A TRIBUTE TO POSSUM BOURNE 1957—2003

 
Possum Bourne as we will all remember him - winning again - this
time at Rally Queensland 2001.  Photo by Gaven McGrath SC421

During the Easter trip to the Barrington Tops we were all surprised when my CDMA phone beeped into service as we were climbing the steep climb up to Gloucester Tops on Saturday afternoon. The short SMS message had been sent by Gaven McGrath on Friday, saying Possum had been seriously injured in a car accident. At the time Gav was not answering his phone so I left a message. We initially thought it must have been a testing accident for the Rally of Canberra being held on the following weekend. It was not until Sunday lunchtime when we were at one of the highest points of the Barrington Tops that I was able to ring Gav and get the full story. The sad news was that Possum had a recce accident in New Zealand at the “Race To The Sky” annual hillclimb event held on Snow Farm Road in the Cardrona Valley near Queenstown. While driving down the hill by himself in a current MY 03 Forester, his vehicle was hit in the driver’s door and A pillar area by a Jeep Cherokee driven by Mike Barltrop, who was hospitalised with a broken leg.  The Jeep was the last car of a 10 car convoy being lead up the hill on a recce run. In thick dust and with both cars said to be traveling at 60km/h or less, the Jeep was apparently on the wrong side of the road, which lead to the accident. With his concerned wife Peggy looking on, rescuers took over an hour to remove Possum from the car; he was then airlifted to Dunedin Hospital suffering head and chest injuries and with two broken legs.

In hospital, Possum’s condition was classified as critical and he was placed in a drug-induced coma. With his family and friends by his side, he remained in that condition until the end of the following weekend (Rally of Canberra). On medical advice following brain scans showing the seriousness of his condition, it was decided to slowly reduce the life support system. He passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning. At the Club’s April GM and sausage sizzle Greg Bryant announced the sad news about the life support, which Kathy had phoned in from home after hearing a news report. Earlier in the evening at the sizzle Blair Palmer had told us he had heard from his father over in NZ that Possum’s recovery prospects were not good.

Possum grew up on a north island dairy farm. His real name of Peter was replaced with his nick-name of “Possum’’ following one night when he rolled his mother’s Humber while avoiding a possum on a nearby road. His wife Peggy, who hails from South Africa, sons Taylor 8, Spencer 4, and daughter Jazlan 3 survive him. His rally career began driving a 1979 Mk 1 V8 powered Cortina. In the early 1980’s he progressed to Subarus, initially driving a 4WD twin carb RX coupe (our equivalent model here was the MY series single carb 2WD GLF coupe). He competed in local NZ rallies as well as the world round Rally NZ. His next Subaru was a new L series RX Turbo that arrived in 1985. By now, he had backing from Subaru Japan and was able to compete in international rallies such as Rally Australia and the Safari Rally in Kenya. In the early 1990’s when the new Liberty RS Turbo was released he bought a Prodrive built Group A version.

Now with increased backing from Subaru Australia and other sponsors, his team (Possum Bourne Motorsport, based at Pukekohe just south of Auckland) was able to run a two car RS Turbo team, a production Group N for Australian driver Rob Herridge and a more modified Group A for himself. The cars were painted in bright yellow with blue splashes along the sides, bonnet, and roof. At the time this colour scheme set a trend and was copied on many different cars, even Rik Close’s radio controlled Brumby. In 1993 Possum had a big accident at Rally Australia which killed his navigator Rodger Freeth, who was a friend and business partner. Since then all his cars have carried the number plate ROJ in memory of Rodger. This accident put a temporary delay to his future rally plans. It was not until the mid 1990’s that he was able to gain enough funding, using a lot of his own money as well as that provided by his faithful sponsors, to buy from Prodrive again. This time it was Subaru’s newest rally car, the WRX Group A sedan. This time the colour scheme was Prodrive/WRC blue with yellow splashes. Possum driving the WRX went on to become the most successful combination ever in Australian rallying.

As victories and championships followed and WRX sales soared, Subaru increased their support; a second Group N WRX was prepared by Possum’s Team and was driven by New Zealander Greg Graham. Possum eventually rolled this first WRX, requiring a re-body before competing in it again. As this was happening his Motorsport preparation and performance business was expanding. He also drove a 555 sponsored, Prodrive prepared and maintained WRX Group A in the Asia Pacific Championship; which he won in 93 and 94. In the late 1990’s the Group A sedan was replaced by another Prodrive prepared 2 door WRX built to the new World Rally Car (WRC) rules. Then up and coming young driver Cody Crocker was brought into the team as a permanent member to drive a new Group N WRX in the ARC and Rally Australia and NZ. The WRC WRX was replaced by another Prodrive built (but this time leased) P2000 WRC, which was the latest improved version. Again in 2000 he won the Asia Pacific Championship. This car became Possum’s favourite all time rally car. His original WRC car was kept, and was converted into a lightweight, high horsepower car that he drove to victory in the 2001 Race To The Sky Hillclimb, which was one of his favourite events.                

For the 2002 season the rules were changed, replacing the spectacular but expensive WRC cars with the Group N production car class. Possum was initially against the change but to his credit he went with the new rules and contested the series driving a new MY 01/02 WRX. He went onto win the Championship to claim his 7th straight ARC series, which is a record. This success lead to him competing in this year’s World Rally Championship in the Group N class, with support from Subaru Australia and Japan and all his usual sponsors. He finished in 5^th place in Sweden, but unfortunately retired in NZ with engine problems driving the latest MY 03 WRX.

In the late 1990’s Subaru Japan presented Possum with a special black STi edition WRX for his services for rallying Subarus. It was stolen but later found with only minor damage. In 2002 he celebrated 20 years rallying Subarus. Also many of his sponsors had supported him for years, including Pirelli tyres, which have done so for 10 years.         

As a Club we first met Possum in the early 90’s at Rally Queensland driving the RS Turbo. While waiting at the yellow clock board to come into time control on the Club’s stage, Forest Drive, he would usually get swamped with posters, caps, shirts and car bits (such as inner guards that had fallen off in the creek crossing just after the start on an early run), to sign his autograph. It was never a problem to him when he probably should have been studying his pace notes like some of the other drivers. He knew that this was mostly the only opportunity that officials like us had on stages out in the forest. Also while he was Queensland we invited him on 3 occasions to be a guest speaker at special rally nights, the first being in 1996 at our then meeting spot at the Polish Club in Milton, the second was in 1998 at Subaru City Breakfast Creek, and the third was in 2002, again at City Subaru.  For the last two nights the newly formed WRX Club was involved; the nights were a great success with standing room only. He always found time in his busy schedule for these nights; he would roll up with his slides and speak and answer questions for a few hours covering his interesting career. Cameron Neilsen was able to video the first two nights; the Club has decided to compile them and present them to the Bourne family as mementos.

Possum driving through the creek on Forest Drive, Rally Queensland 2000.
Photo by Kathy Mullaly SC480

Thousands of people attended Possum’s funeral held in Pukekohe. Some of his cars and career mementos were on display outside the hall, his coffin was painted in WRC blue, while his son Taylor bravely was one of the speakers. While the New Zealand Parliament was sitting, a minute’s silence was observed as a mark of respect. Subaru Australia also held a memorial service in Sydney. Included in the tributes that flowed in from fellow drivers, team members and fans all over the world, was this from David Lapworth, the director of the Subaru World Rally Team, who said: “Possum in his way was instrumental in making the whole thing happen with Subaru; his enthusiasm in the 1980’s was one of the things that made Subaru get involved in the WRC”.

Career Highlights:

1991 New Zealand Championship

2001 Race To The Sky Hillclimb

1993, 1994, 2000 Asia Pacific Championship

1996 – 2002 Australian Rally Championship

by David Martin SC180