Antony Martin Roberts (17 November 1938 – 2000) was an Australian race and rally driver.

Career

Roberts won the 1968 Datsun 3 Hour Trophy at

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and 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 in between. Together with Shanklin, Sandown forms a built-up area of ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

with Bob Watson, giving the Holden HK Monaro GTS327 a debut victory. In 1969 Roberts, then a prominent rally driver competing for a major Holden dealership, and with just a single season of circuit racing experience, was invited by

Harry Firth Henry Leslie Firth (18 April 1918 – 27 April 2014) was an Australian racing driver and team manager. Firth was a leading race and rally driver during the 1950s and 1960s and continued as an influential team manager with first the Ford works ...

to join his newly formed

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 T ...

and went on to take victory co-driving with

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

1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 The 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was the tenth running of the Bathurst 500 production car race. It was held on 5 October 1969 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. Cars competed in five classes based on ...

HDT

Holden HT Monaro GTS350 The Holden Monaro ( ) is a rear-wheel drive coupé manufactured by General Motors Holden in Australia from 1968 to 1975 and later reintroduced from 2001 to 2005. It was also manufactured as a 4-door sedan from 1973 to 1977. Three generations ...

. Roberts and Bond won the

1970 Rothmans 12 Hour The 1970 Rothmans 12 Hour was an endurance motor race for Group E Series Production Touring Cars. The event was held at the Surfers Paradise International Raceway in Queensland, Australia on 4 January 1970 with the field divided into four classes ...

at Surfers Paradise, also in an HDT Monaro GTS350. Then Roberts drove a Holden Torana sports sedan which was used as a prototype for the Torana GTR XU-1 which debuted later in the year. During the 1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500 Roberts was involved in a sensational incident late in the race when, after losing control, he launched his Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II backwards over Skyline before tumbling down the hillside. Roberts made seven starts in the history of 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 rece ...

, after his impressive debut with a third place (with Bob Watson) in

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

. Roberts (with Colin Bond) won Bathurst in 1969. Roberts was the first three-time winner of Australia's Alpine Rally in 1966 (with Peter Haas as navigator), 1967 (with Peter Haas as navigator) and 1968 (with Mike Osborne as navigator). Tony Roberts died in 2000. Roberts was posthumously inducted into the Victorian Rally Hall of Fame in 2014. The award was accepted by his daughters Samantha and Tiffany.

Personal life

Roberts was born Antony Martin, on 17 November 1938 at home in Walmer, Kent, England, the eldest of two sons. In 1951 at the age of 12 years, Roberts, his parents and younger brother migrated to Australia as ten pound POMS. They settled in Melbourne. Roberts attended Prahran Technical School and graduated at the end of year 10. He worked for a time at General Motors Holden as a draftsman. In 1963, Roberts married Helen Marjorie Renfree, an accomplished equestrian. In 1970, their first daughter Samantha Marjorie was born and in 1972, their second daughter Tiffany Elizabeth. In 1976, Helen died at the age of 32 leaving Roberts to raise their young daughters single-handed. Roberts continued to run and manage his own automative service business and later became a Saab dealer. Unfortunately in the mid 1980s, Roberts was forced to close his business and as a result, his mental health deteriorated. Roberts suffered from mostly untreated clinical depression for the last 15 years of his life as a result of a cumulation of very challenging life events including widowhood and unresolved grief, single parenthood and the loneliness this entails, the difficult transition from sporting fame and accolades to a civilian life and losing his sense of identity with the closure of his business, at a time when men did not seek help and acknowledgement of mental health issues was taboo. Combined with type II diabetes that was poorly managed, Roberts died at home in 2000 at the age of 61.

Career results

Complete Bathurst 500/1000 results

Complete Sandown Enduro results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Tony Bathurst 1000 winners Australian rally drivers 1938 births 2000 deaths