Tony Longhurst

Career

Longhurst is a two-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, winning the event in 1988 with Tomas Mezera and in 2001 with Mark Skaife, and is one of only four drivers to win Bathurst in both a Ford and a Holden (the others being Craig Lowndes, Steven Richards and Jamie Whincup).

He has raced internationally in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship and 1993 FIA Touring Car Challenge, both times for BMW. He also won the Australian Super Touring Championship for BMW in 1994.

After four years of service to the Frank Gardner run JPS Team BMW from 1984–87, Longhurst started his own touring car team in 1988 named Tony Longhurst Racing which based itself on the Gold Coast behind the Longhurst family owned Dreamworld. For sponsorship reasons the team was known by various names during its time including Freeport Motorsport and Benson & Hedges Racing. Initially running the powerful Ford Sierra RS500 from 1988–90, the team then began using the evolution model BMW M3 (1991–93), before running a Holden Commodore VP supplied by Perkins Engineering in 1994. In 1995, Longhurst sold out to fellow shareholders Gardner and Terry Morris and formed Longhurst Racing to compete in the V8 Supercars series with a Ford Falcon EF.

Tony Longhurst is the only driver to have won five of the now defunct AMSCAR series run at Sydney's Amaroo Park circuit. He won the series in 1986 (BMW 325i), 1987 (BMW M3), 1989 and 1990 (Ford Sierra RS500) and 1991 (BMW M3 Evolution).

In 1992 he also won the NZ Wellington street race in BMW M3. Came 3rd in 1989 Wellington street race and 3rd 1989 and 2nd in 1986 in the Pukekohe Nissan Mobil race in NZ

He announced his retirement from competitive racing after the 2005 Bathurst 1000, where he and Brazilian co-driver Max Wilson failed to finish the race. He also made an appearance at the Targa Tasmania that year. He returned to this event in 2006, finishing fourth overall. He went one better in the event in 2007, placing third overall in a Subaru Impreza WRX STI. In 2009 he added a Bathurst 12 Hour victory, co-driving with Rod Salmon and Damien White. By winning the 12 Hour, Longhurst joined Allan Grice, Gregg Hansford, Dick Johnson and John Bowe as winners of both the Bathurst 1000 and Bathurst 12 Hour races (this list was later joined by Paul Morris and Jonathon Webb).

In 2016, Longhurst returned to competition making an appearance at the Sydney Motorsport Park round of the Australian GT Championship in a Marque Sports Ford Focus and at the Silverstone Classic driving his 1994 Australian Manufacturers' Championship winning BMW 318i Super Touring car.

The Benson & Hedges Ford Sierra RS500 driven by Longhurst and Tomas Mezera to victory at Bathurst in 1988 (pictured right) is on display at the National Motor Racing Museum which is located on the outside of the final turn of the famous Mount Panorama Circuit.

Longhurst continues to live on the Gold Coast in Queensland and owns and manages the Boat Works facility at Coomera.

Longhurst will return to Bathurst for the first time since winning the 2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour when he will drive at the 2017 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour driving a BMW M6 GT3 for BMW Team SRM alongside Timo Glock, Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall.

Career results

Sourced from Driver Database

Complete World Sportscar Championship results

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

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

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

† Not registered for series & points