Peter Brock: Looking back over nine wins.

Peter Brock has had his fair share of success at Mount Panorama.

As the most-successful driver in Bathurst history, his tally of nine wins is pure magic. Beginning in 1972, his reign over Bathurst is part of Australian sporting folklore. In 31 starts in the 1000-kilometre endurance classic, as well as his nine wins, he has had three other podium finishes.

"Those wins represent the most single significant factor in my life," Brock said. "I didn't realise what I had achieved at the time, but now you look back and think, 'how good was all of that!'"

Former British Touring Car Champion Jason Plato will partner him in the famous #05 Commodore, in an attempt to write one last chapter of Brock Bathurst magic. As he mounts up for one last crack at The Great Race for the Holden Racing Team some 35 years after debuting in a Monaro in 1969, it's timely to look back at Brock's Magic Nine.

Nines the magic number:

1972 - Holden Torana XU-1 - Driving soloThe first.

In a classic David and Goliath battle, Brock's nimble Torana XU1 was every inch a match for rival Allan Moffat's Falcon GTHO in the wet conditions. The six-cylinder Toranas of Brock and team-mate Colin Bond were far more nimble than the cumbersome Ford V8 and Brock engaged in a raging dice with his rival in the race's early laps. After pressuring Moffat into a spin, Brock motored on to lead the majority of the race and win, even despite a one-minute penalty for a pit lane infringement. Brock's brilliance in the difficult conditions, coupled with the agility of the XU1, made the combination unstoppable on the day.

1975 - Holden Torana L34 with Brian SampsonThe second.

Having left the factory Holden Dealer Team to race as a privateer with Melbourne tuners Norm Gown and Bruce Hindaugh, Brock was no means the favourite in 1975, even after a win in the Sandown enduro warm-up event. But he stuck to a smart race plan of consistent lap times and assumed the role of hot-foot tortoise as the hares of Colin
Bond's HDT Torana and Moffat's Falcon sprinted into the distance before suffering numerous problems. With a solid co-driver in Brian Sampson and some help from his HDT mentor Harry Firth, the risky jump to becoming a privateer had paid dividends.

1978 - Holden Torana A9X with Jim RichardsThe third.

Back in the HDT fold after three years away as a privateer, Brock had won the touring car championship as well as Sandown and had a new co-driver in the form of expat Kiwi Jim Richards. Despite a slow start from pole position when his locked diff failed to lock and he dropped back, 'Peter Perfect' charged through his opposition and pounded them into the pavement, finishing a full lap clear of the Allan Grice/John Leffler Torana.

1979 - Holden Torana A9X with Jim RichardsThe fourth.

In the most crushing display in Bathurst history, this was the perfect weekend. The #05 Torana started from pole position, stormed into a lead it wouldn't lose for the full 163 laps and won by a record margin of six laps - a record that stands to this very day.

It was the final Bathurst for the Torana in its 10th anniversary of taking to the grid on the Mountain. And just to rub salt into the wound, Brock belted out a new lap record - on the very last lap.

1980 - Holden Commodore VC with Jim RichardsThe fifth.

Victory in 1980 came nowhere near as easy as the previous two years. Now armed with a new Commodore, Brock had to fend off the high horsepower Falcon of Dick Johnson and the Chevrolet Camaro of Kevin Bartlett. Contact with a slower car in the race's early stages forced Brock to pit for rapid repairs and he rejoined nearly a lap down on Johnson, who blasted past and put him down a full lap. History took its amazing course a few laps later as Johnson crashed out of the race after he hit the infamous 'Rock', and Brock began a charge back through the field to lead home a Commodore 1-7 cakewalk.

1982 - Holden Commodore VH with Larry PerkinsThe sixth.

With Richards heading to BMW, Brock's HDT signed up Larry Perkins to co-drive but he also brought with him engineering nous that would prove essential for victory. After an early dogfight with Grice, Brock pulled away after the former spun and won by a clear lap. It had been a tough season filled with technical rule controversy that had made it as far as the Supreme Court. But winning at Bathurst made the year certainly worthwhile.

1983 - Holden Commodore VH with Larry Perkins and John HarveyThe seventh.

When Brock's pole-sitting #05 Commodore ground to a halt with engine failure in the race's early laps, it looked like all hope was lost. But taking advantage of a rule buried in the rulebook that not many people knew, he and Perkins had been cross entered into the team's other car. They took over John Harvey's #25 machine and went on to win by a lap over Moffat's Mazda. Once again, the King of the Mountain had proven he is equally as sharp with the rulebook as with the steering wheel ...

1984 - Holden Commodore VK with Larry PerkinsThe eighth.

In the final race of the old Group C category, the day-glo painted Holden Dealer Team Commodores had a bit more of a challenge on their hands. The record-setting Nissan of George Fury took pole and Dick Johnson's Falcon was the main threat, but both fell by the wayside in their pursuit of Brock. The General clinched a sweet 1-2 finish, Brock leading David Parsons across the line as the curtain came down on one of the most popular eras in Australian touring car racing.

1987 - Holden Commodore VL with David Parsons and Peter McLeodThe ninth.

In a year of major controversy for Brock, he rose above the odds in magical fashion in 1987. No longer operating as the Holden factory outfit, he pushed on and kept his team ticking, mounting a Bathurst assault that lacked the firepower of the visiting Europeans and even some of the regular locals. His lead #05 car blew an engine early in almost a repeat of 1983 and he and Parsons took over the #10 car driven by Peter McLeod.

Pushing on in a car that was very much a 'second' car that was more in the race to fly the sponsor's flag than be a race-winning proposition, Brock slithered through the rain-affected race to finish third on the road behind the black Eggenberger Sierras. Not surprisingly, the two lead cars were disqualified and Brock was declared the victor. The cheers from the fans at the podium presentation said it all on that day.

"We want Brock," they chanted.

This year they're going to get him for one last time...