Johnnie Walker: Death of racing legend who won the Australian Grand Prix throws motor sport into mourning
- Star had a great career that lasted 16 years
- He died earlier this week after becoming a household name
Australian motorsport is mourning the loss of Grand Prix and Drivers Championship winner Johnnie Walker, who died earlier this week at the age of 79 after a glittering career that made him a household name at his peak.
Walker won the Australian Drivers’ Championship in 1979, when it was the premier competition for open-wheel cars, and also finished second in 1973 and 1975.
He also won the Australian Grand Prix in 1979, beating fellow Australian motorsport greats such as John Bowe and Larry Perkins to take victory in the race, which at the time was a completely local affair and not part of Formula One.
At the time, he was one of only four drivers to win both the Grand Prix and the championship title.
Walker is pictured driving his Matich A50 at the 1972 Australian Drivers’ Championship, in which he finished fourth before taking the title in 1979.
Walker’s career began in the early 1960s and by 1968 he had finished second in the Australian Formula 2 Championship.
He competed in his first Australian Grand Prix in 1970 and moved up to the Formula 5000 class in 1972, but also played a starring role in the country’s most famous race in 1975.
That year he and Colin Bond drove a Holden Dealer Team Torana SL/R to third place at the Bathurst 1000, then known as the Hardie Ferodo 1000.
Three years later he and Warren Cullen finished seventh in the great race in their Holden LX Torana.
In 1981 he piloted his Porsche 911 Turbo to fourth place in the Australian Sports Car Championship, the last major result of his career.
When he finished riding competitively, Walker opened a panel shop that was later taken over by his son when he fully retired.
He died on Monday at the age of 79.