| John Goss | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Australian |
| Born | 2 May 1943 |
| Retired | 1995 |
| Australian Touring Car Championship | |
| Years active | 1972–78 |
| Teams | McLeod Ford John Goss Racing |
| Best finish | 11th in 1972 Australian Touring Car Championship |
| Championship titles | |
| 1974 1976 1985 |
Bathurst 1000 Australian Grand Prix Bathurst 1000 |
John Goss (born 2 May 1943, Hobart, Tasmania) is the only Australian racing driver to win Australia's two most prestigious races, the Bathurst 1000 (twice, in 1974 and 1985), and the Australian Grand Prix (1976).
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Born and raised in Hobart, Tasmania, Goss began racing in his home state in Holden FJs and Ford Customlines. He then built his own sports car, the Tornado Ford, which he took to the mainland with some success, scoring points in the Australian Sports Car Championship in both 1969 and 1970. He also raced Ford Falcon GTHOs in production car racing from 1969 and stayed loyal to Ford for much of his career.
Goss debuted at the Bathurst 500 in 1969 driving a McLeod Ford (with its distinctive yellow/black chequer windscreen strip) sponsored Ford Falcon GTHO, but Goss's co-driver Dennis Cribbin crashed the Falcon at Forrest Elbow. In 1970 John Goss posted the fastest lap during the Bathurst 500 in his XW Falcon GTHO Phase II. The following year Goss won two rounds of the Toby Lee Series at Oran Park against such opposition as Colin Bond and Fred Gibson.
Goss won the 1972 South Pacific Touring Car Series and the 1972 Sandown 250 endurance race, both in Series Production Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III's. He also put his Falcon on the front row of the grid at the 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500, qualifying second fastest behind the Works GTHO of expat-Canadian Allan Moffat. Engine failure after splashing around for 24 wet laps ended Goss' race.
With the Series Production class being replaced by the new Group C Touring Car class in 1973, Goss was the first driver to develop and race the new Ford Falcon XA GT Hardtop. Unlike Series Production, the new Group C rules allowed considerable modifications. Goss obtained sponsorship from Shell and Max McLeod, a prominent Ford dealer in Rockdale, New South Wales – known for his "Horn cars" – as well as obtaining factory assistance from Ford Australia, who provided Goss with purpose-built XA racing chassis. Goss was actually the first to race the XA Hardtop in the 1973 ATCC, even before the Works team who used a modified Phase III GTHO and didn't make the switch to the Hardtop until the Endurance races later in the year. Goss and Kevin Bartlett teamed up for the 1973 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 at Bathurst and qualified on pole position with a time of 2:33.4 (it was to be Goss' only pole at Bathurst) ahead of the GTR-XU1 Holden Torana of Peter Brock and Doug Chivas. Goss started and built up a good lead which was kept until he was involved in a crash at The Cutting which damaged his front end. The Falcon suffered radiator damage which later caused its retirement on lap 110 of the now 163 lap race (prior to 1973 race distance was 500 miles and ran only 130 laps.
The pair returned to Bathurst for the 1974 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 in the same car – repainted from yellow to blue after losing Shell as their major sponsor – and proved to have the reliability needed to last through a race marred by driving rain, finishing first. To celebrate the victory, Ford Australia released a limited edition XB Falcon Hardtop in 1975 called the John Goss Special. Actual production numbers of these cars were never released by Ford, but estimates range anywhere between 260 and 800 – they are now considered collectible.
Goss won the Sandown Park round of the 1975 Tasman Series and the 1976 Australian Grand Prix at Sandown Park in Victoria, driving an Australian built Matich A53 Repco Holden in both events. During the mid-1970 Goss was concentrating his racing efforts more on the F5000 than his Croup C Falcons and ever loyal to Ford tried to run the A53 with a 5.0L Ford V8 but the concept had little success and replaced by the Repco Holden.
From 1977 to 1979 Goss registered three 'Did Not Finish' results at Bathurst with 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Henri Pescarolo as co-driver. In the 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 he ran a second team car for Australia's three time Formula One World Champion Jack Brabham and Jack's son Geoff. Then in 1980 Goss began campaigning the Jaguar XJS at Bathurst at first with no luck. In the 1980 race he started what was basically a standard car in 58th but lasted only 14 laps before retiring with gearbox failure. In 1981 he teamed with 1965 winner Barry Seton in the V12 Jag and after an improved qualifying effort (19th) they weren't classified as finishers of the crash shortened race having completed only 73 of the 120 laps and being caught up in the crash on the top of the mountain. Goss returned with a better prepared effort in 1982 sharing the driving with American Jaguar racer Bob Tullius who also assisted with technical info for the car and engine. Goss qualified the car 14th with a time of 2:22.3 but once again the big cat failed to finish following suspension failure on lap 119.
Goss missed the 1983 James Hardie 1000 but returned in 1984 for the last year of Australia's Group C racing sharing a drive with TWR team owner Tom Walkinshaw. Waklinshaw, who ran the V12 XJS' in the European Touring Car Championship (and would win that title in 1984) added a lot of technical assistance to the team with revised suspension and the use of one of TWR's own 5.3-litre V12 engines. Despite trouble in qualifying with no suitable rear tyres arriving in time to use, the Scot qualified the car in 8th with a 2:16.09 lap (faster than Peter Brock's 1983 pole time) before falling to 10th in the Hardies Heroes top ten run-off with a 2:18.96. Walkinshaw also started the race but in fact never left the line. The Jags clutch had gone leaving Walkinshaw stranded with his arm out the window warning other drivers he was stationery. Unfortunately in the dust kicked up off the start, the Chevrolet Camaro of John Tesoriero coming through at speed could not avoid the #12 Jag and hit it in the rear. The Camaro was then hit by the Toyota Celica Supra of Peter Williamson causing a start line pile up. This caused the race to be stopped as the track was completely blocked. It would be the only time the race has ever been re-started in its history.
Australian Touring Car racing changed to International Group A rules in 1985 and Goss scored his second Bathurst victory in 1985 with co-driver Armin Hahne of West Germany in one of a three-car assault on the Great Race by Tom Walkinshaw's TWR team using the 1984 ETCC-winning V12 Jaguar XJS'. Goss, lead driver of the teams third car (#10) actually qualified fastest going into Hardies Heroes, giving lie to those who believed he was past his best as a driver. He ended up 6th in the Top Ten run-off and for most of the race was in second place behind Walkinshaw. Goss and Hahne's job was made all the more difficult by the driver's seat of their car having completely broken at the base of the back, giving the driver very little support despite efforts by the team to hold it in place with cable ties to the roll cage. The #10 car took the lead on about lap 120 following oil problems with the Walkinshaw/Percy car. Goss, unable to drive the car hard through the corners due to the broken seat had to use the Jags superior power on Mountain and Conrod straights to keep up lap times with both Brock in the HDT Commodore and Roberto Ravaglia in a Schnitzer Motorsport BMW 635 CSi closing in over the closing laps. The chase effectively ended with Brock's engine failure on lap 160 allowing Goss to back off over the last 3 laps. Team owner Walkinshaw who qualified on pole following the Top Ten, finished third with Win Percy, the pair crossing the finish line together.
After Jaguar Rover Australia declined to help fund a return effort by TWR in 1986 Goss returned with his own privately entered XJ-S backed by Citibank Australia and co-driven by veteran Bob Muir. After numerous problems in qualifying the pair started 26th, slower than the only other XJS in the race, a private effort driven by Garry Willmington and Peter Janson. Electrical troubles in the race resulting in a flat battery saw them complete 140 laps and finish 24th outright. Goss missed both the 1987 and 1988 races but returned to drive for Glenn Seton Racing at the 1989 Tooheys 1000 in a Ford Sierra RS500. Originally teamed with Tony Noske in the team's second car, they were joined during the race by team leader Glenn Seton after his own car had failed and the trio to finish 20th outright after the car started 17th.
Goss' final Bathurst 1000 came in 1990 when he paired with Phil Ward in a Mercedes 190E to finish 12th outright and a class win after starting 38th.
| Season | Series | Position | Car | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Australian Sports Car Championship | 9th | Tornado Ford | John Goss Racing |
| 1970 | Australian Sports Car Championship | 10th | Tornado Ford | McLeod Ford |
| 1972 | South Pacific Touring Series | 1st | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | McLeod Ford |
| 1972 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 11th | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | McLeod Ford |
| 1973 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 14th | Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop | McLeod Ford |
| 1974 | South Pacific Touring Series | 2nd | Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop | McLeod Ford |
| 1974 | Toby Lee Sports Sedan Series | 7th | Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop | McLeod Ford |
| 1974 | Australian Drivers' Championship | 9th | Matich A53 Repco Holden | John Goss Racing |
| 1975 | Tasman Series | 6th | Matich A53 Repco Holden | John Goss Racing |
| 1975 | Toby Lee Formula 5000 Series | 2nd | Matich A53 Repco Holden | John Goss Racing |
| 1975 | Australian Drivers' Championship | 13th | Matich A53 Repco Holden | John Goss Racing |
| 1976 | Australian Drivers' Championship | 6th | Matich A53 Repco Holden | John Goss Racing |
| 1976 | Rothmans International Series | 5th | Matich A53 Repco Holden | John Goss Racing |
| 1977 | Rothmans International Series | 5th | Matich A53 Repco Holden | John Goss Racing |
| 1977 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 28th | Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop Ford XC Falcon Hardtop |
John Goss Racing |
| 1978 | Australian Touring Car Championship | 30th | Ford XC Falcon Hardtop | John Goss Racing |
| 1985 | Australian Endurance Championship | 10th | Jaguar XJS | JRA Ltd |
| Year | Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Chassis | Engine | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | 27 | GT | 70 | "Beurlys" | John Blaton Nick Faure |
Porsche 934 | Porsche 3.0L Turbo Flat-6 | 168 |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Allan Moffat Ian Geoghegan |
Winner of the Bathurst 1000 1974 (with Kevin Bartlett) |
Succeeded by Peter Brock Brian Sampson |
| Preceded by Max Stewart |
Winner of the Australian Grand Prix 1976 |
Succeeded by Warwick Brown |
| Preceded by Peter Brock Larry Perkins |
Winner of the Bathurst 1000 1985 (with Armin Hahne) |
Succeeded by Allan Grice Graeme Bailey |
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