Can someone please tell me what Australia has done to deserve losing not one but two legends in the space of 5 days ? I guess this is always the way it works, just like in real non celebrity life. How many times do we go through our day to day life hearing that someone we know has died only to hear two days later that another acquaintance has died. I guess that’s the role of evolution but how much harder is it to lose two great Australian icons ? Bloody hard I tell you.

Peter Brock, nine times winner of the Bathurst 1000 died in a car rally yesterday, closely following in the footsteps of Steve Irwin last Monday. The Confederation of Australian Motor Sport and Western Australian Police confirmed that he lost control of his vehicle on a bend and collided with a tree whilst driving in the Targa West ’06 rally at 11.50am on September 8, 2006, near the township of Gidgegannup, 40km north-east of Perth. The 61-year-old Brock and his co-driver Mick Hone were in a 2001 Daytona Coupé. Hone was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Video footage of the crash is being reviewed by police to help determine the cause of the accident. The editor of Wheels Magazine, Ged Bulmer, said that Brock would be remembered for his nine victories in the Bathurst 1000, for “He had a long and very successful career there, he was the ‘King of the Mountain’ as he came to be known.”

Brock’s children accepted the offer of a Victorian state funeral, with former partner Bev telling ABC Radio: “[Brock] was loved. He was in the public eye, and everything had to be done with a flourish and with a bang. It’s probably the way he would want to go out, (and) he would want to be remembered.” Wikipedia

We have two hero’s in two very different fields, both having given so much pleasure to millions of people around the world both in their own unique way. Irwin’s death will hit Australian children hardest but with the two deaths a huge void will never be filled completely. They were two in a million, maybe more. I personally can’t make any sense out of it all, no doubt we will all move on and it does get easier with time but at the moment it simply hurts.

If you would like to learn more about Brockie then please click on one of the following great links :- Brockie’s Foundation , Peter Brock Ultimate Resource , his very own Official Website and a Biography.