Former Bathust winners for East Coast Targa.

Three winners of Bathurst's 'Great Race', Colin Bond, John Goss and Bob Holden have entered this year's East Coast Targa to be conducted in and around the Bathurst region from October 27-30, 2004.

A former Holden Dealer Team driver, Bond won the 1969 Bathurst classic with Tony Roberts in a Holden Monaro, and was also runner up to team-boss Allan Moffat and Jacky Ickx in the infamous form finish of '77.

Bond will be under scrutiny from younger V8 Supercar drivers, as they know him better as the Driving Standards Observer in their Championship Series, and in most cases would have only read of his exploits behind the wheel.

While better known as a touring car driver, Bond was regarded as one of the nation's most versatile drivers, being a former hillclimb champion, he also raced Formula 5000's, while on the dirt, won the Australian Rally Championship on three occasions, 1971, 72 and 74, and was a rallycross champion.

Like Bond, Goss too showed his versatility, and was a leading light in open wheeler racing before turning his hand to 'tin tops', where he won two Bathurst classics.

The native Tasmanian won the wet 1974 Great Race with Kevin Bartlett in an XA Falcon, and then in 1985 in an XJS Jaguar with the German star Armin Hahne.

While he will always be better remembered for his Bathurst victories, the native Tasmanian also won the Australian Grand Prix, that being at Sandown Raceway in 1976 driving a Matich Repco A53, and is the only person to have achieved the rare Bathurst, AGP double.

A former works BMC driver, Holden was another to win a unique double, when he won the 1996 Great Race in a Morris Cooper S with international rally ace Rauno Altonen, then less than a month later, also in the Bathurst region, won the International Total Rally.

For the East Coast Targa, Bond will be seen in a Ferrari 355 Berlinetta with car owner Mike Gaynor, while Goss, who also competed in the event in 2003, will be seen in action behind the wheel of a Jaguar XKS with full support from Jaguar Australia.

Holden, now 72 and still a regular competitor in circuit racing, will drive the same 2 litre Ford Escort he campaigned in rallies 20 years earlier.

Organisers of this year's event are currently speaking with other past winners of the Great Race, and are hopeful of making an announcement soon on their entries.

The all tarmac East Coast Targa will be contested across 37 special stages, covering 204 kilometres of competitive driving. Among the special stages, are no less than nine at Mount Panorama, and full laps of both Eastern Creek International Raceway and Oran Park North Circuit, while there is also a sprint on the new Eastern Creek International Dragway.

The event is broken into two categories - Classic (pre-1982 manufactured vehicles) and Modern (post 1982 manufactured vehicles) and competitors can further choose to compete in Competition or Touring. Competition is an outright speed attack on each stage, while Touring requires competitors to finish the special stages in a time which matches as closely as possible pre-set average speeds.

A new initiative for this year's event, is a 'Rookie Package' for new entrants, who wish to enter the Touring category, and will include a one day program at Oran Park Raceway where all CAMS accreditation will be addressed. It also includes supply and fitting of all required safety equipment.