Born in Charters Towers, Queensland, Pete was always going to be a racer. From a young age he was always car crazy, and had his first car well before he was old enough to have a licence. It was a Mazda, naturally enough. Pete also had plenty of motorbikes in his teens and raced motocross and stadium-cross before switching to 4 wheels full-time, and in fact taught Paul Bartolo how to ride a motorbike - the deal being Paul then had to teach him how to drive a manual car the same day ! Pete obviously got the better deal, thesedays he can drive like a man possessed, while Paul still can't ride a bike to save his life... That poor little Mazda 1300 didn't know what had hit it when Pete took possession of the keys...

In the early to mid 90's Pete gained widespread acclaim as the pilot of the famous Barbados Green RX-2 known to all in the drag racing scene by the "GRUMPE" plates... The bridgeport powered sedan (anyone else see a common theme developing with Mazda's and bridgeports ?) ran as quick as 11.2 seconds down the quarter mile, and was a regular visitor to the Eastern Creek drag strip, determination saw him granted with the "Fastest Bridgeport in Australia" tag and graced the pages of several Magazine's...

Pete made a progression into the Pro Street rotary scene in 2000 after a 3 year stint back in MotoCross, and invested plenty of time and money in the wheel-tubbed RX-2 coupe, again known as "GRUMPE". The coupe ran very low 9 second passes at over 150mph, but was plagued by driveline breakages, usually as a result of the 700 odd hp being aimed directly at the rear wheels !! The other downside to the Pro Street scene was that without a true A grade dragstrip in Sydney (before the construction of WSID) Pete had to travel to either Queensland or Victoria to race the car - after 4 years of Interstate travelling, the novelty soon wore off.

Eventually the lure of circuit racing became irresistible, and with rotary engine guru Bill Nabhan from Mazsport as one of Pete's close mates the inevitable happened, with Pete purchasing an RX-7 race car less motor and gearbox. Having crewed on Bill's RotorAction powered RX-7 Sports Sedan, Pete knew what was ahead, and within a matter of months he dived headlong into the IPRA ranks at Sydney's Eastern Creek.

In the scheme of things Pete is more the quiet, determined type, who likes to do his talking on the track. While Paul runs around yapping to everyone, Pete prefers to sit around, relax, and think about the job at hand. He's the type of guy who will work all night to make sure his mates make the grid the next day, that's just one of the reasons all the boys hold him in high regard. He also keeps the crew highly amused with his one liners - usually aimed at his team-mates. Pete is also probably the most aggressive driver in the team (his Drag Racing and Motocross background obvious !), and on track he doesn't back down to anyone - ask the guy who "rubbed him" at Oran Park 2003, (Or 2005, or...)

After an encouraging first season in 2002, Pete went to see the man renowned as one of the best race car engineers in Sydney - Scott Fleming, from Rev Doctor Motorsport - as a former IPRA State and National Champion Scott knew exactly what was required to turn the low budget RX-7 into a true race winner. The results were impressive, with Pete scoring his first ever race win in an unsorted car at Oran Park Raceway at the 2003 "Day / Night" event.

While still continuing to develop the car at present (early '06-07), Pete has shown the determination and dedication to succeed at this level. The lap times continue to tumble and with guys like Scott behind him, Pete can only continue to improve - hopefully 2008 will see Pete show the true potential that all of the boys at Team Chaparral know he has...

Pete is also the man responsible for building and maintaining this website, as well designing the team livery that adorn the Team Chaparral race cars. Along with master signwriter Paul Mitchell from AussieAutoArt.com.au, Pete also designed the stickers and graphics on both cars...

The only problem the boys have with Pete is that he's a Brisbane Broncos fan - but everyone has their faults right ?

60 Seconds with Harmo......