Bob Holden (racing driver)

Bob Holden
NationalityAustralian
Born (1932-12-01) 1 December 1932 (age 91)
Notting Hill, Victoria
Australian Super Touring Championship
Years active1993–98
TeamsBob Holden Motors
Starts34
Best finish7th in 1993 Australian 2.0 Litre Touring Car Championship
Previous series
1961-86
1963		Australian Touring Car Champ.
Australian Drivers' Champ.
Championship titles
1966Bathurst 1000

Robin John "Bob" Holden (born 1 December 1932 in Notting Hill, Victoria[1]) is an Australian racing driver. Holden raced small-engined touring cars throughout his career, racing Peugeots in the early 1960s, establishing a reputation for himself which saw him become a regular part of BMC Australia racing program for Minis which culminated with a victory in the 1966 Bathurst 500 co-driving with Rauno Aaltonen.[2] Into the 1970s Holden moved on to race Ford Escorts in various guises,[3] moving into Toyota Corollas in the 1980s, winning the 1.6-litre class at the Bathurst round of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship.[4][5][6] In the mid-1990s Holden moved into BMW M3s[7] and later a BMW 318i Super Touring car in which he raced his final Bathurst in 1998, at the time setting the record for most Bathurst appearances.[1]

Holden has continued his involvement in racing through the historic racing scene,[8] and has restored two of his Group C specification Ford Escorts to race in historic touring car racing, although one was recently badly damaged at Oran Park. He has also restored one of his Group A specification Toyota Corolla FX-GTs which he races himself in the Australian Heritage Touring Car Championship for historic Group C and Group A touring cars. Holden is also involved in charity work, helping disadvantaged youth acquire trade skills to help establish themselves in society.

  1. ^ a b "Bob Holden career Statistics". Driver database. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  2. ^ "Bathurst Winners". Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  3. ^ "Holden Ready to Race Again". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 January 1972. p. 45.
  4. ^ "Bathurst 1000 Kilometres 1987". Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  5. ^ Frank de Jong (4 October 1987). "James Hardie 1000 Bathurst 1987". History of the European Touring Car Championship & Other International Touring Car Races. Archived from the original on 15 April 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
  6. ^ Tuckey, Bill, ed. (1987–88). The Great Race. 7. Hornsby: The Berghouse Floyd Tuckey Publishing Group. ISSN 1031-6124.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  7. ^ "Australian Super Touring Championship". 30 October 1996.
  8. ^ "2006 Festival of Speed on Tweed report". 1 March 2009.