Crompton confirms return, Johnson switches to a Falcon

The John Bowe-owned Mustang ‘Sally’ has enjoyed a star-studded driver line-up so far this season in the Touring Car Masters, with Bowe himself having started out in the car, before Johnson took over the reigns.

As first reported by Motorsport.com, next in line is racer-turned TV commentator Crompton, who will make his comeback behind the wheel of a V8-powered tourer at the TCM round at Sydney Motorsport Park next month.

“It’s not often you get thrown the keys to an iconic race car like Mustang Sally, this is an incredibly generous opportunity,” Crompton said.

“You never lose the passion for race driving but as life changes the opportunities diminish. It’s not an easy thing to do well, especially when you’re low on mileage, so the best approach is be positive, relaxed and realistic.

“On that theme, realistically, I have no expectations other than to have fun and avoid trouble in that order.

“As you can imagine, at my age, trading out of my Father’s Day slippers, dressing gown, a warm fire and a knitted blanket, for a day at the SMP in the Mustang for Muscle Car Masters was an easy decision.”

Johnson, meanwhile, won’t be sitting on the sidelines. He and his #17 doorplate will shift over to a Tony Karanfilovski-owned Ford Falcon XY GTHO for the weekend, with Johnson keen to give Crompton and Bowe, who will continue in the Holden Torana, a run for their money.

“I’ve had to hand the keys back to ‘Sally’ to JB for the weekend, kicking and screaming, to allow Neil to drive the car,” Johnson said.

“Tony races a beautifully built yellow and black Mustang in the series and also has an XY GTHO Falcon TCM car in his stable, and he was keen for me to drive it to help get the car sorted.

“It’s a really well built car and prepared by Spencer Rice and his team at Classic Speed Shop in Sydney, and he really knows his stuff. I think we should be able to race somewhere near the front.

“Tony has indicated that the car could be for sale so let’s hope we can give it a really good send off at the Muscle Car Masters event and help get it to a good home after the weekend is complete.

“I’ll miss driving ‘Sally’ but it should be a really good project for us and an exciting challenge.”