John Goss (racing driver)

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Ford XA Falcon GT hardtop; the replica of John Goss winning car at Bathurst 1000 1974
Jaguar XJS; Goss winning car at Bathurst race eleven years later

John Goss OAM (born May 2, 1943 in Glen Iris ) is a former Australian racing driver .

Career in motorsport

John Goss had one of the longest careers in Australian motorsport. He was active as a driver for more than 30 years. He is the only rider in the world who has won both the Australian Grand Prix and the Bathurst 1000 Mile Race .

Goss began motorsport as a teenager . He built his first racing cars himself, then he received support from Max McLeod, a Ford dealer from Rocksdale . McLeod supported Goss financially in the early phase and hired him as a driver for his racing team. Goss celebrated first successes in the Australian sports car championship , which he finished in 1969 in ninth place overall. The following year he finished this championship in tenth overall.

In 1969 he contested his first Bathurst 1000. The touring car race on the Mount Panorama Circuit near Bathurst should not be confused with the 12-hour race that takes place on the same racetrack. By the end of his career, he had raced 18 times between 1969 and 1990; he could win it twice. In 1974 he won together with teammate Kevin Bartlett on a Ford XA Falcon GT hardtop . Eleven years passed before his second success. In all Bathurts races between the overall victories, he failed; Racing partners were internationally known drivers such as Henri Pescarolo , Bob Tullius and Tom Walkinshaw . He secured the second win for the Walkinshaw racing team in 1985 . Partner in the Jaguar XJS was Armin Hahne . The duo won ahead of Johnny Cecotto and Roberto Ravaglia in the BMW 635 CSi and team-mates Walkinshaw and Win Percy .

In 1972 he won the overall classification of the South Pacific Touring Car Series and came to Europe in 1976 to take part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans . It was Goss' only racing outside of Australia . He was team partner of Jean Blaton and Nick Faure . The Porsche 934 they drove was not classified due to the lack of distance covered.

In the 1970s, Goss was also successful in monoposto racing , especially in the Formula 5000 racing . In 1975 he was overall sixth in the Tasman series (Champion Warwick Brown ) and in 1976 won the Australian Grand Prix on a Matich A53 .

statistics

Le Mans results

year team vehicle Teammate Teammate placement Failure reason
1976 BelgiumBelgium Jean Blaton Porsche 934 United KingdomUnited Kingdom Nick Faure BelgiumBelgium Jean Blaton not classified

literature

  • Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissèdre, Alain Bienvenu: 24 heures du Mans, 1923–1992. Éditions d'Art, Besançon 1992, ISBN 2-909413-06-3 .

Web links

Commons : John Goss (Racing Driver)  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ 1969 Australian Sports Car Championship
  2. ↑ 1970 Australian Sports Car Championship
  3. ^ Bathurst 1000 1974
  4. ^ Bathurst 1000 1985
  5. ↑ Tasman Series 1975
personal data
SURNAME Goss, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian racing car driver
DATE OF BIRTH May 2, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Glen Iris