Part 2 of our interview with Bob Watson, an Aussie rally legend who, at 80 years of age, has packed more into his life than most of us could dream of.
A former Australian Rally Champion, Watson has a new wife, hundreds of great stories, an undiminished love for driving cars, and his sights set on a possible 22nd Alpine Rally start later this year.
Read Part 1 HERE.RSM: Your last championship campaign was in a Renault R5 Turbo in the early 1980s, after which you've done a bit of everything, from tarmac rallies to HRA events. What keeps you going in the sport?
BW: After the 1977 Marathon and the 1979 Repco, Renault Australia gave me the marathon Peugeot 504 to run in the Victorian Championship, but we, in the form of Bob Watson’s Service Centre, had to fund it ourselves.
The car was obviously not fast enough for sprint type events, so we tried turbocharging the four cylinder engine, with mixed success, including a spectacular roll over in the Alpine Rally.
Watson rolled the ex-1977 London to Sydney Marathon Peugeot 504 in the 1980 Alpine Rally.
After an engine blow-up on the final stage of the Alpine Rally in 1980, when Monty Suffern and I were running 6th,we decided to fix the lack of power by fitting a 2.8 litre V6 engine (which had been developed between Peugeot, Volvo and Renault) and turbocharging it.
That certainly worked, and Phil Rainer and I won the first rallysprint held in Victoria.
The car was very fast, but it was hard to drive, the immense power, great traction and slow steering ratio making every corner a life threatening experience. That, and lack of reliability, made us abandon the project.
My business partner, Bruce Shepherd, and I became rather restless with no rally project in progress, so we discussed the possibility of building a Renault R5 Turbo along the lines of the car Renault were rallying in Europe.
It so happened that the After Sales Manager for Renault Australia was leaving to return to France, and his wife had a Renault R5 to sell. It was a standard front engined car, nothing special, but we bought it.
We stood looking at it and trying to envisage how to make it into a fast rally car. I said to Bruce: “Cut a big hole in the rear floor and then we are committed. We will sort it out from there”.
We spent the next 12 months building the car, working back after the workshop closed. It was a big job putting a turbocharged R16TS engine in the middle of the car, but eventually it was finished.
The car was very fast in a straight line but suffered turbo lag in slow corners, which was costing time on stages. We ran it in a number of events, but the car needed a lot of development, and long nights working back was starting to wear very thin.
We managed a win a Victorian Championship event in 1987, with Phil Rainer navigating, but the lack of reliability was discouraging. Eventually the car became ineligible in the late 1980s when Group G was discontinued, so the car was sold.
Everyone who has done serious rallying has the bug, so I indulged my need to drive fast by running my Porsche 911S in a few tarmac rallies, including Targa Tasmania, Rally Tasmania and Classic Adelaide.
Bob Watson has recently been back behind the wheel of a Renault in HRA events. Photo: John Doutch
Unlike a lot of gravel rally drivers, I enjoy tarmac, even though it takes quite a different technique.
One of my best tarmac experiences was driving my good friend John Hardy’s Renault Alpine A110 in the first Classic Adelaide. Like the Don Capasco Renault Alpine, it was an absolute joy to drive, although I had to be a bit circumspect with the car owner sitting next to me!
I love driving cars. It has been a huge part of my life, with rallying and also my work as a chassis development engineer with Holden.
A large part of my work at Holden was doing hot laps around the Lang Lang Proving Ground ride and handling track, going back to the development of the Monaro GTS327 for Bathurst, and later the AWD Adventra wagon.
What with organising Round Australia type rallies such as the Mobil 1 and the Red Centre to Gold Coast Trial, and assisting Philip Bernadou with the Classic Outback Trials, and getting projects like driving the World’s Fastest Ute around Australia, (photo) I am not intending to stop driving any time soon. I regularly clock up 20,000km or more every year.
One of my great joys is driving in Europe, which I do every time I go there, rather than going on tours. The lack of ridiculously restrictive speed limits, the absence of driver aggression, the excellent road signage, and the discipline on motorways is a delight.
Our road laws in Australia make us the kindergarten of the world. Mark Webber was correct – we live in a nanny state.
The Renault R12 Gordini of Bob Watson/Andy Chapman. 1971 Dulux Rally, 5th outright.
RSM: You've had an incredible career as a driver and an event organiser. What form of the sport has given you the most personal satisfaction?BW: Once the burning desire to win in motor sport subsides, which it eventually does with advancing age, the great joy is the people in the sport.
Just to be involved in any way brings you in touch with people you like, some of them lifelong friends.
Rallying is a very private sport. Only you and your partner in the car know how many corners you did well, or how many close shaves you had. That is why the only people you can really talk to about rallying are other rally people who really understand.
Organising events is great in the planning and surveying of the course phases, but this is offset by coping with ridiculous levels of red tape and regulation, dealing with authorities, worrying about entry numbers, the finances, chasing sponsors – all of these detract from the fun.
There is no doubt the greatest satisfaction comes from winning. I suppose the most satisfying wins I had were beating Peter Brock at Calder Rallycross – 1.4-litres of Renault R8 Gordini beating a Holden Dealer Team supercharged 3.3-litre XU1 Torana, plus the Don Capasco win in the Alpine A110, and winning the BP Rally in a stock standard Peugeot 504.
Tony Roberts’ and my win in the Sandown 3 Hour race in 1968, in Tony’s private Monaro, is up there too.
I love driving when road or weather conditions are bad, because strength of mind becomes a big factor. Some drivers wilt at the thought of a 120 kilometre stage – they are beaten before they start.
World’s fastest ute 2006 – 271 km/h driven by Mark Skaife. Then driven 40,000km around Australia by Bob Watson.
A big part of success comes from a good mental approach – concentrating hard, coping with difficult conditions, driving around a car problem – these are opportunities to be better than the opposition.
Rallying can be a cruel sport. You need to be able to face bitter disappointment, because it happens more than winning does.
Wayne Gregson and I were leading the Alpine Rally in 1977 – one of the longest, dustiest and hottest Alpines ever - after the Escorts of Greg Carr and Colin Bond had struck problems.
We were halfway through the second last stage with about 30km of the event to go when our Datsun P210 lost all drive. The flywheel had failed. We coasted to a halt and waited for the next car along, which was Carr – after about 15 minutes!
Poor Gerry Ball. We had used 36 Kleber tyres on the event, and won zilch. That’s rallying.
Watson in typical pose in the 2005 Alpine Rally in his Datsun 1600. Photo: John Doutch
RSM: Rallying is clearly your passion, and even at 80 years of age you're still active, and competing in the bi-annual Alpine Rally. Is this something you'll do again this year?
BW: The Alpine in 2019? I would certainly love to drive in it. I don’t own a suitable car, but you never know.
Perhaps if my friend Gerry Crown wins the Peking to Paris Rally again he might be in a good enough mood to lend me his little Datsun Sunny again!
Unfortunately, if you can’t show the organisers that you have had some good recent results you will end up at the tail of the field, and by the time most of the field has gone through the roads are absolute rubbish, which takes a lot of the enjoyment away.
So it does not worry me a lot either way, although it would be nice to add to my total of 22 Alpines!
Bob Watson and Peter Janson at the HRA's Retro Rally Day in 2019. Photo: John Doutch
RSM: There must be still plenty of life left in you yet, as you recently married Jenny Cuthbert - the late Glenn's former wife. It must be exciting that there's still plenty of adventures ahead?
BW: When you are 80 years old you don’t buy green bananas, but you can try to pack as much as you can into the time you have left.
For Jenny and me it will be travel, both overseas and in the Australian outback. We already have travel plans for the next few years.
One of my philosophies in life is that you should always have something to look forward to, and I will keep applying that. I am enjoying life immensely with a wonderful wife, being with friends, appreciating good wine and food, and the odd driving experience to keep the adrenalin flowing.
As my Dad used to say: “You wouldn’t be dead for quids”.
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