Sandown to hold tribute to Peter Block

SANDOWN TO PAY TRIBUTE TO PETER BROCK

Fans, friends and family will take part in a 90minute tribute to the life of Peter Brock at Sandown Raceway on Friday September 22, starting at 2pm.

The site of his nine wins in the annual touring car endurance classic, the historic racing circuit will play host to the Peter Brock Sandown Tribute to celebrate the man known by many as the `King of the Mountain'.

Following his State Funeral in Melbourne on Tuesday, the Sandown event gives people from all walks of life the opportunity to remember, reminisce and celebrate the life and racing career of Peter Brock.

Included in the celebration of Peter's life will be tributes from his family, his friends and motorsport identities that raced with and against him.

Motorsport identities John Harvey, Allan Moffat, Fred Gibson, Mark Skaife and CAMS President Colin Osborne will speak at the tribute.

Among the highlights will be a parade of HDT Special Vehicles from a period of Peter's life in the 1980s where he was at his creative best.

The Austin A30, a replica of the car in which Peter started his wonderful career in 1967, will also be on display.

It will complete a final lap of the circuit as a final farewell to a public that will, no doubt, pack Sandown's grandstand just as was the case throughout Peter's many victories at the circuit.

"We really want to use this day as a celebration of Peter's life and involve the many thousands of people from the general public who supported him throughout his career," said Sandown promoter Jon Davison.

"Naturally enough, not everyone who can attend the State Funeral will actually be able to, so this is a fitting way to gather and pay our respects. Phil Brock, Peter's brother, said: "It will be a very special day at a place that holds many happy memories from his racing career.

"The public were incredibly important in making Peter the person he was and we'd encourage as many people as possible to come along and share in the day.

"We also pass on our thanks to the family of Steve Irwin for moving his memorial in Queensland to Wednesday.

"To have two muchloved Australians pass away in the one week was unbelievable. The Irwins have been so accommodating and, on behalf of the entire Brock family, I thank them very much. Our thoughts are with them."

Brock won his first Sandown endurance race in 1973 and his last in 1984. The two wins bookend a sevenyear period from 1975 to 1981 where he was unbeatable in the race.

He sat on pole position a record nine times and made his Sandown 500 debut in th 1970 when the race was run as the `Sandown 3 Hour'. Brock made his 29 and last start in 2004 and the front straight was renamed Brock Straight in 1997 when Peter retired from fulltime V8 Supercar racing.

Gates at Sandown will be open at 12pm with the service to begin at 2pm in front of the grandstand.

-credit: Sandown Raceway