Spencer Martin is an Australian championship-winning racing driver. Martin's short career was highlighted by two

Australian Drivers' Championship The Australian Drivers' Championship was a motor racing championship contested annually from 1957 to 2014 by drivers of cars complying with Australia's premier open-wheeler racing category as determined by the Confederation of Australian Motor ...

victories in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

and

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

, racing for

Bob Jane Racing Robert Frederick Jane (18 December 1929 – 28 September 2018) was an Australian race car driver and prominent entrepreneur and business tycoon. A four-time winner of the Armstrong 500, the race that became the prestigious Bathurst 1000 and a ...

Racing career

After spectating at the

Mount Druitt Mount Druitt is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown, and is part of the Greater Western Sydney reg ...

circuit in the late 1950s Martin entered his first motor race in 1960 in a self-built car at

Gnoo Blas circuit The Gnoo Blas Motor Racing Circuit was a motor racing circuit at Orange, New South Wales, Australia. The circuit was formed from rural roads and highways outside the town, around the grounds of Bloomfield Hospital and what is now known as Sir J ...

. A mechanic by trade, Martin moved through the ranks through his contacts in the trade, racing a PRAD sports car and a successful

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

touring car. Martin's break came when he defeated

Norm Beechey Norm Beechey is a retired Australian race car driver, who was given the nickname ''"Stormin Norman"'' by his fans. To some, he was the closest thing Holden had to a star racing driver, before Peter Brock. Beechey competed in the Australian Tour ...

in a touring car race. Beechey's entrant, David McKay offered Martin a drive with McKay's

Scuderia Veloce Scuderia Veloce was an Australian motor racing team founded by journalist racer David McKay (journalist), David McKay. The team, which competed in many motor racing categories in the 1960s, is regarded as the first professional motor racing ope ...

team at the

1963 Armstrong 500 The 1963 Armstrong 500 was the fourth running of the Armstrong 500 touring car race. It was held on 6 October 1963. After the 1962 race, the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit was too damaged to continue to stage the race, forcing it to move t ...

co-driving with Brian Muir. He achieved a class victory in the

1964 Armstrong 500 The 1964 Armstrong 500 was a production car race held on 4 October 1964 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The 500 mile race was open to Australian built production sedans of which 100 example ...

, sharing a

Vauxhall Viva The Vauxhall Viva is a small family car that was produced by Vauxhall in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were designated as the HA, HB and HC series. The Viva was introduced a year after Vauxhall's fellow GM compa ...

with Bill Brown. Martin became a part of Scuderia Veloce as a mechanic and driver, acting as lead mechanic when the team brought in international drivers for the

Tasman Series The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers)Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport with National Competition Rules 1974, pages 80 to 83 was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 ove ...

. He raced the team's Repco Brabham BT11A as well as a

Ferrari 250LM The Ferrari P was a series of Italian sports prototype racing cars produced by Ferrari during the 1960s and early 1970s. Although Enzo Ferrari resisted the move even with Cooper dominating F1, Ferrari began producing mid-engined racing cars in th ...

sports car, winning the

1965 Six Hour Le Mans The 1965 Six Hour Le Mans was an endurance race open to Sports Cars, Improved Production Touring Cars & Series Production Touring Cars. The event was staged at the Caversham circuit in Western Australia on Monday, 7 June 1965. Results were as follo ...

with McKay in the Ferrari. Martin also placed third in the Italian car in the

Australian Tourist Trophy The Australian Tourist Trophy is a Confederation of Australian Motor Sport-sanctioned national motor racing title, contested between 1956 and 1979 by Sports Cars and, since 2007, by GT cars. The trophy is currently awarded to the outright winner ...

in both 1965 and 1966. He left the team in mid-1966 after a top-ten championship finish in the 1966 Tasman Series and found employment with

Bob Jane Robert Frederick Jane (18 December 1929 – 28 September 2018) was an Australian race car driver and prominent entrepreneur and business tycoon. A four-time winner of the Armstrong 500, the race that became the prestigious Bathurst 1000 and a ...

's team. Martin drove Jane's Brabham BT11 to victory in the

and

s. Martin retired at his peak after the 1967 season to begin a family, although he returned sporadically for Touring Car endurance races including the 1969 Datsun Three Hour, in which he drove for the

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 ...

.Paul Gover, ''Nice Monaro, but where's the roll cage?'', Herald Sun, 10 September 2009
Retrieved on 2 April 2014 In 1979 Martin returned to Scuderia Veloce, racing a Volvo 242 GT touring car at 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 ...

. This led to historic sports car racing overseas, becoming a fixture in the 1980s and 1990s in Europe and North America. Martin made a return to Bathurst in 1993, co-driving with his son Matthew in a

Bob Holden Robert Lee Holden Jr. (born August 24, 1949) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 53rd Governor of Missouri from 2001 to 2005. Previously, he served as the State Treasurer of Missouri from 1993 to 2001 a ...

-entered

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 ...

in the Tooheys 1000. Martin continues to race historics.

Results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Spencer Living people 1940 births Tasman Series drivers Racing drivers from Sydney Racing drivers from New South Wales