Australian racing legend Frank Gardner died on August 29 after a long illness. He was 78. Gardner was not only a success in many areas of motor racing, but he was also a genuine larger-than-life character, and virtually all who knew him have hilarious tales to tell about him. He was one of, if not the, funniest people in racing, and it was not uncommon for him to turn a 2-minute spot on stage at a prize-giving into an hour’s stand-up comedy.
Frank took up motor racing in the early 1960s, and was an outstanding performer in saloons, sports cars, F5000, and F1, driving in eight Grand Prix races. He notched up the British Touring Car and F5000 championships. He drove for Ford and Porsche works teams. In 1969, when very few drivers were willing to get behind the wheel of Porsche’s new 917, he and David Piper were asked to drive it at the Nürburgring. Piper asked Frank why they were chosen and Frank replied: “They must think we’re bloody stupid, mate!”
Gardner returned to Australia in 1974 with his wife, son and daughter and quickly re-established his career, including a very successful works BMW touring car effort. Frank was passionate about driver safety and from early on was involved with Ford in the USA on such areas as safety on the production line as well as safety training for purchasers of new Mustangs. In Australia, Frank set up his own driver training facility in Queensland where, apart from assisting young drivers, he went on to support university studies into the dynamics of motor vehicle accidents and later was contracted to provide driver safety training to Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Holden. As a result, Gardner was awarded the Order of Australia in 1994 in recognition of his services to driver education and motor sport. In 1996 he was awarded the CAMS Membership of Honour and then received the Australian Sports Award in 2000. Gardner was an accomplished development and test driver, and was often sought after to set up new cars for drivers. When I was struggling with a new Formula Ford at Snetterton in 1972, he came over and asked if I wanted some help. I said I couldn’t afford it and he reached into my pocket and said, “Sure you got enough beer money,” and we set to work. In later years, every time I tried to do an interview with Jack Brabham, Frank would be standing in a corner heckling, and saying, “No, Jack’s got that all wrong.”
In recent years, Frank continued to appear at historic events and was always a star attraction. He never turned anyone away who wanted to talk to him. In an interview with VR (October 2003) he said rather prophetically,
“…I never wanted to be the quickest bloke in the world, just the oldest. And I wanted to die without any enemies, as I wanted to outlive them all. Those sort of philosophies stayed with me and I sort of stuck to the principle of when in doubt, don’t.”
He was a real star and we will miss him.
By Ed McDonough & Patrick Quinn
