JETT Johnson is set to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps in New Zealand this weekend when he makes his debut in the Touring Car Masters NZ Series.
Fresh from his maiden Super3 Series outing at the Newcastle 500, Johnson will cross the Tasman to compete at the HRC Legends of Speed event at Hampton Downs aboard the Anderson family’s Pinepac XE Falcon.
“I’m super excited to come over and have a steer, thank you to the Anderson Family (Pinepac Racing) for this opportunity, it’s going to be very cool,” Johnson said.
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Brothers Bruce and Wayne Anderson rose to prominence in the 1980s piloting a series of fast V8-engined Fords in the yellow hues of the family timber company, Pinepac.
Among them was a rare Group A-spec XE Falcon, a New Zealand-only machine eligible under rules that lowered the homologation bar from 5000 road cars to just 200 for locally-built models.
The Andersons recruited Dick Johnson to join Bruce in the car for the inaugural Wellington Street Race in 1985.
The Australian Ford icon qualified the Falcon on pole position and led early before brake and gearbox problems put the car out after just 49 of the race’s eventual 150 laps.
With the original car stolen after its competition career ended and never recovered, Johnson will race a recreation of the original XE built several years ago to race in the Central Muscle Cars category.
“We’re proud to bring third generation Australian racer Jett over to this weekend’s TCM NZ meeting at Hampton Downs,” Bruce Anderson said.
“Some 40 years ago, I invited his grandfather Dick to co-drive our original XE Falcon in the B&H Enduro and inaugural Wellington Street Race.
“Dick excelled behind the wheel, putting the Falcon on pole at Wellington and we expect Jett may likely be able to do the same things in the new car.”
Continuing the ‘third generation’ theme, Anderson’s 17-year-old grandson Nathan will make his second appearance in the team’s 1969 Ford Mustang after winning on debut at Pukekohe earlier this month.
The TCM NZ class is one of a host of categories scheduled to race at Hampton Downs, with Formula 5000, Heritage Touring Cars and Historic Sports Sedans also among the bill for the Legends of Speed meeting.
