Alan Jones Racing was a

motorsport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of Car, automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and Aircraft, powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific term ...

team contesting the

Australian Touring Car Championship The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the troph ...

. At the end of 1997 Alan Jones sold his share of the team to Jim and Ross Stone who renamed it

Stone Brothers Racing Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship between 1998 and 2012. The team was formed in 1998 when Ross and Jim Stone bought Alan Jones (racing driver), Alan J ...

History

Formation

At the 1995 Sandown 500 it was revealed that Alan Jones had concluded a deal with

Dick Johnson Racing Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske) is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. Founded by Dick Johnson, the team's drivers have won ten Australian Touring Car Championship titles (five of the ...

engineers Jim and Ross Stone to form a new team, with backing controversially from

Glenn Seton Racing Glenn Seton Racing was an Australian motor racing team which competed in the V8 Supercars Championship Series between 1989 and 2002. History Group A At the end of 1988, Philip Morris were dissatisfied with the level of signage it was offered ...

sponsor Philip Morris, for whom Jones drove.

1996

Named Alan Jones Racing, the team built two

Ford EF Falcon The Ford Falcon (EF) was a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1994 to 1996. It was the fourth significantly updated iteration of the fifth generation of the Falcon and also included the luxury-oriented Ford Fairmont (EF). ...

s to debut at Round 1 of the 1996 championship, #201 for Paul Romano and #301 for Jones, with Andrew Miedecke and

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 ...

joining the team for the endurance races. From January 1996 the

Federal Government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

had outlawed the sponsorship of sporting events by tobacco companies. Thus Philip Morris could still sponsor a team but not directly market any of its products, resulting in the team being branded as ''Pack Leader Racing''. After some teething problems with brakes in the opening rounds, the team began to move up the field with Jones leading during the early stages of 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 ...

before the car caught fire on lap 25. For two races in New Zealand at the end 1996 the team had local sponsorship with #6 driven by

Paul Radisich Paul Francis Wade Radisich (born 9 October 1962, in Auckland) is a retired New Zealand racing driver and businessman of Croat origin. He has competed in saloon cars for many years — both European-style tourers and the V8 Supercars of Austr ...

and #9 by Jones.

1997

Having lost the Philip Morris sponsorship, in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

the team ran #9 for Jones with sponsorship from Komatsu and Pirtek, and a customer car for

Mark Larkham Mark Andrew "Larko" Larkham (born 29 December 1963 in Griffith) is a retired Australian racing driver, former racing team owner and television commentator. Open wheelers Mark Larkham's first impressions on the national racing spotlight was fin ...

as #10 with

Mitre 10 Mitre 10 is an Australian retail and trade hardware store chain. Operations are based on a cooperative system, where the store owners are members of the National group. The chain name references the mitre joint. There are over 400 "Mitre 10" ...

sponsorship. Both cars upgraded to

Ford EL Falcon The Ford Falcon (EL) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1996 to 1998. It was the fifth and final iteration of the fifth generation of the Ford Falcon (Australia), Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (EL)—the lux ...

specifications. Larkham was involved in a high speed start line crash with former team driver Paul Romano at round 2 at

Phillip Island Phillip Island (Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The island is named after Arthur Phillip, Governor Arthur P ...

which saw a new car completed for the next round. Jones won a heat at the final round at Oran Park. For the endurance races

Jason Bright Jason Paul Bright (born 7 March 1973) is a retired Australian racing driver who competed in the Supercars Championship, Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He drove the No. 56 Ford Falcon (FG X), Ford FG X Falcon for Britek Motorsport, a ...

drove with Jones with the pair joined by

Scott Pruett Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is an American former racing driver who has competed in numerous disciplines of the sport. In the 1980s, Pruett established himself as a top sports car racer, winning two IMSA GTO, and three Trans-Am ...

at the

. Andrew Miedecke rejoined the team to partner Larkham, finishing 3rd at Bathurst.

Demise

At the end of 1997 Alan Jones sold his share of the team to Jim and Ross Stone who renamed it

References

{{Reflist Australian auto racing teams Auto racing teams established in 1996 Sports clubs and teams in Queensland Supercars Championship teams 1996 establishments in Australia 1997 disestablishments in Australia Sports clubs and teams on the Gold Coast, Queensland