BEST known in his homeland as a combative driver with two Bathurst 1000 wins to his name, Australian Allan Grice stands out as one of the best exports from Down Under on the world stage.
A veteran of 26 Bathurst starts with wins in 1986 and 1990 (with Win Percy for the Holden Racing Team), Grice also achieved plenty overseas. Never afraid to try something different or move out of his comfort zone, Grice proved a dab hand in touring cars, sportscars and even NASCAR!
He took a privateer Holden Commodore to the 1986 European Touring Car Championship and tackled the best the world could muster.
Here’s Grice and fellow Aussie Peter Brock in action at Monza in 1986 ….
A year later and he became the first Australian to qualify for the World 600 NASCAR race at Charlotte.
Here’s Grice being wheeled back to the pits at Charlotte in his NASCAR Winston Cup debut in 1987 ….
Proving his versatility, Grice was also drafted into the Schnitzer BMW squad for the 1987 Spa 24 Hour.
He made two starts in the Le Mans 24 Hour (in 1984 in a Rollei Porsche 956 and 1988 with the factory Nissan team) and joined Percy in the GTS-R works Skyline in the 1988 European Touring Car Championship.
Here’s Grice in action in the factory Nissan in the 1988 ETCC … (check out the wet in-car action at 5m30s!)
Grice made another ‘600 start at Charlotte in 1989 before later become a Member for Broadwater in the Queensland Parliament in Australia for nine years.
He made his last Bathurst 1000 start in 2002 and finished his racing career in the ever-popular local V8 Ute Series.
Shannons is celebrating the career of Allan Grice in its new Australian TV series ‘Legends of Motorsport’. The full programs are viewable at the Shannons website. Here’s a teaser for the Grice episode.
Story by Aaron Noonan
Images: The Coventry Collection
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