# LoGaMo Racing

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**LoGaMo Racing**, also known as **Tony Longhurst Racing**, was an Australian motor racing team that competed in [Australian touring car racing](/source/Australian_Touring_Car_Championship) between [1988](/source/1988_Australian_Touring_Car_season) and [1994](/source/1994_Australian_Touring_Car_season). The team was initially a collaboration between [Tony Longhurst](/source/Tony_Longhurst) and [Frank Gardner](/source/Frank_Gardner_(racing_driver)), with Terry Morris later joining as a shareholder, with their three names combining to create the LoGaMo name. The team is best known for winning the [1988 Bathurst 1000](/source/1988_Bathurst_1000) with Longhurst and [Tomas Mezera](/source/Tomas_Mezera).

## Background

At the end of [1987](/source/1987_Australian_Touring_Car_season) Frank Gardner closed his [JPS Team BMW](/source/JPS_Team_BMW) operation, having decided to retire after a period of ill health. Lead driver [Jim Richards](/source/Jim_Richards_(racing_driver)), who had won two championships for the team, and the [BMW M3s](/source/BMW_M3#E30_M3) moved to [Peter Brock](/source/Peter_Brock)'s [Mobil 1 Racing](/source/Holden_Dealer_Team#Group_A) team. For [1988](/source/1988_Australian_Touring_Car_season), Tony Longhurst, who had raced the second JPS BMW M3, formed his own team on the [Gold Coast](/source/Gold_Coast,_Queensland), which was initially known as Tony Longhurst Racing. Frank Gardner was listed as a consultant to the new team, but as the [1988 season](/source/1998_Australian_Touring_Car_season) progressed, he assumed the team manager's role and would become a shareholder in the team.

## History

### Freeport Motorsport

Going into 1988, the team entered a single [Ford Sierra RS500](/source/Ford_Sierra_RS500) for Longhurst. However, over the previous off-season Gardner had led the successful protest against the factory-backed [Eggenberger Motorsport](/source/Eggenberger_Motorsport) Ford Sierras at the [1987 Bathurst 1000](/source/1987_Bathurst_1000), which had ultimately cost the Ford the [World Touring Car Championship](/source/1987_World_Touring_Car_Championship). This made it difficult for the team to source components through [Ford in Europe](/source/Ford_of_Europe), with endurance co-driver [Tomas Mezera](/source/Tomas_Mezera) who was based in [London](/source/London) at the time, trying to source components.

Longhurst would finish the championship in fifth position, finishing only four of the nine rounds, including a win at the [Lakeside](/source/Lakeside_International_Raceway) [round](/source/Lakeside_ATCC_round) after [Dick Johnson](/source/Dick_Johnson_(racing_driver)) was given a one-minute penalty for a false start.[1]

### Benson & Hedges Racing

From the [Sandown 500](/source/1988_Enzed_500) onwards, Amatil's [Benson & Hedges](/source/Benson_%26_Hedges) brand was applied, Longhurst and Mezera going on to win the [1988 Bathurst 1000](/source/1988_Bathurst_1000).[2] It was the first [Bathurst 1000](/source/Bathurst_1000) win for both drivers, and also the first for Gardner as team manager, who failed to win the race in his otherwise successful [JPS Team BMW](/source/JPS_Team_BMW) era. The winning car now resides in the [National Motor Racing Museum](/source/National_Motor_Racing_Museum) near the circuit.

In [1989](/source/1989_Australian_Touring_Car_season), the team expanded to two cars with [Neville Crichton](/source/Neville_Crichton) driving a second Sierra.[3] In [1990](/source/1990_Australian_Touring_Car_season), [Alan Jones](/source/Alan_Jones_(racing_driver)) replaced Crichton in the second car.[4] In both years, Longhurst would again finish in the top six of the championship. In 1990, Gardner established a Performance Driving Centre at [Norwell](/source/Norwell,_Queensland) with the team's workshop incorporated.[5] In [1991](/source/1991_Australian_Touring_Car_season), Gardner rekindled his links to [BMW](/source/BMW) and the team became the marque's factory team, acquiring a pair of ex [Schnitzer Motorsport](/source/Schnitzer_Motorsport) [BMW M3s](/source/BMW_M3#E30_M3).[6] Longhurst won two rounds at [Amaroo Park](/source/Amaroo_Park) and Lakeside and finished third in the championship. From 1989 to 1991, Longhurst also won three consecutive [AMSCAR](/source/AMSCAR) title at Amaroo Park for the team.

In [1992](/source/1992_Australian_Touring_Car_season), Longhurst won a third round at Lakeside and again finished third in the championship. A third M3 was also entered at selected events in 1992 for [Paul Morris](/source/Paul_Morris_(racing_driver)) whose father Terry would become a shareholder in the team, completing the triumvirate of owners to create the LoGaMo name.[7] At the [1992 Bathurst 1000](/source/1992_Bathurst_1000), [Formula One](/source/Formula_One) world champion [Denny Hulme](/source/Denny_Hulme) suffered a heart attack and died while co-driving with Morris.[8] In [1993](/source/1993_Australian_Touring_Car_season), despite the championship's move towards a [Ford](/source/Ford_Australia) versus [Holden](/source/Holden) formula, the team expanded to field four M3s, with John Blanchard replacing Alan Jones in the second Benson & Hedges car, and Paul Morris and Geoff Full racing with [Diet Coke](/source/Diet_Coke) sponsorship.[9]

By [1994](/source/1994_Australian_Touring_Car_season), BMW was no longer eligible for the five-litre ATCC and LoGaMo committed to race in the [1994 Australian Manufacturers' Championship](/source/1994_Australian_Manufacturers'_Championship) with a pair of two-litre [BMW 320is](/source/BMW_3_Series_(E36)). However, with the series at one stage in doubt, and a desire by sponsors to retain a presence in the country's main category, two [Perkins Engineering](/source/Perkins_Engineering) built [Holden Commodore VP](/source/Holden_Commodore_VP)s were purchased with Longhurst and Morris racing in both the two-litre and [five-litre](/source/1994_Australian_Touring_Car_season) series.[10] Longhurst won one race at the [Barbagallo round](/source/1994_Barbagallo_ATCC_round) but both him and Morris finished outside the top ten of the ATCC, with the team skipping the [Phillip Island round](/source/1994_Phillip_Island_ATCC_round) entirely to focus on the Manufacturers' Championship.[1]

Meanwhile in the Manufacturers Championship, the team finished first second and third with their three entrants, with Longhurst taking the title. However, the year was perhaps best remembered for team-mates Longhurst and Morris colliding on the pit straight at [Winton](/source/Winton_Motor_Raceway). Longhurst blamed Morris for the crash, which had put both cars into the concrete wall, and infamously punched Morris through Morris's driver's side window.[11]

## Demise

Heading into 1995, Longhurst wished to continue in the ATCC while Gardner and Morris wanted to stick with the two-litre [Super Touring Championship](/source/Australian_Super_Touring_Championship). At the end of 1994, Gardner and Morris bought Longhurst out, with the latter forming [Longhurst Racing](/source/Longhurst_Racing) to race a [Ford Falcon EF](/source/Ford_Falcon_EF) in the [1995 ATCC season](/source/1995_Australian_Touring_Car_Championship), a team which continued in the championship until 1999.[12] Gardner continued with the Morris family to form [Paul Morris Motorsport](/source/Paul_Morris_Motorsport). Gardner retired soon after and sold the Performance Driving Centre in Norwell to Morris, who continues to use the facility as a base, including for a return to the ATCC (which had become known as [V8 Supercars](/source/V8_Supercars)) from 2000 to 2012.

## See also

- [JPS Team BMW](/source/JPS_Team_BMW)
- [Longhurst Racing](/source/Longhurst_Racing)
- [Paul Morris Motorsport](/source/Paul_Morris_Motorsport)

## References

1. Greenhalgh, David; Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (2011). *The official history: Australian Touring Car Championship - 50 Years*. [St Leonards](/source/St_Leonards,_New_South_Wales), [New South Wales](/source/New_South_Wales): Chevron Publishing Group. pp. 102–111. ISBN 978-0-9805912-2-4.

1. Normoyle, Steve (1989). *The Great Race 8*. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. [ISSN 1031-6124](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1031-6124)

1. Normoyle, Steve (1990). *The Great Race 9*. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. [ISSN 1031-6124](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1031-6124)

1. Normoyle, Steve (1991). *The Great Race 10*. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. [ISSN 1031-6124](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1031-6124)

1. [Introducing The Performance Driving Centre](http://issuu.com/performancedrivingcentre/docs/introducing_theperformancedrivingce) The Performance Driving Centre

1. Normoyle, Steve (1992). *The Great Race 11*. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. [ISSN 1031-6124](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1031-6124)

1. Normoyle, Steve (1993). *The Great Race 12*. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. [ISSN 1031-6124](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1031-6124)

1. Greenhalgh, David & Tuckey, Bill (2013). *The official history of The Great Race Bathurst : 50 years*. [St Leonards](/source/St_Leonards,_New_South_Wales), [New South Wales](/source/New_South_Wales): Chevron Publishing Group. ISBN 9780980591231.

1. Normoyle, Steve (1994). *The Great Race 13*. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. [ISSN 1031-6124](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1031-6124)

1. Normoyle, Steve (1995). *The Great Race 14*. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. [ISSN 1031-6124](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1031-6124)

1. Herrero, Daniel (11 October 2013). ["Tony Longhurst limbering up for last lap"](https://speedcafe.com/longhurst-limbering-last-lap/). *[Speedcafe](/source/Speedcafe)*. Retrieved 23 March 2019.

1. Normoyle, Steve (1995). *The Great Race 15*. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. [ISSN 1031-6124](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1031-6124)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [LoGaMo Racing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoGaMo_Racing) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LoGaMo_Racing?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.