Dick Johnson Racing
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Dick Johnson Racing (or DJR) is Australia's oldest touring car team. Founded by legendary driver Dick Johnson, the team has won 6 Australian Touring Car Championship titles (5 of them by Johnson himself) and has taken 3 victories in Australia's hallmark race, the Bathurst 1000. The team campaign two Ford Falcons in the V8 Supercar championship, one bearing Dick Johnson's ubiquitous racing number 17.
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[edit] Beginnings
After racing for several teams in the 1970s, Johnson set about forming his own team. He achieved some success with his limited budget, but was brought into the media spotlight in 1980 when a callous spectator rolled a large rock onto the track at Bathurst. Johnson's Ford Falcon hit the rock and was extensively damaged. Without the funds to continue, Johnson was left with no hopes until the Australian public and Ford Australia donated $70,000 in an unprecedented act of charity. Combining these funds with his engineering nous, Johnson built a new Falcon, claiming his first Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) and Bathurst 1000 win in 1981. With Ford hero Allan Moffat now driving a Mazda Rx-7, Johnson became the darling of legions of Ford fans.
[edit] First Slump
Johnson repeated his ATCC success in 1982 and 1984. However, with Ford Australia no longer producing a V8 Falcon, and the newly introduced Group A regulations not allowing competitors to create their own, DJR were forced to field an imported Ford Mustang in 1985 and 1986. Originally developed by Zakspeed in West Germany during the early 1980s, the car lacked rigidity and pace. A highlight of this period was winning the support race at the inaugural Australian Grand Prix, and, through reliability, taking the runner-up spot in the 1985 Championship.
[edit] The Shell Years
1987 saw two important developments for DJR. The first was the introduction of the Ford Sierra Cosworth. Using a turbocharged engine tuned by Formula One engine manufacturers Cosworth, the Sierra generated significantly more power than any other car in the ATCC.
The second change for DJR was entering into a major sponsorship deal with the Shell Oil Company. Rebranding DJR the 'Shell Ultra Hi Racing Team' (marketing the performance oil Ultra Hi), Shell lifted the teams budget to over one million dollars. This allowed the team to expand into a two-car effort, with Gregg Hansford becoming the number two driver.
The Sierra suffered from reliability issues throughout 1987 (and being charged with a technical irregularities, at Lakeside and at Bathurst), but its successor, the RS500, arrived in time to win the AGP support race at the end of the year. Being a man of ingenuity, Johnson modified the RS500 rear axles himself to get mor endurance from them.
In 1988 John Bowe replaced Hansford as second driver, and the team won eight of the nine rounds of the ATCC, once again claiming the title. In 1989, Bowe and Johnson won the Bathurst 1000 for the team's second victory.
1990 saw the introduction of the dominant Nissan Skyline GT-R, technologically superior to the Sierra. It's all-wheel drive system proved to be too much for any other car in the field, and it was unstoppable for the next three years.
[edit] V8 Supercars
A control formula was introduced for 1993, with all cars required to be 5.0 litre V8s in purpose-built bodies. Success for DJR was limited until a Bathurst win in 1994, where Dick's son Steven Johnson debuted with the team co-driving with Allan Grice. The following year 1995, Johnson's last with Ross and Jim Stone, Bowe won his first championship.
The Holden Commodore proved to be the car to beat in 1996, yet DJR still managed second at Bathurst, as well as a win at the Indy 300 support race on the Gold Coast.
1997 was an unremarkable year for the team, with the only points of note being Bowe's runner up spot in the championship. In 1998, for the first time in 11 years, Bowe and Johnson did not drive the same car at Bathurst. Instead, Johnson paired with his son Steven, and Bowe pairing with young gun Cameron McConville. The latter were the more successful pairing, however neither could win the Great Race.
1999 saw the departure of Bowe from the team. He was replaced by two-time Touring Car World Cup Champion Paul Radisich. The team's hopes of success were spoilt by their inability to adapt to the new Bridgestone tyres, teething troubles with the largely unsuccessful AU-series Falcon, and Radisich's inexperience at the various circuits. However, Radisich and co-driver Steve Ellery led Bathurst until a tyre failure in the last few laps robbed them of victory. 1999 also saw Dick Johnson's retirement. He raced at Bathurst with his son, fighting for the win before eventually finishing fourth.
[edit] 2000 onwards
Johnson remained on board as team owner. However, the days of DJR dominance were over, the team winning sporadically over the next few years. While Steven Johnson has remained with the team, Radisich made way for Brazilian ex-Formula One tester Max Wilson, who in turn was dropped in favour of rookie Warren Luff. Glenn Seton joined the team in 2005, however, he was dropped for 2006 in favour of Australian international driver Will Davison.
At the end of 2004 Shell announced the end of their partnership with DJR. They were replaced by Westpoint Financial Services; however, Westpoint themselves were replaced by the Dick Johnson Group in 2006.
[edit] Silverstone 1988
For 1987, Bathurst was a round of the World Touring Car Championship. International entries arrived in Australia, and managed to dominate the race. Angry about the cheating of the international teams (and how the international officials sanctioned it)[citation needed] Johnson set about regaining some pride for Australia. He and Bowe entered the British Tourist Trophy at the Silverstone Circuit in England, where they took pole position by over a second, and led the race before a water pump failure. Their car speed was superior to the other teams, and they took the unofficial title of 'Fastest Sierra In The World'.
[edit] Other interests
DJR produce a road car, the DJR HP320, a performance car based on the Ford Falcon. The Dick Johnson Group also runs financial, real estate, and telecommunications services.
DJR is based on the Gold Coast. The factory also houses a museum.
[edit] External links
| Teams contesting the 2006 V8 Supercar Championship Series | |||||||||
| Stone Brothers Racing | Holden Racing Team | Tasman Motorsport | Ford Performance Racing | Jack Daniel's Racing | WPS Racing | ||||
| 1 Russell Ingall 4 James Courtney |
2 Mark Skaife 22 Todd Kelly |
3 Jason Richards 23 Andrew Jones |
5 Mark Winterbottom 6 Jason Bright |
7 Steven Richards 11 Paul Dumbrell |
8 Max Wilson 10 Jason Bargwanna |
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| Team BOC | Toll HSV Dealer Team | Dick Johnson Racing | Paul Cruickshank Racing | Fujitsu Racing | Garry Rogers Motorsport | ||||
| 12 John Bowe 14 Brad Jones |
15 Rick Kelly 16 Garth Tander |
17 Steven Johnson 18 Will Davison |
20 Marcus Marshall | 25 Warren Luff 26 Jose Fernandez |
33 Lee Holdsworth 34 Dean Canto |
||||
| Team Sirromet Wines | Supercheap Auto Racing | Autobarn Racing | Triple Eight Race Engineering | Team Kiwi Racing | |||||
| 39 Alan Gurr 39 Fabian Coulthard 67 Paul Morris |
50 Cameron McConville 51 Greg Murphy |
55 Steve Owen | 88 Jamie Whincup 888 Craig Lowndes |
021 Paul Radisich | |||||
