. He was briefly assumed the role of team manager in 1993 after the departure of Neal Lowe until Jeff Grech was recruited.

Mezera was the first pole sitter when the ATCC became V8 Supercars in 1993 at Sydney's tight Amaroo Park circuit. He continued to race for HRT as teammate to Peter Brock until the end of the 1995 season before being replaced by Craig Lowndes. He was briefly part of John Trimbole's Daily Planet Racing before starting his own team in 1998 with the help of Derek van Zelm and on limited budget ran in the V8 Supercars Championship from 1998 until 2001. His full-time racing career wound down at that point although he continued to get drives as a hired gun for many teams.

In 2001, Mezera made a return to the Holden Racing Team as an endurance driver and finished third in the 2002 Bathurst 1000 and fourth at the 2002 Queensland 500.

Mezera retired from racing in 2004 and later served as a Driving Standards Official for Confederation of Australian Motor Sport and V8 Supercars Australia. ^[2]

Career results

The Reynard FF83 with which Mezera won the 1985 Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series

The Ford Sierra RS500 Mezera drove to win 1988 Tooheys 1000

Season	Series	Position	Car	Team
1982	TAA Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series	19th	Carlboro - Ford	Tomas Mezera Motorsport
1984	Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series	5th	Reynard FF84 - Ford	Dalcar Racing - David Haydon Motorsport
1985	Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series	1st	Reynard FF83 - Ford [3] Elwyn 003 - Ford	Dalcar Racing - David Haydon Motorsport
1987	British Formula Ford Championship	2nd	Van Diemen RF97 Ford	Van Diemen
1988	British Formula 3 Championship	12th	Reynard 873 - Volkswagen	Peter Lea Racing
	Asia Pacific Touring Car Championship	7th	Ford Sierra RS500	Benson & Hedges Racing
1989	British Touring Car Championship	42nd	Ford Sierra RS500	Team Labatt's
1990	Australian Endurance Championship	2nd	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	Perkins Engineering
	All Japan Sports Prototype Championship	18th	Porsche 962C	Omron Racing Team
1992	Australian Touring Car Championship	16th	Holden VN Commodore SS Group A	Holden Racing Team
1993	Australian Touring Car Championship	7th	Holden VP Commodore	Holden Racing Team
1994	Australian Touring Car Championship	9th	Holden VP Commodore	Holden Racing Team
1995	Australian Touring Car Championship	5th	Holden VR Commodore	Holden Racing Team
1998	Australian Touring Car Championship	21st	Holden VS Commodore	Challenge Motorsport Gibson Motorsport
	ATCC Privateers Cup	2nd	Holden VS Commodore	Challenge Motorsport
1999	Shell Championship Series	45th	Holden VT Commodore	Tomas Mezera Motorsport
2000	Shell Championship Series	55th	Holden VT Commodore	Tomas Mezera Motorsport
2001	Shell Championship Series	28th	Holden VX Commodore	Tomas Mezera Motorsport Imrie Motor Sport Holden Racing Team
2002	V8 Supercar Championship Series	34th	Holden VX Commodore	Imrie Motor Sport Holden Racing Team
2003	V8 Supercar Championship Series	51st	Holden VX Commodore	Perkins Engineering
2004	V8 Supercar Championship Series	37th	Holden VY Commodore	Paul Little Racing

Complete Australian 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	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	DC	Points
1992	Holden Racing Team	Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV	AMA R1	AMA R2	SAN R3 6	SAN R4 Ret	SYM R5	SYM R6	WIN R7	WIN R8	LAK R9	LAK R10	EAS R11	EAS R12	MAL R13	MAL R14	BAR R15	BAR R16	ORA R17	ORA R18																		16th	29
1993	Holden Racing Team	Holden VP Commodore	AMA R1 DNS	AMA R2 5	AMA R3 Ret	SYM R4 2	SYM R5 2	PHI R6 12	PHI R7 5	LAK R8 Ret	LAK R9 DNS	WIN R10 Ret	WIN R11 DNS	EAS R12 11	EAS R13 7	MAL R14 3	MAL R15 4	BAR R16 5	BAR R17 Ret	ORA R18 5	ORA R19 2																	7th	85
1994	Holden Racing Team	Holden VP Commodore	AMA R1 9	AMA R2 4	SAN R3 2	SAN R4 15	SYM R5 6	SYM R6 12	PHI R7 10	PHI R8 5	LAK R9 Ret	LAK R10 DNS	WIN R11 11	WIN R12 8	EAS R13 5	EAS R14 4	MAL R15 6	MAL R16 Ret	BAR R17 11	BAR R18 5	ORA R19 8	ORA R20 7																9th	111
1995	Holden Racing Team	Holden VR Commodore	SAN R1	SAN R2	SYM R3	SYM R4	BAT R5	BAT R6	PHI R7	PHI R8	LAK R9	LAK R10	WIN R11	WIN R12	EAS R13	EAS R14	MAL R15	MAL R16	BAR R17	BAR R18	ORA R19	ORA R20																5th	163
1998	Glenn Seton Racing	Ford EL Falcon	SAN R1	SAN R2	SAN R3	SYM R4	SYM R5	SYM R6	LAK R7	LAK R8	LAK R9	PHI R10	PHI R11	PHI R12	WIN R13	WIN R14	WIN R15	MAL R16 Ret	MAL R17 12	MAL R18 10	BAR R19	BAR R20	BAR R21	CAL R22 8	CAL R23 14	CAL R24 C	HDV R25	HDV R26	HDV R27	ORA R28 7	ORA R29 Ret	ORA R30 11						24th	116
1999	Glenn Seton Racing	Ford EL Falcon Ford AU Falcon	EAS R1 Ret	EAS R2 Ret	EAS R3 16	ADE R4 13	BAR R5 5	BAR R6 5	BAR R7 Ret	PHI R8 Ret	PHI R9 22	PHI R10 24	HDV R11 6	HDV R12 24	HDV R13 Ret	SAN R14 Ret	SAN R15 19	SAN R16 15	QLD R17 8	QLD R18 8	QLD R19 3	CAL R20 6	CAL R21 WD	CAL R22 WD	SYM R23 3	SYM R24 3	SYM R25 Ret	WIN R26 25	WIN R27 14	WIN R28 9	ORA R29 8	ORA R30 19	ORA R31 26	QLD R32 4	BAT R33 5			12th	1107
2000	Glenn Seton Racing	Ford AU Falcon	PHI R1 4	PHI R2 23	BAR R3 21	BAR R4 21	BAR R5 Ret	ADE R6 Ret	ADE R7 12	EAS R8 9	EAS R9 9	EAS R10 6	HDV R11 18	HDV R12 10	HDV R13 8	CAN R14 9	CAN R15 2	CAN R16 6	QLD R17 19	QLD R18 17	QLD R19 12	WIN R20 3	WIN R21 19	WIN R22 8	ORA R23 18	ORA R24 20	ORA R25 12	CAL R26 12	CAL R27 10	CAL R28 Ret	QLD R29 7	SAN R30 13	SAN R31 12	SAN R32 8	BAT R33 13			12th	829
2001	Gibson Motorsport	Ford AU Falcon	PHI R1	PHI R2	ADE R3	ADE R4	EAS R5	EAS R6	HDV R7	HDV R8	HDV R9	CAN R10	CAN R11	CAN R12	BAR R13	BAR R14	BAR R15	CAL R16	CAL R17	CAL R18	ORA R19	ORA R20	QLD R21 Ret	WIN R22	WIN R23	BAT R24 17	PUK R25	PUK R26	PUK R27	SAN R28	SAN R29	SAN R30						54th	208
2002	00 Motorsport	Ford AU Falcon	ADE R1 Ret	ADE R2 Ret	PHI R3 16	PHI R4 13	EAS R5 18	EAS R6 12	EAS R7 14	HDV R8 Ret	HDV R9 13	HDV R10 15	CAN R11 12	CAN R12 24	CAN R13 16	BAR R14 13	BAR R15 6	BAR R16 18	ORA R17 7	ORA R18 10	WIN R19 13	WIN R20 18	QLD R21 6	BAT R22 Ret	SUR R23 23	SUR R24 13	PUK R25 15	PUK R26 7	PUK R27 15	SAN R28 12	SAN R29 Ret							17th	569

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

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

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	DC	Points
1988	Benson & Hedges Racing	Ford Sierra RS500	BAT 1	WEL	PUK	FJI	7th	20

Complete British Touring Car Championship results

(key)

Year	Team	Car	Class	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	DC	Pts	Class
1989	Trident Motorsport	Maserati Biturbo	A	OUL	SIL	THR Ret	DON	THR	SIL DNS	SIL	BRH	SNE					42nd	4	16th
	Labatt's Team	Ford Sierra RS500											BRH 3	BIR
	JQF Engineering														DON Ret	SIL 4
1990	Labatt's Team	Ford Sierra RS500	A	OUL	DON 3‡†	THR	SIL	OUL	SIL	BRH	SNE	BRH	BIR	DON	THR	SIL	NC	0	NC

‡ Endurance driver.

† Not eligible for points due to being an endurance driver.

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Overall position	Class position
1985	Peter Williamson Toyota	Peter Williamson	Toyota Celica Supra	B	32	DNF	DNF
1988	Tony Longhurst Racing	Tony Longhurst	Ford Sierra RS500	A	161	1st	1st
1989	Perkins Engineering	Larry Perkins	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	A	158	6th	6th
1990	Perkins Engineering	Larry Perkins	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	A	161	3rd	3rd
1991	Perkins Engineering	Larry Perkins	Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV	1	65	DNF	DNF
1992	Holden Racing Team	Brad Jones	Holden VP Commodore	C	131	15th	2nd
1993	Holden Racing Team	Win Percy	Holden VP Commodore	A	107	DNF	DNF
1994	Holden Racing Team	Peter Brock	Holden VP Commodore	A	138	DNF	DNF
1995	Holden Racing Team	Peter Brock	Holden VR Commodore		32	DNF	DNF
1996	Holden Racing Team	Peter Brock	Holden VR Commodore		160	5th	5th
1997	Daily Planet Racing	John Trimbole	Holden VS Commodore	L1	25	DNF	DNF
1998	Tomas Mezera Motorsport	Alain Menu	Holden VT Commodore	OC	0	DNF	DNF
1999	Tomas Mezera Motorsport	Tony Ricciardello	Holden VT Commodore		41	DNF	DNF
2000	Brad Jones Racing	Brad Jones	Ford AU Falcon		159	DNF	DNF
2001	Holden Racing Team	Jason Bright	Holden VX Commodore		126	DNF	DNF
2002	Holden Racing Team	Jason Bright	Holden VX Commodore		161	3rd	3rd
2003	Perkins Engineering	Paul Dumbrell	Holden VX Commodore		155	14th	14th
2004	Paul Little Racing	Anthony Tratt	Holden VY Commodore		157	18th	18th

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1990	Team Schuppan Omron Racing	Eje Elgh Thomas Danielsson	Porsche 962C	C1	326	15th	15th

References

1. "TOMAS MEZERA: V8 SLEUTH PODCAST | V8 Sleuth".
2. Tomas Mezera Speedcafe 16 July 2010
3. Reynard Owners Listings Archived 17 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 24 August 2011

External links

• Tomas Mezera career summary at DriverDB.com
• Conrod V8 Supercar stats

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ron Barnacle	Winner of the Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series 1985	Succeeded by Warwick Rooklyn
Preceded by Peter Brock David Parsons Peter McLeod	Winner of the Bathurst 1000 1988 (with) Tony Longhurst	Succeeded by Dick Johnson John Bowe
Preceded by	Winner of the Nissan Sydney 500 1990 (with) Larry Perkins	Succeeded by