The first ATCC champion’s connection to WWII

Anzac Day is always a special day, honouring those who served for our country and one of them was the very first Australian Touring Car Champion (ATCC) David McKay.

McKay kicked off the 64-year history of the ATCC, now Supercars, by famously winning a one-off race on February 1, 1960 at Gnoo Blass.

He led a Jaguar Mark 1 top three after snatching the lead from Bill Pitt on Lap 2 and overcame a late-race scare to secure a 6s win.

McKay had led by over 26s, but was forced to use his car to move the stationary Ford Zephyr out of the way, vanishing his advantage.

Then a spin saw McKay sacrifice the lead to Pitt, whose time controlling the race was also short lived.

The David McKay/Greg Cusack Vauxhall Velox leads Jim O’Shannessy/John Brindley Holden EH in the 1963 Armstrong 500. Image: AutoPics

A mechanical problem saw McKay reclaim the lead with two laps to go and he was able to take out the famous victory.

In addition to his ATCC crown, he also took two Bathurst 500 podiums with a second in 1961 alongside Brian Foley and a third place all on his own a decade later.

As a team owner, McKay also attracted the likes of famous Formula 1 world champions Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart down under to race for his Scuderia Veloce team.

Away from the race track where he was a massive part of the early days of the professional era of Australian motorsport, he was also an established a career as a respected writer with the Dailey Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph newspapers for close to two decades.

Ford’s Al Turner with David McKay

But before all this McKay served in World War II as a Private  in the 2/6th Armoured Regiment where he was a tank driver.

The then 20-year-old from North Sydney enlisted to the Australian Military Forces on August 28, 1941.

The 2/6th Armoured Regiment was equipped with the fast and manoeuvrable US M24 ‘Stuart’ Light Tank.

After being raised in Greta, NSW the Regiment was moved to New Guinea where Australian forces were fighting the Empire of Japan from January 1942.

The 2/6th Armoured Regiment was initially stationed in Port Moresby and Milne Bay before being moved up the coast to Buna-Gona.

This was to take part in The Battles for the Beachheads, which was the final phase of the critical Kokoda Campaign.

The 2/6th Armoured Regiment took part in the 18th Brigade attack at Cape Endaiadere to capture air strips and the Government Station.

In 16 days the 18th Brigade had lost 55 officers and 808 men killed or wounded and in January 1943 the focus turned to Sanananda.

David McKay (second from right #3) and personnell of the 2/6th Regiment carrying out physical training exercises on the Burleigh Heads beach in Queensland on January 12 1944. Image: Australian War Memorial

The 18th Brigade began their advance on January 12 but sustained more casualties and made limited progress.

Despite this, the Japanese started to withdraw from their forward positions.

After six days of continual fighting, the Sanananda village was in Allied hands.

However, the surrounded remnant Japanese forces resisted for another three days until it ceased.

McKay and the 2/6th Armoured Regiment remained in New Guinea until mid 1943 before it returned to Australia to join the 4th Armoured Brigade Group.

They saw no further combat for the remainder of WWII and the Regiment was disbanded in September 1945.

McKay discharged from the Australian Military Forces on February 26, 1946.

From there he went from operating a tank to driving trucks and eventually race cars with great success, not only winning the ATCC, but also forming the iconic Holden Dealer Team, setting a land speed record and racing hard in the Australian Grand Prix.

McKay’s last of eight Great Race appearances was alongside Spencer Martin in 1979.

Auto Action, like all Australians, honours and remembers the contribution of all fighting men and women, especially those who fell to allow us to live lives of peace and freedom away from the madness in some other parts of the world.

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We’re back from our weekend in Taupo (Tow Paw), and what an unbelievable first weekend for that venue. It was, we felt, the start of this season, too, despite it being the third round. Andrew and Bruce were there, and PG was on the couch.

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