Explore about the Famous New Zealand rally driver Possum Bourne, who was born in New Zealand on April 13, 1956. Analyze Possum Bourne’s net worth, age, bio, birthday, dating, height-weight, wiki. Investigate who is Possum Bourne dating now? Look into this article to know how old is Possum Bourne?
Possum Bourne Birthday Countdown
Possum Bourne Biography
Peter Raymond George “Possum” Bourne (13 April 1956 – 30 April 2003) was a champion New Zealand rally car driver. He died under non-competitive circumstances while driving on a public road that was to be the track for an upcoming race.
But it would be the Impreza WRX that he would become most associated with, driving for the Subaru World Rally Team in Rally New Zealand, Australia and also in Indonesia, partnered by Kenneth Eriksson in the mid 1990s, before going on to win multiple Australian titles with his own team.
Bourne’s best friend and co-driver, Dr. Rodger “Roj” Freeth, died in a horrible accident during 1993 Rally Australia, and the crash almost ended Bourne’s career. After encouragement from the Freeth family, he returned to the driver’s seat. After Freeth’s death, Bourne displayed a “ROJ” license plate on the front of his rally cars.
He was a three-time winner of the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship and the Australian Rally Championship seven times consecutively, amongst many other titles. In 1993 he became the first New Zealand resident to have a works contract in a FISA rally championship, when he drove a Subaru Legacy for Prodrive.
Bourne received serious head injuries in a non-competitive car crash on 18 April 2003, and died in Dunedin Public Hospital on 30 April 2003 after life support was withdrawn. He was driving the Race to the Sky track, on the Waiorau Snow Farm Road which is normally a public road, for the event held in Cardrona, near Wanaka, New Zealand. Driving his Subaru Forester, he collided head on with a Jeep Cherokee driven by rally driver Mike Barltrop who claimed that Bourne was speeding. This treacherous road has over 100 corners and at least 15 hairpins, hence its appeal for rally driving. Barltrop was later arrested on a dangerous driving charge. After pleading guilty to aggravated careless use causing death, Barltrop was sentenced in the Invercargill District Court to 300 hours’ community work, disqualified from driving for 18 months, and ordered to pay $10,000 reparations, divided between the intensive care unit of Dunedin Public Hospital and the Possum Bourne Education trust.
His autobiography, Bourne to Rally, was completed just days before his death. A bronze memorial statue of Bourne, unveiled a year after his death, stood overlooking the event he loved the most. The statue was moved to Pukekohe town square in April 2013, unveiled alongside the 2013 ITM 400 V8 Championship parade. In 2005, Peggy Bourne entered Race to the Sky, despite having had no formal rally driving experience, as a tribute to her late husband. In 2013, his oldest son Taylor Bourne competed in the 2013 Possum Bourne Memorial Rally with his stepfather and MP Mark Mitchell as co-driver. When Taylor completed the event, he went on to say “It’s easy understand why he loved it so much”.
What's Possum Bourne Net Worth 2024
| Net Worth (2024) | $1 Million (Approx.) |
| Net Worth (2023) | Under Review |
| Net Worth (2022) | Under Review |
| Net Worth (2021) | Under Review |
| Net Worth (2020) | Under Review |
Possum Bourne Family
| Father's Name | Not Available |
| Mother's Name | Not Available |
| Siblings | Not Available |
| Spouse | Not Available |
| Childrens | Not Available |
