VALTTERI Bottas yesterday became the latest Formula 1 superstar to sample a V8 Supercar.
The Finn went for a spin at the Adelaide Motorsport Festival aboard the Holden VF Commodore which powered Tekno Autosports to victory in the 2016 Bathurst 1000.
The outing came 12 months after Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez each drove a Supercar at Albert Park, with Daniel Ricciardo and Jenson Button among others to make cameos in recent memory.
There have been many more ex-F1 drivers actually race a Supercar (think the likes of Mika Salo, Nick Heidfeld and Sebastien Bourdais during the Gold Coast 600 international co-driver era).
But as V8 Sleuth explores, the club of F1 grand prix winners who have competed in an ATCC/Supercars championship race, or in a Bathurst 500/1000, stands at just six.
Stirling Moss (1976)
ATCC/Supercars championship races: 0
Bathurst 500/1000 starts: 1
Best race result: DNF at the 1976 Bathurst 1000
The man dubbed the greatest driver not to win an F1 world championship made a sole appearance at the Mountain.
It was an all-star effort, with the Brit sharing a Holden Torana L34 with Sir Jack Brabham.
Disaster struck at the start when a gearbox issue left Brabham stranded on the grid and he was hit from behind. The car was repaired but completed just 37 laps before engine failure.
Sir Jack Brabham (1976-78)
ATCC/Supercars championship races: 4
Bathurst 500/1000 starts: 3
Best race result: 4th at Surfers Paradise International Raceway in 1976
That 1976 outing was also Sir Jack’s first appearance in the Great Race; his best result at Mount Panorama came two years later, taking a Torana A9X to sixth place with Brian Muir.
Three of his four ATCC races netted top five results, including a best of fourth on debut at Surfers Paradise in 1976.
Brabham’s son Geoff and grandson Matt went on to make fleeting appearances in the Supercars Championship, while the former won the 1997 Bathurst 1000 Super Touring event with brother David.
Jacky Ickx (1977-78)
ATCC/Supercars championship races: 0
Bathurst 500/1000 starts: 2
Best race result: 1st in the 1977 Bathurst 1000
The Belgian was an eight-time grand prix winner and finished F1 title runner-up in successive years (1969 with Brabham and 1970 with Ferrari).
While he didn’t stop racing in F1 until the end of 1979, Ickx conquered the Mountain in ’77.
That came in combination with Allan Moffat, victory sealed in a famous form finish for Ford.
The duo reunited the following year and again started from third, but only made it to half-distance before their engine let go.
Alan Jones (1981-2002)
ATCC/Supercars championship races: 186
Bathurst 500/1000 starts: 19
Best race result: 1st x5
Jones is the only driver in history to win a championship race in both F1 and ATCC/Supercars.
The 1980 F1 world champion spent two decades trying to win the Bathurst 1000 but never bettered the second-place finish he and Allan Grice recorded in ’95.
Jones also was championship runner-up to teammate Glenn Seton in 1993.
He did manage to chalk up race wins at Symmons Plains (twice), Lakeside, Wanneroo and Oran Park – plus three non-championship wins at Eastern Creek.
Denny Hulme (1982-92)
ATCC/Supercars championship races: 2
Bathurst 500/1000 starts: 10
Best race result: 4th in 1991 Bathurst 1000
Hulme’s Australian touring car resume includes finishing second in the 1987 Sandown 500 with Larry Perkins – although fourth (with Peter Fitzgerald per above) was the best he managed in either a championship or Bathurst setting.
The former Brabham and McLaren F1 driver made just the two ATCC championship race starts, at Lakeside and Adelaide in 1987, but was far more prolific at Mount Panorama.
Sadly it was there that he died, suffering a heart attack during the 1992 Great Race.
Jacques Villeneuve (2010-12)
ATCC/Supercars championship races: 8
Bathurst 500/1000 starts: 0
Best race result: 5th in Race 2 of the 2010 Gold Coast 600
Williams’ most recent F1 champion joined Ford Performance Racing’s Paul Dumbrell for the 2010 Gold Coast 600.
The Canadian’s first race proved difficult, copping a 10-second stop-go penalty for a false start. The duo finished the Saturday leg of the event 11 laps down but rebounded a day later to secure fifth.
Villeneuve was then a surprise injury replacement for Kelly Racing’s Greg Murphy in 2012, languishing outside the top 20 in each of his six solo races across Townsville, Ipswich and Sydney Motorsport Park before handing the car back to Murph.
