Tony Cochrane a driver???

[Average Punter]

Just thumbing through the December issue of Alpha magazine.
In it they rattle off a list of the 101 Most Influential People in Australian sport. No real surprises.

96 Mark Webber
91 Peter Brock
82 Mark Skaife
47 David White (Network 10 GM)
30 Ron Walker (Aust GP)

The one that threw me was #84, Tony Cochrane esq. In his bio is this little gem;

"After a successful career as a driver, Cochrane took the sport to the next level..."

A driver? What the???? Did I miss something??

[Raglanparade]

The only thing that Cochrane has driven is grass roots Australian Motorsport into the ground.

I hear that he also sometimes drives to the bank with bags full of money also.

How does Skaifey be more influential then Webber or Brocky ??

[Crowestar]

I'm surprised the guy has a Driver's License

[racer69]

Maybe he raced under a pseudonym?

His wife has racked up more racing miles than Tony.

[hml2777]

Originally Posted by jasonhill9884

The only thing that Cochrane has driven is grass roots Australian Motorsport into the ground.

I hear that he also sometimes drives to the bank with bags full of money also.

[craig1]

Originally Posted by jasonhill9884

The only thing that Cochrane has driven is grass roots Australian Motorsport into the ground.

I hear that he also sometimes drives to the bank with bags full of money also.

How does Skaifey be more influential then Webber or Brocky ??

Why don't we take up a collection for the "grass roots" motorsport

Sorry, I forgot it's popular to bag Cochrane for doing his job, promoting V8Supercars. Seems he's pretty good at it though.

[hml2777]

Good response, but I think you have failed to remember that without "grass roots" beginings all the current V8 drivers wouldn't be where they are.

I believe people are critical of the V8's and the envelope they move in is because of the amount of money they gobble up, on the Ch.10 news they Rick Kelly/Garth Tander (can't remember which one) said that a V8 team needs a budget of $10m to run, that is $10,000,000.

Where do you think this comes from? and more importantly where is is NOT going, it is not going into Grass Roots to develop up and coming drivers that is for sure.

And just so you understand "Grass Roots", these are the people who give up most weekends and thier OWN money to go racing in a Datsun 1600 or very second hand Mazda RX3, with a crowd that consists of their mum, dad, brother, sister, uncle and the ever dwindling friends.



This is not a "go" at Tony Cochrane, just the empire he has helped build.

And let's not forget the ever decreasing volunteers that help run the meetings, because some of them won't show up to any events except for the "glory" of working at the V8's.

[craig1]

That’s a good view and one I’m sure is held by a lot of people.
The other is that Tony/V8’s has done more for Australian racing than ever before, is another.

OK, maybe not by giving OZ racing in general the cash handout that it appears some think their entitled, but at the very least building awareness that motor sport actually exists.

To borrow your reference of where would the current V8 drivers be with out grass root racing, I’d like to ask the question, where would they be without V8 racing?
Probably still in their RX3 or Datto in the sticks at some event that apart from their immediate family no one knows about.

I can’t recall car racing in Australia ever being more in the face of more average Australians, so if “grass roots” racing can’t make some thing out of the heightened awareness of motor sport in general, it should stop trying to blame someone else for it’s lack of success and get out and promote it’s self.

Sorry about the rant but the easy shot at Cochrane and the V8’s for all that’s wrong with racing in OZ is getting a little old.

[marcus]

perfect post Craig

I do agree , we sit here and bag TC , but what if he had the other effect on v8's , we would still be bagging him for not doing his job properly.

simply put its not TC's job to support grass roots racing , its up to grass roots racing to support itself.

now we have a cathc 22 situation , how can they support themselves while Tc and the V8's are taking all the limelight ?

I got no idea but honestly the V8's are where they are today because of Tony's influence , like it or loath but thats the situation.

he has done heaps for this series and its not his job to prmote Sports sedans , historics or formula ford , that is someone else's job and of course we dont know there names (ok some of you smart people will know) because V8's have taken all the limelight.

but what if tony destroyed V8's (just like Alan Gow destroyed Super Touring , dont kid yourself he did , oh yeah and the cars sucked) we would be going off our heads saying tony is an idiot and has destroyed our greatest series , and your kidding yourself if you say "I wouldnt say that !"

Tony , like him or hate him has done HIS JOB which is to promote the v8 series and the teams and therefore I give him at leats 9 out of 10 for what yhe has done.

grass roots , yep I love it but hey I just dont know what to do about it ?

[peckstar]

oh well said craig.

i guess Toll or whoever would just up and give ther 10 million to some weekend hack in a dato.

Real grass roots racing has always had the support of "mum, dad, brother, sister, uncle and the ever dwindling friends". thats not going to change and in many cases thats all it has ever been.

interesting to watch the article on RPM on Sunday about(i've forgotten who it was now, was it frank gardiner) when he turned up at Brabham "wheres my car Jack?" well theres some pipe on the wall, go and make it"

Seems like "Grass roots" now means "given too you on a plate roots"

[D.R.T.]

Originally Posted by marcus

perfect post Craig



simply put its not TC's job to support grass roots racing , its up to grass roots racing to support itself.

I dont think anyone has EVER said that it is Cochrane's or Avesco or VESA or whatever they are called this lawsuit, job to promote and look after other categories.

What people do have an issue with is the way they promote their category and the negative costs this has on other categories. Street races, high sanctioning fees, attacking other forms of motorsport are putting the long term sustainability of motorsport in Australia at risk. And they dont seem to care, that is a problem.

[johnny yuma]

yes it is getting a bit boring chasing threads to bag the cockroach,but it is so annoying when his lickspittle toadies start having another love in.For the benefit of those who weren't around or have forgotten touring car racing never had a problem attracting tens of thousands of spectators,TV coverage and all the rest before Cockroach was ever heard of [he must have been an armoured car driver]

[mixxer]

Nicely put Marcus

[hml2777]

Originally Posted by marcus

...he has done heaps for this series and its not his job to prmote Sports sedans , historics or formula ford , that is someone else's job and of course we dont know there names (ok some of you smart people will know) because V8's have taken all the limelight.

But what about the others he has pushed out the back door on the climb to the top. Do you still see the HQ's supporting the V8's like you used to, to name but one category.
And how quickly did he jump on the Procar grave to make a grab for the V8 Utes, and in the rush they hit the ground with egg on TC's face because of the series name. I think most people have forgotten them, and there will be more at the end of 2006 with no TV for the support categories this year.

[hml2777]

Originally Posted by Average Punter

...The one that threw me was #84, Tony Cochrane esq. In his bio is this little gem;

"After a successful career as a driver, Cochrane took the sport to the next level..."

A driver? What the???? Did I miss something??

Anyway to get this thread back on topic, can anyone shed some light on the allegation at hand.

[Guest]

I think there are a lot more Influential people in Australian motorsport than that bunch. I wonder who decided this list?

[Rombles1]

I take it you are referring to GTR Magic, Uncle Cranker, Storytime and Greg Barton?

[Silver GT]

i think this guy was in the right spot at the right time.....my mum could have taken the sport to the next level and she used to drive.....me to school

[monaroCountry]

How did webber get on that list, the guy hasnt done anything, apart from being in F1.

[johnny yuma]

he drove over the Bridge and did a donut on pavers at opera house[but I guess he didn't have to clean up]

[racer69]

Maybe they meant Tony's chauffer?

Com on though, it's Alpha magazine, what did we expect? They let Tony Squires write articles about Bathurst, and try telling us Danica Patrick qualified on pole for the Indianapolis 500.