Two-time Bathurst winner John Goss is to be inducted into the Motorsport Australia Hall of Fame ahead of this year’s Formula 1 Rolex Australian Grand Prix.
In 2017, Goss was one of the inaugural inductees into the Bathurst Legends Lane – alongside Kevin Bartlett, with whom he won a rain-soaked 1974 Hardie Ferodo 1000 at the wheel of an XA Ford Falcon hardtop – while in 2018 he was named among the Queen’s Birthday Honours as the recipient of a Medal of the Order of Australia.
The now 79-year-old famously won his second Bathurst in 1985 with Armin Hahne at the wheel of a Tom Walkinshaw Racing-operated Jaguar XJS – the only V12 to win The Great Race, with the second Jaguar shared by Win Percy and Walkinshaw himself coming home third that year.
His entry into motorsport came decades earlier as a test mechanic for Jack Brabham, while he also campaigned in Tasman Series, winning the 1976 Australian Grand Prix at Sandown driving a Matich Repco A53.
Goss is one of four inductees, with drag racing legend Victor Bray, accomplished karter Remo Luciani, as well as the late Joan Richmond, known for her success at Le Mans and in rallying.
Bray is a six-time Australia Top Doorslammer champion, and is father to Ben Bray, who has two Australia Top Doorslammer titles of his own.
Speaking to Speedcafe.com in 2011, Bray Senior said his career highlight was a toss-up between watching his son’s first race and becoming the world’s fastest and quickest doorslammer in June 1996 with a 6.29s quarter-mile ET at 226mph (364km/h).
Remo Luciani is the reigning Victorian Champion in KA3 Medium karting – at 62 years old. In a career spanning more than four decades, Luciani is a seven-time national karting champion, has won the New Zealand Karting Championship and taken out 71 State titles in Australia.
Joan Richmond – who passed away in 1999 – possessed a pioneering spirit that saw her compete in both Australia and Europe, winning the 1932 Brooklands 1000 with Elsie Wisdom, as well as being part of MG’s class-winning team in the 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans. She also competed in the Monte-Carlo Rally seven times.
A 1931 Riley, similar to the vehicle Richmond raced to fifth in the 1931 Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island, will be on display for the public ceremony at the Fan Forum Stage within the Albert Park precinct, which will be held on Thursday March 30, to induct all four nominees.
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