Peter McLeod

Peter McLeod
Peter McLeod
Nationality	Australian
Born	6 May 1948 (age 76); Newcastle, New South Wales
Australian Touring Car Championship
Years active	1980–88
Starts	25
Wins	0
Poles	0
Fastest laps	0
Best finish	3rd in 1984 Australian Touring Car Championship
Previous series
1980–86; 1980–87	Australian Endurance Championship; AMSCAR Series
Championship titles
1983; 1987	Australian Endurance Championship; Bathurst 1000

Peter Gerard McLeod (born 6 May 1948 in Newcastle, New South Wales^[1]) is a retired Australian racing driver, best known as co-winner of the 1987 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, and for driving the distinctive yellow and black Slick 50 Mazda RX-7 Group C touring car during the early to mid-1980s.

Group C Touring Cars

McLeod began his racing career in 1980 at the relatively old age of 32, progressing immediately into touring car racing where in just three seasons to become one of Australia's fastest privately entered touring car racers, and the fastest Mazda RX-7's behind

Falcons of Dick Johnson and veteran Murray Carter

.

His pace and consistency were rewarded when he won the

635 CSi of Jim Richards. McLeod finished 7th in the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst co-driving with Graeme Bailey, 3rd at the Surfers Paradise 300, and finally 6th in the Humes Guardrail 300 at the Adelaide International Raceway (AIR) in November. Richards, who finished 5th and 15th at Amaroo and Oran Park and 2nd at Sandown, scored no points at Bathurst and only finished 7th at Surfers, needed to finish at least 2 points in front of McLeod to win the title at Adelaide, but could only manage 9th in his BMW, giving the Wollongong

based McLeod his first and only touring car championship in just his 4th season of driving.

Still driving the Slick 50 Mazda, McLeod finished third in the

Ford Falcon. McLeod went into the final round at Adelaide in 2nd position, 22 points in front of Brock, and needed to only finish 14th to claim 2nd regardless of where Brock finished. Unfortunately a clash with the BMW of Jim Richards on lap 4 at the end of AIR's 900-metre long front straight saw the Mazda with enough damage to have McLoeod limp back to the pits and retire, and with Brock finishing the race 2nd behind Allan Grice and gaining 23 points, he moved to 95 points, 1 point in front of McLeod. 1984 was actually the only full ATCC that McLeod ever contested. His best finishes in the series were back to back 2nd places in rounds 4 and 5 at Surfers Paradise behind Johnson and Oran Park behind the RX-7 of 1979 ATCC champion Bob Morris. These would also prove to be the highest placings McLeod achieved in 25 ATCC rounds competed in between 1981 and 1988.^[2]

Following the ATCC McLeod was unable to repeat his 1983 Endurance Championship win and finished the 1984 Championship in 9th place. After finishing 3rd in the opening round, the Silastic 300 at Amaroo Park, behind the Nissan Bluebird Turbo of Garry Scott, he finished 7th in the Valvoline 250 at Oran Park, but it went downhill from there. McLeod and Graeme Bailey failed to finish at Sandown and Bathurst, while Mcleod didn't compete at the Surfers Paradise 300 bringing an end to the Group C era in Australia.

There were two more Group C races held before the end of 1994. One was the support race for the Australian Grand Prix at the Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne.^[3] After qualifying 8th at Calder the RX-7 didn't get off the line and was a first lap DNF. McLeod didn't take the car to the final ever competitive Group C race at Baskerville Raceway in Tasmania.^[4]

1985 Daytona 24 Hour

In 1985 he joined Allan Moffat,

CAMS imposed 20 kg (44 lb) lead ballast, the car qualified in the 38th (11th in the GTO class) and ran strongly until mechanical failure near the end of the race. They were eventually classified 24th, 221 laps behind the winning Porsche 962 driven by A. J. Foyt, Bob Wollek, Al Unser and Thierry Boutsen. McLeod, Moffat and Hansford, all of whom had been regular drivers of the RX-7's in Australia, all expressed delight with how much quicker the car was without its added weight, stating that without that extra weight, the rotary powered cars would have proved more of a threat to the V8

's at Bathurst.

1985 Australian GT Championship

McLeod continued to race his Mazda RX-7 in the

Kevin Bartlett's ground effects De Tomaso Pantera

. Thompson would win the title driving both the Mercedes-Benz and the Chevrolet.

Group A Touring Cars

The change to

Holden VK Commodore for the 1985 season, but like most Commodore teams, including the factory-backed Holden Dealer Team, the 1985 Group A Commodore wasn't as competitive as hoped. Compared to 1984, the cars had no aerodynamic aids, was some 120 kg heavier, and had lost approximately 110 bhp (82 kW; 112 PS) in 1985. McLeod's car, built from an ex road car, came into its own in the 1985 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, and for much of the race McLeod and co-driver Bailey had the car running in the top 10, and indeed held 5th place for a time and was the second Commodore on the road behind Peter Brock

's lead HDT car. Their good run came to an end when the gearbox broke on lap 126.

Like all Commodore runners, McLeod upgraded to the newly homologated

Holden VK Commodore SS Group A for 1986. He competed in only two rounds of the 1986 ATCC at Sandown and Oran Park, and finished 19th in the championship. He did not have a good Endurance Championship. He failed to finish the Castrol 500 at Sandown and after qualifying 15th at Bathurst, McLeod crashed the Commodore heavily at the 160 km/h right hand McPhillamy Park on lap 48 of the race. McLeod later reported that the car blew its right front tyre and, unable to steer the car, he drove over the ripple strip on the outside of the track and flew clear over the sand trap and into the tyre wall, destroying the front right of the car in the process. The car's roll cars withstood the accident and Mcleod was able to walk away from the incident unhurt although he was a little shaken. Bathurst 1986 was where McLeod's friend Mike Burgmann lost his life in a 260 km/h crash at the base of the bridge near the end of the 1.9 km long Conrod straight. The consequence of Burgmann's crash saw the inclusion of Caltex Chase to the circuit in 1987 in a bid to slow the cars down. McLeod's former co-driver Graeme Bailey won the 1986 James Hardie with Allan Grice

in a Holden Commodore.

McLeod continued to run his VK Commodore during

Ford Sierra RS500s

at the end of the race. The car was only thrown together with old parts lying around the HDT workshop and wasn't expected to last very long (something McLeod didn't know at the time) so for it finish third while the teams lead car expired early was a surprise to the team.

Before the race, a formal protest had been lodged against the Eggenberger Motorsport Sierras for illegal bodywork relating to the size of their front wheel arches. As no road-legal Sierra existed in Australia at the time, the protest was delayed by a few months and it wasn't until January 1988 that McLeod, Brock and Parsons were declared the winners of the 1987 James Hardie 1000.^[6]

Like other privateer Commodore runners, McLeod saw little value in driving in the

Yellow Pages, the car's yellow and black paint scheme looking very similar to the Slick 50 Mazda of McLeod's Group C days. Clutch failure ended Mcleod and co-driver Jim Keogh's race after just 21 laps at Sandown after qualifying 15th. The Tooheys 1000

at Bathurst wasn't much better for the team. The car had three separate crashes in practice and qualifying and then blew its engine in the morning warm-up. The crew had just under 90 minutes to replace the engine and get the car into pit lane to make the start. This they accomplished just as the field was coming around for the rolling start (used for the first and only time in the race's history) and after taking two laps to get the car started, it lasted only 7 laps before the replacement engine failed. Before the first engine failure, McLeod had reported that the car felt better in the morning warm up session, and had reportedly set a faster time than he had during qualifying.

Following the Tooheys 1000, Peter McLeod bowed out of touring car racing. Like many other privateers, he claimed it was too expensive to run a competitive Group A touring car.

Bathurst 12 Hour

With the advent of the

1991 finishing second in class B, returning the following year with a 3-car factory team to win the class, this time beating the Brock-prepared and driven Peugeot 405s

. Further 12-hr attempts followed in the BX 16V's and later in a Mazda RX-7 Twin Turbo with moderate success.

V8 Supercars

McLeod faded out of the scene over the next few racing seasons but returned to the sport in 1994 as McLeod's son Ryan started to make his way into

V8 Supercar

racing. McLeod co-drove with Ryan McLeod in endurance races from 1994–96 in the Family run ENZED sponsored Commodore before retiring completely. McLeod has stayed involved in the sport and recently has acted as driver of V8 Supercar's safety car.

Semi-Retirement

McLeod has since turned his attention to his passion for Citroëns, importing and fully restoring the rare and highly prized

Kerrick Sports Sedan Series in a turbocharged Mazda RX-7 Series 1 which made its debut in 2012.^[7]

Career results

Season	Series	Position	Car	Team
1980	Australian Touring Car Championship	24th	Mazda RX-7	McLeod Mazda
1981	Australian Touring Car Championship	17th	Mazda RX-7	McLeod Mazda
1981	Better Brakes 3.5 Litre Series	9th	Mazda RX-7	McLeod Mazda
1982	Australian Touring Car Championship	15th	Mazda RX-7	Strongbow Cider
1982	Australian Endurance Championship	37th	Mazda RX-7	Strongbow Cider
1983	Better Brakes AMSCAR Series	6th	Mazda RX-7	Petrolon Slick 50 Racing
1983	Australian Endurance Championship	1st	Mazda RX-7	Petrolon Slick 50 Racing
1984	Australian Touring Car Championship	3rd	Mazda RX-7	Petrolon Slick 50
1984	Australian Endurance Championship	9th	Mazda RX-7	Petrolon Slick 50
1985	Australian GT Championship	5th	Mazda RX-7	Petrolon Slick 50
1986	Australian Touring Car Championship	19th	Holden VK Commodore SS Group A	Autopart Centre
1986	Australian Endurance Championship	56th	Holden VK Commodore SS Group A	Autopart Centre
1988	Australian Touring Car Championship	17th	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A	Peter McLeod
2015	Kerrick Sports Sedan Series	20th	Mazda RX-7	Slick 50

Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	DC	Points
1980	McLeod Mazda	Mazda RX-7	SYM	CAL	LAK	SAN	WAN	SUR Ret	AIR 5	ORA 6			24th	3
1981	McLeod Mazda	Mazda RX-7	SYM	CAL	ORA	SAN	WAN 4	AIR 6	LAK	SUR			17th	5
1982	Strongbow Cider	Mazda RX-7	SAN 12	CAL Ret	SYM 7	ORA Ret	LAK	WAN 5	AIR Ret	SUR			15th	12
1984	Petrolon Slick 50 Racing	Mazda RX-7	SAN Ret	SYM 4	WAN 4	SUR 2	ORA 2	LAK 5	AIR Ret				3rd	95
1986	Autopart Centre	Holden VK Commodore SS Group A	AMA	SYM	SAN 5	AIR	WAN	SUR	CAL	LAK	WIN	ORA 9	19th	25
1988	Peter McLeod	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A	CAL 9	SYM Ret	WIN Ret	WAN 8	AIR 15	LAK	SAN	AMA	ORA		17th	5

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Car	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	DC	Points
1987	HDT Racing P/L	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A	MNZ	JAR	DIJ	NUR	SPA	BNO	SIL	BAT 1	CLD ovr:11 cls:7	WEL	FJI	NC	0

* Despite winning the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, McLeod scored no World Championship points as he wasn't a registered WTCC competitor.

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1980	McLeod Mazda	Mal Brewster	Mazda RX-7	2001-3000cc	65	DNF	DNF
1981	Peter McLeod	Peter Dane	Mazda RX-7	6 Cylinder & Rotary	96	26th	7th
1982	Strongbow Racing Team	Peter Dane	Mazda RX-7	A	153	9th	8th
1983	Petrolon Slick 50	Graeme Bailey	Mazda RX-7	A	157	5th	5th
1984	Petrolon Slick 50	Graeme Bailey	Mazda RX-7	Group C	39	DNF	DNF
1985	I.M.B. Team Wollongong	Graeme Bailey	Holden VK Commodore	C	126	DNF	DNF
1986	Autopart Centre	Glenn Clark	Holden VK Commodore SS Group A	C	48	DNF	DNF
1987	HDT Racing P/L	David Parsons Jon Crooke	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A	1	158	1st	1st
1988	Yellow Pages	Jim Keogh	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	A	7	DNF	DNF
1994	Peter McLeod	Ryan McLeod Kevin Burton	Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV	A	83	DNF	DNF
1995	Enzed Racing	Ryan McLeod	Holden VR Commodore		0	DNF	DNF
1996	Enzed Racing	Ryan McLeod	Holden VR Commodore		85	DNF	DNF

Complete Bathurst/Eastern Creek 12 Hour results

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1991	Peter McLeod	Glenn Clark Barry Jones	Citroën BX16	B	NA	NA	2nd
1992	Peter McLeod	Peter Dane Peter Janson	Citroën BX16	B	238	8th	1st
1993	Peter McLeod	Peter Dane Peter Janson	Citroën BX16	B	191	DNF	DNF
1994	Peter McLeod	Peter Dane Des Wall	Mazda RX-7	X	225	26th	5th
1995	Peter McLeod	Ryan McLeod	Mazda RX-7	X	137	DNF	DNF
2009	Racer Industries	Ryan McLeod Gerard McLeod	Holden Astra SRi	F	216	21st	3rd
2010	Racer Industries	Ryan McLeod Gerard McLeod	Holden Astra SRi Turbo	D	192	11th	1st

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results

Year	Team	Co-drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class pos.
1985	Allan Moffat Racing	Allan Moffat Gregg Hansford Kevin Bartlett	Mazda RX-7	GTO	482	24th	7th

References

ISSN 1031-6124.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link
)

ISBN 0-9590378-2-9
.

YouTube

^ Group C Touring Car Era Baskerville 1975-84 Archived 27 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine

ISSN 1031-6124.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link
)

ISSN 1031-6124.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link
)

^ "WPS 12 Hour / Shannons National - Round 1 Mount Panorama WPS 12 Hour". National Software. 22 February 2009. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2010.

Sporting positions

Preceded by
Allan Grice
Graeme Bailey
Winner of the Bathurst 1000
1987
(with Peter Brock & David Parsons) Succeeded by
Tony Longhurst
Tomas Mezera

v
t
e
Bathurst 1000 winners
Nine-time

Peter Brock

Seven-time

Craig Lowndes

Jim Richards

Six-time

Larry Perkins

Mark Skaife

Five-time

Steven Richards

Garth Tander

Four-time

Harry Firth

Bob Jane

Allan Moffat

Greg Murphy

Jamie Whincup

Three-time

Dick Johnson

Shane van Gisbergen

Two-time

John Bowe

Will Davison

John Goss

Allan Grice

Russell Ingall

Rick Kelly

Tony Longhurst

Chaz Mostert

One-time

Aaltonen

Bailey

Bargwanna

Bartlett

Bond

Bosworth

D. Brabham

G. Brabham

Bright

Coad

Dumbrell

Fitzpatrick

French

Geoghegan

Gibson

Hahne

Hansford

Harvey

Hazelwood

Holden

Holdsworth

Ickx

T. Kelly

Kostecki

McLaughlin

McLeod

McPhee

Mezera

B. Morris

P. Morris

Mulholland

Parsons

Percat

Percy

Prémat

D. Reynolds

G. Reynolds

Roberts

Roxburgh

Rydell

Sampson

B. Seton

Stanaway

Webb

Winterbottom

Youlden

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_McLeod&oldid=1255291645"

[1] ISSN 1031-6124.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link
)

[2] ISBN 0-9590378-2-9
.

[3] YouTube

[4] Group C Touring Car Era Baskerville 1975-84 Archived 27 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine

[5] ISSN 1031-6124.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link
)

[6] ISSN 1031-6124.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link
)

[7] "WPS 12 Hour / Shannons National - Round 1 Mount Panorama WPS 12 Hour". National Software. 22 February 2009. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2010.

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