BRAD Jones’s first encounter with Bathurst was in 1968 when his father took him to a friend’s farm north of Albury to watch it on TV.
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He set his sights on racing there one day and in 1985 he drove in his first Bathurst 1000.
Now, 30 years later, he is still trying to win it for the first time.
Jones came second as a driver three times, while as a team owner with his brother Kim, he has had three top-five finishes in the past five years.
“To me Bathurst is unfinished business,” Jones said.
“That’s what drives me so hard towards the goal.
“I’ve won a number of Australian Championships over the years but Bathurst has been difficult for me and BJR to win.
“It’s been a part of my life since that first connection in 1968 and we’re not giving up, on the contrary, we’re going harder at it than ever.”
Jones has three cars entered in this weekend’s race and one is being piloted by his son Macauley.
This is Macaulay’s first run in the main race after competing in the development series last year.
“Watching Macauley race is a huge thrill, I have the same massive highs and massive lows going through it with him as I did as a driver,” Jones said.
“I’m nervous for him.
“Bathurst is a dangerous place, but I think he is more than capable of getting the job done and posting a strong result.”
He’s hoping Fabian Coulthard, Jason Bright and Dale Wood can also get the job done.
“Bathurst is always intense, it’s always stressful, because it’s such an important race,” Jones said.
“It just means so much to do well there.
“We’ve been so close, it’s not often you have the fastest car at Bathurst, we have a few times but things can go wrong really quickly.
“It’s a pretty heartless joint.
“It can bite you really hard.
“Last year we were running really strongly, set a new lap record, but unfortunately Fabian flat spotted a tyre which a meant a pit stop to change it and we’re out of contention.”
