1989 Shrike Formula Holden/Brabham NB89H

Details

ProvenanceThis vehicle was designed and built in Adelaide, South Australia in 1988 to fulfil the requirements for the newly created Formula Australia open wheeler race category, which replaced the previous Formula Pacific category from 1989.

The car was the brainchild of Ted Noack, an automotive engineering lecturer at Croydon TAFE. Ted's concept was to utilise the newly acquired skills of the TAFE students to help build and race the cars. In a stroke of genius, Ted was able to convince the then Minister of Education Gregory Crafter to fund this as part of a technical education syllabus.

The design parameters were set by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports. In order to keep the costs manageable there were stipulations, such as: the chassis needed to be at least one year old and that the class was to run a standardised 3.8 litre Buick Holden supplied LN3 V6 engine, from the then production Holden VN Commodore. Ted Nowick, with the help of race car engineer Graeme Burton, decided to base the race car on an aluminium monocoque structure.

Four vehicles were built at Croydon TAFE, the first and second having a slightly shortened chassis than the last two. This vehicle is the prototype i.e. Chassis No.1 . Following race experience, Chassis No. 2 was extensively modified and rebadge as chassis No.5. There were, however, a number of issues with the cars, not the least of which being that the Buick/Holden V6 engine developed a across the board fault, which saw long time race driver and automotive engineer Larry Perkins called in to re-engineer the standardised engines. Larry Perkins' solution was to replace the cast-iron crank shafts which kept cracking with a forged steel crankshafts, courtesy of GM Motorsports department, and the problem was solved.

This particular car debuted at the 1988 Australian Grand Prix in the Australian Drivers Championships, which was one of the support races on the day, in the hands of Ian Richards. Whilst the car was immediately competitive, it failed to win the championships outright. Its best result on the winners podium was to twice place a win for its driver, Mark Poole, during the 1990 Australian Drivers series. Following the 1992 round, the cars became considerably under-competitive against the newly introduced carbon fibre constructed cars. Amongst the more well know racing personalities to drive a Shrike were World Super Bike Champion Wayne Gardner, who in 1990 failed to place in a Shrike, and V8 Super car empresario Paul Morris, who in 1991 finished fourth overall in a Shrike.

Overtime, the race series was changed from Formula Holden being the class specific engine, to Formula Brabham, in honour of Sir Jack Brabham, and finally in 2005 it was subsumed into the Australian Formula 3 Championships.

As a side note, long time hill climbing champion, Stan Keen used a Shrike to pick up his second Australian Hill Climbing Championship in 1993.
Whilst the race program may have lasted only a few years, it had a significant impact on the lives of those involved, many of whom went on to become important members of Australia motoring and motor sports industry. SignificanceWhilst the race program may have lasted only a few years, it had a significant impact on the lives of those involved, many of whom went on to become important members of Australia motoring and motor sports industry. Date of Creation1989Accession NumberHT 2001.0438On DisplayNational Motor Museum

Vehicle Information

Year1989Chassis No1ColourRedModelNB89HMakeShrike Formula Holden/Brabham

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CollectionMotoring

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1989 Shrike Formula Holden/Brabham NB89H