Steve raced what is arguably the best Ford Falcon built to the Group C regulations and secured him the 1984 AMSCAR title. However that is just a small chunk of the Steve Masterton story that began with sprints in a Holden Torana.
It is the 92nd time Darren Smith and Garry O’Brien have had the opportunity to hear someone tell their story. Daz and Gaz also catch up on the latest happenings on the state and club motorsport scene, covering off the recent results and upcoming events.
With no ambition to race open wheelers, Steve has been content to stick with tin tops. However the development of the Torana led to him wanting to take on the best.
He progressed to Ford Capris in Group C with a pretty handy team driver in the form of Bathurst winner and runner up Colin Bond. But was class success enough – certainly not.
For outright contention came the first of two Ford XE Falcons. With the co-drivers like Don Smith and Bruce Stewart, he later had legendary American Carroll Smith for guidance and renown ex-Bob Jane mechanic and engineer Pat Purcell in the team.
With the car rendered obsolete by the introduction of Group A touring car rules, Baskerville Raceway was the last race appearance for the XE. It was sold to team fabricator John Skola, who retained it as it finished its last race for the next 37 years.
Now back in the family, Steve and his son, Super2 racer James, are in the final stages of a complete rebuild and restoration with plans to have it back on track at Historic race meetings.
With the advent of Group A, Steve’s team put their efforts into a Holden Commodore which was hampered for outright contention due to the weight it had to carry.
In the podcast, he talks about his later two-litre Super Touring experience, his production car racing and his drives in later Group A Nissans and Ford Sierras as a co-driver.
It is also worth catching up on the other entertaining 91 Grassroots Racing Podcasts. There have been many of the big names as well as those who have battled in the sport. They discuss where it started for them and their progression through their careers.