Allan Grice

Allan Grice OAM
Nationality	Australian
Born	(1942-10-21) 21 October 1942 Maitland, New South Wales
Retired	2005
V8 Utes
Years active	2002–05
Teams	Allan Grice Racing
Best finish	6th in 2002 V8 Brutes Series
Previous series
1974–95 1978–80 1981 1984	Australian Touring Car Championship Australian Sports Sedan Championship AMSCAR Series Australian GT Championship
Championship titles
1978 1979 1984 1986 1990	Australian Sports Sedan Championship Australian Sports Sedan Championship Australian GT Championship Bathurst 1000 Bathurst 1000

Allan Grice
Member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly for Broadwater
In office 16 September 1992 – 17 February 2001
Preceded by	New seat
Succeeded by	Peta-Kaye Croft
Personal details
Political party	National Party

Allan Maxwell Grice OAM (born 21 October 1942), known to motor-racing fans as Gricey, is an Australian former racing driver and politician, most famous for twice winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000 (1986 and 1990), and as a privateer driver of a Holden in the Australian Touring Car Championship.

Grice also had a successful second career as a politician and Member for Broadwater in the Queensland Parliament from 1992 to 2001.^[1] He currently operates an LPG conversion and importing business – LPGricey Tanks.

Bathurst 1000 record

26 starts between 1968 and 2002 (equal sixth on the 'most starts' list).

Grice had seven podium finishes at Bathurst: two wins (1986 and 1990), four seconds (1978, 1982, 1991, 1995), a third (1983). These results put him equal fifth on the 'most podiums' list for drivers at Bathurst.

Thirteen top 10 finishes (50% of all his starts) (in addition to above, fourth in 1979, seventh in 1980 and 1981, tenth in 1989, fifth in 1992 and seventh in 1994). Grice holds the record for the most Bathurst 1000 drives (16) before first victory (of those who have won).

Bathurst 1986

Driving a Holden VK Commodore SS Group A that was owned by his co-driver, Graeme Bailey and built by his long time team, Roadways, Grice posted the first 100 mph average lap in a Group A car, backing up his feat of achieving the first 100 mph average lap in a Group C specification Holden VH Commodore in 1982. Grice's time for the 6.172 km circuit in 1986 was a 2:16.16 (compared to his 1982 time of 2:17.8) although he only achieved pole position in 1982.

Grice and Bailey led for all-but 12 laps and Grice drove for 137 of the 163 laps (before the track alterations in response to FIA request reduced the race to 161 laps).

Bathurst 1990

British Touring Car Championship legend Win Percy was given the task of reviving the fortunes of the Holden Team in the Australian Touring Car Championship by Tom Walkinshaw, and against Walkinshaw's wishes Percy chose Grice as his co-driver for Bathurst.

With Percy carrying a shoulder injury, Grice did the bulk of the testing and race driving for Bathurst. Competing against a field that included multiple turbo-charged Ford Sierras, Grice and Percy prevailed to record a famous victory in a Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV.

Racing career

Though Grice did race, and win, for Holden factory teams in ATCC (most famously in the Bathurst 1000 in 1990), he spent much of his career as a privateer racing in a Holden against the Holden works teams (typically driven by Peter Brock).

Early in his career, Grice was the first racing driver to race the iconic Holden Torana LH SLR/5000 V8 (though he raced the road-version, L31, not the race-bred, Bathurst winning version, L34).

In 1974 Grice began driving for the Craven Mild Racing team and the following year he won a number of rounds in the Australian Touring Car Championship in his SL/R 5000 Torana.

In 1975, Allan Grice put up what would be his strongest challenge for the Australian Touring Car Championship. Grice would have won the championship had he not been disqualified from rounds 5, 7 and 8. In Round 5 at Surfers Paradise, Grice won the race but was disqualified following a protest lodged by Holden Dealer Team manager Harry Firth. Firth correctly contended that the thermostat from the Holden V8 engine in Grice's Craven Mild Torana L34 was in fact in the car's glovebox and not where it should have been. This led to speculation that Firth had managed to convince one of Grice's mechanics to put the item in the glovebox in a bid to sabotage his season, which at that point saw Grice leading the points table. Firth's lead driver Colin Bond went on to win the 1975 ATCC. Grice continued the season after appealing the disqualification, but once the appeal was upheld he lost all points from the remaining rounds.

1978 saw Grice break through with a placing in the Bathurst 1000 when he came second behind Peter Brock in a Craven Mild Racing Holden LX Torana A9X SS5000.

Grice was the winner of the 1978 and 1979 Australian Sports Sedan Championship's driving Frank Gardner's Chevrolet Corvair. Grice also finished fourth with open wheel star Alfredo Costanzo in the 1979 Hardie-Ferodo 1000, though he was some 9 laps behind the winning HDT Torana of Peter Brock and Jim Richards, with the Craven Mild Torana Hatchback, like the rest of the field, not posing a serious threat to Brock.

In 1980 the Craven Mild team began driving a BMW 318i Turbo in the Sports Sedan series, first in his usual Craven Mild colours, but later in the black and gold of the JPS Team BMW. Grice had little success with the car, constantly battling its handling which wasn't up to the power of the turbocharged engine. Grice's relationship with team manager Gardner had also deteriorated by this time, resulting in his sacking from the JPS team at the end of 1981. This led to a long-standing animosity between Grice and Gardner which lasted until Gardner's death at the age of 78 in 2009. The crux of the animosity was Gardner allegedly not having a high opinion of Grice's aggressive driving style, while Grice also contends that Gardner stole his longtime Craven A and JPS cigarette sponsorship.

After contemplating giving away racing, with no prospects of a competitive drive, Grice was thrown a lifeline by Re-Car owner Alan Browne. Grice was listed to drive with Browne at Bathurst in 1982 and Grice qualified fastest in the teams Holden VH Commodore. He and Browne would go on to finish second after a duel with the similar Commodore of Peter Brock in the early laps. The following year Grice finished third at Bathurst in a STP sponsored Roadways Commodore shared with Colin Bond.

Allan Grice holds the distinction of winning the last ever ATCC race held under CAMS locally developed Group C rules when he won the final race of the 1984 ATCC at the Adelaide International Raceway in a Holden VH Commodore. In a closely fought race, Grice finished less than one second in front of Brock's HDT Commodore, with series champion Dick Johnson third in his Ford Falcon, less than a second behind Brock. Grice also won the last ever competitive Group C race held in Australia when he drove his Roadways Holden VK Commodore to victory in a race held at the Baskerville Raceway in Tasmania in late 1984.

Grice easily won the 1984 Australian GT Championship driving the ex-Bob Jane DeKon Chevrolet Monza that had been acquired by Re-Car boss Alan Browne. Grice and the Monza sat on pole for every round of the series and won all but one race, his only loss was when the Monza lost fuel pressure while holding an eight second lead over the Porsche Carrera RSR of Peter Fitzgerald on the last lap at Round Three at Calder Park Raceway. In late 1984 Grice was joined by fellow touring car star Dick Johnson and driver/engineer Ron Harrop in the Monza, when they contested the Sandown 1000 as part of the 1984 World Endurance Championship. The race was the first ever World Championship road race held in Australia. Running in the special "AC Class" (for cars in the Australian GT and Sports Car championships), Grice qualified the car 18th and second in class, 1.9 seconds shy of the 1984 Australian Sports Car Championship winning Romano WE84-Cosworth driven by Alfredo Costanzo (and almost 9 seconds slower than Stefan Bellof's pole time in his Rothmans Porsche 956). The Monza ran strongly, with Grice reporting that the 600 bhp (447 kW; 608 PS) 6.0 L Chevrolet was able to stay with the faster Porsche's on the straights, but lost out to the Ground effect Sports Cars through the turns (Johnson claimed that the car had a lot more grunt than its handling deserved, though Grice contended the Monza handled very well). The Monza was eventually disqualified from the race for receiving outside assistance.

During 1984 Grice also competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Driving a Charles Ivey Racing prepared Porsche 956, with co-drivers Alain de Cadenet and Chris Craft, the car was qualified 32nd, but was a DNF with engine failure after 274 laps. Grice, who proved the fastest of the trio despite never having raced at Le Mans or in a 956, was openly critical of the team and their preparation of the car which had a bad habit of losing wheels at high speed. After the Porsche lose a wheel early in the race (before his first driving stint), Grice was heard to say loud enough for everyone in the team to hear that he had race cars at home that did not shed wheels.

Though best remembered for his endurance race feats, Grice was a very fast driver. Driving as a privateer, he was the first driver to record a 100 mph laps around Bathurst in both a Group C car 1982 and in a Group A car 1986 (that time on his way to winning Bathurst).

In 1987 Grice became the first Australian driver to qualify for NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Gricey was also prominent in the early NASCAR races held in Australia, held in 1988 at the then new, A$54 million Calder Park Thunderdome owned by former racer and prominent businessman Bob Jane. Grice qualified his Foster's sponsored Oldsmobile Delta 88 3rd for the 1988 Goodyear NASCAR 500 at the Thunderdome, the first ever NASCAR race held outside of North America. His race ended on lap 80 when he was caught up in a crash that he couldn't avoid due to the Oldsmobile having lost its brakes. Grice suffered a broken collar bone in the high speed crash. The race itself was dominated by visiting Winston Cup drivers Neil Bonnett, Bobby Allison and Dave Marcis, with Bonnett eventually winning from fellow Alabama Gang member Allison by just 0.86 seconds.

In 1990, Grice and his old Roadways touring car team led by team boss and chief mechanic Les Small, developed a left-hand-drive Holden VN Commodore powered by a 358 cubic inch Chevrolet V8 engine to run in the Australian NASCAR series, with Grice taking several wins at both the Thunderdome and the 1/2 mile Speedway Super Bowl at the Adelaide International Raceway. Grice, Small and Bob Jane also formed a plan to take the Commodore to America to run in the Winston Cup, though ultimately the plans were shelved.

In 1988, thanks to his friendship with his 1987 James Hardie 1000 co-driver Win Percy, Grice was drafted into the Nissan Motorsport Europe team for the European Touring Car Championship, driving a Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R. Percey, Grice, and Swedish driver Anders Olofsson, drove the car to 6th outright in the 1988 Spa 24 Hours. The Nissan Europe team was managed by former Ford Works Team and later Nissan Australia team boss from the Australian Group C days, Howard Marsden. Grice also the won the inaugural Bathurst 12 Hour held in 1991 driving a Toyota Supra Turbo with Peter Fitzgerald and Nigel Arkell.

Grice last competed in a full ATCC was in 1987. He was signed by Pinnacle Motorsport to complete the full 1995 season, although the relationship was severed mid-year. Grice's final ATCC race was at the 1995 Oran Park round driving a Ford EF Falcon for Glenn Seton Racing. Grice ended his career having won ten rounds in the Australian Touring Car Championship (equal 12th on list of round winners).

Grice continued to compete as an endurance co-driver, his last appearance was at the 2002 Bathurst 1000 driving a Ford AU Falcon entered by V8 Ute series team Nilsson Motorsport. The Bathurst start, some five years after his previous start, rekindled Grice as a racing driver and he made a comeback to racing in the V8 Utes series driving Falcon XR8s and forming his own team. He was competitive, winning races with a championship position high of sixth.

Since stepping away from the drivers seat Grice remains a familiar sight at historic racing events as well as supporting the racing career of his son, Benjamin Grice.

Career results

Season	Series	Position	Car	Team
1972	Australian Formula 2 Championship	6th	Mildren Waggott & Mildren England	Max Stewart Motors & Alan Grice
1975	Australian Touring Car Championship	3rd	Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34	Craven Mild Racing
1976	Australian Touring Car Championship	4th	Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34	Craven Mild Racing
1976	Sun-7 Chesterfield Series	1st	Mazda RX-3	Mazda House
1977	Australian Touring Car Championship	7th	Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34	Craven Mild Racing
1978	Australian Touring Car Championship	7th	Holden LX Torana A9X SS Hatchback	Craven Mild Racing
1978	Australian Sports Sedan Championship	1st	Chevrolet Corvair	Craven Mild Racing
1979	Australian Touring Car Championship	7th	Holden LX Torana A9X SS Hatchback	Craven Mild Racing
1979	Australian Sports Sedan Championship	1st	Chevrolet Corvair	Craven Mild Racing
1980	Australian Touring Car Championship	8th	Holden LX Torana A9X SS Hatchback	Craven Mild Racing
1980	Australian Sports Sedan Championship	2nd	Holden LX Torana BMW 318i turbo	Craven Mild Racing
1981	Australian Touring Car Championship	12th	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1981	Australian Sports Sedan Championship	5th	BMW 318i turbo	JPS Team BMW
1981	Better Brakes 3.5 Litre Series [2]	2nd [2]	BMW 635 CSi [2]	JPS Team BMW [2]
1982	Australian Touring Car Championship	5th	Holden VH Commodore SS	Re-Car Racing
1982	Better Brakes AMSCAR Series	1st	Holden VH Commodore SS	Re-Car Racing
1983	Australian Touring Car Championship	4th	Holden VH Commodore SS	STP Roadways Racing
1984	Australian Touring Car Championship	5th	Holden VH Commodore SS	SAAS Roadways Racing
1984	Australian GT Championship	1st	Chevrolet Monza	Re-Car Racing
1984	Alfasud Trophy	2nd	Alfa Romeo Alfasud
1985	Nissan ET Super Challenge	3rd	Nissan Pulsar ET Turbo	Nissan Motorsport Australia
1987	Australian Touring Car Championship	8th	Holden VK Commodore SS Group A Holden VL Commodore SS Group A	Roadways Racing
1987	World Touring Car Championship	NC	BMW M3 Holden VL Commodore SS Group A	Schnitzer Motorsport Roadways Racing
1987	Winston Cup	NC	Oldsmobile Cutlass	Foster's
1989	Australian Touring Car Championship	14th	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	ICL Racing
1989	Winston Cup	NC	Pontiac Grand Prix
1989/90	Australian NASCAR Championship	10th	Holden VN Commodore	ICL Racing
1990	Australian Endurance Championship	8th	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	Holden Racing Team
1991	Australian Touring Car Championship	15th	Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV	Holden Racing Team
1995	Australian Touring Car Championship	13th	Holden VR Commodore Ford EF Falcon	Pinnacle Motorsport Peter Jackson Racing
2002	Australian V8 BrUte Series	6th	Ford Falcon AUII XR8 Ute	Kerry Wilson
2003	Australian V8 BrUte Series	10th	Ford Falcon BA XR8 Ute	Akubra/Wrangler
2005	Australian V8 BrUte Series	18th	Ford Falcon BA XR8 Ute	Allan Grice Racing

Bathurst 1000 wins

Year	Pos	Class	No	Team	Co-Drivers	Chassis	Laps
						Engine
Group A
1986	1	C	2	Roadways Racing	Graeme Bailey	Holden VK Commodore SS Group A	163
						Holden 304 4.9 L V8
1990	1	1	16	Holden Racing Team	Win Percy	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	161
						Holden 5.0 L V8

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans Results

Year	Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Chassis	Tyre	Laps
						Engine
1984	25 DNF	C1	21	Charles Ivey Racing	Alain de Cadenet Chris Craft	Porsche 956	D	274
						Porsche Type-935 2.6 L Turbo Flat-6
1988	14	C1	32	Nissan Motorsports	Mike Wilds Win Percy	Nissan (March) R88C	B	344
						Nissan VRH30 3.0L Turbo V8

Complete World Sportscar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1984	Porsche 956	MNZ	SIL	LMS Ret	NUR	BHT	MOS	SPA	IMO	FJI	KYL	SAN DSQ	NC	0
1988	Nissan R88C	JRZ	JAR	MON	SIL	LMS 14	BRN	BHT	NUR	SPA	FJI 9	SAN	NC	0

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	DC	Points
1986	Australian National Motor Racing Team	Holden VK Commodore SS Group A	MNZ Ret	DON Ret	HOC Ret	MIS	AND	BNO	OST	NUR 15	SPA 23	SIL 24	NOG	ZOL Ret	JAR Ret	EST 8	NC	0
1988	Nismo	Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R	MNZ	DON Ret	EST	JAR	DIJ Ret	VAL	NUR 19	SPA 6	ZOL Ret	SIL Ret	NOG 11				NC	0

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1987	Team Schnitzer	BMW M3	MNZ	JAR	DIJ	NUR	SPA Ret	BNO	SIL					NC	0
	Roadways Racing	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A								BAT Ret	CLD Ret	WEL Ret	FJI

Complete NASCAR Winston Cup Series results

Year	Car	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	NSCC	Points
1987	Oldsmobile Cutlass	03	DAY	ROC	RIC	ATL	DAR	WIL	BRI	MAR	TAL	CMS 35	DOV	POC	RIV	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	WAT	MIC	BRI	DAR	RIC	DOV	MAR	WIL	CMS	ROC	RIV	ATL	107th	0
1989	Pontiac Grand Prix	47	DAY	ROC	ATL	RIC	DAR	BRI	WIL	MAR	TAL	CMS 34	DOV	SPR	POC	MCH	DAY	POC	TAL	WAT	MIC	BRI	DAR	RIC	DOV	MAR	CMS	WIL	ROC	PHX	ATL	93rd	0

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	DC	Points
1988	ICL Racing	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	BAT 15	WEL	PUK	FJI	NC	0

References

External links

• VESRIX, Drivers record – Allan Grice
• Racing Sports Car Archive

Sporting positions
Preceded by John Goss Armin Hahne	Winner of the Bathurst 1000 1986 (with Graeme Bailey)	Succeeded by Peter Brock David Parsons Peter McLeod
Preceded by Dick Johnson John Bowe	Winner of the Bathurst 1000 1990 (with Win Percy)	Succeeded by Jim Richards Mark Skaife
Parliament of Queensland
Preceded by New seat	Member for Broadwater 1992–2001	Succeeded by Peta-Kaye Croft

Bathurst 1000 winners Nine-time Peter Brock Seven-time Jim Richards Six-time Larry Perkins Mark Skaife Five-time Craig Lowndes Four-time Harry Firth Bob Jane Allan Moffat Greg Murphy Jamie Whincup Three-time Dick Johnson Steven Richards Garth Tander Two-time John Bowe John Goss Allan Grice Russell Ingall Rick Kelly Tony Longhurst One-time Aaltonen Bailey Bargwanna Bartlett Bond Bosworth D. Brabham G. Brabham Bright Coad Davison Dumbrell Fitzpatrick French Geoghegan Gibson Hahne Hansford Harvey Holden Ickx T. Kelly McLeod McPhee Mezera B. Morris P. Morris Mostert Mulholland Parsons Percat Percy Reynolds Roberts Roxburgh Rydell Sampson Seton Winterbottom