Bob Holden (racing driver)

Holden raced small-engined touring cars throughout his career, racing Peugeots in the early 1960s, establishing a reputation for himself which saw him become a regular part of BMC Australia racing program for Minis which culminated with a victory in the 1966 Bathurst 500 co-driving with Rauno Aaltonen.

It was won by the BMC entered example of Finnish rally star Rauno Aaltonen and experienced Australian Mini racer Bob Holden a lap ahead of Fred Gibson and Bill Stanley, leading home a flotilla of Cooper Ss that filled the first nine outright race positions.

Holden raced small-engined touring cars throughout his career, racing Peugeots in the early 1960s, establishing a reputation for himself which saw him become a regular part of BMC Australia racing program for Minis which culminated with a victory in the 1966 Bathurst 500 co-driving with Rauno Aaltonen.

In 1966, he partnered Bob Holden in Australia to win the premier touring car race, the Gallaher 500, in a Mini Cooper S at Mount Panorama in New South Wales.

Into the 1970s Holden moved on to race Ford Escorts in various guises, moving into Toyota Corollas in the 1980s, winning the 1.6 litre class at the Bathurst round of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship.

Class 3 had only one finisher (finishing 23rd and last outright), the Bob Holden Motors Toyota Sprinter driven by 1966 Gallaher 500 winner Bob Holden and his co-drivers Garry Willmington and Bryan Bate.

In the mid-1990s Holden moved into BMW M3s and later a BMW 318i Super Touring car in which he raced his final Bathurst in 1998, at the time setting the record for most Bathurst appearances.

Bob Holden was fastest of the non-Jaguar drivers in practice, more than eleven seconds slower than Burns.

Most of the 2.0 Litre field consisted of regular 'baby car class' competitors from Group A, including Frank Binding, Brad Stratton, Mike Conway, and veteran racer Bob Holden.