THE emergence this week of a former Lansvale Smash Repairs Commodore for sale has unearthed a never-before-told story about it providing a future V8 Supercar racer with his first test of one – at the very tender age of 15!
Layton Crambrook burst onto the V8 Supercar scene as a 17-year-old when he made his debut at Calder in 1999 just before his 18th birthday, however his racing efforts aboard the Bob Tindal-run ex-Alcair Commodore were most certainly not his first run in a V8.
The 2008 V8 Ute champion revealed this week that he tested Wayne Russell’s privateer Commodore VP at Amaroo Park as an even-younger teenager.
Judging by the livery on the car on the photos he has posted, it was likely in the second part of 1997 and saw the young gun take the wheel of a Commodore that later spent time in Germany and was converted to left hand drive.
“Wayne Russell came to Darwin when we lived there and we put him up with his speedway Super Sedans at the time and were great friends ever since,” Crambrook posted this week on V8 Sleuth’s Facebook page.
“At this time, I was pretty good at speedway and in Darwin at 14 we could race HQ Holdens at Hidden Valley.
“We kept in touch (and) he offered me a drive at the test day. He did two laps in the passenger seat then let me loose – no license or anything!
“It was an unbelievable day and his help eventually led to us getting our own car and start racing in Supercars ourselves.”
Crambrook ended up making 10 V8 Supercar Championship round starts between 1999 and 2001 and competed in the Bathurst 1000 in each of those years.
He ultimately ended up racing V8 Utes and drove a Falcon to win the 2008 series, scoring five race wins on his way to that year’s title.
WATCH: V8 Utes action from Winton 2009, the year of Crambook’s title defence
