|
Robert James Frančević, (born on 18 September 1941 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a retired racing driver who featured prominently in New Zealand and Australia during the 1970s and 1980s. His biggest wins were the inaugural Wellington 500 street race in Wellington, New Zealand in 1985 driving a Volvo 240T, and the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship, also in a 240T. Francevic's win in the 1986 ATCC was the first and only ATCC win by a non-Australian resident. ==Career== Robbie Francevic started his motor racing career in 1966 when he and his team designed and built the "Colour Me Gone" Custaxie in which he won twenty races and the 1967 New Zealand Saloon Car Championship. During the 1970s Francevic was also a regular competitor in Formula 5000 racing, racing in the Tasman Series as well as the Rothmans International Series. Robbie Francevic was the winner of the 1983 Benson & Hedges touring car series in NZ. Following the 1985 Wellington 500, Francevic, while still living in Auckland, contested the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship driving the Volvo 240T for owner and friend Mark Petch. Despite the speed he had shown in the NZ series, and that the Volvo's were winning races in the European Touring Car Championship, Francevic shocked the established stars Peter Brock, Dick Johnson and Jim Richards by winning the third round of the ATCC at Symmons Plains in Tasmania before going on to dominate the final round at Oran Park in Sydney. Other than Richards, Francevic was the only multiple race winner in the championship (Richards won 7, Francevic 2 and Brock one). Following the ATCC, and on Francevic's suggestion, Mark Petch recruited 1984 and 1985 Australian Drivers' Champion John Bowe to partner Francevic in the 1985 Castrol 500 at Sandown in Melbourne. After a strong showing, the car finished its race with Bowe at the wheel at the entrance to the pits with a seized diff (the car was pushed into pitlane with a jack holding the rear tyres off the ground). In 1986 Francevic became the first New Zealand resident to win the ATCC, becoming the second New Zealander (after Jim Richards in 1985) to win the series, and recording the only series win to date for Volvo. Francevic won the first two races of the season at Amaroo Park and Symmons Plains, finished second at Sandown to the Nissan Skyline of George Fury, and won again at Adelaide after runaway leader Peter Brock blew the engine in his Holden Commodore late in the race. This would prove to be his last win for the series and coincided with new team management, former Holden Dealer Team boss from the late 1970s John Shepherd was put in charge of the team following the sale of the team by Mark Petch Motorsport to Volvo Australia to form the Volvo Dealer Team. The Volvo was overtaken in speed by the Nissan turbo's and despite a newly built 240T appearing mid-season, Francevic was often slower than Bowe in qualifying but still scored enough points to win the championship from Fury by just five points. Following the ATCC, Francevic wasn't happy with Shepherd's management of the team, nor was Shepherd happy with Francevic. Robbie was happy to have won the championship, but wanted to win from the front and driving for points like he was forced to over the latter part of the championship didn't suit his flamboyant, hard charging style. Tensions between Francevic and Shepherd came to a head at the 1986 Sandown 500. With the Volvo he was to drive with fellow Kiwi Graham McRae not having run in practice or qualifying due to the late build time, Francevic refused to race the car believing it (and the team's second car which was in the same situation) would not be competitive. While the John Bowe / Alfredo Costanzo Volvo failed to finish, its fastest race lap was identical to the winning Nissan Skyline of George Fury and Glenn Seton. Following his refusal to drive the car and his comments to the assembled media about the situation on the morning of the race, Francevic was fired from the Volvo Dealer Team on 15 September 1986, the day after the Sandown 500. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Robbie Francevic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|