THE Pirtek-backed ex-Stone Brothers Racing Ford Falcon EL driven to victory in the 1998 FAI 1000 Classic at Bathurst by Jason Bright and Steve Richards has recently re-appeared – and it’s up for grabs.
Now offered for sale here via Melbourne prestige car business Sullivan Kerr based in Sandringham in the south-east suburbs, the ex-SBR Falcon has undergone a full restoration and is offered in showroom condition.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the car’s win at Mount Panorama, the only Bathurst 1000 victory by Stone Brothers Racing during its time in V8 Supercars.
In fact, the 1998 win was the only Ford Bathurst 1000 V8 victory between 1995 and 2005, a period of racing at the Mountain dominated by Holden’s Commodore.
The Pirtek Falcon led 48 of the 161-lap race, Richards leading home the Castrol Commodore of Larry Perkins by 10.3162-seconds at the end of just over six hours and 42 minutes of racing.
The victory was all the more impressive given that Bright, who had joined SBR full-time for the 1998 season, had crashed the car in Friday qualifying and, after it was repaired, it started a lowly 15th on the grid.
The win wasn’t this particular chassis’ first start at Bathurst, in fact it was its third attempt at the ‘Great Race’.
The very same car was built new by Alan Jones Racing in 1996 and ran as Alan Jones’ #301 Pack Leader Falcon EF that year and as the #9 Pirtek Falcon the following year.
Jones, who originally formed the team with Ross and Jim Stone, led the ’96 AMP Bathurst 1000 in the early stages before the car was forced to retire from the race due to a fire breaking out.
The same car finished 11th in the 1997 race with Jones joined by that year’s Gold Coast Indy winner Scott Pruett and Bright as third driver.
Jones sold out of the team at the end of that season and the Stone brothers renamed the team to reflect its new shareholding arrangement as Stone Brothers Racing.
This piece of Ford Bathurst history was later raced by privateers Greg Crick and Craig Harris, including in the 2000 Konica V8 Lites Series, the series today known as the Dunlop Super2 Series. It has been fully restored to its #4 Pirtek/SBR Falcon Bright/Richards, Bathurst-winning livery and is one of very few Ford Bathurst winners available for sale on the market right now.
