Retiring motorsport servant\u2019s biggest achievements came at Bathurst<\/a><\/p>\nThe following day Denyer made a deal with Bob Jane to rent his helicopter and fly from Bathurst and pick up Grice from Mascot Airport in Sydney hopefully to return in time for the morning practice session.<\/p>\n
The plan was a solid one until he woke the following morning to find Bathurst covered in fog.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pilot had a simple plan,\u201d recalled Denyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will just go straight up, the fog will have to end somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ironically, that is exactly what happened with Denyer and Ian Maudsley, who coordinates the annual motorsport reunion lunch on the Gold Coast every August, strapped in for the ride.<\/p>\n
The aircraft eventually broke through the low-lying cloud and followed the valleys back to Sydney where they finally met Grice, who was itching to get to Mount Panorama for his 15th start in the great race.<\/p>\n
They fired back to Bathurst and Grice, with virtually no sleep and a 24-hour flight under his belt, set the fastest time in morning practice and did the minimum amount of laps to qualify for the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter he was quickest, Gricey said to Graeme, \u2018if I stick it on the pole in Hardies Heroes do I get the prize money?\u2019,\u201d said Denyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cGraeme suggested the cash would go into the team fund for the weekend so Gricey suggested he would put it on the front row and, ironically, that\u2019s exactly what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is now history that Grice and Bailey went on to win the race from the Holden Dealer Team Commodore of John Harvey and Neal Lowe and the factory-backed Nissan Skyline of pole-winner Gary Scott and Terry Shiel.<\/p>\n
Dick Johnson and Gregg Hansford finished fourth in their Ford Mustang, while the super team of former rivals Peter Brock and Allan Moffat, who had won 12 of the previous 16 races at Bathurst, finished in fifth place one lap down in their repaired HDT Commodore after an oil cooler problem.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/speedcafe.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/2025_SUN_SSR6WINTON_NETWORKR_4113.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Craig Denyer this year retired after a long career in motorsport. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n
While Denyer pulled the deals together, he also filled plenty of gaps over the race weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was certainly a highlight of my career,\u201d said Denyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIronically, that car is regarded as one of the most recognisable winners in Bathurst history, which is quite remarkable when you look at all the brands that have been race winners at that place.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though it will be 40 years ago next year, it has to go down as one of the last true privateer efforts to win the race when you consider we had absolutely no support from Holden, and a fitting tribute to Graeme\u2019s commitment and investment to want to win at the highest level.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t the quickest on track, and only did one stint behind the wheel, but was savvy enough to know if he had the right people around him he might be able to jag a win on the day \u2013 and that\u2019s exactly what happened.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a combo, Gricey and the car were so quick they put Brock\u2019s team under pressure and they eventually cracked \u2013 handing Gricey and \u2018Chickenman\u2019 a fairytale win.<\/p>\n
\u201cFunnily enough on one of the pit stops during that race you can actually see me washing the windscreen of the car. Great memories.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1763702715_801_289522.png\"\/)
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![\"When](\"https:\/\/speedcafe.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Grice_-Bailey_-Chicadee-2B982.jpg\")