Gregory John "Gregg" Hansford (8 April 1952 – 5 March 1995) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

professional

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

and

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

racer. He competed in the

FIM FIM may refer to: Organizations and companies * Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the International Motorcycling Federation * Flint Institute of Music, in Michigan, United States * Fox Interactive Media, now News Corp. Digital Media * ...

Grand Prix motorcycle racing Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

world championships from 1978 to 1981 and in Australian touring car championships from 1982 to 1994. Hansford was a two-time vice-champion in the 250cc road racing world championships. With 10 Grand Prix victories to his credit, he is ranked fourth for the most Grand Prix wins by an Australian behind

Mick Doohan Michael Sydney Doohan (born 4 June 1965) is an Australian former Grand Prix motorcycle road racing World Champion, who won five consecutive 500 cc World Championships. Biography Originally from the Gold Coast, Queensland, Doohan attended ...

(54 wins),

Casey Stoner Casey Joel Stoner (born 16 October 1985) is an Australian retired professional motorcycle racer, and a two-time MotoGP World Champion, in and . During his MotoGP career, Stoner raced for the factory teams of Ducati and Honda, winning a titl ...

(38) and

Wayne Gardner Wayne Michael Gardner (born 11 October 1959) is an Australian former professional Grand Prix motorcycle and touring car racer. His most notable achievement was winning the 1987 500 cc Motorcycle World Championship, becoming the first Aust ...

(18). After his international motorcycle racing career, Hansford returned to Australia and established himself as a competitive driver in Australian touring car competitions. Hansford's 1993 Bathurst victory gave him the unique distinction of winning a race at the Mount Panorama Circuit in both motorcycle and automobile racing events. He died in an accident during a

Supertouring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created ...

race at the

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit The Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit is a motor racing circuit located near Ventnor, on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. The current circuit was first used in 1956. History Road circuit Motor racing on Phillip Island began in 1928 with t ...

in 1995.

Racing career

Motorcycles

Hansford began racing motorcycles in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, winning the 1973

500cc Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

Unlimited title, as well as competing in the New Zealand Marlboro Series in 1975/76 and 1977/78 on Team Kawasaki 750s. He also won one leg of the 77/78 series on a KR250. In 1978 he traveled to Europe to compete in

for the Kawasaki

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

racing team. Hansford finished second to his Kawasaki teammate,

Kork Ballington Hugh Neville "Kork" Ballington (born 10 April 1951) is a South African former professional motorcycle racer. He competed in the Grand Prix motorcycle racing world championships from 1976 to 1982, most prominently as a member of the Kawasaki fac ...

, in the world 250cc championship and third in the world 350cc championship in

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 ...

. In

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

he again finished 2nd in 250cc and 3rd in 350cc.Gregg Hansford career statistics at MotoGP.com
/ref> In

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

he teamed with

Eddie Lawson Eddie Lawson (born March 11, 1958) is an American former four-time Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champion. His record of not crashing and consistently finishing in the points earned him the nickname "Steady Eddie".Suzuka 8 Hours The is a motorcycle endurance race held at the Suzuka Circuit in Japan each year. The race runs for eight hours consecutively and entrants are composed of two or more riders who alternate during pitstops. History The race began in 1978 as a ...

event, but suffered severe injuries in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

at the Belgian Grand Prix at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

forcing his retirement from motorcycle racing.

Touring Cars

Hansford then turned to

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not move ...

in 1982 with Allan Moffat Racing. He had previous ties to the Moffat team and was actually entered to partner

Colin Bond Colin John Bond (born 24 February 1942) is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team. He quickly found succ ...

in the second Moffat Ford Dealers

Ford Falcon Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford Argentina from 1962 until 1991. * Fo ...

in the 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000. However, a motorcycle racing crash caused injuries which saw Hansford forced to withdraw from the race and be replaced by open wheel driver Alan Hamilton. The car he was to drive with Bond finished second in Ford's famous 1–2 victory at Bathurst in 1977. Hansford's first touring car race was in the second Moffat

Mazda RX-7 The Mazda RX-7 is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car that was manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 until 2002 across three generations, all of which made use of a compact, lightweight Wankel rotary engine. ...

at the 1982 Sandown 500 driving with young open wheel hot shoe Lucio Cesario. After the car failed to finish at

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, United Kingdom with the resort of Shanklin to the south and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake in between. Together ...

, the pair were to drive the car in the 1982 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst but a practice crash by Cesario saw them as non-starters in the race. Hansford then put in some good performances in the Mazda in the 1983 Australian Touring Car Championship. His first ATCC race was in Round 6 at Surfers Paradise where he qualified a surprising 3rd behind Moffat and Brock and after missing a gear at the start and dropping to 11th at the first turn, put in a great drive to finish in 3rd place. He then finished in 6th place at Oran Park before finishing second to Peter Brock's

Holden Dealer Team The Holden Dealer Team (HDT) was Holden's semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1986, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and Sports Sedan races during the 1970s. From 1980 the Holden Dealer ...

Commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore'' * Air commodore ...

in the wet final round at Lakeside in Brisbane (Moffat finished 3rd to clinch his 4th ATCC). He then went and qualified 12th in the Mazda at the

1983 James Hardie 1000 The 1983 James Hardie 1000 was a motor race for Group C Touring Cars contested at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia on 2 October 1983. It was the 24th "Bathurst 1000" and the third to carry the James Hardie 1000 ...

(Moffat qualified his car 14th), though problems saw him and co-driver Garry Waldon not classified as finishers after only completing 49 laps. Moffat and Japanese driver

Yoshimi Katayama was a Japanese professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and auto racer. Motorsports career Born in the Hyōgo Prefecture, Katayama began his Grand Prix career in 1964 with Suzuki. He enjoyed his best season in 1967 when he won two races ...

finished second outright. Hansford's first touring car win was the 1984 Oran Park 250 in the 1984 Australian Endurance Championship with team boss Allan Moffat in the RX-7. Moffat, who was making his comeback to racing after a crash earlier in the year at Surfers Paradise, started the race from pole and although suffering from the flu handed the car to Hansford in the lead ahead of 1984 ATCC winner Dick Johnson in his Ford XE Falcon, a lead the former Grand Prix Motorcycle star would not lose. Later the pair finished second in the Mazda at the Castrol 500 at Sandown before they went on to finish third at the

1984 James Hardie 1000 The 1984 James Hardie 1000 was the 25th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 30 September 1984 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia and was Round 4 of the 1984 Australian ...

at Bathurst. The Moffat team entered two cars for the race with Hansford listed in both cars alongside "The Boss". Hansford won a number of fans by qualifying his RX-7 in 8th place and it was his car (which the team admitted was not meant to run the full race) that crossed the line 3rd after Moffat's own car had been retired with overheating on lap 15. After Australian touring car racing changed from the locally developed

Group C Group C was a category of sports car racing introduced by the FIA in 1982 and continuing until 1993, with ''Group A'' for touring cars and ''Group B'' for GTs. It was designed to replace both Group 5 special production cars (closed top touri ...

rules to the international

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles w ...

rules in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, Hansford was forced to look elsewhere as Mazda (nor Moffat for the season) wouldn't be competing. Though at the start of 1985, the Moffat team took their Mazda RX-7, along with

Peter McLeod Peter Gerard McLeod (born 6 May 1948 in Newcastle, New South Wales) is a retired Australian racing driver, best known as co-winner of the 1987 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, and for driving the distinctive yellow and black Slick 50 Mazda RX-7 ...

and Kevin Bartlett to drive in the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

. After Moffat qualified the car 38th in the GT class, they progressed through to the top 5 in their class before engine problems saw them drop back to 24th outright at the end of the race. Hansford then teamed with Moffat's former teammate Colin Bond to drive an

Alfa Romeo 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 it ...

to eighth outright and first in Class B in the 1985 James Hardie 1000. The following year he joined fellow Queenslander Dick Johnson in a

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 ...

and finished the 1986 James Hardie 1000 in fourth outright. Gregg Hansford stayed with

Dick Johnson Racing Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske), is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. The team currently fields the #11 and #17 Ford Mustang GTs for Anton de Pasquale and Will Davison respective ...

for the 1987 season, with the team running two new

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is a high-performance version of the Ford Sierra that was built by Ford Europe from 1986 to 1992. It was the result of a Ford Motorsport project with the purpose of producing an outright winner for Group A racing in ...

's in the 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship. The team endured a tough season with the fast but fragile turbo Sierras which were upgraded to the more reliable, and much more powerful

RS500 The RS500 is a double handed trapeze skiff designed by Phil Morrison, manufactured and designed by RS Sailing RS Sailing is an international designer, builder and supplier of sailboats and dinghies and associated goods and services supporte ...

version for the endurance races. 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 ...

was a disaster for the team with the Johnson/Hansford car retiring from the race with diff failure after just 3 laps, while the team's second car retired one lap earlier after Neville Crichton crashed with the

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 ...

Larry Perkins Larry Clifton Perkins (born 18 March 1950) is a former racing driver and V8 Supercar team owner from Australia. Biography Early years Growing up on a farm in Cowangie in the Mallee region of Victoria, Larry, the son of racing driver Eddi ...

. Hansford was told by Dick Johnson at that year's Jack Newton Celebrity Pro-Am that he won't be driving for DJR in the 1988 Australian Touring Car season and was replaced with former dual Australian Drivers' Champion John Bowe. He again linked with Allan Moffat and the pair went on to win the Enzed 500 at Sandown driving a Ruedi Eggenberger built Ford Sierra RS500. The pair were joined by Eggenberger's ace

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

driver

Klaus Niedzwiedz Klaus Niedzwiedz (born February 24, 1951 in Dortmund, Germany) is a former professional race driver and motoring journalist. Driver His greatest success came in the 1980s as a driver for Ford. Niedzwiedz rose to prominence when driving a Ford C ...

at the

1988 Tooheys 1000 The 1988 Tooheys 1000 was a 1000 km endurance motor race for Group A Touring Cars.Glenn Seton Racing Glenn Seton Racing was an Australian motor racing team which competed in the V8 Supercars Championship Series between 1989 and 2002. History Group A At the end of 1988, Philip Morris were dissatisfied with the level of signage it was offered ...

in both the ATCC and at Bathurst over the next four seasons, though on-track results would elude him. He then finished 2nd at the 1993 James Hardie 12 Hour with

Charlie O'Brien Charles Hugh O'Brien (born May 1, 1960) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Oakland Athletics (1985), Milwaukee Brewers (1987–90), New York Mets (1990–93), Atlanta Bra ...

in a

and won the

1994 James Hardie 12 Hour The 1994 James Hardie 12 Hour was an endurance race for production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia on 3 April 1994. It was the fourth running of the "Bathurst 12 Hour". The race was open to cars of ...

with television commentator turned race driver

Neil Crompton Neil Crompton (born 30 July 1960) is a well-known Supercars presenter and commentator. Racing career Highlights According to the official V8 Supercars website, Crompton has competed in 357 various motor racing events, finishing in the first ...

, again in an RX-7. Such performances earned him further respect and drives in both

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

and

Super Touring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created ...

, with highlights being 1st in the 1993 Tooheys 1000, 3rd in the

1994 Tooheys 1000 The 1994 Tooheys 1000 was a motor race held on 2 October 1994 at the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was the 35th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. The race was open to cars complying with ...

and 3rd in the 1994 Sandown 500 all partnered with Larry Perkins in a

Holden VP Commodore The Holden Commodore (VP) is a full-size car that was produced by Holden from 1991 to 1993. It was the second iteration of the second generation of the Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VP) and Holden Calais (V ...

. Hansford's 1993 Bathurst win gave him the unique distinction of winning a race at the

Mount Panorama Circuit Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama (Wahluu) and is best known as the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race held each October, and the Bathurst 12 Hour ...

in both motorcycle and car racing.

Death

While competing in a

race in 1995 at

Phillip Island Phillip Island (Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. The island is named after Governor Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, by explorer ...

, Hansford's

Ford Mondeo The Ford Mondeo is a large family car manufactured by Ford since 1993. The first Ford model declared as a "world car", the Mondeo was intended to consolidate several Ford model lines worldwide (the European Sierra, the Telstar in Asia and Austra ...

slid off the track and hit a tyre wall at high speed. The car bounced back onto the track where he was hit by Mark Adderton's Peugeot 405 at over 200 km/h. Hansford died moments after the impact. At the time of his death, his youngest son Harrison, born to model Carolyn Donovan, was only 8 months old. In 2007, Hansford's older sons from his marriage to Julie-Anne, Ryan and Rhys had made their first steps into a motor racing career and Ryan presently (2013) competes in

V8 Utes The V8 Ute Racing Series, known originally as the V8 BRute Utes was an Australian motor racing series for utilities, derived from the Australian Production Car Championship. It was conceived in 2000 by PROCAR chief and owner Ross Palmer, V8 Ute Pa ...

. Ryan previously competed in the

Australian Mini Challenge The Australian Mini Challenge was a touring car racing category in Australia. First held in 2008, the Mini Challenge supported both the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the V8 Supercar Development Series.2008 V8 Supercars Eastern Creek round ...

. Hansford is buried in Brisbane's Pinnaroo Lawn Cemetery.Hansford Gregory John
— Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 22 June 2014.

Career summary

Motorcycle Grand Prix results

Source: (

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Car Racing

Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results

(

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

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) † Not registered for series & points

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

(

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

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results

Complete Sandown 400/500 results

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansford, Gregg 1952 births 1995 deaths Motorcycle racers from Brisbane Australian motorcycle racers Australian rally drivers Supercars Championship drivers 250cc World Championship riders 350cc World Championship riders Racing drivers who died while racing Sport deaths in Australia Accidental deaths in Victoria (Australia) Bathurst 1000 winners Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Racing drivers from Queensland Burials at Pinnaroo Cemetery, Brisbane Australian Endurance Championship drivers Dick Johnson Racing drivers