Peter Brock tribute

They include his six-lap winning margin at Bathurst in 1979, on the day he slam-dunked his superiority by setting the fastest lap of the race on his last lap.

And his first Bathurst win, driving single-handed for 500 miles in a giant-killing Holden Torana XU1.

And what about the two-hour queue of fans at Bathurst, waiting patiently for a word and an autograph the year of his first (second and third) retirement race?

Many of the Brocky stories have passed into folklore. Such as fans getting his autograph on their body and then having a tattoo put over the top of his signature ...

There are countless youngsters named Brock by parents who loved the man. Some of us were lucky enough to spend more time with Brocky, and Peter in private, and so the memories are even more special.

Here are a few of mine:

THRILL RIDES

Riding with Brocky was always something to remember. He was brilliant at the Holden proving ground in a V8 Commodore rally car, holding the car in massive sideways drifts as he calmly chatted about a bunch of stuff I can't remember. My brain was overloaded and as frozen by his skill as a kangaroo in a set of headlights.

He was totally relaxed as we headed out of the pits at Phillip Island in his Ford Sierra race car, even though my side of the ride was on a piece of foam without a seat belt or even a seat.

He was incredibly focussed as he blitzed Sandown in the same Sierra, after asking what lap time Dick Johnson had done in an earlier passenger ride. Brock was so committed to beating the mark that he fired us on to the track before I had time to grab a helmet. And, yes, he went quicker. But only after we slip-streamed past Allan Moffat at the top of the back straight.

The last time I took a track lap was at Bathurst in 2002. Mount Panorama was damp, we were on slicks, and Brock's black eyes were flashing like a pair of precious pearls. Then we ran off the road coming into The Chase. It was never a drama but Brocky was annoyed.

"Bugger," he joked. "As soon as I realised we were going on to the grass I knew you had your story."

MONEY

Brock never spoke about money. And often didn't have his wallet with him but he lit up when we published a story which said he was earning $1 million a year.

I was called into the presence of Peter Perfect for a severe dressing down.

Once he had calmed down, it emerged that he was really worried about the Tax Department reading the story and chasing him for more money.

After all, he had been through a long, tough fight with the cash men in Canberra after the collapse of his Holden Dealer Team operation that was only resolved many years later.

A few months later, Brocky was smiling again when I asked him about the $1 million man tag. "So, did we get it right?" I asked. "Actually, you were about $200,000 light," he said laughing.

LUCK

Until last Friday, Brock had barely stubbed a toe during his race career. He walked away from some big hits and was only really injured twice, once while driving Bob Jane's Chevrolet Monza sports sedan in Adelaide and more recently when he raced a go-kart in a fun run in Darwin.

But there was much more to his luck.

"Brock never made a mistake," says his friend and rally co-driver, journalist Wayne Webster. "He never took the wrong road, it was always my fault.

"He never crashed when we competed in the Australian Safari. I had told him the wrong thing."

LIFE ADVICE

You could always rely on Brock for an inspiring note alongside his signature. Something along the lines of "Live your dream". But, privately, he could deliver amazing insights.

There were many times when Brock was involved in a difficult story, from his troubles with the Tax Department to his Bathurst comebacks and even the split from Beverley.

His attitude was simple, like the time I called to ask about that Bathurst comeback. "Please don't ask me today. I don't want to have to lie to you," Brock said.

And when things got messy with his life partner? "You have to do what you have to do. I understand," he said.

CO-DRIVERS

One-time Bathurst winner Tomas Mezera shared a Commodore with Peter Perfect at Mount Panorama and learned all about the legend.

"Brock ruined my career," Mezera jokes. "He came in at Bathurst and gave me the car and it was like a pachinko parlour in Japan. All the lights were on and flashing. It was stuffed.

"But Brock told everyone on TV that 'Tomas broke the car' and they believed him. The bugger. But no one thought that Peter Brock could do anything wrong."

THE POLARIZER

A tiny device cost Brock his Holden Dealer Team business and drove a wedge into his relationship with Holden.

It was called the Energy Polarizer and was developed in partnership with his friend Ric Dowker to align the energy fields in a car. The theory was that it would make any car drive better.

I sampled a car in 1986 and agreed. I even wrote in a story that I thought the Polarizer worked.

Most people though it was bunk and Brock was driven into the wilderness, while Dowker was branded as "Doctor Feelgood" and the man who brought Brock down.

But Brock bounced back, he and Dowker remained best friends, and he privately stayed committed to the Polarizer.

"How do we prove it works? They haven't invented the machine yet to prove it works," Brock said, just last year.

SAFETY

Brock knew that motor racing was dangerous. He also believed he could not be hurt in a car, and had no real fear of death.

Which is perhaps why his ideas on an upgrade for Mount Panorama were not what the officials were expecting when they called to consult him.

"I told them to get big billets of aluminium, then sharpen them like pencils," he said.

"Then I told them to install them in the wall where you come over Skyline. That would get people thinking. You have to have consequences in motor racing."

NICKNAMES

In Brock's world, all the significant people had some sort of nickname. Beverley became "Bevo" and his public relations man Tim Pemberton became "Plastic" (something to do with his ability to withstand heat).

Neil Burns was "Part" because of he was prematurely bald and had the world's lowest hair parting.

John Harvey was "Slug" because he was from Sydney, which Brock called "slug city", and Grant Steers was "The Spear" because he had a pointed head but also because he was the Mister Fixit for Brock at Holden.

THE LAST START

When Brock went to Bathurst in 2004 to drive for the Holden Racing Team he was past it. He had not driven a V8 Supercar for too long, he was getting old, and his heart was not in the racing.

No one said it, no one wanted to believe it, but the stopwatch does not lie. Still, Brocky was as popular as ever and in huge demand from his fans, who were dreaming of a miracle 10th win at the Mountain.

HRT had imported crack British racer Jason Plato and he was chosen to start the race, to keep Brock out of the early rough-house racing. But he hit the wall and then was hit by John Cleland, who upended his Falcon over the top of the 05 Commodore.

Brock was still in the pits, wearing his fireproof suit and looking like the legend. Now he did not have to race, or have his incredible reputation tarnished by a sub-Brock result.

"It's amazing how the universe looks after these things, isn't it," Brock told me, with just the touch of a smile.