New Bathurst Legends Lane inductees named

Gregg Hansford, who conquered Mount Panorama on two wheels and four, legendary commentator Mike Raymond and five-time Supercars Champion Mark Skaife have been inducted into Bathurst’s Legends Lane.

Raymond, Skaife and the family of Hansford were on hand for the announcement in Bathurst today, as part of the 2018 Great Race.

They join last year’s inaugural class of inductees; Allan Moffat, Colin Bond, Dick Johnson, Jim Richards, Fred Gibson, Bob Morris, John Harvey, Kevin Bartlett, John Bowe, Allan Grice, John Goss and Larry Perkins and the late Peter Brock.

The great Bob Jane, who passed away last Friday following a battle with cancer, is also one of the Legends to be honoured in the permanent tribute.

Supercars CEO Sean Seamer said the 2018 inductees were being duly recognised for their significant parts in the evolution of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

“There have been so many who have made this race and event what it is today,” Seamer said.

“Gregg, Mike and Mark are true greats of our sport in many ways.

"On behalf of Supercars and Australian motorsport we thank them for all they have done at this great place.”

Hansford holds the unique distinction of winning at Bathurst on a bike and in a car.

He won 10 world motorcycle grands prix in the 250cc and 350cc classes, then the 1993 Bathurst 1000 with Perkins and the '94 Bathurst 12 Hour.

In 1995, aged 42, he died following a crash while competing in a Super Touring race at Phillip Island.

Hansford finished third in his first official start in the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1983 and won his first race at Oran Park in '84.

He broke through for his only Bathurst 1000 victory alongside Perkins in 1993, with a livery Nissan's Rick Kelly and Garry Jacobson are honouring this weekend.

In 1994, Hansford backed that up with a win in the Bathurst 12 Hour in a Mazda with Supercars Hall of Fame inductee, Neil Crompton. Hansford’s son Ryan currently races in the Touring Car Masters series.

Mike Raymond, famous for coining the phrase “be there!” was the voice of Australian touring cars in the 1970s through to the 1990s, calling the Great Race for more than 20 years.

A former head of sport at Channel Seven, Raymond’s interest in motorsport started with Speedway when his father would take him to the Sydney Sportsground and Showgrounds as a spectator.

With his flair for commentary and presentation, Raymond joined with the great Evan Green for Seven’s innovative Bathurst 1000 broadcasts that expanded with Raymond as a senior sports executive at the network.

In 1979 Channel Seven technicians created a world first with the innovative RaceCam.

Raymond’s often jovial in-car conversations with star drivers during races was a ground-breaking part of Seven’s classic coverage.

He was also influential in the move to what has now become Supercars when he led Seven and major sponsor Shell to back the Ford and Holden format in the 1990s.

As one of the all-time greats of Australian motorsport, Mark Skaife had unparalleled success through multiple eras to become one of the most successful drivers in history.

The son of former racer Russell Skaife, Mark claimed his first Bathurst 1000 victory in 1991 with Jim Richards; a feat the duo repeated a year later.

With 220 round starts, 90 race wins (only since passed by Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup), 88 podiums and six Bathurst 1000 wins, Skaife secured a deserved position in the Supercars Hall of Fame in 2014, with five Supercars Championships to his name.

Now a part of Supercars broadcasts, Skaife sits equal third on the all-time win list in the Bathurst 1000, behind only Richards and Brock.