Tom Walkinshaw 1946-2010

UPDATE: A statement from Holden has been added at the end of this article.

UPDATE #2: Ex-pat Aussie Steve Cropely has penned this obituary for Autocar.

Sad news overnight with confirmation that Tom Walkinshaw has lost his battle with cancer. He was 64 years old.

Walkinshaw is best known in Australia for his involvement in touring car racing. The determined Scot brought a three-car Jaguar XJS team to Bathurst in 1985 and announced his intent when he claimed pole position by over one second. Big Tom didn’t win the race—he and Win Percy finished third—but team-mates John Goss and Armin Hahne did steer their XJS to victory.

From then on Walkinshaw had an ongoing connection to Australia through touring car racing and eventually with part ownership of Holden Special Vehicles. He also, at various times, had part or full ownership of the Holden Racing Team in V8 Supercars.

As well as his involvement down under, Tom Walkinshaw Racing was a big player in the British Touring Car Championship, with Tom playing the role of driver and owner. In 1984 Walkinshaw won the European Touring Car Championship driving a Jaguar XJS.

Tom Walkinshaw Racing then went on to lead the famous Jaguar Group C cars to victory at Le Mans in 1988 and 1990, along with three World Sportscar titles.

Walkinshaw also took on team management roles in Formula One with Benetton, Ligier and Arrows, assuming full ownership of the latter in 1995 until its demise, along with Tom Walkinshaw Racing, due to financial struggles in 2002. Indeed it was Walkinshaw who introduced Ross Brawn to F1 in the early 90s. Brawn had previously been TWR’s designer with their Sportscar program.

A connection with Australia remains today through Walkinshaw Performance which enhances road-going Holden Commodores as well as operating two V8 Supercar teams.

We pay our respects to Big Tom by including video footage below of his pole-winning lap at Bathurst in 1985.

[via Autosport | video via DriveCult]

Holden Pays Tribute To Tom Walkinshaw

Holden Chairman and Managing Director Mike Devereux today paid tribute to Holden Special Vehicles and Holden Racing Team owner and founder, Tom Walkinshaw, who passed away overnight, aged 64.

“On behalf of the men and women at Holden, I’d like to extend our deepest sympathies to Tom’s family, friends and co-workers across the world,” Mr Devereux said.

“For more than 20 years Tom’s pursuit of excellence helped forge our brand’s reputation as a performance leader both on and off the track through the creation of Holden Special Vehicles and the Holden Racing Team.

“From the original 1988 Group A Commodore that will forever be known as a “Walkinshaw” to the extraordinary W427 20 years later, Tom’s work was truly iconic.

“His contribution not only to Holden, but the automotive industry is legendary and will never be forgotten.”