Graeme Alfred Bailey (born 11 July 1943 in

Ourimbah Ourimbah () is a small township in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, located about north of the state capital Sydney. Ourimbah is located approximately halfway between Sydney and Newcastle. The township today consists of ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

), is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

retired racing driver, best known as co-winner of the

1986 Bathurst 1000 The 1986 James Hardie 1000 was an endurance motor race held on 5 October 1986 at the Mount Panorama Circuit, just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race, which was the 27th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race, was ...

Career

Group C

Bailey's career emerged in the late 1970s, becoming a front runner in two-litre touring car racing in

Toyota Celica The is an automobile produced by Toyota from 1970 until 2006. The Celica name derives from the Latin word ''wikt:coelicus, coelica'' meaning ''heavenly'' or ''celestial''. In Japan, the Celica was exclusive to ''Toyota Corolla Store'' Car deale ...

s, usually driving the car raced the year prior by factory supported Sydney based Toyota racer, Peter Williamson. In

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Bailey won the two litre class at the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (known for sponsorship reasons as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a Touring car racing, touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supe ...

and finished 12th outright. By 1983 small capacity class touring cars were falling out of favour, and at Bathurst the two litre class was merged into the three litre class. Bailey spent the next few years out of racing himself, although he did co-drive with

Peter McLeod Peter Gerard McLeod (born 6 May 1948 in Newcastle, New South Wales) 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- ...

at the 1983 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst in McLeod's

Mazda RX-7 The Mazda RX-7 is a front mid engine, Rear-wheel drive, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car, manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 through 2002 across three generations, all of which incorporated the use of a compact, light ...

where they finished 5th outright. The race was run as part of the

1983 Australian Endurance Championship The 1983 Australian Endurance Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group C Touring Cars.CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1983, page 95 The championship was contested over a six-round series with all rounds run concurr ...

, which McLeod would go on to win. Bailey again teamed with McLeod at the

1984 Castrol 500 The 1984 Castrol 500 was an endurance motor race staged at the Sandown Park circuit in Victoria, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia ...

Sandown Sandown is a seaside resort and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the south-east coast of the Isle of Wight, England. The neighbouring resort of Shanklin and the settlement of Lake, Isle of Wight, Lake are sited just to the south of t ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, but the RX-7 was retired after just 57 laps. The

1984 James Hardie 1000 The 1984 James Hardie 1000 was the 25th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 30 September 1984 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia and was Round 4 of the 1984 Australian ...

wasn't much better for the pair, despite reportedly having the most powerful RX-7 in the field. After a troubled practice, the car was retired with overheating problems on just lap 39.

Group A

With the advent of

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles wer ...

in Australia for the 1985 season, Bailey considered competing in the open class and together with regular partner Peter McLeod, the pair entered a

Holden Commodore (VK) The Holden Commodore (VK) is a mid-size car that was produced by Holden from 1984 to 1986. It was the fourth iteration of the first generation of the Holden Commodore and introduced the luxury variant, Holden Calais (VK) sedan. Overview The ...

in the James Hardie 1000. After a strong run which had seen them rise from 22nd on the grid to the top 10 by mid-morning and into the top 5 by mid race, the near standard Commodore (as they were in 1985) was retired with a broken gearbox on lap 126. In 1986 he sold the Celica and acquired a

Holden VK Commodore SS Group A The Holden Commodore (VK) is a mid-size car that was produced by Holden from 1984 to 1986. It was the fourth iteration of the first generation of the Holden Commodore and introduced the luxury variant, Holden Calais (VK) sedan. Overview The ...

from the

Roadways Racing Roadways Racing was an Australian motor racing team that competed in Australian Touring Car racing in the 1980s. It also competed in the 1986 European Touring Car Championship. Roadways Racing Roadways Racing’s origins can be traced back to ...

team for the 1986 season. Teaming up with

Allan Grice Allan Maxwell Grice (born 21 October 1942), known to motor-racing fans as "Gricey", is an Australian former racing driver and politician, most famous for twice winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000 (1986 and 1990), and as a privateer driver of ...

in a Les Small built Commodore, he took the Commodore to Europe to race in the 1986 FIA Touring Car Championship (while also commuting back to Australia to run his business and race a Les Small built Commodore in the 1986 ATCC). Bailey, who readily admitted he was not on the same level of driving as was Grice, struggled in Europe and in both the first and second rounds of the series at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

and

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport Race track, circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, sti ...

respectively, he ended the Commodore's race when he spun off into sand traps causing the cars retirement from both races. Budgetary problems saw the team return to Australia earlier than they had hoped, but with renewed confidence, though teamed with

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, al ...

's two car

Holden Dealer Team The Holden Dealer Team (HDT) was Holden's semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1986 Australian Touring Car season, 1986, primarily contesting Australian Touring car racing, Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and National Sp ...

, the team won the "Kings Cup" prize at the

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by CrowdStrike. History The Spa 24 Hours was conceived by Jules de Their and ...

race on the famous

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), informally referred to as Spa, is a Race track, motor-racing circuit located in Francorchamps, Stavelot, Wallonia, Belgium, about southeast of Spa, Belgium, Spa. It is the current venue of the Formula One ...

in Belgium (although Bailey was present, he did not drive). At the

1986 James Hardie 1000 The 1986 James Hardie 1000 was an endurance motor race held on 5 October 1986 at the Mount Panorama Circuit, just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race, which was the 27th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race, was ...

, Grice and Bailey dominated the race, finally giving Grice a long deserved Bathurst victory. Bailey only drove the 30 lap lunch time stint during the race, but with Grice in career best form he admitted that was their best chance of victory, though a measure of his progress as a driver was shown when he was able to hold a 5-10 second gap to the HDT Commodore of four time Bathurst winner

Allan Moffat Allan George Moffat, Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 10 November 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) is a Canadian-born Australian racing driver known for his four championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins ...

(though Moffat was hampered by a very sore wrist after having crashed the car in qualifying). From there Bailey drove his Bathurst winning Commodore in the Group A support race at the

1986 Australian Grand Prix The 1986 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 26 October 1986 at the Adelaide Street Circuit, Adelaide, Australia. It was the sixteenth and final race of the 1986 Formula One World Championship. The race decided a three-way ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, finishing a close 7th behind the

Nissan Skyline DR30 RS The is a brand of automobile originally produced by the Prince Motor Company starting in 1957, and then by Nissan after the two companies merged in 1967. After the merger, the Skyline and its larger counterpart, the Nissan Gloria, were sold in ...

of young charger

Glenn Seton Glenn Michael Seton (born 5 May 1965) is an Australian racing driver. He won the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship, 1993 and 1997 Australian Touring Car Championship, 1997 while driving for his own ...

(Grice won the race in another Roadways built Commodore). Bailey's career wound down at that point, choosing to concentrate on the successful family business, Chickadee Foods which was sold to Inghams in 2004. Bailey's son briefly raced in

Sports Sedans A sports sedan (also known as a super saloon or sports saloon in British English) is a subjective term for a sedan car that is designed to have sporting performance or handling characteristics. History The term was initially introduce ...

in the mid-2000s, racing a

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...

powered

Nissan 300ZX The Nissan 300ZX is a sports car that was produced across two different generations. As with all other versions of the Z, the 300ZX was sold within the Japanese domestic market under the name Fairlady Z. It was sold in Japan from 1983 to 2000 a ...

Career results

Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete European Touring Car Championship results

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

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Complete Sandown Enduro results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Graeme 1943 births Australian Touring Car Championship drivers Bathurst 1000 winners Living people People from the Central Coast (New South Wales) Racing drivers from New South Wales Australian Endurance Championship drivers