Johnnie Walker’s involvement in motorsport began when he joined fellow apprentices from Ford dealer G. M. Jackson’s to compete in club days at Symmons Plains in XM, GS and GT Falcons.

Johnnie then stepped up to circuit racing in the ex-Bruce Gowans/Glynn Scott Lotus 23B, which was fitted with a turbocharged 2.0 litre Ford Pinto engine, achieving many good results, to be awarded the prestigious Peter Bondy Memorial trophy.

The Lotus was then sold to make way for the unique ex-Robin Pare-Neil Allen 5.0 litre Elfin ME5 sports car, which Johnnie had to completely rebuild after a high speed crash while testing at Symmons Plains.

Sporting Johnnie’s trademark superb presentation, the Elfin lined up for round one of the 1983 Australian Sports Car Championship at Sandown and despite competing against more modern cars and on unsuitable tyres, finished a brilliant third and second in the two heats - for second overall for the round.

The Elfin was then sold to finance the build of a brand new Group C Mazda RX7 touring car, which was completed in just three months underneath Johnnie’s home  in Launceston.

Together with co-driver Gene Cook, the rookie team finished 8th (later to be elevated to 7th) , in the Castrol 400 at Sandown in a field of 33 starters, before heading to Bathurst for the 1000 km race.

Despite a blown engine in practice, which fortunately was replaced due to a $5000 assistance package from the Tasmanian government, and losing several laps at the start due to ignition issues, the car ran strongly - albeit 25 kph slower than the opposition down Conrod Straight to finish 21st in a field of 55.

The car was then leased to a Sydney group for the 1984 Bathurst 1000 before returning to Johnnie, who fitted a 13b turbocharged motor and Daytona body kit, to claim three consecutive Tasmanian Improved Production Street Car championships, including class lap records at Symmons Plains and Baskerville.

Johnnie then sold the car to build up a Mazda RX7 sports sedan, which was then sold to enable the building of another RX7 for the Targa Tasmania events in 1994 and 1995.

 As a measure of the high regard in which he is held, Johnnie was an integral part of the Dick Johnson Racing team which contested the World Sports Car championship round at Sandown in 1988 with John Bowe as co-driver,  finishing 8th against the world’s best in the Australian-designed and built Veskanda.

Johnnie worked for the John Briggs, CAT, Melbourne Performance Centre and Prancing Horse Racing teams, plus also managing PHR for two years, and for a time ran his own Formula Ford and Formula 3 team, with drivers Marcos Ambrose, Stuart Kostera, Will Power and Garth and Leanne Tander.

Until recent times Johnnie was actively involved in the popular Touring Car Masters category, in particular with Greg Crick in his Charger and Adam Garwood in his Torana and Ford Capri Perana, with both drivers having considerable success.

There were numerous other TCM drivers who also benefited from Johnnie’s assistance and advice, and not surprisingly, he was held in very high regard by all the teams.

 Since the early 2000s Johnnie has maintained a very active involvement in historic touring car racing assisting a number of competitors, but in particular Melbourne businessman Andrew Cannon, with whom a strong friendship has developed.

It started when Johnnie completely rebuilt a Ford Mustang which Cannon had bought.

Over the years the car was further developed to be a consistent front running car in the historic Group NB category interstate.

Apart from the meticulous preparation, Johnnie has also been a mentor to Cannon, who would be the first to acknowledge his improvement as a driver is due, in no small part, to Johnnie’s guidance.

Together, the team have won many races in the NB championship, which has resulted in two overall championship titles in what has been an incredibly reliable car.

Written by Barry Oliver