Gibson Motorsport Anniversary

A cavalcade of Nissan Group A touring cars, star drivers and former team members gathered at Shannon’s to celebrate with Fred and Christine Gibson, the 30th anniversary of Gibson Motorsport – one of Australia’s most successful teams. 

(Ed’s note: the true anniversary was 1990, however the celebrations were delayed by COVID-19.)

Gibson's big break a s a driver came in 1967 after Frank Matich suggested to Harry Firth that Gibson co-drive the works GT Falcon with Firth at Bathurst. They won, giving the Falcon and a V8 their first Bathurst wins and Gibson remained a Ford factory driver until then end of 1973 when the company pulled out of the sport.

In 1981 Gibson joined the newly formed Nissan touring car team run by his old Ford manager, Howard Marsden.

Gibson and rally ace turned circuit racer George Fury drove turbocharged Nissan Bluebirds and it was Gibson giving the marque its first win at Amaroo Park in 1983, before retiring from driving later that year.

In 1985 Gibson took over at the helm of Nissan’s motorsport operation, going on to establish Gibson Motorsport and oversee unrivalled success in the international Group A era.

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The first car under Gibson was the Skyline DR30 followed by the and Skyline GTS-R HR31 and then the all-conquering R32 GT-R that the team is best remembered for and the car that ended the domination of the Ford Sierra.

Team Manager at Gibson Motorsport was Alan Heaphy who had this to say about Fred and the team, "In terms of performance Fred was prepared to throw at it whatever he could get to achieve that financially and time. By far he was the leading person as far as the level of competitiveness. But the level of standard went as far as presenting a race team that reflects back into the people as well."

Gibson also gave two future stars their big break, Glenn Seton in 1986 and Mark Skaife a year later.

Triple Bathurst winner Jim Richards joined in 1989 and won the 1990 and ’91 ATCC titles under the Nissan Motorsport banner. In ’92 Skaife claimed his first of five touring car crowns, giving Nissan a championship hat trick.

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Richards and Skaife also won back-to-back Bathurst 1000s in 1991 and ‘92 driving the GT-R and at the last race for Group A cars at the Adelaide AGP 1992, Richards gave Godzilla – as the GT-R was dubbed, the best send-off winning both races.

Reflecting on the GT-R Richards said, "You had guys who could do every job you needed to do. Fred and the boys reengineered the GT-R to become ‘Australianised’ you might say. So it was a lot stronger and probably a quicker car than what the Japanese had."

Also remembering his Nissan days with fondness was Mark Skaife, "The famous nature of what those cars mean to Australian motorsport, but especially to our group, is extraordinary. And for Fred in particular, the cars are a very special part of the history of this sport, especially Nissan's involvement in the game."

Leon Daphne the boss at Nissan at the time, had this to say at the reunion, "So the fact that the GTRs were run so professionally by Fred through the Touring Car rounds all around Australia and then the big Bathurst wins were really a lift of the company overall."

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But it wasn’t just on the track where Nissan enjoyed a fruitful relationship with Gibson. The two series of road-going limited edition Nissan Skyline GTS were developed in conjunction with Gibson, with drivers Richards and Skaife playing a hands-on role in their creations and specification.

Moving into the V8 era Gibson Motorsport success continued with a pair of Winfield-backed Holden Commodores driven by Jim Richards and Mark Skaife until the cessation of sponsorship by tobacco companies.

It was all change in 1997 with Skafie joining Peter Brock at Holden Racing Team and Garry Dumbrell contracting Gibson Motorsport to run a pair of Commodores in the 1997 endurance races. The following year Gibson Motorsport ran three cars, with one under the Holden Young Lions banner.

In 1999 Gibson Motorsport built a pair of Commodores for Steven Richards (Jim’s son) and Greg Murphy with the team winning Bathurst.

Shortly after Gibson sold the team to Dumbrell but returned with a much hyped Ford team in 2000 and Craig Lowndes as its lead driver. Sadly, that venture didn’t go well.

Gibson left the sport with a remarkable record as a driver and team owner and in 2004 was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame.

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Gibson and his team achieved four Australian Touring Car Championships, three Bathurst 1000 wins, three Australian Driver Championships, three Sandown 500 wins, one AMSCAR touring car title, five AGP touring car race wins and several other race wins, making it the most successful team of its time.

Joining in the anniversary celebrations were a bevy of star drivers that piloted Gibson cars over the years including Jim Richards, Mark Skaife, Craig Lowndes, Colin Bond, Steven Richards, Garry Scott and Neil Crompton, along with 150 former team members.

Other guests were Paul Beranger Nissan Special Vehicle boss and Rob Corbett, who was responsible for the team look, image and marketing.

To mark the occasion a recreation photo of the 1991 team poster with the drivers, cars and crew was taken and on show was a mouth-watering collection of Nissan race cars under the one roof for the first and probably last time.

Old friendships were renewed and the words, ‘remember when’ were heard many times as memories were reignited time spent at Gibson Motorsport.

Happy anniversary.

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Rolling back the years

Fred Gibson interview – 30 Year Reunion Gibson Motorsport

After dominating the Group A era with a variety of Nissans under Fred Gibson's, the introduction of the V8 only touring car category in 1993 saw Nissan bow out and birth of Gibson Motorsport.

A 30-year reunion was held at Shannons recently with drivers and team members attending as well as a line-up of Nissan race including Bluebird – the last car Gibson raced, the EXA turbo - raced by his wife Christine, the DR30 and HT31 Skylines and of course the all-conquering GT-R.

We caught up with Fred days a few after the reunion for a chat.

Unique Cars (UC) – "Being an ex-Ford factory driver when touring cars went to V8s only the expectation was you'd run Falcons, but you ended up with Commodores instead. How did that happen?"

Fred Gibson (FG) - "It was very simple really; we were offered a better deal by John Lindell at Holden despite them already having a factory team.

"We did things differently to the Holden Racing Team and they were a much a bigger concern than and we were very new to V8s. It was a massive challenge to our team and it was a case of trying to beat them as well. Once we got up to speed, we did that a fair bit."

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There's no doubt the Gibson-led Nissan, and then Gibson Motorsport teams were the benchmark introducing a level of professionalism on and off the track rivalling the top Formula One teams of the day.

Gibson, "I think it was just a case of being professional and that was the way I always did things, and it was also giving our sponsors good value, which was the important thing. I used to say, especially in the DR30 days, if we're not gonna go well at least look good!"

(UC) "What are your fondest memories of Gibson Motorsport?"

(FG) "I suppose being competitive with every car we had because I hated being beaten.

"We were always up for a challenge. In the Nissan days when we were running the DR 30 Skyline we shouldn't have been winning races, but we did because we built a better car and we had bloody good drivers.

"Back then if we could beat the BMWs, I would be happy because those M3s were quick and Richo behind the wheel of a BMW M3 should have wasted us, but he didn't and the thing is we were very competitive with it."

(UC) "So after seeing the back of the Nissan's is that why Jim Richards joined in 1989?"

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(FG) "I said to Christine we need a topflight driver in that car in the team now, so I said to her you write down a number of drivers and I'll do the same and we'll compare lists.

"We both came up with Jim Richards, but Christine didn't think we'd get Jimmy as he was driving for Frank in the BMW. I said to her, 'you watch I'll get Richo."

"I bumped into him at the back of the pits at Bathurst in 1988 and I said to him what are you doing next year?" I said this because I think BMW are pulling out.

"He said to me, "I don't really know, so I said, "Well I'd like you to drive for us if you are interested.

"Richo being Richo, the first thing her said was, 'how much you going to pay me', so I gave him a figure he said that sounds good."

So it was pretty much a done deal on the spot.

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As Jim and Fred shook hands Richards said, "Freddo it's a pleasure to be offered to drive, but I would've done it for half that much money." (laughs).

Surprisingly Gibson sees his time with the Commodores as a highlight for the team.

(FG) "I suppose it was the Commodores because we had the same toy as all of the Holden competitors.

"The challenge for us was to beat the best Commodores, including the factory squad, which we did quite a few times and we also got knocked off a few times.

"To me that was more pleasing than the Nissans because everyone expected us to win, especially when we had the GT-R."

"We were very competitive pricks and totally focused on being there to win. While we were super competitive everyone had a smile because everybody enjoyed their job there was there was nobody in that team that didn't enjoy their job.

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"And there was competition among the crew, especially at pitstops where each wheel guy would try and beat the others. But it was a positive motivation. We were a very close-knit team, and I didn't allow any mixing of teams, there was no going off to have a beer with another team or anything like that. We all flew together, ate together, raced together that's how it was. Everyone gave 100 percent to that team."

(UC) "I heard that Richo wasn’t a big fan of testing?"

(FG) "Exactly right Higgo, he used to say, "Just give me the car and I'll drive it." Mark (Skaife) did most of the testing and Richo used to call Skaifey the guinea pig. He'd say, "You go out and try it first guinea pig and see what you think of it, and if you go off somewhere I know I don't want that and if it works then I'll give it a try."

(CUC) "Wasn't there a penalty system between the drivers and the crew if a car got damaged?"

(FG) "The drivers had a payment deal with the mechanics of a slab or two or three, depending on the extent of the damage and the extra hours the mechanics would have to work repairing it.

When Skaifey rolled the GT-R at the Grand Prix meeting in Adelaide, Jimmy got on the radio announcing the crash and when I asked him how bad the car was his reply was, 'A small bottle shop will cover it," (laughs).

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"But I do have to thank Kingsley Edgar and Phil Grant for putting on such a great event which I didn't want in the first place, but I'm very proud and pleased that it happened. It was just wonderful to catch up with so many friends and enjoy so many great memories."

Originally published at our sister site, Unique Cars