Neil Crompton

Neil Crompton (born 30 July 1960) is an Australian former racing driver and current Supercars presenter and commentator.

Racing career Highlights According to the official V8 Supercars website, Crompton has competed in 357 various motor racing events, finishing in the first three places on 58 occasions. 230 of those races were with events counting towards the Australian Touring Car Championship (nowadays promoted as the Supercar Championship Series), including three second places and ten thirds.

Crompton has raced at Mount Panorama in Bathurst, New South Wales on more than 20 occasions dating back to his 1988 debut with Peter Brock's Mobil BMW Team. His best results being two third placings in the crash shortened 1992 race with Anders Olofsson in a Gibson Motorsport Nissan GT-R and in 1995 with Wayne Gardner in a Wayne Gardner Racing Holden Commodore VR in addition to winning the 1994 12 Hour endurance race with Gregg Hansford in a factory supported Mazda RX-7.

Early years Crompton started racing in 1972 at age eleven on a Honda minibike before graduating to motocross where he had some success.

In 1985, Crompton moved to racing cars and has raced in various, mostly sedan-based categories, starting in a Series Production specification Mitsubishi Cordia. Racing categories that he has contested include V8 Supercars, Super Touring Cars, Group A Touring Cars, Sports Sedans, as well as the open-wheel categories of Formula Holden and Formula 3000.

Crompton's first big break in motor sport came when he was selected by Peter Brock as a driver in the Holden Dealer Team's second Group A VL Commodore for the long-distance races in late 1987. This included drives in the 1987 Sandown 500 at Sandown where he and Formula 2 ace Jon Crooke finished a creditable 4th, and later at the Bob Jane T-Marts 500 at Calder Park which was Round 9 of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship. He was to have made his Bathurst 1000 debut in 1987 a week before the race at Calder, but was one race short of gaining the appropriate FIA licence needed (he was reportedly to drive a Subaru in a Series Production race at Winton which would have secured the one needed signature for his licence, but the car was uncompetitive and he declined to drive as he "Didn't want to look like a wally", thus losing his chance). In a cruel twist, the #10 Commodore he was to have driven would go on to win the race in the hands of Brock, David Parsons, and his replacement for the race, Peter McLeod. Late in the Channel 7 telecast of the James Hardie 1000, his 'boss', lead commentator and producer of the telecast Mike Raymond, light heartedly pointed this out to Crompton when the Commodore was in third place behind the Eggenberger Motorsport Ford Sierra RS500s which would eventually be disqualified for technical irregularities. All Crompton could say in reply was "Don't remind me" and "The thought has crossed my mind".

Crompton remained with Brock's team for 1988, though by that time they had switched to running BMW M3s. He made his Australian Touring Car Championship debut that year, driving the third of the team's cars to eighth in Round 8 at Amaroo Park, and 9th in the final round at Oran Park. After a promising start to the endurance races with where he and David Parsons finished fourth in the Pepsi 250 at Oran Park (won by Brock and Jim Richards), he failed to finish at both Sandown and Bathurst.

In 1989, Crompton joined the Holden Racing Team, staying with them until the end of 1991. The HRT announced plans to run the new Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV in the 1989 ATCC alongside former triple British Touring Car Champion Win Percy, but the team did not appear on the race track in the ATCC and would not race until that years Sandown 500.

Although he did not have a regular ATCC seat with HRT, Crompton co-drove the team's second Commodore in the three years with the team, though results were not forthcoming. He also started racing Formula Holden in 1989, finishing third in the Australian Drivers' Championship and scoring his first race win in Round 7 at Sydney's Amaroo Park circuit before going on to win the 10th and final round at Sandown in Melbourne. He scored his first pole position at Amaroo park with a time of 44.04, 3/10ths of a second under the outright circuit record set by John Bowe in the Veskanda-Chevrolet Sports car in 1986 and had hoped to break Bowe's lap record of 44.36 in the race. However, with the Gold Star race being held late on the day's program he was unable to do so as previous races had reportedly left a lot of oil on the circuit. At the end of the year, he drove in the Tea Tree Trophy Formula Holden support race at the 1989 Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide. There he qualified in fifth place and eventually finished in sixth.

Crompton continued to race the Peter Boylan owned, ex-Satoru Nakajima Ralt RT20 in the 1990 Australian Drivers' Championship, though results weren't as forthcoming with his best place being a second in Round 5 behind touring car rival Mark Skaife at Oran Park and finished fourth in the championship. He finished his 1990 Formula Holden season on a high note, qualifying his Ralt (complete with its usual Dulux Autocolour multi-coloured blue, yellow, red and green paint scheme that was not unlike that of the Formula One Benettons) on the front row and then driving it to victory in the Thalgo Trophy Formula Holden support race at the 1990 Australian Grand Prix.

In 1991, Crompton drove a 6 cyl Holden VN Commodore S with Peter Brock and motoring journalist/race driver Peter McKay to win Class C and finished fourth outright in the inaugural Bathurst 12 Hour. Unfortunately his Formula Holden season never got off the ground and he missed the 1991 series, though he did lease Simon Kane's car and went on to finish 3rd in the Formula Holden support race at the 1991 Australian Grand Prix.

Crompton returned to the Brock team for the first half of the 1992 ATCC, with a best finish of seventh in Round 3 at Symmons Plains. With the team short of funds to run two Holden VNs, Crompton left the team mid-season and returned to the Seven commentary booth, though he did drive in the final round of the 1992 Australian Drivers' Championship at Oran Park in Sydney where he finished in third place behind two future television co-commentators, series champion Mark Skaife and runner up Mark Larkham. He then joined Gibson Motorsport for the 1992 Bathurst 1000 in the team's second 4WD, twin turbo Nissan GT-R. In a race marred by heavy rain, accidents, and the death of Formula One World Champion Denny Hulme from a heart attack, Crompton and his Swedish co-driver Anders Olofsson finished 3rd in the crash shortened race, with Crompton giving the unruly crowd the finger from the podium on national television.

In 1993, Crompton ran the ATCC in one of the few Holden V8 powered VP Commodores in the field for Bob Forbes Racing (most of the top Holden teams were using the 5.0 L Chevrolet V8). His first full ATCC ended with a disappointing 13th-place finish in the standings. He then went to 1993 Bathurst 1000 where he qualified the car 10th after spinning on oil during his Tooheys Top 10 runoff lap. Crompton complained on camera after his lap that there was no warning of oil until he got to The Chase (the fastest corner on a race track anywhere in Australia taken at some ), but it was later found that it was in fact his car that had dropped the oil and other drivers reported it to be all around the 6.213 km (3.861 mi) circuit.

In 1994, Crompton joined Wayne Gardner in Gardner's newly established Wayne Gardner Racing.

In 1997, Crompton headed to the US to compete in the new North American Touring Car Championship in a Honda Accord run by the Tasman Motorsports team. Crompton was quickly on the pace, and won several races and was in contention for the championship, before a disqualification (which he still disputes) precluded him from winning the title. Crompton also tested one of Tasman's Champ Cars at Gingerman Raceway.

Later years In 1998, Crompton attained second place in the 1998 Century Batteries Three Hour Bathurst Showroom Showdown.

In 1998, Crompton started with Glenn Seton Racing, continuing with the team in its new identity as Ford Tickford Racing in 1999. He then moved to Gibson Motorsport, later renamed 00 Motorsport, in 2001 where he was teamed with Craig Lowndes before leaving at the end of the 2002 season.

Despite being a full-time television commentator, Crompton continues to compete in races when he can, particularly endurance races. Most recently he finished 17th in the 2009 Bathurst 12 Hour race, completing 222 laps (1,379 km / 857 miles) driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X with Glenn Seton. Crompton occasionally competes in the Aussie Racing Cars series and has also competed in the Australian Rally Championship.

Crompton also competed in the 2003 Bathurst 24 Hour driving a 5.0 L V8 powered BMW M3 GTR for Australian Nations Cup Championship team Prancing Horse Racing. The car (co-driven by John Bowe, Greg Crick and Maher Algadrie), which had only arrived from the United States a week before the race, qualified in third place but failed to finish after Algadrie hit the wall on top of Mount Panorama following a clash with the race winning Holden Monaro 427C of Peter Brock on its 131st lap.

Crompton also works on the organisational side of V8 Supercar, contributing to TEGA's Parity Board, which works to ensure that none of the competing marques gain any significant advantage over the other.

Media career Crompton started commentating at motocross events for Network Ten, then known as the 0/10 Network. He then worked for the ABC from around 1980 until the end of 1984, generally working with respected commentators Will Hagon, John Smailes and Drew Morphett, and commentating on motorsport events such as the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) plus various other motorsport events that the network covered such as the Sandown 500. In 1985 when the ATCC rights moved to Channel Seven, Crompton also moved across to Seven, replacing Evan Green and joining the network's motorsport regulars Mike Raymond & Garry Wilkinson in the commentary box, while also doing regular reporting from the pits. As the junior member of the team, and by far the fittest, Crompton was often assigned pit duties on race day which regularly required quickly moving from one end of pit lane to the other, though from 1987 with his racing commitments starting to take precedence, Seven also brought in motoring journalist and race driver Peter McKay as a commentator and pit reporter. He would stay with the network in a gradually decreasing capacity (mostly due to his racing commitments) until the end of 1995, his latter years there including regular segments on the TV program The Great Outdoors. During this time he also had segments on the Triple M radio network.

In 1996, Crompton returned to Network Ten to be their "motorsport expert" for their coverage of the CART Series & Australian Super Touring Championship for which they had just gained the broadcasting rights, and which would also end up including Formula One. Crompton was a regular presenter of Ten's popular motoring magazine program, RPM, and after his racing career wound down at the end of 2002 until the end of 2006, he was the expert commentator on Ten's coverage of the V8 Supercars (after being lead commentator throughout 2001 when he only drove in endurance races).

When the Seven Network bought the television broadcasting rights for the V8 Supercars for 2007 onwards, Crompton, along with a majority of the production team, moved to Seven. Crompton's detailed technical knowledge, combined with his racing and commentating experience, ensures that he is considered an extremely valuable part of the Seven Network's coverage of the series.

Crompton also co-hosted the popular web show "The Panelbeaters" with longtime friend Brad Jones. The show ran every Friday evening before a V8 Supercar meeting, and the Wednesday after. The show began as a radio programme in 2003 on Victorian station SEN 1116, before being taken on by Telstra Bigpond, and made into a video web show. The program was axed after the 2008 season.

After a short time off the radio waves, Crompton returned to broadcasting on radio this time with former Australian V8 Supercar champion Mark Skaife on The Stick Shift, a motoring based show broadcast on the Triple M network on Saturday mornings.

In 2014, Crompton hosted the Shannons Legends of Motorsport television program on 7mate. The series, of which he is also the executive producer, features Crompton interviewing several major figures from the history of touring car racing in Australia. For the second season in 2015, Crompton moved to solely an off-camera role.

In 2015, the V8 Supercars broadcast rights moved to a shared deal between Foxtel and a return to Network Ten. Crompton followed the new deal, but instead of a hosting and commentating role as he had previously with Seven, now works predominantly as a commentator.

Personal life Crompton married long time partner Sarah Mathewson in March 2008. Crompton has a daughter, Sienna.

In April 2021, Crompton was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was expected to make a full recovery following surgery.

Career results Results sourced from Driver Database. Season Series Position Car Team 1988 Australian Touring Car Championship 20th BMW M3 Mobil 1 Racing 1988 James Hardie Building Products AMSCAR Series 6th BMW M3 Mobil 1 Racing 1988 Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship 8th BMW M3 Mobil 1 Racing 1989 Australian Drivers' Championship 3rd Ralt RT20 Holden Boylan Racing 1990 Australian Drivers' Championship 4th Ralt RT20 Holden Boylan Racing 1990 Australian Touring Car Championship 15th Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV Holden Racing Team 1990 Australian Endurance Championship 20th Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV Holden Racing Team 1992 Australian Touring Car Championship 15th Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV Advantage Racing 1992 Australian Drivers' Championship 10th Ralt RT20 Holden Boylan Racing 1993 Australian Touring Car Championship 13th Holden VP Commodore Bob Forbes Racing 1993 Aurora AFX AMSCAR Series 4th Holden VP Commodore Bob Forbes Racing 1994 Australian Touring Car Championship 10th Holden VP Commodore Wayne Gardner Racing 1995 Australian Touring Car Championship 10th Holden VR Commodore Wayne Gardner Racing 1996 Mobil New Zealand Sprints 6th Holden VR Commodore Wayne Gardner Racing 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship 13th Holden VR Commodore Wayne Gardner Racing 1997 North American Touring Car Championship 3rd Honda Accord Tasman Motorsports 1998 Australian GT Production Car Championship 9th Ferrari F355 Challenge Ross Palmer Motorsport 1998 Australian Touring Car Championship 24th Ford EL Falcon Glenn Seton Racing 1999 Shell Championship Series 12th Ford EL FalconFord AU Falcon Glenn Seton Racing 2000 Shell Championship Series 12th Ford AU Falcon Glenn Seton Racing 2001 Shell Championship Series 54th Ford AU Falcon Gibson Motorsport 2002 V8 Supercar Championship Series 17th Ford AU Falcon 00 Motorsport 2007 Aussie Racing Cars Super Series 43rd AU Falcon ARC Team 2008 Aussie Racing Cars Super Series 51st Aurion TRD Racing 2009 Aussie Racing Cars Super Series 16th Aurion Toyota Stars 2015 Touring Car Masters (Pro Masters Class) 11th Ford Mustang Dunlop Super Dealers / Wilson Security

Complete Australian Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 DC Points 1988 Mobil 1 Racing BMW M3 CAL SYM WIN WAN AIR LAK SAN AMA ORA 20th 3 1990 Holden Racing Team Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV AMA SYM PHI WIN LAK MAL WAN ORA 15th 6 1992 Advantage Racing Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV AMAR1 AMAR2 SANR3 SANR4 SYMR5 SYMR6 WINR7 WINR8 LAKR9 LAKR10 EASR11 EASR12 MALR13 MALR14 BARR15 BARR16 ORAR17 ORAR18 18th 28 1993 Bob Forbes Racing Holden VP Commodore AMAR1 AMAR2 AMAR3 SYMR4 SYMR5 PHIR6 PHIR7 LAKR8 LAKR9 WINR10 WINR11 EASR12 EASR13 MALR14 MALR15 BARR16 BARR17 ORAR18 ORAR19 13th 37 1994 Wayne Gardner Racing Holden VP Commodore AMAR1 AMAR2 SANR3 SANR4 SYMR5 SYMR6 PHIR7 PHIR8 LAKR9 LAKR10 WINR11 WINR12 EASR13 EASR14 MALR15 MALR16 BARR17 BARR18 ORAR19 ORAR20 10th 77 1995 Wayne Gardner Racing Holden VR Commodore SANR1 SANR2 SYMR3 SYMR4 BATR5 BATR6 PHIR7 PHIR8 LAKR9 LAKR10 WINR11 WINR12 EASR13 EASR14 MALR15 MALR16 BARR17 BARR18 ORAR19 ORAR20 10th 76 1996 Wayne Gardner Racing Holden VR Commodore EASR1 EASR2 EASR3 SANR4 SANR5 SANR6 BATR7 BATR8 BATR9 SYMR10 SYMR11 SYMR12 PHIR13 PHIR14 PHIR15 CALR16 CALR17 CALR18 LAKR19 LAKR20 LAKR21 BARR22 BARR23 BARR24 MALR25 MALR26 MALR27 ORAR28 ORAR29 ORAR30 13th 73 1998 Glenn Seton Racing Ford EL Falcon SANR1 SANR2 SANR3 SYMR4 SYMR5 SYMR6 LAKR7 LAKR8 LAKR9 PHIR10 PHIR11 PHIR12 WINR13 WINR14 WINR15 MALR16 MALR17 MALR18 BARR19 BARR20 BARR21 CALR22 CALR23 CALR24 HDVR25 HDVR26 HDVR27 ORAR28 ORAR29 ORAR30 24th 116 1999 Glenn Seton Racing Ford EL FalconFord AU Falcon EASR1 EASR2 EASR3 ADER4 BARR5 BARR6 BARR7 PHIR8 PHIR9 PHIR10 HDVR11 HDVR12 HDVR13 SANR14 SANR15 SANR16 QLDR17 QLDR18 QLDR19 CALR20 CALR21 CALR22 SYMR23 SYMR24 SYMR25 WINR26 WINR27 WINR28 ORAR29 ORAR30 ORAR31 QLDR32 BATR33 12th 1107 2000 Glenn Seton Racing Ford AU Falcon PHIR1 PHIR2 BARR3 BARR4 BARR5 ADER6 ADER7 EASR8 EASR9 EASR10 HDVR11 HDVR12 HDVR13 CANR14 CANR15 CANR16 QLDR17 QLDR18 QLDR19 WINR20 WINR21 WINR22 ORAR23 ORAR24 ORAR25 CALR26 CALR27 CALR28 QLDR29 SANR30 SANR31 SANR32 BATR33 12th 829 2001 Gibson Motorsport Ford AU Falcon PHIR1 PHIR2 ADER3 ADER4 EASR5 EASR6 HDVR7 HDVR8 HDVR9 CANR10 CANR11 CANR12 BARR13 BARR14 BARR15 CALR16 CALR17 CALR18 ORAR19 ORAR20 QLDR21 WINR22 WINR23 BATR24 PUKR25 PUKR26 PUKR27 SANR28 SANR29 SANR30 54th 208 2002 00 Motorsport Ford AU Falcon ADER1 ADER2 PHIR3 PHIR4 EASR5 EASR6 EASR7 HDVR8 HDVR9 HDVR10 CANR11 CANR12 CANR13 BARR14 BARR15 BARR16 ORAR17 ORAR18 WINR19 WINR20 QLDR21 BATR22 SURR23 SURR24 PUKR25 PUKR26 PUKR27 SANR28 SANR29 17th 569

Complete World Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points 1987 Holden Dealer Team Holden VL Commodore SS Group A MNZ JAR DIJ NUR SPA BNO SIL BAT CLDovr:11cls:7 WEL FJI NC 0 Not registered for series & points

Complete Asia-Pacific Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 DC Points 1988 Mobil 1 Racing BMW M3 BAT WEL PUK FJI 8th 25

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

Year Car# Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1988 56 Mobil 1 Racing Peter Brock Jim Richards BMW M3 B 89 DNF DNF 1989 7 Holden Racing Team Win Percy Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV A 158 7th 7th 1990 7 Holden Racing Team Brad Jones Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 1 159 5th 5th 1991 7 Holden Racing Team Brad Jones Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 1 100 DNF DNF 1992 2 Gibson Motorsport Anders Olofsson Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R A 143 3rd 3rd 1993 7 Bob Forbes Racing Mark Gibbs Holden VP Commodore A 125 DNF DNF 1994 4 Wayne Gardner Racing Wayne Gardner Holden VP Commodore A 99 DNF DNF 1995 7 Wayne Gardner Racing Wayne Gardner Holden VR Commodore 161 3rd 3rd 1996 7 Wayne Gardner Racing Wayne Gardner Holden VR Commodore 160 4th 4th 1997* 26 Esso Ultron Team Peugeot Patrick Watts Peugeot 406 112 DNF DNF 1997 7 Wayne Gardner Racing Wayne Gardner Holden VS Commodore 89 DNF DNF 1998 5 Glenn Seton Racing Glenn Seton Ford EL Falcon OC 160 5th 5th 1999 5 Glenn Seton Racing Glenn Seton Ford AU Falcon 161 5th 5th 2000 5 Glenn Seton Racing Glenn Seton Ford AU Falcon 158 13th 13th 2001 00 Gibson Motorsport Craig Lowndes Ford AU Falcon 156 17th 17th 2002 00 00 Motorsport Craig Lowndes Ford AU Falcon 127 DNF DNF Denotes Super Touring race.

Complete Sandown 500 results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1987 Holden Dealer Team Jon Crooke Holden VL Commodore SS Group A A 126 4th 3rd 1988 Mobil 1 Racing David Parsons Peter Brock BMW M3 B 58 DNF DNF 1989 Holden Racing Team Steve Harrington Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV A 155 6th 6th 1990 Holden Racing Team Win Percy Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV Div.1 32 DNF DNF 1991 Holden Racing Team Brad Jones Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV A 103 DNF DNF 1993 Bob Forbes Racing Mark Gibbs Holden VP Commodore V8 61 DNF DNF 1994 Wayne Gardner Racing Wayne Gardner Holden VP Commodore V8 27 DNF DNF 1995 Wayne Gardner Racing Wayne Gardner Holden VR Commodore 139 DNF DNF 1996 Wayne Gardner Racing Wayne Gardner Holden VR Commodore 159 7th 7th 1997 Wayne Gardner Racing Wayne Gardner Holden VS Commodore 155 6th 6th 1998 Glenn Seton Racing Glenn Seton Ford EL Falcon OC 145 4th 4th

Complete Bathurst/Eastern Creek 12 Hour results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 1991 Peter Brock Peter McKay Holden VN Commodore S C 235 4th 1st 1992 Peugeot Concessionaires Australia Peter Brock Paul Gover Peugeot 405 Mi16 B 235 14th 2nd 1994 BP Mazda Motorsport Gregg Hansford Mazda RX-7 X 262 1st 1st 2007 Subaru Australia Chris Alajajian Grant Denyer Subaru Impreza WRX Sti Spec C C 248 5th 3rd 2009 Pro-Duct Motorsport Glenn Seton Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo X C 222 17th 7th 2010 Pro-Duct Glenn Seton Mark King Mitsubishi Lancer RS Evo X A 201 2nd 1st

Complete Bathurst 24 Hour results Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps 2003 Prancing Horse Racing Scuderia John Bowe Greg Crick Maher Algadrie BMW M3 GTR A 131 DNF DNF