Aussie battler: Dick Johnson’s road to Bathurst victory
If Hollywood had written Dick Johnson’s 1981 Bathurst 1000 victory, people would have said it was too far-fetched.
One year earlier, Johnson by his own admission had been a “nobody” and a “battler” who had mortgaged the family home to turn an ex-police car into a Bathurst contender.
After nearly walking away from the sport following the departure of long term sponsor Bryan Byrt and Ford’s reluctance to homologate the XD Falcon, Johnson sat out the 1980 Australian Touring Car Championship and instead gambled it all on Australia’s biggest race of all—the Bathurst 1000.
Johnson threw the absolute kitchen sink at preparing the Palmer Tube Mills XD Falcon (the XD now homologated thanks to the efforts of privateers Murray Carter and Garry Willmington) to take on the might of well-funded front runners like the Marlboro backed Holden Dealer Team.
Pairing up with co-driver John French, Johnson qualified ‘Tru-Blu’ second at Bathurst and was comfortably leading when disaster stuck on lap 18.
An intoxicated fan looking for somewhere to lie accidentally dislodged a football-sized rock which rolled onto the track just before Reid Park as Johnson was coming through the Cutting.
He hit the rock, crashed heavily and nearly destroyed the car he’d risked so much to build.
Dejection written all over his face, Johnson was interviewed live on air shortly after, telling Channel 7’s Chris Economaki that “unless you can find $40,000 to rebuild the car… you’ve lost me”, before adding “we have stuck every single bob into this.”
Describing the rock as being the size of an overnight bag, Johnson was beyond despondent.
“I just couldn’t believe my bloody eyes. These galoots up there, that just throw boulders”.
And then something remarkable happened.
Channel 7 switchboards around the country began to light up as race fans called up to pledge money for Johnson to build a new car.
Legendary commentator Mike Raymond broke the news to Dick about what was happening, telling him that “people that are so upset and they are, believe it or not, just ringing and genuinely pledging money to help you”.
Matched dollar for dollar by Ford Australia, the impromptu telethon raised $42,000, helping Johnson to build a new XD which he would use to win the 1981 Bathurst 1000 and the Australian Touring Car Championship.
Johnson described how the outpouring of support from the public helped in 1981:
“It gives you that little more incentive to try a little bit harder, which we do because we feel obligated to do so for the people that have done something for me.”
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