24 Facts About Tony Longhurst

Tony Longhurst is most noted for his career in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar series.

Tony Longhurst is a two-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, winning the event in 1988 with Tomas Mezera and in 2001 with Mark Skaife, and is one of only five drivers to win Bathurst in both a Ford and a Holden.

Tony Longhurst had a long association with BMW, racing internationally in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship and 1993 FIA Touring Car Challenge, and winning the 1985 Sandown 500 and the 1994 Australian Super Touring Championship for the marque.

Co-driving with Jim Richards, Tony Longhurst continued with the team in 1985, winning the 1985 Sandown 500 in a one-two finish for the team.

Tony Longhurst entered three solo rounds of the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship, finishing third at the Amaroo Park Raceway round on only his second appearance.

Tony Longhurst entered the entire 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship, again finishing on the podium at Amaroo, and finishing fifth in the championship.

Tony Longhurst won his first championship round in 1988 at Amaroo.

In 1994 Tony Longhurst won the first race of the 1994 Barbagallo ATCC round, his final solo race victory in the championship.

Outside the ATCC, Tony Longhurst was the only driver to have won five of the now defunct AMSCAR series run at Sydney's Amaroo Park circuit.

Tony Longhurst won the series in 1986,1987,1989 and 1990 and 1991.

Tony Longhurst saw success in the New Zealand endurance events held for Group A regulations.

Tony Longhurst finished 3rd in 1989 and 2nd in 1986 in the Pukekohe 500 event which was held in conjunction with the Wellington event.

In 1995, Tony Longhurst sold out to fellow shareholders Gardner and Morris and formed Tony Longhurst Racing to compete in the Australian Touring Car Championship with a Ford EF Falcon backed by Castrol.

For 2000, Tony Longhurst was hired to drive for Stone Brothers Racing.

Tony Longhurst came close to winning the 2000 Bathurst 1000 with David Besnard, despite making the most pitstops of anyone in the race, until an incident scuppered their chances while leading with ten laps to go.

In 2001, Tony Longhurst competed with Rod Nash Racing during the single-driver events before being drafted into the Holden Racing Team for the endurance races.

In 2003, Tony Longhurst only entered the endurance races, pairing with Jim Richards as he had done in the 1980s.

Tony Longhurst announced his retirement from competitive racing after the 2005 Bathurst 1000, where he and Brazilian co-driver Max Wilson failed to finish the race.

Tony Longhurst made an appearance at the Targa Tasmania in 2005 and 2006, finishing fourth overall in the latter.

Tony Longhurst's final drive came at the 2007 Sandown 500 where he paired with Glenn Seton following a series of last minute driver swaps in the Holden Racing Team following Mark Skaife having surgery to remove his appendix.

In 2016, Tony Longhurst returned to competition making an appearance at the Sydney Motorsport Park round of the Australian GT Championship in a MARC Ford Focus and at the Silverstone Classic driving his 1994 Australian Manufacturers' Championship winning BMW 318i Super Touring car.

Tony Longhurst returned to Bathurst for the first time since winning the 2009 WPS Bathurst 12 Hour when he contested the 2017 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour driving a BMW M6 GT3 for BMW Team SRM alongside Timo Glock, Mark Skaife and Russell Ingall.

Tony Longhurst again entered the 2018 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour in a GT4 BMW and won his class with Aaron Seton and Matthew Brabham.

Tony Longhurst continues to live on the Gold Coast in Queensland and owns and manages the Boat Works facility at Coomera.