In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Gibson Motorsport ran Nissan Motor Company Australia’s motorsport program in the Australian Touring Car competition and at the Bathurst 1000.
During a time of change in the automotive industry, Nissan’s on-track success with a succession of different models provided brand exposure and engaged customers, dealers and employees.
To mark 30 years since back-to-back victories at the Bathurst 1000 and three-straight Australian Touring Car Championship titles the former factory team held a reunion at Shannon’s in Melbourne.
More than 200 people joined Fred and Christine Gibson, and a selection of the cars in a memory-filled evening. The entire period was covered with the Group C Bluebird and EXA, through to the Group A era of Skyline RS DR30 and HR31 GTS-R, plus the all-conquering R32 GT-R.
Former Nissan Australia managing director Leon Daphne says the professionalism of the Gibson Motorsport team when running the GTRs through the touring car rounds all around Australia and the wins at Bathurst lifted the overall company in the public’s eye.
Gibson Motorsport was located just a few hundred metres from Nissan’s then head office in Dandenong South, Victoria and worked in partnership with NISMO, the company’s Japan-based motorsport subsidiary.
“It was a team and a team effort. No one stands out and we’re all as equal. All going to do our job and do our job well. And I think that bonded together very well and the team was very successful,” Fred Gibson says.
Nissan won Australian Touring Car Championship titles in 1990 (Skyline HR31 and R32 GT-R) and ’91 (R32 GT-R) with Jim Richards and ’92 (R32 GT-R) with Mark Skaife Those triumphs were backed-up with victories at the Bathurst 1000 with Richards and Skaife sharing the driving duties in the R32 GT-R in 1991 and ‘92.
Along the journey, there were numerous race victories and podiums for the likes of George Fury, Glenn Seton, Garry Scott and Fred Gibson himself.
After running his motor sports activities in Sydney since the 1960s, Gibson moved his family to Melbourne to head the Nissan Motorsport program fulltime in 1986. The operation quickly gained a reputation as a true professional outfit on the track, at the workshop and everything in between.
Gibson always had an eye on the future and gave an opportunity to two young drivers in Glenn Seton and Mark Skaife to join the team and grow. Both went on to forge legendary status.
Great drivers were backed up by hardworking people in the factory who were able to carry the Gibson Motorsport ethic to further their careers in motorsports and the automotive industry.
“In terms of performance Fred was prepared to throw at it whatever he could get to achieve that financially and time,” former Gibson Motorsport team manager Alan Heaphy says.
“By far he was the leading person as far as the level of competitiveness. But the level of standard went as far as presenting a race team that reflects back into the people as well,” he says.
The arrival of Jim Richards to the team in 1989 was the beginning of the most successful period for Gibson Motorsport. The toughness of both the competition and the Australian circuits was the perfect environment to develop the turbo-charged all-wheel drive R32 GT-R into what became known as ‘Godzilla’ as Nissan crushed the opposition through to a change in regulations at the conclusion of the 1992 season.
“You had guys who could do every job you needed to do. Fred and the boys reengineered the GT-R to become ‘Australianised’ you might say. So it was a lot stronger and probably a quicker car than what the Japanese had,” Jim Richards says.
“The famous nature of what those cars mean to Australian motorsport, but especially to our group, is extraordinary. And for Fred in particular, the cars are a very special part of the history of this sport, especially Nissan’s involvement in the game,” Mark Skaife says.
The Nissan GT-R was incredibly complex and is regarded as the best Group A racer the world saw. And the Gibson Motorsport GT-R developed for Nissan Australia was considered by some to be the best of the best.
