John Murray Faulkner (born 24 August 1952 in
Palmerston North
Palmerston North (; mi, Te Papa-i-Oea, known colloquially as Palmy) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Manawatū-Whanganui region. Located in the eastern Manawatu Plains, the city is near the north bank of the ...
,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
) is a retired racing driver. Faulkner spent the majority of his career in sedan based classes. Initially he competing in small touring cars including
Ford Escorts and
Capris before joining
Toyota Team Australia
Toyota Team Australia was the name of two allied Australian motor racing teams. One competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship between 1985 and 1990. The other was a rally team in the Australian Rally Championship that competed from 198 ...
and driving their factory supported
Toyota Corolla
The is a series of compact cars (formerly subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has been one of the best-selling cars in ...
touring cars. After engine capacity classes were discontinued in the
Australian Touring Car Championship
The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the trophy ...
, Faulkner moved into Superspeedway racing, establishing
John Faulkner Racing
John Faulkner Racing (JFR) was an Australian motor racing team that competed in AUSCAR, NASCAR and V8 Supercars racing in the 1990’s and early 2000’s
History
John Faulkner Racing was formed by former Toyota Team Australia driver John Faul ...
to compete in the
AUSCAR and Australian
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
series, contested mainly at the
Calder Park Thunderdome
Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The complex includes a dragstrip, a road circuit with several possible configurations, and the "Thunderdome", a high-speed banked oval equipped to race either clo ...
. As NASCAR declined in Australia, Faulkner returned to the Australian Touring Car Championship partway through
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
, and was a surprise starter in the
1996 Bathurst 1000, competing with an ex-Holden Racing Team
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 ...
, before later constructing his own Holdens. Faulkner's team gradually wound down and left the main series after the
2002 V8 Supercar season. The team continued running Commodores in the second tier
Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series
The Dunlop Super2 Series (formerly known as Dunlop Series, Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series, HPDC V8 Supercars Series, Konica Minolta V8 Supercars Series and Konica V8 Supercars/Lites Series) is an Australian touring car racing competition, specifical ...
until the end of the 2004 season, including briefly running the
Holden Young Lions identity.
Faulkner has competed in the
Bathurst 1000
The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recen ...
on 18 occasions between 1980
1980 Bathurst results
/ref> and 2005 with a best finish of fifth in 1997.
Career results
Complete Bathurst 500/1000 results
References
External links
Interview with Faulkner
at Speedcafe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faulkner, John
1952 births
Australian racing drivers
New Zealand racing drivers
Australian Touring Car Championship drivers
Living people
Supercars Championship drivers
Sportspeople from Palmerston North
Australian Endurance Championship drivers