Longhurst Castrol Falcon to wind back the clock

THE Castrol Falcon AU that Tony Longhurst drove in the inaugural Sensational Adelaide 500 in 1999 is returning to the event this year to mark the 25th anniversary of the Adelaide 500.

 

 

The #25 Ford will take its place among a range of former Adelaide 500 cars at the display that will be the centre piece of the new ‘Pub in the Park’.

 

 

It joins an ex-Mark Larkham Orrcon Falcon AU, ex-Jason Bargwanna Garry Rogers Valvoline Commodore, ex-Tomas Mezera Densitron Commodore, ex-Wayne Gardner Coca-Cola Commodore and ex-Steve Richards Wynn’s Commodore as being confirmed cars for the display.

 

 

Also on hand will be the Nissan Altima that Michael Caruso drove in 2016 and Mark Skaife’s 2007 Holden Racing Team Commodore VE, as well as Rick Kelly’s 2007 Clipsal 500-winning Toll HSV Dealer Team VE.

 

 

Situated directly opposite the concert site, Pub in the Park allows enthusiasts to get up close to the history making cars behind the grandstand on the main straight.

 

 

The Longhurst Castrol Falcon coming to Adelaide is the first of two Castrol AU Falcons built and raced by Longhurst’s Queensland-based team.

 

It debuted at Eastern Creek’s opening round of the 1999 Shell Championship Series for V8 Supercars and was raced by Longhurst all year, bar the non-championship Gold Coast race.

 

 

The Falcon retired from the ’99 Sensational Adelaide 500 with accident damage. Longhurst had finished ninth in the opening leg on Saturday.

 

 

Longhurst closed his team down at the end of 1999 and sold his AVESCO (Australian Vee Eight Supercar Company) franchise and the sister Castrol Falcon to Brad Jones for his team’s entry into V8 Supercars.

 

The car coming to Adelaide later appeared in the hands of South Australian Alan Heath and made a further Adelaide 500 start in 2001.

 

 

Thesedays the Falcon is owned by a passionate collector from Queensland who has made it available for the 25^th anniversary display at this year’s VAILO Adelaide 500.

 

 

On-track action starts on Thursday and runs for four days as the 25th anniversary of this Hall of Fame event is celebrated on and off the track.