’Ring, a ’Ring for Rosey

Supercars teams run to multi-million dollar budgets with over 20 full-time employees. In contrast, an adapted 24-hour spec V8 Supercar raced on the other side of the world at the notorious Nurburgring, was run by one man, Mal Rose, and a band of volunteers, literally out of his back shed.

Story: Steve Normoyle

At the end of 2003, the Bathurst 24 Hour was run for the last time. This left long-time racing identity Mal Rose somewhat in the lurch: he had three Mitsubishi Mirage Cup cars which he’d converted for 24- hour racing, but now had nowhere to race them.

Then a friend said to him: ‘why don’t you run them at the Nurburgring?’ To which Mal replied:
‘what’s that?’

“I’m being honest when I say this,” Rose admitted to AMC, “but I’d never heard of the Nurburgring!”