Champion: John Bowe Interview

Photos by John Jovic

John Bowe is a living legend of Australian motor racing. We caught up with him recently to get a close look at his current Muscle Car Masters championship winning Ford Mustang, and to have a chat about his history behind the wheel.

PerformanceGarage - Hi John and thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at PerformaceGarage. I would first like to ask out of all the race cars you have driven over the years do you have a favourite?

John Bowe - I have driven a lot of cars over the years and I have quite a few favourites such as the F5000 Elfin which was great car, as was my second Ralt RT4. Moving into Touring Cars I would have to say the DJR Ford Sierra was a real weapon and the EB Falcon V8 was a very memorable car. The AU Falcon I drove for Brad Jones was also a great race car and of course “Sally” my TCM Mustang. I also currently drive a little Brabham BT23 which is just such a fun car to drive.

PG - Well now that we have gone through your favourite cars were there any race cars that you just dreaded driving?

JB - I don’t think that there is any such thing as a bad race car because providing you are working with the right people a bad race car can be made into a great race car with research and development.

PG - I remember watching yourself and Robbie Francevic driving the Volvo 240 Turbo and remember thinking a car that looks like that has no business travelling at those sorts of speeds mixing it with Group A Commodores and Mustangs.

JB - The Volvo was a great car and when Volvo themselves came on board we had ourselves a very competitive race car, however as the Volvo was my first taste of touring car racing I was really thrown in the deep end coming from open wheelers. I remember a stoush I had with Dick Johnson driving his Greens-Tuf Mustang at Bathurst 1986 where the Volvo was performing beautifully against his V8 Mustang which really impressed Dick with my driving style.

PG - When you joined DJR what was your thoughts on the Sierra?

JB - The Sierra was a great car however it was difficult to drive in the fact that if you were not careful you would shred the tyres in no time. The Sierra had so much power that it was possible to destroy a set of nine inch Dunlop race slicks within five laps.

PG - The Sierra was a great and powerful car however it seemed you really had your work cut out for you when the “Godzilla” R32 GT-R Skyline entered the mix, is that true?

JB - It is true the GT-R Skyline was a great car however the Sierra performed very well against it, but as the Skyline developed it became a very tough car to beat and once all-wheel-drive entered touring car racing you could begin to see the writing was on the wall for Australian Group A.

PG - When the rules were changed to a two-make Holden and Ford V8 series did you think that it was a good thing?

JB – Yes, I was very excited about racing the all-new V8 EB Falcon and we had a lot of success with that car. A lot of drivers deserved credit including Dick Johnson, Peter Brock and Allan Moffat for coming up with the rules. Special credit however must go to Larry Perkins for ensuring these rules were written and enforced in a way that reduced creative interpretation and made a level playing field for all.

PG - Where do you see V8 Supercars heading?

JB - The V8 Supercar series is a very exciting and competitive series and I think we are going to see big things when the series changes to the new generation “Car of the Future” in 2013. V8 Supercar drivers are a very well behaved bunch of guys and they do not draw negative publicity, and sponsors like that.

PG - Moving on to your Touring Car Masters Mustang can you tell us how that came about?

JB - After I retired from full-time driving I began driving a ’69 Camaro in the TCM series and I instantly fell in love with the category but unfortunately the Camaro was sold, leaving me without a car to drive. I had to decide if I wanted to drive someone else’s car or go out and buy one of my own. I had not actually owned a race car since 1985 so I decided maybe now was the right time to buy something. I learned that Drew Marget was looking at selling his ’69 Mustang and I knew the builder of the car did a fantastic job so I jumped at it straight away.

PG - You clearly have the right bunch of guys maintaining the car for you as it seems to go from strength to strength.

JB- Dick Savy does a great job of maintaining the car for me and we work well together in getting the car to perform exactly how I want it to.

PG- What are your thoughts on the SL/R Toranas and XA-XB Falcon hardtops coming through?

JB- With a little more development the Torana will become a terrific race car but the Falcon coupe with its 4V headed 351ci Cleveland V8 are going to be tough to beat, and I have considered building one myself. As all TCM cars can only run a 15x8 inch wheel and tyre combo the big coupes do have a bit of trouble putting all that power to the ground.

PG- The Mustang or “Sally” as it has become know has certainly gained a reputation with race fans.

JB- It certainly has and I often receive letters and emails where people refer to the car as Sally as if it is a person which certainly makes the car a bit of a legend.