John Harvey (racing driver)

John Francis Harvey (born February 1938 in Sydney) is a retired Australian racing driver. He was a top speedway driver for many years in the 1950s/1960s winning many championship races including NSW Championship 3 successive years, Victorian Championship twice.

After switching from speedway to road racing, Harvey drove cars such as the Austin Cooper S and Brabham BT14 Ford 1.5 litre. Harvey won the 1966 Australian 1½ Litre Championship and in the same year finished runner up in the Australian Drivers' Championship Gold Star) for 2.0 litre cars in the same car competing against much more powerful machinery. He began an involvement with Bob Jane’s racing team in 1967 and moved to Melbourne. Harvey won the 1971 and 1972 Australian Sports Car Championships driving the McLaren M6B Repco-Holden V8 for Bob Jane. He drove Jane's Repco V8 powered Holden Torana in Sports Sedan racing in the early 1970s, winning both the Toby Lee Series at Oran Park and the Marlboro Series at Calder Park Raceway in 1973.

In 1976 John Harvey won the first round of the Australian Touring Car Championship in a one-off drive in a B&D Autos-sponsored Torana L34 at Symmons Plains. Later in the year Harvey was signed up to co-drive with Colin Bond in the Holden Dealer Team Torana L34 which finished a close second in the Bathurst 1000.

The race winning #7 Holden was accidentally credited with an extra lap, putting it ahead of the #1 Holden. The error was picked up after the race and the relevant race official offered the Holden Dealer Team, the official factory team, the right to appeal. However, the #7 car was entered by Ron Hodgson Motors, one of Holden's biggest dealerships. The Holden hierarchy decided it would be good 'politic' to let Bob Morris and British sportscar racer John Fitzpatrick keep the win. Holden apologised to John Harvey for this at a testimonial dinner in 2002.

With Bond leaving the Holden team at the end of 1976, Harvey then became the lead driver for the 1977 season.

In 1978 Peter Brock re-joined the Holden Dealer Team and became No.1 driver with Harvey driving the No.2 car. This established the pattern for almost a decade. The Harvey car effectively becoming Brock’s backup, notably winning the 1978 Rothmans 500 event at Oran Park teamed with Charlie O'Brien. 1980 Peter Brock took over the Holden Dealer Team, deciding John Harvey would not contest the ATCC races and contest only the endurance races at the end of the year. This decision continued for the entire time John Harvey raced for Brock. Although Harvey won the Bathurst 1000 in 1983 in a Holden Dealer Team Holden Commodore, it was in controversial circumstances as Brock and his co-driver Larry Perkins took over the car, their Commodore having retired from the race.

Harvey split with Brock by 1987, being unhappy with Brock’s flirtation with ‘New Age’ ideas like his ‘Energy Polariser’. Harvey told his side of the story of the split in Bill Tuckey’s 1987 book The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock.

In March 1987 Harvey teamed up with Allan Moffat to drive a Commodore to victory in the first round of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship at the famous Monza circuit in Italy. After finishing seventh, the pair were promoted as the first six BMW M3s were disqualified from the race. Spa Francorchamps 24H August 1987, Class win and 4th outright behind the works BMW Team.

Career results

References

• Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999 (Chevron) © 2000
• Australian Competition Yearbook 1974
• Ten Top Drivers (Forsyth Publications) 1979
• The Rise and Fall of Peter Brock (Bill Tuckey) 1987