Happy David Thexton Day!!

[GTRMagic]

Friday 21st March, 2003...
A day that shall forever live in infamy..

The very first day Mr David Thexton took his Thexton Motor Racing AU Ford Falcon V8Supercar into the main game championship series practice at the Clipsal 500 meeting...

Only 6.681 seconds off the fastest lap of the session.....
The legend of Sir Speedy Thexalot Was Born!!

Living the dream of bringing his financial wherewithal, the desire to compete, and undeniable resilience to go motor racing V8Supercar style.

Twenty Years Ago today...
WOW how time flies...



#bringbackspeedy #speedyrocks #speedracer #legend
#Thecko #privateer

[mf51]

Can remember Thexton, and the many laughs.
That white AU had plenty of air time as the leaders lapped.

In recent times, he was lined up to appear on V8 Sleuths podcast, at the time of the interview he didn’t show and became un reachable according to Noons himself

[Sandgroper]

Had a crack.
More than 99% of the knockers here.
Good on him for living the dream, we could only dream to do what he tried to achieve.

The jokes a bit tired in every thread IMHO.

(waits for the barrage)

[Alan52]

Originally Posted by Sandgroper

Had a crack.
More than 99% of the knockers here.
Good on him for living the dream, we could only dream to do what he tried to achieve.

The jokes a bit tired in every thread IMHO.

(waits for the barrage)

Agree.I vote for a Ten Tenths amnesty for David.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Sandgroper

Had a crack.

Yeah, he had a crack & good on him for that. Reckon if he'd gone with the Konica series himself he might have sorted out his driving and stepped up at some stage (or not).

He was in WAY out of his depth in the Main Game though and it all came to an end at Oran Park when he was stood down under the rules (there was something in the rules then about being able to stand a driver down if they appeared to not be fully in control, or something like that).

After that he changed his approach - looking back on it think that he would have enjoyed Konica more tbh.

[Sandgroper]

Im actually waiting on the Next Chapter Thread on Ms Gracie and Stan TV

[kittle]

Originally Posted by Sandgroper

Im actually waiting on the Next Chapter Thread on Ms Gracie and Stan TV

Production will some how come to a halt like her career...

[bathurst77]

Good on him for having a go. A well off man using his money to enjoy himself and create work and business for others, rather than watching numbers in the bank.


He didnt have the budget of the top teams and the ability of the top drivers, but he wasnt a full time professional. He was one of the last of the old fashioned "privateers". harking back to Ashby, finnigan, reed, janson etc.

[mite5255]

He had a go, I sure wish I had the money to give it a try when I was younger.

[Kingair]

What was Mr Thexton’s motorsport background, before he joined the supercars circus?

Did he purchase the AU Falcon off another team or was it built for him?

For Miss Gracie, I think she has found her happy place in life!

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by Kingair

What was Mr Thexton’s motorsport background, before he joined the supercars circus?

Did he purchase the AU Falcon off another team or was it built for him?

For Miss Gracie, I think she has found her happy place in life!

From memory, he'd done some rallying in his home country of New Zealand - he'd run a full "all bells and whistles" EVO on big bucks against older, less spent on them cars and done well.

Probably more a question for the V8 Sleuth but THINK that it was an ex-Paragon car, previously driven by Cameron McLean and run by some of the same crew.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Tourer

From memory, he'd done some rallying in his home country of New Zealand - he'd run a full "all bells and whistles" EVO on big bucks against older, less spent on them cars and done well.

Probably more a question for the V8 Sleuth but THINK that it was an ex-Paragon car, previously driven by Cameron McLean and run by some of the same crew.

Indeed, from V8 Sleuth)..... It was built by Prancing Horse Racing, designated PHR 14, built from a Peter Behag supplied shell under direction od Paul Cruickshank and Ralph Bellamy (Of F1 fame). First appeared at Mallala for Mark Noske in the Konica series but Noske's wrist injury precluded him from driving it. It was practiced but not raced. The car was Red and with simply Prancing Horse on it.

It was with a Budweiser livery for its race debut at Bathurst for Noske and Baird but ended in the fence early after contact with Lowndes. That was its only race before being sold to Paragon for McLean to campaign in 2002 with VIP Petfoods livery and a best finish of 8th at Bathurst (McLean and Scott) though it did get a Pole position at the Canberra 400 by virtue of it being a reverse grid race.

After Thexton's ownership it had a long varied career. Car is currently owned by Victorian Andrew O'Connell who plans to run it now restored with the Bud livery (details in the link that follows.)

Thextons BA Falcon for 2004 was a new build.... failed to qualify for the first two rounds sold out from V8SC and went to Carrera Cup.

Indeed all info from V8 Sleuth. Full nuts and bolts history here: https://www.v8sleuth.com.au/saturday...thurst-falcon/

[Kingair]

Thanks for that info.

Six seconds off the pace, not bad for effort for a weekend racer.

Perhaps if he had gone to Konica series for a season or two, it might have been more beneficial for his future.

Living the dream and spending the children’s inheritance!

[kittle]

He always had a good first lap v's the Medical Car