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.
