Peter James Hackett (born 17 September 1972) is an

Australian Endurance Championship The Australian Endurance Championship is an Australian motor racing title which has been awarded by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in numerous years and for numerous categories since 1981. History Touring cars The title was first ...

GT race driver and driving instructor. He was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, resides in

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 ...

and has competed in varying Australian motor racing categories since 2000, but has particularly focused on the

in recent years. After his win at the 2017

Hampton Downs Motorsport Park The Hampton Downs Motorsport Park is situated in rural northern Waikato (about halfway between Auckland and Hamilton on the Waikato Expressway), New Zealand near the Meremere drag strip and the dirt track club. History The motorsport park i ...

event, Hackett joined " David Wall and the late

Allan Simonsen Allan Rodenkam Simonsen (born 15 December 1952) is a Danish former footballer and manager. He most prominently played as a striker for German Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach, winning the 1975 and 1979 UEFA Cups, as well as for Barcel ...

as the most successful drivers in Australian GT history, with 17-victories to their names."

Early years

Hackett's first forays into motor racing were not in his home country of Australia, but rather the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. From 1995 to 1997 he raced in various categories including British Formula Vauxhall Junior and

British Formula Ford Championship The British Formula Ford Championship was an entry-level single seater Auto racing, motor racing category, designed to give racing drivers their first step into car racing after karting. Drivers from around the world were attracted to the United ...

. These early years did not yield any major successes, and Hackett returned home to Australia in the late 90s. His return to Australia in 20000 saw him compete in

Australian Formula 3 Australian Formula 3 has been the name applied to two distinctly different motor racing categories, separated by over twenty years. The original Australian Formula 3 was introduced in 1964 based on the FIA Formula 3 of the period and intended a ...

and

Australian Formula 2 Australian Formula 2, sometimes abbreviated to AF2 or ANF2, is a "wings and slicks" formula racing category in Australia. The category is one of Australia's oldest, dating back to 1964. The current format of AF2 was introduced in 1978. Brian Shead ...

followed by a full season of Formula 3 in 2001 which resulted in Hackett's first Championship victory. In 2002 he divided his time between Australian Formula 3 and Formula Holden, scoring 1 win and 6th overall in Formula 3 (competing in 8 of 16 races), while finishing 7th in Formula Holden (Competing in 6 of 12 races)

Australian GT Racing

The CAMS sanctioned Australian GT series and the

became Hackett's preferred racing categories and the place where he made his mark. In 2016 Hackett and teammate

Dominic Storey Dominic Storey (born 15 October 1989) is a racing driver from New Zealand. Career Formula BMW After a karting career in his native New Zealand, Storey made his single–seater debut in 2006 in Formula BMW Asia, finishing the season fourth ov ...

in an

Eggleston Motorsport Eggleston Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team which is currently competing in the Dunlop Super2 Series, Dunlop Super3 Series and the Australian GT Championship. The team's current Super2 drivers are Zach Bates, Jordyn Sinni, Elliott ...

prepared

Mercedes-AMG GT3 The Mercedes-AMG GT is a series of 2-door sports cars produced by German automobile manufacturer Mercedes-AMG. The car was introduced on 9 September 2014 and was officially unveiled to the public in October 2014 at the Paris Motor Show. While n ...

was second in the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship to Tekno Autosports

Grant Denyer Grant Craig Denyer (born 12 September 1977) is an Australian television and radio presenter and motor racing driver, who has worked for several television networks, including Seven Network and Network 10, mostly serving as a presenter. He previ ...

and Nathan Morcom. In 2017 Hackett went one better, winning the CAMS Australian Endurance Championship again alongside teammate and co-driver

Driving Instructor

Since 2001, Hackett has served

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

AMG Australasia as its Chief

Driving Instructor A driving instructor is a person who is hired by a new driver who is learning how to improve their skills - often for an upcoming practical test. Different countries have different rules regarding permits and other regulations. Driving instructors ...

for performance drive days and track days As well as his driving instructor duties, Hackett is also an MC for Mercedes Benz vehicle launches, press launches and special events and has been the featured stunt driver in multiple Mercedes Benz/AMG television advertisements and web clips.

Career Highlights Summary

Complete Macau Grand Prix results

Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results

Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results

Controversy

Upon his return to

Australian GT Championship The GT World Challenge Australia, formerly known as the Australian GT Championship, is a Motorsport Australia-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship ...

in 2016 in

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 ...

, Hackett was sensationally excluded from the event after an incident at turn nine where Hackett hit the Audi R8 of James Koundouris. Hackett was excluded after he was found to have breached championship rules 183 section 9 that states ‘any action which causes or is likely to cause damage to other persons or property’. Hackett admitted fault and accepted the CAMS fine of $10,000 with a further $10,000 suspended for the incident.

References

External links

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Profile at Australian GT
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackett, Peter 1977 births Living people Racing drivers from Sydney Australian Endurance Championship drivers Australian Formula 3 Championship drivers Carlin racing drivers Racing drivers from New South Wales