Allan Grice

Allan GriceOAM
Allan GriceOAM
	Allan-Chris Grice atAmaroo Park Raceway
Born	21 October 1942(age 81); Maitland, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Occupation	racing driver
Retired	2005
V8 Utes
Years active	2002–05
Teams	Allan Grice Racing
Best finish	6th in 2002 V8 Brutes Series
Previous series
1966, 1972; 1972; 1974–95; 1978–80; ; 1981–85; 1981–91; 1984; 1984, 1988; 1986, 1988; 1986; ; 1987, 1989; 1987; 1988; 1988; ; 1988; ; 1989–1991; 2002–2005	Australian Drivers' Championship; Australian Formula 2 Championship; Australian Touring Car Championship; Australian Sports Sedan Championship; AMSCAR Series; Australian Endurance Championship; Australian GT Championship; World Sportscar Championship; European Touring Car Championship; South Pacific Touring Car Championship; Winston Cup; World Touring Car Championship; British Touring Car Championship; All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship; Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship; Australian Superspeedway Series; V8 Ute Racing Series
Championship titles
1978; ; 1979; ; 1984; 1986; 1986; ; 1990	Australian Sports Sedan Championship; Australian Sports Sedan Championship; Australian GT Championship; Bathurst 1000; South Pacific Touring Car Championship; Bathurst 1000
Member of theQueensland Legislative Assembly; forBroadwater
	In office; 16 September 1992 – 17 February 2001
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Peta-Kaye Croft
Personal details
Political party	National Party

Allan Maxwell Grice(born 21 October 1942), known to motor-racing fans as "Gricey", is an Australian formerracing driverandpolitician,most famous for twice winning the prestigiousBathurst 1000(1986and1990), and as a privateer driver of aHoldenin theAustralian Touring Car Championship.

Grice was educated atThe Armidale Schoolin northern NSW.

Grice also had a successful second career as a politician and Member forBroadwaterin theQueensland Parliamentfrom 1992 to 2001.^[1]He currently^[when?]operates an LPG conversion and importing business – LPGricey Tanks.^{[citation needed]}

Bathurst 1000 record[edit]

Grice made 26 starts between 1968 and 2002 ( sixth on the 'most starts' list).

Grice had seven podium finishes at Bathurst: two wins (1986and1990), four seconds (1978,1982,1991,1995), and a third (1983). These results put him fifth on the 'most podiums' list for drivers at Bathurst.^{[citation needed]}

Thirteen top 10 finishes (50% of all his starts) (in addition to above, fourth in1979,seventh in1980and1981,tenth in1989,fifth in1992and seventh in1994). Grice holds the record for the most Bathurst 1000 drives (16) before first victory (of those who have won).^{[citation needed]}

Bathurst 1986[edit]

Driving aHolden VK Commodore SS Group Athat was owned by his co-driver,Graeme Baileyand built by his longtime team,Roadways Racing,Grice posted the first 100 mph average lap in aGroup Acar, backing up his feat of achieving the first 100 mph average lap in aGroup CspecificationHolden VH Commodorein1982.Grice's time for the 6.172 km circuit in 1986 was a 2:16.16 (compared to his 1982 time of 2:17.8) although he only achieved pole position in 1982.

Grice and Bailey led for all-but 12 laps and Grice drove for 137 of the 163 laps (before the track alterations in response to FIA request reduced the race to 161 laps).

Bathurst 1990[edit]

British Touring Car ChampionshiplegendWin Percywas given the task of reviving the fortunes of the Holden Team in theAustralian Touring Car ChampionshipbyTom Walkinshaw,and against Walkinshaw's wishes Percy chose Grice as his co-driver for Bathurst.

With Percy carrying a shoulder injury, Grice did the bulk of the testing and race driving for Bathurst. Competing against a field that included multiple turbo-chargedFord Sierras,Grice and Percy prevailed to record a famous victory in aHolden VL Commodore SS Group A SV.

Racing career[edit]

Though Grice did race, and win, for Holden factory teams in ATCC (most famously in the Bathurst 1000 in 1990), he spent much of his career as a privateer racing in a Holden against the Holden works teams (typically driven byPeter Brock).

Early in his career, Grice was the first racing driver to race the iconicHolden Torana LH SLR/5000V8 (though he raced the road-version, L31, not the race-bred, Bathurst winning version, L34).

In 1974 Grice began driving for the Craven Mild Racing team and the following year he won a number of rounds in theAustralian Touring Car Championshipin his SL/R 5000 Torana.

In1975,Allan Grice put up his strongest challenge for theAustralian Touring Car Championship.Grice would have won the championship had he not been disqualified from rounds five, seven and eight. In round five, atSurfers Paradise,Grice won the race but was disqualified following a protest lodged byHolden Dealer TeammanagerHarry Firth.Firth correctly contended that the thermostat from theHolden V8 enginein Grice's Craven Mild Torana L34 was in fact in the car's glovebox and not where it should have been. This led to speculation that Firth had managed to convince one of Grice's mechanics to put the item in the glovebox in a bid to sabotage his season^{[citation needed]},which at that point saw Grice leading the points table. Firth's lead driverColin Bondwent on to win the 1975 ATCC. Grice continued the season after appealing the disqualification, but once the appeal was upheld he lost all points from the remaining rounds.

In 1978 Grice broke through with a placing in theBathurst 1000when he came second behind Peter Brock in a Craven Mild RacingHolden LX Torana A9X SS5000.

Grice was the winner of the 1978 and 1979Australian Sports Sedan ChampionshipsdrivingFrank Gardner's Chevrolet Corvair.Grice also finished fourth with open wheel starAlfredo Costanzoin the1979 Hardie-Ferodo 1000,though he was some nine laps behind the winning HDT Torana of Peter Brock andJim Richards,with the Craven Mild Torana hatchback, like the rest of the field, not posing a serious threat to Brock.

In 1980 theCraven Mildteam began driving aBMW 318i Turboin the sports sedan series, first in his usual Craven Mild colours, but later in the black and gold of theJPS Team BMW.Grice had little success with the car, constantly battling its handling which was not up to the power of the turbocharged engines. Grice's relationship with team manager Gardner had also deteriorated by this time, resulting in his sacking from the JPS team at the end of 1981. This led to a long-standing animosity between Grice and Gardner which lasted until Gardner's death at the age of 78 in 2009. The crux of the animosity was Gardner allegedly not having a high opinion of Grice's aggressive driving style, while Grice also contends that Gardner stole his longtimeCraven AandJPScigarette sponsorship.

After contemplating giving away racing, with no prospects of a competitive drive, Grice was thrown a lifeline by Re-Car owner Alan Browne. Grice was listed to drive with Browne at Bathurst in 1982 and Grice qualified fastest in the team'sHolden VH Commodore.He and Browne finished second after a duel with the similar Commodore of Peter Brock in the early laps. The following year Grice finished third at Bathurst in anSTPsponsored Roadways Commodore shared with Bond.

Grice holds the distinction of winning the last ATCC race held underCAMSlocally developedGroup Crules when he won the final race of the1984 ATCCat theAdelaide International Racewayin a Holden VH Commodore. In a closely fought race, Grice finished less than one second in front of Brock's HDT Commodore, with series championDick Johnsonthird in hisFord Falcon,less than a second behind Brock. Grice also won the last competitive Group C race held in Australia when he drove his RoadwaysHolden VK Commodoreto victory in a race held at theBaskerville RacewayinTasmaniain late 1984.

Grice easily won the1984 Australian GT Championshipdriving the ex-Bob JaneDeKonChevrolet Monzathat had been acquired by Re-Car boss Alan Browne. Grice and the Monza sat on pole for every round of the series and won all but one race, his only loss was when the Monza lost fuel pressure while holding an eight-second lead over thePorsche Carrera RSRof Peter Fitzgerald on the last lap of round three atCalder Park Raceway.In late 1984 Grice was joined by fellow touring car star Johnson and driver-engineer Ron Harrop in the Monza, when they contested theSandown 1000as part of the1984 World Endurance Championship.The race was the first ever world championship road race held in Australia. Running in the special "AC Class" (for cars in the Australian GT andsports carchampionships), Grice qualified the car 18th and second in class, 1.9 seconds shy of the1984 Australian Sports Car ChampionshipwinningRomano WE84-Cosworthdriven byAlfredo Costanzo(and almost nine seconds slower thanStefan Bellof's pole time in hisRothmans Porsche 956). The Monza ran strongly, with Grice reporting that the 600 bhp (447 kW; 608 PS) 6.0 LChevroletwas able to stay with the faster Porsches on the straights, but lost out to theground effectsports cars through the turns (Johnson claimed that the car had a lot more grunt than its handling deserved, though Grice contended that the Monza handled very well). The Monza was eventually disqualified from the race for receiving outside assistance.

During 1984 Grice also competed in the24 Hours of Le Mans.Driving a Charles Ivey Racing preparedPorsche 956,with co-driversAlain de CadenetandChris Craft,the car was qualified 32nd, but was a DNF with engine failure after 274 laps. Grice, who proved the fastest of the trio despite never having raced at Le Mans or in a 956, was openly critical of the team and their preparation of the car which had a bad habit of losing wheels at high speed. After the Porsche lost a wheel early in the race (before his first driving stint), Grice was heard to say loud enough for everyone in the team to hear that he had race cars at home that did not shed wheels.^[2]

Though best remembered for his endurance race feats, Grice was a very fast driver. Driving as a privateer, he was the first driver to record a 100 mph laps around Bathurst in both a Group C car1982and in a Group A car1986(that time on his way to winning Bathurst).

In 1987 Grice became the first Australian driver to qualify forNASCAR'sCoca-Cola 600at theCharlotte Motor Speedway.Gricey was also prominent in the early NASCAR races held in Australia, held in 1988 at the then new,A$54 millionCalder Park Thunderdomeowned by former racer and prominent businessman Bob Jane. Grice qualified hisFoster'ssponsoredOldsmobile Delta 88third for the1988 Goodyear NASCAR 500at the Thunderdome, the first ever NASCAR race held outside of North America. His race ended on lap 80 when he was caught up in a crash that he could not avoid due to the Oldsmobile having lost its brakes. Grice suffered a broken collar bone in the high speed crash. The race itself was dominated by visitingWinston CupdriversNeil Bonnett,Bobby AllisonandDave Marcis,with Bonnett eventually winning from fellowAlabama Gangmember Allison by just 0.86 seconds.

In 1990, Grice and his old Roadways touring car team led by team boss and chief mechanic Les Small, developed a left-hand-driveHolden VN Commodorepowered by a 358 cubic inch Chevrolet V8 engine to run in theAustralian NASCAR series,with Grice taking several wins at both the Thunderdome and the 1/2 mile Speedway Super Bowl at the Adelaide International Raceway. Grice, Small and Bob Jane also formed a plan to take the Commodore to America to run in the Winston Cup], though ultimately the plans were shelved.

In 1988, thanks to his friendship with his1987 James Hardie 1000co-driver Percy, Grice was drafted into theNissan Motorsport Europeteam for theEuropean Touring Car Championship,driving aNissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R.Percy, Grice, and Swedish driverAnders Olofsson,drove the car to sixth outright in the 1988Spa 24 Hours.The Nissan Europe team was managed by formerFord Works Teamand laterNissan Australiateam boss from the Australian Group C days, Howard Marsden. Grice also won the inauguralBathurst 12 Hourheld in 1991 driving a Toyota Supra Turbo with Peter Fitzgerald and Nigel Arkell.

Grice last competed in a full ATCC was in1987.He was signed byPinnacle Motorsportto complete the full1995season, although the relationship was severed mid-year. Grice's final ATCC race was at the 1995Oran Parkround driving aFord EF FalconforGlenn Seton Racing.Grice ended his career having won ten rounds in the Australian Touring Car Championship (equal 12th on list of round winners).

Grice continued to compete as an endurance co-driver, his last appearance was at the2002 Bathurst 1000driving aFord AU Falconentered by V8 Ute series teamNilsson Motorsport.The Bathurst start, some five years after his previous start, rekindled Grice as a racing driver and he made a comeback to racing in theV8 Utesseries driving Falcon XR8s and forming his own team. He was competitive, winning races with a championship position high of sixth.

Since stepping away from the drivers seat Grice remains a familiar sight at historic racing events as well as supporting the racing career of his son,Benjamin Grice.