There’s no doubting it, Lanotec ambassador Glenn Ridge is a rev head through and through.
After a decade of hosting the prime-time TV quiz show Sale of the Century, Glenn became a household name around the country, with his ongoing success in the media spotlight subsequently opening doors in the motorsport world.
From being a successful competitor on and off-road, to dabbling in drifting, to hosting dedicated motoring TV shows and being a circuit racing category manager, Glenn has been there and done that in motorsport.
And after 30 years in the game, his competitive spirit still burns bright.
The motorsport bug & bogging Richo’s GT-R
From a young age, Glenn had an interest in motoring and motorsport, with his brother working at the Adelaide Chrysler factory.
He remembers being taken by his parents to Rowley Park Speedway, plus being trackside watching the bigger than life Geoghegan Brothers racing their Chargers.
“It wasn’t until Sale of the Century opened up a lot of doors, and I was able to hop in other cars, and the opportunities just became a lot easier,” said Glenn, with the early 1990s seeing him a fixture in various celebrity races, such as those at the Adelaide Grand Prix, the Indycarnival on the Gold Coast and Rally Australia in Perth.
A subsequent Nissan tie-up also opened doors.
“I had a day when I went out to Calder with Jimmy Richards and his GT-R… how on earth he drove it so well, I don’t know. I copped the turbo lag, but then all of a sudden the power kicked in and I was a passenger, spinning into the infield.
“I’ll never forget it, it was one of those moments… the PR person came over – “We’ve got to go now, see ya!”, and we left Jimmy with his GT-R stuck in the middle of the mud… and he still talks to me, he’s still a friend, and I don’t know why!”
It also opened the door to the biggest buzz of his life, somewhat off the beaten track.
“We were giving Nissans away at that time on the show, and they asked if I wanted to do a desert race, so I did an Australian Safari in a Patrol, which was just fabulous,” said Glenn.
“We won our class that year, I shared with Craig Martin, the off-road champion, he’d never navigated before, and I’d never driven or navigated, so it was quite funny. It was just a great experience, he was an amazing driver, and I think we came top-ten, but that was more through Craig’s doing.
“Then I thought I want to do this again, so I came to an arrangement with Nissan, and I got another Patrol.
“That was when they were bringing out the diesel, so I got a diesel Patrol, and my mate Bob (Edwards), who navigated a lot for me in Targa Tasmania – he was a good drinker but a lousy navigator, so he fitted into the team well – he navigated for us up there, and we won the diesel class on that occasion because there were no other diesel cars in the field… We wound up going for another three years after that, and I had a great time in it.”
It was also in the early 1990s that tarmac rallying appeared on Glenn’s radar, and remained a fixture of his life to this date.
Although he missed the inaugural 1992 Targa Tasmania, he debuted in 1993 as a co-driver in a mate’s classic Porsche 911.
“I navigated, but that’s probably the last time I really ever navigated in an event, I decided I didn’t want to be a passenger-side airbag anymore… in fact, on that first one, he put it on its lid in a stage called Riana, and I found it was a really good feeling walking away from someone else’s Porsche on its roof,” reminisced Glenn.
“From there I decided I was going to do it each year. I had a Nissan 300ZX, and we raced that for a few years, then we had a Lotus Elise, then on Sale we were giving away Alfa Romeos, so we had a GTV, and then I got the RX-7 through an association with Mazda.”
That Lanotec-backed RX-7 SP has been the mainstay of Glenn’s tarmac rallying efforts since.
Bred as a homologation special for the production car racing scene of the day, the limited run of under 30 makes it a desirable machine, with the model’s exploits including a win in the 1995 Eastern Creek 12 Hour, as piloted by the legendary Dick Johnson and John Bowe.
The twin-turbo twin-rotor rocket is a potent piece, with the car coming from the factory featuring 120 modifications over the already very swift standard road-going RX-7.
Perhaps Glenn’s best effort in the black beauty was in its debut Targa Tasmania in 1996, when he placed fourth outright for the event behind Jim Richards, Ray Lintott and Guy Beddington.
On the penultimate stage, he gained a position when Rusty French slipped off the road, while at the finish, he edged out Peter Fitzgerald, who was classified fifth.
Outside of Targa Tasmania and the various other tarmac events that have been hosted around the Apple Isle, Glenn has utilised the car far and wide, including events such as the Lake Mountain Sprint, the Mount Buller Sprint, Targa High Country and Targa West.
Elsewhere, Glenn has participated in numerous classic rallies, such as those hosted in Perth and Adelaide, Dutton Rallies, Grand Prix Rallies, plus dirt rallies in varying capacities.
Away from competition circles in the motoring world, Glenn was the host of Channel 9’s The Car Show for seven years, while more recently he presented the Garage 41 series on 7mate.
Often overlooked, however, was his involvement in circuit racing category management. His most recent foray was with the Targa Invitational slots on the Supercars undercard at venues like Symmons Plains and Phillip Island, while he was the category manager of the Touring Car Masters Series, plus for a stint, Porsche Carrera Cup Australia.
Keeping it in the family
Motorsport is a family affair for the Ridges.
Glenn has had his brother and all three of his kids navigate over the tarmac rally journey, with varying results!
“In recent years I’ve been able to do it with my kids, Olly my son and both my daughters have jumped in the passenger seat,” said Glenn.
“One, Peri, she did a Targa High Country with me years ago, she was never really keen on it, and she got car sick the whole weekend the poor kid, and at the end of it, she said ‘I’ve had a great time, you’ve got some wonderful friends, just don’t ask me again!’”
Meanwhile, Olly has also fallen headfirst into the motorsport world, however, along a very different path to his dad.
After acquiring a Silvia drift car, the Ridge’s did the only sensible thing: shoehorn the powerplant from an R32 Nissan GT-R under the bonnet.
When that option became a bit long in the tooth, the logical progression was to fit the sporty Nissan with a dirty great Commodore V8, which is proving to be a hoot.
“The first time I drove it, one of Olly’s mates taught me how to do a handbrake turn on the skidpan at DECA in Shepparton, and I just love it,” said Glenn.
“I’m still not good at it, but at least with the car now, and the way it’s set up, at least if you miss it, you keep your boot into it and just do another circle and get back to where you have to go!
“I love spending time with Olly when he goes racing – it’s just a really good atmosphere, drifting is actually inclusive for a lot of people, and their car handling is just superb.”
Racing up Mount Buller
Recently, Lanotec was invited along to ride shotgun with Glenn for the opening day of Targa High Country, and it proved to be an incredible experience.
The day featured a pair of blasts up the 16km road that winds its way to the peak of Mount Buller, an incredible ribbon of bitumen at the 40-60km/h posted speed limit, but out of this world when travelling at a decent clip.
Behind the wheel, Glenn was supreme – firstly, he was completely on top of the car – 30 years of continued competition use results in an intimate bond between man and machine.
Secondly, Glenn has screamed up that stretch of road countless times, with his car positioning spot on, despite the absolute lack of pacenotes provided from the left-hand seat.
While the medium compound Yokohama A050s fitted to the RX-7 SP can cope with a week of racing around Tasmania, they also offer a high degree of grip, even from cold.
Power was smooth and copious, although Glenn complained of turbo lag coming out of the very tightest hairpins, an issue easily argued.
The onboard sound was sweet but not overpowering, while the cabin stayed comfy with the sunroof cracked opened.
An incredible thrill, and one which really makes you appreciate the skills required to be a successful competitor in Targa competition.
And the Lanotec Mazda RX-7 gets attention too – plenty of punters love rotaries, and especially appreciate the heritage of the SP.
For Glenn, being a true car guy, his motorsport career continues to tick boxes.
“I’ve been very fortunate… nobody has ever expected me to be very good at motor racing, I’ve done it, competed, and had a lot of fun doing it, but winning has never been an objective,” he said.
“Having fun is effectively what we’ve done for 30 years, just to go out and have a good time, and what I’ve found out is that there are some really cool people who take part in this sport.
“At Targa events, there is a lot of time to stand around and talk and mingle… there are some really good people, some have got so much money that they could buy a South Pacific nation, while others scrape together a few bucks to come away and do the events, and they have an absolute ball.
“It’s been a good sport for me, and I love it.”
