Gary Collins won the first annual Peter Brock Perpetual Trophy in December after triumphing in four of the six rounds in the series.By Marc McGowan
WHAT better way to acknowledge your sporting hero than win the competition named in their honour?
Cranbourne speed demon Gary Collins, 52, did just that in winning the first annual Peter Brock Perpetual Trophy in December.
The category is restricted to Group C Touring Cars, which were the high-powered vehicles from the original Bathurst era.
Collins and fellow competitors drive the actual cars that were used by the likes of V8 Supercar legends Brock, Dick Johnson and Alan Moffat.
But it was Collins who triumphed over all-comers in the six-round series – repeating his 2004 success when it was known as the National Group C Touring Car Championship.
“I won four out of the six rounds and came second in the following two,” the former speedway racer said.
“I also won the Muscle Car Masters in the Group C category, which is a big event at Eastern Creek, so it was a pretty successful year.”
The owner of Pro Track Automotive in Cranbourne, who drives former privateer Phil Lyons’ VC Commodore, established the series four years after the Group C Touring Cars ended in 1985.
“I’ve stepped out of management now, but originally I was the operations director between 1989 and 1995,” Collins said.
“I used to organise members to find the cars, organise the races and all the constitution of the club and so forth.”
After buying Lyons’ car for $24,000 back in 1981, Collins estimates that it is worth up to $200,000 today.
But he has no intention of selling the VC Commodore, however, and despite the potential price tag it could fetch he still throws the car around the track.
“If you bend them, you bend them, but you get plenty of enjoyment out of them,” Collins said.
And Collins has passed on his enthusiasm for motor sport to his son Chris and daughter Michelle, who race Holden HQs.
Chris finished third in division one in the HQ Racing Association Championships last year.
