Mark Skaife (left) and Jim Richards (right)
Gibson Motorsport has held a reunion to mark three decades since its back-to-back Bathurst 1000 wins with the Nissan GT-R.
Gibson was one of the powerhouses of the Australian Touring Car racing during the 1980s and 1990s, and while it won the Great Race and a championship with Commodores, it is the turbocharged ‘Godzillas’ for which it is perhaps best remembered.
Jim Richards delivered a championship win in 1990, when the squad began the season with the Skyline HR31 GTS-R before a mid-year switch when the R32 GT-R came online.
He backed up in 1991 before Mark Skaife made it three in a row for Gibson.
At Mount Panorama, they paired up to take victory in 1991 before the infamous 1992 Bathurst 1000 when heavy rain cut the contest short and the #1 Nissan was classified the winner despite having just crashed in treacherous conditions.
However, Richards and Skaife were not the only famous names to triumph in the team’s Nissans, with George Fury, Glenn Seton, Garry Scott and Fred Gibson himself also driving its machinery to victories.
To commemorate the achievements, over 200 former employs and close associates joined Fred and Christine Gibson for an evening at Shannons in Melbourne.
Gibson Motorsport Nissans spanning the era were wheeled in to mark the occasion, from a Group C Bluebird and EXA, through to the Group A-spec Skyline RS DR30, HR31 GTS-R, and R32 GT-R.
Reflecting on the period, Fed Gibson said, “It was a team and a team effort.
“No one stands out and we’re all as equal. All going to do our job and do our job well.
“And I think that bonded together very well and the team was very successful.”
Skaife commented, “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.”
Gibson had competed out of Sydney from the 1960s until he moved his family to Melbourne to run the Nissan Motorsport programme on a full-time basis from 1986.
As Richards noted, there was a significant level of local engineering input into the Japanese weapons.
“You had guys who could do every job you needed to do,” he explained.
“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.”
Former Team Manager Alan Heaphy added, “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.”
Former Nissan Motor Company (Australia) Managing Director Leon Daphne also paid tribute, remarking, “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.”
Gibson Motorsport fielded Nissans until a change of regulation outlawed the GT-Rs at the end of 1992.
An eight-year period fielding Holden Commodores followed, producing another championship win with Skaife in 1994 and victory in the Bathurst 1000 with Greg Murphy and Jim’s son Steven Richards in 1999.
Gibson, along with Craig Lowndes, made a high-profile defection to Ford in 2001.
That combination also achieved race wins together before the operation morphed into 00 Motorsport and ceased competing in 2003.
Gibson Motorsport also won the Sandown 500 three times, in 1986, 1987, and 1989.
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Keyword: Gibson reunion marks 30 years since Nissan Bathurst wins