Robert James Francevic (born Franičević on 18 September 1941 in
Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
, 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
The Wellington 500 was a street circuit, street race for touring car racing, touring cars which took place at Wellington City in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1980s and 1990s. The 1987 event was a round of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship ...
street race in
Wellington, New Zealand
Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...
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
Formula 5000 (or F5000) was an Open-wheel car, open wheel, single seater auto-racing formula that ran in different series in various regions around the world from 1968 to 1982. It was originally intended as a low-cost series aimed at open-wheel ...
racing, racing in the
Tasman Series
The Tasman Series (formally the Tasman Championship for Drivers)Tasman Championship for Drivers, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport with National Competition Rules 1974, pages 80 to 83 was a motor racing competition held annually from 1964 to 1975 ove ...
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
The Wellington 500 was a street circuit, street race for touring car racing, touring cars which took place at Wellington City in Wellington, New Zealand in the 1980s and 1990s. The 1987 event was a round of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship ...
, 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
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...
, Francevic shocked the established stars
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 ...
,
Dick Johnson and
Jim Richards by winning the third round of the ATCC at
Symmons Plains in
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
before going on to dominate the final round at
Oran Park 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 ...
. 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
Events
January
* January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888.
* January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
and
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
Australian Drivers' Champion John Bowe to partner Francevic in the
1985 Castrol 500 at
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 ...
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 ...
. 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
The Volvo Group (; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distribution and sale of truck ...
. Francevic won the first two races of the season at
Amaroo Park and Symmons Plains, finished second at Sandown to the
Nissan Skyline
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
George Fury, and won again at
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 ...
after runaway leader
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 ...
blew the
engine
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...
in his
Holden Commodore
The Holden Commodore is a series of automobiles that were sold by now-defunct Australian manufacturer Holden from 1978 until 2020. They were manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of ...
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.
Bathurst 1000
At the
1985 Bathurst 1000, Francevic teamed with John Bowe in the Volvo and qualified fifth, his attempt at pole position in the Hardies Heroes top 10 run-off was thwarted by a flat tyre on his second run while trying to improve on his first run. With a very quick car and a strong diver pairing (Bowe, who like Francevic was on his first visit to
Mount Panorama, was matching the Kiwi's times and it was only a late charge on qualifying tyres that saw Francevic post the quicker time), the pair considered one of the pre-race favourites along with the
Tom Walkinshaw Racing Jaguar XJS
The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury car, luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, convertible#variations, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. Ther ...
', as it was thought the turbocharged Volvo was the only car capable of matching the speed of the
V12 powered
Jaguars
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat species in the Americas an ...
. After a strong early showing in the race in which Francevic had held second for some time behind early leader
Tom Walkinshaw, a failed alternator diode put them many laps down. The car finally retired on lap 122 when it ran out of fuel on the run up Mountain Straight.
After winning the 1986 ATCC and his much publicised falling out with the Volvo Dealer Team, Francevic drove
Andy Rouse's former
British Touring Car Championship
The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...
(BTCC) winning
Ford Sierra XR4Ti for former Volvo team owner Mark Petch to little success in the
1986 Bathurst 1000 with fellow Kiwi Leo Leonard, the car suffering terminal electrical problems on lap 26. Rather boldly, Francevic publicly predicted the turbo Ford would take pole position for the race, but the Kiwi pairing could only manage 21st on the grid with a time of 2:23.05 after a troubled practice and qualifying trying to get the car to run properly (despite the car being almost trouble free in pre-race testing). The time was 5.89 seconds behind the pole winning time set by Gary Scott's Nissan Skyline, and was 6.89 seconds slower than the Commodore of
Allan Grice who set provisional pole time in qualifying. Francevic made his bold claim after the speed that the 2.3 litre turbocharged Sierras had shown in the
FIA Touring Car Championship in Europe raced by
Eggenberger Motorsport, and by the fact that Rouse had used the car to win the 1985 BTCC.
After sitting out most of 1987 without a drive, Francevic was drafted by
Frank Gardner to co-drive the second of the
JPS Team BMW's
M3s at the
Sandown 500
The Sandown 500 (commercially titled Penrite, Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance racing (motorsport), endurance Auto racing, motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The even ...
and
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 ...
, which (Bathurst) for 1987 had become a round of the
World Touring Car Championship
The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a sing ...
. Driving with the team's engine builder come driver Ludwig Finaur, Francevic finished fifth at Sandown before going on to his best ever Bathurst finish with sixth outright and second in class. During the race rain storms that hit late at Bathurst, Francevic, unable to see through a fogged up windscreen, accidentally ran over a pit lane marshal when coming into the pits, thankfully without any injury reported. The marshal wrote an official complaint to the race stewards over the incident, but due to the circumstances no action was taken.
For
1988, Francevic and long time backer Mark Petch secured a
Ford Sierra RS500
The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth is a high-performance version of the Ford Sierra that was built by Ford Europe from 1986 to 1992. It was the result of a Ford Motorsport project with the purpose of producing an outright winner for Group A racing in ...
from
Walter Wolf Racing in West Germany to run in the
1988 Australian Touring Car Championship, but only started one race (Round 3 at
Winton) and was excluded before practice of Round 5 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 ...
due to illegal build components on the Sierra and the championship run was abandoned in the effort to get the car right (Wolf racing had built the Sierra to
European Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World ...
(ETCC) standards which allegedly included a more liberal interpretation of the
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 ...
rules than the
Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) allowed in Australia). At the time Francevic claimed that CAMS were trying to drum him out of the championship and that his sponsorship deals were only valid if he raced. As a result of not racing, the team lost its major sponsor and another needed to be found. The team then fronted with a new Sierra, and a new major sponsor in New Zealand confectionery company
Whittaker's was found in time for the
1988 Bathurst 1000 where he teamed with Wolf Racing's lead driver and 1985 Bathurst winner
Armin Hahne. Two engine failures in practice saw them only qualify 14th while overheating finished their race on lap 103 after running strongly in the top 3 for over 70 laps.
After a couple of shake down runs in the Sierra during the
1989 ATCC, Francevic then teamed with 1985 ETCC champion
Gianfranco Brancatelli in the Petch owned Sierra in the
1989 Bathurst 1000. The car was qualified 15th, but Francevic didn't get a drive after the right front wheel fell off the car under Brancatelli on lap 14 when going across the top of the Mountain. Having to drive the car back to the pits for over half a lap resulted in too much damage being done to the car's axle and front suspension. His last start at Mount Panorama was in
1990
Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
with fellow Kiwi racer
Andrew Bagnall in Bagnall's Sierra RS500. Bagnall qualified the car 17th and the pair drove well all day to finish seventh outright in a race in which many of the more fancied big budget teams failed to finish or ran into problems which put them well out of contention.
Accolades
Robbie Francevic was an inaugural member of the ''MotorSport New Zealand Wall of Fame'' in 1994.
Career results
Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete World Touring Car Championship results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Not eligible for series points
Complete Bathurst 1000 results
External links
New Zealand Wall of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francevic, Robbie
Australian Touring Car Championship drivers
Living people
New Zealand people of Croatian descent
New Zealand racing drivers
Tasman Series drivers
Racing drivers from Auckland
1941 births
Australian Endurance Championship drivers