RIP Dale Brede

The Supercars world and wider motorsport community is coming to terms with the tragic loss of recent Bathurst regular Dale Brede.

Brede passed away last week aged 48 and was a well known figure, recording 35 Supercars starts and being involved in Australian Superbikes.

Until this year when Cameron Hill came along, Brede was the last Canberra born driver to compete a full Supercars season, with his one and only stint arriving in 2004 with Team Dynamik.

His racing career began quickly, rising from karts in the capital to Formula Ford before graduating to the Australian Drivers Championship in 1998.

Driving for National Capital Motors, Brede improved each year to rise to seventh in the standings in the 2000 season in a Reynard-Holden 94D.

This led to a promotion to the Konica V8 Supercar Series (now Dunlop Series) in 2001 where he impressed, finishing sixth with two podium finishes.

After switching from a Holden VT Commodore to a Ford AU Falcon, Brede went even better in 2002 when he was a consistent contender.

He was the only driver to win a development series race other than Paul Dumbrell that season and finished second after a pair of wins at Wakefield Park and Malala.

These solid performances led to a Supercars debut in 2002 when he partnered Steve Owen in the recognisable CAT AU Falcon for Briggs Motor Sport.

Brede made his debut in the final Queensland 500 and finished 19th, four laps down.

He and Owen returned at Mount Panorama and despite being caught up in an inter-team clash at Reid Park on Lap 109, car #600 was able to improve six spots and finish 17th.

Brede continued to gain more opportunities in 2003 when he joined the Holden Young Lions squad in the Konica series and finished sixth.

He was joined by Tony Ricciardello for the enduros, also in a Holden Young Lions Commodore at Sandown where they finished 24th.

Their Great Race campaign ended in heartbreak on Lap 75 when Ricciardello hit the McPhillimay Park wall hard and ended on the edge of the Skyline gravel trap.

After two strong second tier seasons, Brede was rewarded with a step up to the main game for his first and ultimately only full time season in 2004.

The call up arrived from Team Dynamik, who got the Canberra-born driver to replace the departing Jason Richards.

Driving the #45 Dodo Commodore Brede had a challenging season, finishing 31st in the championship battling numerous reliability issues with 12th his only top 15 result at Winton.

Joining him for the enduros was a young Will Davison, but the pair were unable to greet the chequered flag at Sandown or Bathurst.

For 2005 Brede was back on the co-driver market and returned to the “Blue Oval” with Brad Jones Racing where he enjoyed his most successful stint of his career.

He shared the sister #12 BJR BOC BA Falcon with popular Scot John Cleland and despite only registering a 21st at Sandown, they turned heads at Mount Panorama.

In a wild and thrilling race, Brede and Cleland stayed out of trouble to rise from 29th to seventh. This was Brede’s best Supercars finish and only time inside the top 10.

The impressive performance earned him an unprecedented second year with a Supercars team, staying on as the lead driver in the #12 for 2006.

He shared the car with Kiwi Mark Porter at Sandown and once again they made significant progress in the 161-lap race, climbing from 25th to 18th.

They were getting prepared to tackle their first Great Race together as a combination, until tragedy struck, with Porter passing away in a horrific Fujitsu Series crash at the top of the Mountain in an already highly emotional weekend held in the aftermath of the passing of Peter Brock.

Despite the tragedy on Friday, car #12 lined up on the grid three days later with Michael Caruso being parachuted in for an unexpected Supercars debut.

Their race lasted 59 laps until the rookie went head first into the Griffins Bend tyres.

That proved to be Brede’s 35th and final Supercars race, but he remained entrenched in the motor racing community for the following 17 years.

He ran the successful Canberra Motorcycle Centre and also the factory Suzuki squad in the Australian Superbike Championship, while he formed part of the Movieworld stunt team with current Supercars co-driver Warren Luff more recently.

Brede’s former co-driver Will Davison left a heartfelt tribute on social media.

‘I’ve been struggling with the reality of this post for days and haven’t quite processed the incredibly sad loss of one of my best mates Dale Brede,” read Davison’s post.

“I feel honoured and truly lucky to have had you a part of my life for over 20 years brother.

“Life won’t be the same without you here and we will miss you more than words. I love you buddy.”

Luff, who also made his full-time Supercars debut in 2004 also posted some special words.

“This week my world lost some of its light and laughter with the loss of my good mate Dale Brede. 

“Breedy and I started out as competitors 20 years ago, but soon became great mates,” Luff said.

“For the last nearly 2 years we worked together at Movieworld as part of the stunt team.

“It still doesn’t seem real that he’s gone, but his memory and impact on so many will never be forgotten. Love ya buddy. RIP BREEDY.”

AUTO ACTION is saddened by the news and sends its heartfelt condolences to Brede’s family and friends.

Main image by Mark Horsburgh/LAT Photographic

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