- David 'Skippy' Parsons
David John 'Skippy' Parsons (born
May 17 1959 in Devonport,Tasmania ), was an Australian racing driver, who while never a full time racing driver, drove for the biggest racing teams in Australia.Son of Tasmanian touring car racer Graham Parsons, David Parsons began emerging onto the national scene racing a
Holden Commodore in the1982 Australian Touring Car Championship . Embraced as an endurance co-driver by gentleman privateer racePeter Janson his pace on his way to fourth at the1982 James Hardie 1000 brought him to the attention ofPeter Brock and theHolden Dealer Team . Co-driving John Harvey's #25 Commodore, Parsons was part of the HDT's dominant 1-2 finish at the1984 James Hardie 1000 .Parsons maintained a connection with HDT into 1985 but as the relationship between Brock and
Holden deteriorated, Parsons went to drive for fellow HDT alumnus,Larry Perkins . Parsons was recalled to HDT during 1987 and took part in the HDT's abbreviated campaign of the European leg of the World Touring Car Championship.Heading into the
1987 James Hardie 1000 the Holden Dealer Team was expected to do little more the make up the numbers against the strength of the factory supported Ford andBMW teams. When the #05 car Parsons shared with Brock experienced a major engine failure in the early running, their effort looked set to be little more than a footnote. First Brock, then Parsons stepped aboard the team's second car, #10 which had been driven to that point of the race byPeter McLeod . Inspired driving on variable surface as rain plagued the second half of the race, good strategy and a lucky break with safety car procedure and the team clawed their way past the BMW M3s as they failed and into third position behind the flawless 1-2 finish of the Eggenberger MotorsportFord Sierra s.Subsequently the two Sierras were disqualified, giving Parsons, Brock and McLeod the race win.
Parsons stayed with the team into 1988 as they transitioned to BMW M3s. After a year out of racing Parsons returned to Brock's team in 1990, now running Ford Sierras. The Sierra experience gained saw Parsons join
Glenn Seton Racing in 1991 where he became a regular co-driver for the team for the next seven years, continuing to race with the team into theV8 Supercar era. A highlight was winning the1993 Sandown 500 co-driving a GSR Ford Falcon withGeoff Brabham .From 1998 onwards Parsons was a hired gun, driving for
Gibson Motor Sport and Owen Parkinson Racing, including co-drives with the other David John Parsons race driver. His final Bathurst appearance was alongsidePaul Romano in 2000. Parsons has recently made a comeback, racing in the production basedCommodore Cup series.Career results
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