Tony Longhurst

Who is Tony Longhurst?

Tony Longhurst is an Australian former racing driver and Australian Champion water skier. He is most noted for his career in the Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercar series.

Longhurst is a two-time winner of the Bathurst 1000, winning the event in 1988 with Tomas Mezera and in 2001 with Mark Skaife, and is one of only three drivers to win Bathurst in both a Ford and a Holden.

He has raced internationally in the 1987 World Touring Car Championship and 1993 FIA Touring Car Challenge, both times for BMW. He also won the Australian Super Touring Championship for BMW in 1994.

After four years of service to the Frank Gardner run JPS Team BMW from 1984-87, Longhurst started his own touring car team in 1988 named Tony Longhurst Racing which based itself on the Gold Coast behind the Longhurst family owned Dreamworld. For sponsorship reasons the team was known by various names during its time including Freeport Motorsport, Benson & Hedges Racing, and Castrol Longhurst Racing. Initially running the powerful Ford Sierra RS500 from 1988-90, the team then began using the evolution model BMW M3, Holden VP Commodore, before moving back to Ford with their Falcons in 1995.