RallySport Magazine November 2016

The TTE Celica was driven by
nine world champions at the
1997 Race of Champions.
Story: PETER WHITTEN
Unless you sit close to the spectrum,
love “counting cards” or
numbers on buses, the starting
sequence might do your head in?
Remembering each of the six steps,
and in the correct order, could well be
more difficult than actually getting the
1990s WRC weapon off the line, but I’m
sure I’ll give it a go given the chance!
Stuart Bowes is one of the bestknown
rally photographers in
Australia and overseas, and one
whom the RallySport Mag team helped
along the way in his early years.
Having spent 25 years covering the
Australian Rally Championship (ARC)
and jetting around the world shooting
WRC, F1 events and motor shows, in
between times, and with his brother
Angus, he’s fronted Broons, a successful
earthmoving equipment manufacturer
and rental business
based in Adelaide.
Stuart says he’s now
“sort of” semi-retired
from rally photography,
and has decided
to finally get back
behind the wheel of
a rally car “before the
years march on any
further” – something
that he hasn’t done
since driving a Group
G Datsun 1600 in the
1980s.
“I’ve had a few long
chats with Jeff David
about classic rallying
and I reckon he’s spot
on about making some
decisions and doing
what you really enjoy,”
Stuart says.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have been
able to accumulate the resources to
enjoy my passion, and
I’m forever grateful
for the wonderful
opportunities that have
come along over many
years.”
The mighty “Datto”
still sits in a shipping
container at the Broons
yard (and could well
see daylight again in
2017), but with money
in the bank, Stuart
decided that he was
going to chase a car
that he never actually
believed he could even
contemplate owning
– an ex-works Toyota
Team Europe (TTE)
Celica GT-Four.
As Toyota’s official rally photographer
in the ARC for many years, the Toyota
passion burned brightly and so the
search began….
“I started looking seriously in 2007,”
says Stuart.
Countless trips to Europe (where
the Broons work often just happened
to align with his motorsport interests)
and after looking at numerous cars, he
started to hone in on his objective.
“Group B was never going to work
for me. I love the cars and I remember
watching them on the WRC in Europe,
but they are very expensive to run
and maintain, plus they were never
campaigned in Australia.
“Anyone who’s got a real one will
tell you they’re fantastic to drive, but a
bottomless money pit if you intend to
use it.
“The latter years of Group A was
every bit as impressive as Group B for
action, and I was right in the thick of
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