Colin Bond Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship between

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

and

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

History

Alfa Romeo

After years of racing for other teams, including the factory backed Holden Dealer Team (1969–1976) and Allan Moffat's factory backed Ford team (1977–1978), then being basically a driver-for-hire until 1983, Colin Bond founded Colin Bond Racing in 1984 by as the factory distributor-supported

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

team through the Australia and New Zealand distributor, Network Alfa. The team initially built an

Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 The Alfa Romeo Alfetta (Type 116) is a front-engine, five-passenger sedan and fastback coupé manufactured and marketed by Alfa Romeo from 1972 to 1987 with a production total over 400,000. The Alfetta was noted for the rear position of its ...

to run in the Group E Series Production "Super Series" before the car was upgraded for the Sandown 500 and James Hardie 1000 to run in the new to Australia Group A international touring car category. A second GTV6 was purchased from the

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

based Luigi Racing team and added for the start of the

1985 Australian Touring Car Championship The 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Touring Cars. It was the 26th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the first to be contested using regulations based on the ...

with former world champion Alan Jones driving the car until he returned to

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

in mid-1985, following which

Gregg Hansford Gregory John "Gregg" Hansford (8 April 1952 – 5 March 1995) was an Australian professional motorcycle and touring car racer. He competed in the FIM Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1978 to 1981 and in Australian tour ...

took over Jones' position in the team for the final round of the ATCC and as Bond's co-driver in the endurance races. The team was initially sponsored by Ignis Fridges as a secondary sponsor to Network Alfa. Driving the full Group A car, Jones proved something of a giant-killer in the early rounds of the 1985 ATCC, often running with the more powerful V8

Holden Commodore The Holden Commodore is a full-size car that was sold by Holden from 1978 to 2020. It was manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of the locally manufactured versions in Australia endin ...

's and

Ford Mustang GT The Ford Mustang is a series of American automobiles manufactured by Ford. In continuous production since 1964, the Mustang is currently the longest-produced Ford car nameplate. Currently in its sixth generation, it is the fifth-best selli ...

's as well as the turbocharged

Volvo 240T The Volvo 200 Series (or 240 and 260 Series) is a range of mid-size cars produced by Swedish company Volvo Cars from 1974 until 1993, with more than 2.8 million total units sold worldwide. Like the Volvo 140 Series (1966 to 1974), from which it ...

and the

BMW 635 CSi The BMW E24 is the first generation of BMW 6 Series range of grand tourer cars, which was produced from January 1976 to 1989 and replaced the BMW E9 coupé. The E24 was produced solely in a 2-door coupé body style. All models used petrol straigh ...

. Bond on the other hand in the converted Group E car couldn't match the pace of his illustrious team mate. When Jones left to return to Formula One, Bond sold the original Group E/A car and ran the Luigi bought GTV6 in the rest of the ATCC, putting in much improved performances including a surprise pole position for the Amaroo Park round. He then campaigned the car in the endurance races until a crash in a 300 KM race at the

Surfers Paradise International Raceway Surfers Paradise International Raceway was a motor racing complex at Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The long circuit was designed and built by Keith Williams, a motor racing enthusiast who also designed and built the Adelaide Internationa ...

. Prior to the Surfers race, Bond and Hansford finished 8th outright and 1st in Class B at the

1985 James Hardie 1000 The 1985 James Hardie 1000 was a motor race held on 6 October 1985 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales, Bathurst, in New South Wales, Australia. It was the 26th running of the Bathurst 1000 and was the first he ...

. For

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

, two more GTV6's were acquired from Luigi with Bond running one in the 1986 ATCC before running the second car in the endurance races. In

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, the team replaced the now outdated GTV6 with the new Alfa Romeo 75 turbo, complete with new major sponsorship from

Caltex Caltex is a petroleum brand name of Chevron Corporation used in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and Southern Africa. It is also the brand name of non-Chevron petroleum companies in some countries (such as New Zealand, and previously ...

. 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 . The team had begun to come to grips with the car and a good showing was hoped for at the

1987 James Hardie 1000 The 1987 James Hardie 1000 was an endurance race for Group A Touring Cars, staged on 4 October 1987 at the Mount Panorama Circuit, near Bathurst, in New South Wales, Australia. The race was the eighth round of the inaugural World Touring Car ...

at Bathurst, though the race turned to a nightmare for the team after Bond's co-driver

Lucio Cesario Lucio is an Italian and Spanish male given name derived from the Latin name ''Lucius''. In Portuguese, the given name is accented Lúcio. Lucio is also an Italian surname. Given name * Lúcio (Lucimar Ferreira da Silva) (born 1978), Brazilian f ...

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 The 1987 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Adelaide on 15 November 1987. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1987 Formula One World Championship. The 82-lap race was won by Austrian driver Gerhard Berger, who s ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

. After a steady race, Colin Bond finished in 5th place. The Alfa 75 turbo was a Class 2 car in the WTCC and an Under 2500cc in Australia. In both cases it was in the same class as the 2.3 Litre,

naturally aspirated Naturally may refer to: ;Albums * ''Naturally!'', an album by Nat Adderley * ''Naturally'' (Houston Person album) * ''Naturally'' (J. J. Cale album) * ''Naturally'' (John Pizzarelli album) * ''Naturally'' (Sharon Jones album) * ''Naturally'' ...

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial model ...

. However, despite the 75 having approximately more than the BMW, the results were vastly different. Like most Group A cars until 1987, the Alfa was a road car adapted for touring car racing. The BMW however (like the Ford Sierra RS500) had been conceived as a race car that was put into production as a road car purely for homologation purposes, changing the landscape for Group A racing.

Ford

Following Alfa Romeo's withdrawal from motorsport in mid-1987, the team switched to Ford Sierra RS500's from

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. Highlights in the first year included third place in the 1988 ATCC, winning the AMSCAR series and a third place at the

1988 Tooheys 1000 The 1988 Tooheys 1000 was a 1000 km endurance motor race for Group A Touring Cars.Tom Walkinshaw against the Australian built Sierra's). The team achieved consecutive round wins in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

Lakeside Lakeside or Lake Side may refer to: Places Australia * Lakeside College, Pakenham, Victoria * Lakeside Joondalup Shopping City, Joondalup, Western Australia * Lakeside, near Reservoir, Victoria * Lakeside International Raceway, Pine Rivers, Quee ...

and Mallala. Bond's win at Lakeside in 1990 was his first Australian Touring Car Championship race win since

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

while his win at Mallala was his 10th and last ATCC victory. Driving the Sierra (one of 1987's OXO Supercubes cars on loan from Don Smith), Bond and his 1988 co-driver Alan Jones also finished joint second in the

1988 Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship The 1988 Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship was a Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) sanctioned motor racing series run for Group A Touring Cars. It was the first of only two times the championship was run, with the next not bein ...

despite only competing in three of the four rounds (Bathurst,

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

and Pukekohe) and only finishing in two of them (Bathurst and Wellington) while missing the final round at Fuji in Japan. Bond's Caltex sponsored team expanded to two cars for the 1988 Endurance races at Oran Park, Sandown and Bathurst with the second car run by fellow Sydney veterans Bruce Stewart and John Giddings (the second car was part of the deal done with Don Smith early in 1988). Ken Matthews (another Sydney veteran) joined Bond's team in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

and

, running the 1988 Bathurst 1000 winning Ford Sierra he had purchased from Tony Longhurst.

Toyota

1991 saw the team branch out into Group E Production Car racing with a succession of Toyotas,

Toyota MR2 The Toyota MR2 is a line of two-seat, MR layout, mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports cars manufactured in Japan and marketed globally by Toyota from 1984 until 2007 over three generations: W10 (1984–1989), W20 (1989–1999) and W30 (2000–20 ...

s 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 is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

, 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 M3 Motorsport was an Australian motor racing team that competed in Australian touring car racing between 1989 and 2003. History M3 Motorsport was founded by Sydney club racers John Cotter and Peter Doulman when they purchased a pair of ex ...

s 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. 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 Steve Hardman Motorsport team in 1994 and 1995.

References

{{Reflist Australian auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 1984 Auto racing teams disestablished in 1993 Sports teams in New South Wales 1984 establishments in Australia 1993 disestablishments in Australia