John Francis Harvey (21 February 1938 – 5 December 2020) was an Australian

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. He was a top Speedcar driver for many years in the 1950s and 1960s, winning many championship races including the NSW Championship for three successive years and the Victorian Championship twice before turning his skills to road racing where he had a long and successful career until his retirement at the end of 1988. In 1987 John made history driving the General Motors Sunraycer to victory in the inaugural

World Solar Challenge The World Solar Challenge (WSC), since 2013 named Bridgestone World Solar Challenge, is an international event for solar powered cars driving 3000 kilometres through the Australian outback. With the exception of a four-year gap between ...

from Darwin to Adelaide, the first international race for purely solar powered cars.

Career

Despite being regarded as one of the best Speedcar drivers in Australia, Harvey switched from speedway to road racing in 1964 following the deaths of a few friends in Speedcar racing, as well as a contentious 6-month suspension received from the Sydney-based National Speedcar Club officials after he was alleged to spin fellow driver Al Staples in a scratch race at the

Sydney Showground Speedway Sydney Showground Speedway, originally known as the Speedway Royal and later the Speedway Royale but often referred to as just The Royale or The Showground, was a dirt Dirt track racing venue at the old Sydney Showground used from 1926 unti ...

. Although this decision was later reverted to no suspension at the drivers' meeting, Harvey decided to opt-out of Speedway to go road racing. He would make a short-lived comeback to racing speedcars in 1974 at the Liverpool Speedway in western Sydney after the track promoters changed the D-shaped oval from a dirt track to a bitumen track, once again racing for the same car owner he had in the 1960s, Ronald Mackay. Harvey drove cars such as the Austin Cooper S and

Brabham Brabham () is the common name for Motor Racing Developments Ltd., a British racing car manufacturer and Formula One racing team. Founded in 1960 by Australian driver Jack Brabham and British-Australian designer Ron Tauranac, the team won fo ...

BT14 Ford 1.5 litre. Harvey won the

1966 Australian 1½ Litre Championship The 1966 Australian One and a Half Litre Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for Racing Cars complying with the Australian 1½ Litre Formula.Conditions for Australian Titles, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1968, pages 70 ...

in the Brabham and in the same year finished runner up in the

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 ...

for 2.5 litre

Australian National Formula The Australian National Formula (often abbreviated to ANF) was an Australian motor racing category which was introduced by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in 1964 and remained current until the end of 1969. It had replaced Formula Libre ...

cars in the same car, competing against much more powerful machinery, also winning the NSW 1.5 litre Road Racing Championship. He began involvement with Bob Jane's racing team in 1967 and moved to Melbourne. Harvey won the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses ( February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events J ...

and

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

Australian Sports Car Championship The Australian Sports Car Championship was the national title for sports car racing drivers sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport from 1969 to 1988. Each championship was contested over a series of races with the exception of ...

s driving the

McLaren M6B The McLaren M6A was a Group 7 prototype race car deisnged and developed by driver Bruce McLaren, and built by his Bruce McLaren Motor Racing team for their entry in 1967 Can-Am season. As a replacement for the team's M1Bs from 1966, the Che ...

Repco V8 Repco is an Australian automotive engineering/retailer company. Its name is an abbreviation of Replacement Parts Company and was for many years known for reconditioning engines and for specialized manufacturing, for which they gained a high r ...

for

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 ...

. He drove Jane's Repco V8 powered

Holden Torana The Holden Torana is a mid-sized car that was manufactured by Holden from 1967 to 1980. The name apparently comes from an word meaning "to fly" in an unconfirmed Aboriginal Australian language. The original HB series Torana was released in 19 ...

in Sports Sedan racing in the early 1970s, winning both the

Toby Lee Series The Toby Lee Series was an Australian motor racing series run at Oran Park Raceway in Sydney, between 1970 and 1975. In 1970 Oran Park, with backing from sponsors Toby Lee (a brand of shirts) and department store Grace Brothers, launched a new seri ...

at Oran Park and the Marlboro Series at

Calder Park Raceway 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 c ...

in 1973.

Holden LH Torana SLR 5000 L34 race replica

In 1976, Harvey won the first round of 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 ...

in a one-off drive in a B&D Autos-sponsored Torana L34 at Symmons Plains. Later in the year Harvey was signed up to co-drive 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

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 ...

Torana L34 which finished a close second 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 rece ...

. The race-winning #7 Holden was accidentally credited with an extra lap, putting it ahead of the #1 Holden. The error was picked up after the race and the relevant race official offered the Holden Dealer Team, the official factory team, the right to appeal. However, the #7 car was entered by Ron Hodgson Motors, one of Holden's biggest dealerships. The Holden hierarchy decided it would be good 'politic' to let Bob Morris and British sportscar racer John Fitzpatrick keep the win. Holden apologised to John Harvey for this at a testimonial dinner in 2002. With Bond leaving the Holden team at the end of 1976, Harvey then became the lead driver for the 1977 season. In 1978,

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, ...

re-joined the Holden Dealer Team and became No.1 driver with Harvey driving the No.2 car. This established the pattern for almost a decade. The Harvey car effectively became Brock's backup, notably winning the 1978 Rothmans 500 event at Oran Park teamed with Charlie O'Brien. In 1980 Peter Brock took over the Holden Dealer Team, deciding John Harvey would not contest the ATCC races and contest only the endurance races at the end of the year. Peter Brock teamed with John Harvey (1980, 1981) for the CRC 300, winning both. This arrangement continued until the advent of

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 ...

in Australia 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 ...

, though Harvey did run in rounds of the 1984 ATCC, driving Brock's #05 when Brock and Perkins were attempting to win

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...

. Harvey would then run selected rounds in the 1985 ATCC, as well as rounds of the 1986 ATCC. Harvey's biggest win came with the HDT 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 100 ...

. Originally to be partnered with Brock's brother Phil, Harvey qualified his #25

Holden VH Commodore The Holden Commodore (VH) is a mid-size car that was produced by Holden from 1981 to 1984. It was the third iteration of the first generation of the Holden Commodore. This new Commodore was an evolution of the previous Holden VC series model ...

(the car in which Brock and Perkins had won the 1982 race) in 5th place (Brock claimed pole in #05). After just eight laps, Brock's car blew its engine, seemingly putting him and Perkins out of the race. However, due to the pair being cross-entered in #25, Brock and Perkins then took over from Harvey for the rest of the race (leaving Phil Brock without a drive). The race win was controversial at the time as many felt Brock and Perkins should not have been allowed to move into the HDT's second car after theirs retired. Under race rules at the time, however, cross-entering was allowed and had actually been used in previous 1000s, though this was the first time drivers had moved from one car to another and had gone on to win the race. Harvey would go on to finish second at Bathurst the following year in the last race for the Group C touring cars in what was a 1-2 form finish for the Dealer Team with Brock/Perkins bringing in their VK Commodore home first in front of Harvey's co-driver, 25-year-old Tasmanian David “Skippy” Parsons. Harvey would finish second again two years later for the HDT. Driving a VK Commodore SS Group A, he teamed with HDT driver/engineer

Neal Lowe Neal (Neil) is a given masculine name and surname of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an Anglicisation of the Irish Niall which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "hono ...

to finish second behind the Commodore of

Allan Grice Allan Maxwell Grice (born 21 October 1942), known to motor-racing fans as "Gricey", is an Australian former racing driver and politician, most famous for twice winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000 (1986 and 1990), and as a privateer driver o ...

and

Graeme Bailey Graeme Alfred Bailey (born 11 July 1943 in Ourimbah, New South Wales), is an Australian retired racing driver, best known as co-winner of the 1986 Bathurst 1000. Career Group C Bailey's career emerged in the late 1970s, becoming a front run ...

. Harvey won the 1986 Pukekohe 500 with Neal Lowe in their new Group A SS VK Commodore, and the pair finished second to HDT teammates Brock and

Allan Moffat Allan George Moffat OBE (born 10 November 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian-Australian racing driver known for his four championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four ...

at the 1987 Nissan 500 Wellington. Harvey split with Brock by 1987, being unhappy with Brock's flirtation with ‘New Age’ ideas like his ‘Energy Polariser’. Harvey told his side of the story of the split in Bill Tuckey's 1987 book ''The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock''. In March 1987, Harvey teamed up with Allan Moffat to drive their HDT built (and covertly bought by Moffat)

Holden VL Commodore SS Group A The Holden Commodore (VL) is a mid-size car that was produced by Holden from 1986 to 1988. It was the final iteration of the first generation of the Holden Commodore and included the luxury variant, Holden Calais (VL). Between February 1986 an ...

to victory in the

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

of the

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, ...

World Touring Car Championship The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sin ...

at the famous

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of Mo ...

circuit in Italy. After finishing seventh, the pair were promoted as the first six

BMW Motorsport BMW M Motorsport (formerly BMW Motorsport) is the division of BMW responsible for motorsport-related activities, including works-run competition programmes in touring car racing, sports car racing, motorcycle racing and Formula E. The current o ...

backed

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 mode ...

's were disqualified from the race for being some 50–80 kg underweight (after a protest from a privateer M3 team, the works M3's were found to have been fitted with lightweight

carbon-fibre Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

and

kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

body panels). Later at the Spa, 24 Hours in August, Moffat, and Harvey achieved a class win and finished 4th outright behind the works BMW Team M3's. Sydney driver Tony Mulvihill had also been listed to drive the #5 Rothmans sponsored Commodore at Spa, though he was caught out by the notorious

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

weather in qualifying and failed to qualify for the race. This forced Moffat and Harvey to drive the 24 hours with just the two of them while most other teams used at least 3 drivers. After Moffat abandoned the Commodore in favor of

Andy Rouse Andrew Rouse (born 2 December 1947) is a British racing driver, most notably in the British Saloon Car Championship. He won the BSCC in 1975, 1983, 1984 and 1985. Andy Rouse is one of the most successful drivers ever to appear in the BSCC. His ...

's Ford Sierra RS500, Harvey missed the 1987 James Hardie 1000 which was a round of the WTCC. It was the first Bathurst race Harvey had missed since

. The race was also the 9th and last Bathurst 1000 win for his longtime teammate Peter Brock. Shortly after the Brock breakup John was appointed lead driver of the GM Sunraycer team and made two trips to the US for testing and race team preparation. He was recommended for his professionalism and discipline by Ray Borrett (Holden's reliability and “skunkworks” motor sport engineer). Ray was involved in the development of Sunraycer in the US and became the race team manager. Harvey's last Bathurst 1000 was in

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 Bicenten ...

where he teamed with Kevin Bartlett in a

Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV The Holden Commodore (VL) is a mid-size car that was produced by Holden from 1986 to 1988. It was the final iteration of the first generation of the Holden Commodore and included the luxury variant, Holden Calais (VL). Between February 1986 and ...

to finish in 14th after qualifying 22nd. Early in the race, Harvey had been dicing with Brock, now racing a BMW M3. Harvey almost didn't get to drive in the 1988 race. At the time he was working for the

Tom Walkinshaw Thomas Dobbie Thomson Walkinshaw (14 August 1946 – 12 December 2010) was a British racing car driver from Scotland and the founder of the racing team Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR). He was also involved in professional rugby union, as owner of ...

owned

Holden Special Vehicles Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) was the officially designated performance vehicle division for Holden. Established in 1987 and based in Clayton, Victoria, the privately owned company modified Holden models such as the standard wheelbase Commodore, ...

and Walkinshaw had a rule that barring himself, senior management could not participate in dangerous activities such as being a race driver. Walkinshaw finally relented and let Harvey race at Bathurst, originally offering him the lead driver role in the HSV team's 3rd car, something which Harvey turned down stating that ''"I had been the number two behind Brock for eight years and I wasn't about to become the number three"''. During Round 7 of the 1988 Australian Touring Car Championship at Sandown, and despite being part of the management team at HSV, Harvey was on hand to be part of Allan Moffat's team for the weekend (complete with a Moffat team

ANZ Bank ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand * ...

jacket). From 1988 Moffat was racing a Ford Sierra RS500 built by

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

ace Ruedi Eggenberger. Ironically, Harvey's old HDT teammate Larry Perkins through his Perkins Engineering was running the factory-backed

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 thr ...

team in the 1988 ATCC under the name of Holden Special Vehicles. In February 1988, Harvey drove the new VL Commodore SS Group A SV which was the pace car driver for the first-ever

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 ...

race held outside of North America, the Goodyear NASCAR 500 held at the then-new, A$54 million Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne. Following the 1988 Tooheys 1000, Harvey retired from competitive motorsport to concentrate on his work with Holden and HSV. In 2018, CAMS awarded Harvey a place in the Motor Sport Hall of Fame. In the

2020 Australia Day Honours The 2020 Australia Day Honours are appointments to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by Australian citizens. The list was announced on 26 January 2020 by the Governor General of Australia, David Hurley. The Australia ...

, Harvey was awarded the

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for service to motor sports.

Death

Harvey died on 5 December 2020, aged 82, from a battle with lung cancer.

Career results

Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete FIA European Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete Sandown Endurance results

Complete Spa 24 Hours results

References

*Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999 (Chevron) © 2000 *Australian Competition Yearbook 1974 *Ten Top Drivers (Forsyth Publications) 1979 *''The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock'' (Bill Tuckey) 1987 *Sunraycer Bill Tuckey, Chevron Publishing Group. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, John 1938 births 2020 deaths Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Bathurst 1000 winners Racing drivers from Sydney Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sportsmen from New South Wales Tasman Series drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Deaths from lung cancer Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) Australian Endurance Championship drivers