By Bruce Williams
Date posted: January 15, 2023
Two of the most historically significant Bathurst 1000 winning and famous Holden V8 Supercars are back together in one place.
Holden Racing Team sister cars, HRT Chassis 045, ‘The Golden Child’, and HRT Chassis 043, better known as the ‘Lap of the Gods’ car now share the same garage space.
Between these two cars, they delivered three Bathurst 1000 wins in a row, winning the Great Race in 2001, 2002 and 2003.
Both cars have been fully restored and are now owned by a private collector who has owned the ‘Golden Child’ for some time, recently purchasing the ‘Lap of the Gods’ car and putting them back together under one roof after nearly 20 years of separation.
Mark Skaife crosses the line in a litter filled ‘Golden Child’ in front of his overjoyed team to win the 2002 Bob Jane T-Marts Bathurst 1000.
Image: Mark Horsburgh – Image: Motorsport Images-LAT Photographic
As far as Holden Commodore V8 Supercars are concerned, these two HRT – Dencar built chassis – 043 and 045 Commodores, dominated the Supercars Championships from 2000 to 2002 and the Bathurst 1000 from 2001 to 2003.
During a period when the Holden Racing Team was at the peak of its power, the two HRT Commodore V8 Supercars delivered some of the most memorable moments in the history of Supercars and the Bathurst 1000.
While winning three ‘Great Races’ in a row is a significant result, it was Greg Murphy who stunned the Supercar paddock and fan base during the 2003 ‘Top Ten Shootout’ with a lap that came from heaven… Earning chassis 043 the well named ‘Lap of the Gods’ car.
Shared DNA – more than just sister chassis
And in an interesting twist of DNA sharing, chassis 045 – ‘The Golden Child’ has the very same lightweight engine that was fitted to chassis 043 – the ‘Lap of the Gods’ car, during the Top Ten shootout lap, although it is somewhat unclear, the engine was most likely still fitted to the chassis for the 2003 ‘Great Race’ victory which Murphy shared with a young Rick Kelly.
At the time, this engine was regarded as being special and at the cutting edge of performance for a Supercar engine, the Chevrolet based racing engine was then mandated for Holden Supercars.
Not long after the 2003 Bathurst result, the V8 Supercar rule makers made changes to the weight of the reciprocating assemblies (crankshaft, conrods and pistons) of these engines and mandated a higher minimum rotating weight.
And in a true twist of history, the engine in chassis 043, is the HRT power unit which survived massive temperature peaks on the way to a Bathurst victory in 2002. Mark Skaife masterfully nursed the car home when the air intakes on the ‘Golden Child’ were blocked by plastic bags following a minor windstorm which swept across the track.
This came about because of the Holden Racing Teams engine maintenance program which would see worn engines come out of one car, be serviced and then fitted to the next chassis that required a fresh engine.
At this time both cars have fully fresh mechanicals including engines. What extra value would be added to the chassis 043 if it was fitted with its race winning engine…
HRT Chassis 045 – Mark Skaife’s ‘The Golden Child’
Mark Skaife and Tony Longhurst celebrate on the podium after winning the 2001 V8 Supercar 1000 at Bathurst. Image: Motorsport Images-LAT
HRT Chassis 045 – ‘The Golden Child’ is the VX Commodore Supercar that delivered Mark Skaife back-to-back Bathurst wins in 2001 and 2002, as well as V8 Supercar Championships in 2001 and 2002 and two Adelaide 500 victories, including in 2003 as an updated Project Blueprint VY.
The ‘Golden Child’ is one of only three chassis that have won the Bathurst 1000 race twice, delivering Mark Skaife Bathurst 1000 wins in 2001 with Tony Longhurst and 2002 with Touring car and Bathurst legend Jim Richards.
Tony Longhurst and Mark Skaife on their way to Bathurst 1000 glory in 2001. Image: Motorsport Images-LAT
A special car and driver combination
This was a legendary partnership which emerged during the final years of the VT-VX era, interestingly was not driver and team, but rather a car and driver combination.
Holden Racing Team chassis number 045 made an inauspicious start to its career, when Mark Skaife, (sharing the car with Jason Bright) spun during his Top 15 Shootout lap at the 2001 Queensland 500.
But things would change for this car and driver combination, and just two rounds later in the Supercar series was the 2001 Bathurst 1000.
This was the race that would deliver Skaife and Longhurst a remarkable and dominant win. That win began a reign of dominance that earnt 045, the nickname ‘The Golden Child’.
Mark Skaife leads Marcos Ambrose during the Darwin round of his dominant 2002 championship. Image: Mark Horsburgh- Motorsport Images/LAT Photographic
Chassis 045 took Skaife to 20 race wins (the most of any HRT chassis), including two Bathurst wins and a pair of V8 Supercar titles at a time when the HRT was at its zenith.
“It’s an unbelievable car,” remarked Skaife on Shannon’s Legends of Motorsport. “To have won those races, that’s why it got the nickname ‘The Golden Child’, the boys knew not to do anything bad to that car.
“It was always pristine.”
HRT Team Mananger Jeff Grech added that it was a matter of right place, right time for ‘The Golden Child’ as Skaife was at the top of his game during that period and the pairing just clicked.
“Mark drove for most of that car’s history, and he got the most out of it,” Grech related. “It was just that chassis number and the trophies that it produced, it was outstanding, but it was nothing different than any of the other cars we’d built.”
Bathurst drama – 2002 – The heat is on – a second win for the Golden Child – Shared with a legend.
It was only the second chassis to take two Bathurst 1000 wins, which it did in 2002 amidst drama as plastic bags covered the air intake, forcing temperatures to rise during the closing stages.
“That race at Bathurst for instance, I remember very clearly late in the race, two major things; the temperature was going mad, and we used to be able to click the dash to cancel the number,” Skaife recalled.
Mark Skaife and Jim Richards were relieved to make it to the finish and win the 2002 Bathurst 1000. Image: Motorsport Images-LAT
“It got to 114 degrees and the next one was 117, and it came up 117 and I thought ‘this is getting bad. I clicked it off and they’re all yabbering in the background (on the radio) whether I was going to come in or not.
“There was just no way I was coming in, it’s the biggest race in the country.
“At that stage I was short shifting, doing all the right stuff and was able to get it home. I said to the boys ‘No more chat’ because I needed to get this thing home.”
Following the changes in the Supercar regulations to the ‘Project Blueprint’, the chassis was then updated to a VY model and the new specifications. The chassis delivered Skaife victory in the 2003 Adelaide 500, before being retired in 2004 and one of the few race cars to be retained by Skaife after its racing life.
A Bathurst lap to remember.
HRT CHASSIS 043 – The Supercar that delivered Greg Murphy’s ‘Lap of the Gods’ and a ‘Great Race’ win in 2003.
Greg Murphy dominated the 2003 Bathurst 1000, snaring pole with the famous ‘Lap of the Gods’ before backing it up with victory. Image: Motorsport Images-LAT
HRT Chassis 043 ‘Lap of the Gods’ car was originally built as a VT Commodore and in its debut race at Queensland Raceway, driven by HRT team leader Craig Lowndes in 2000.
Chassis 043 took a clean sweep of the weekend with Lowndes claiming all three races. After a few more sprint races the car was prepared for the endurance events. Lowndes and Skaife took victory in the Queensland 500, which was Lowndes’ last win in HRT colours.
The duo also drove the car at the 2000 Great Race, although Skaife did not win at Bathurst that year in chassis 043, he scored enough points to secure his first of three straight Supercars Championship titles.
Chassis 043 raced on in HRT colours in 2001, putting Skaife on path to another title with round wins at Phillip Island, Eastern Creek and Oran Park before switching to the ‘Golden Child’.
Mark Skaife wins the opening round of the 2001 V8 Supercars Championship at Phillip Island in chassis 043. Image: Motorsport Images-LAT
A move to another team and new colours
After brief stints with Rick Kelly (Holden Young Lions 2001) and Jason Bright (HRT 2002) behind the wheel, the car was Todd Kelly’s first HRT Commodore in 2003.
Kelly drove the updated VY Commodore at the first six rounds of the 2003 season until a huge first-lap crash at the exit of Turn 1 on the Sunday of the Darwin Triple Crown.
After a big repair effort, the chassis was moved across to the sister squad, K-Mart Racing team as the squad’s first VY Commodore at Oran Park.
Despite a slow start where Murphy finished 11th, car #51 showed stronger pace at the Sandown 500, where it secured a podium finish in the rain.
Rick Kelly and Greg Murphy on the podium after winning the 2003 Bathurst 1000. Image: Motorsport Images-LAT
This meant Murphy and Rick Kelly arrived at Mount Panorama with some confidence behind the wheel of Chassis 043 and the rest is history.
The car achieved it’s legendary status when Murphy produced the ‘Lap of the Gods’ qualifying lap in the Saturday Shoot-out.
Greg Murphy takes the chequered flag to win the 2003 Bathurst 1000. Image: Motorsport Images-LAT
It was a Bathurst lap that stunned the Supercars paddock with the fastest ever recored V8 Supercar lap time at Mount Panorama at the time of 2:06.859, putting Chassis 043 on pole position by 1.1s.
With Murphy and a young Rick Kelly behind the wheel, the combination delivered a crushing victory and a famous win in the Great Race of 2003.
It was Holden’s fifth win in a row at the Bathurst 1000, and the combination of Murphy and Rick Kelly would go on and win again in 2004.
In 2005 and making it seven wins in a row for Holden, Mark Skaife would take another Bathurst 1000 victory for HRT, this time with Rick Kelly’s older brother Todd,
It’s significant that these two historic Australian racing cars are now together as part of an important collection of motorsport and motoring memorabilia that records and preserves a golden age of Australian motorsport.
For more of the latest motorsport news pick up the latest issue of AUTO ACTION.
AUTO ACTION, Australia’s independent voice of motorsport
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