But he almost had it halted recently, and it was only a local business which came to his rescue.

“They deserve a big wrap, a Thumbs Up,” Darcy said. 

“They saved the day.”

Darcy started recording the ‘big race’, the Bathurst 1000 way back in 1981 and has virtually every race that has been held.

“Back in 1981, there was a big smash on top of the mountain and Dick Johnson and John French were awarded the race after being red flagged.

“I discovered the 1980 race on some VHS tapes given to me by a bloke who wanted to get rid of them.

“I was then determined to get copies of as many of the big race as I could.

“The 1978 and 1979 races came from a guy in Western Australia who wanted me to convert them from Betta format to DVD.

“That was quite a challenge, I can tell you, finding the right equipment, but Channel 10 in Lismore where I was living after leaving Parkes in 1983 assisted me in bringing this piece of history to life.”

Darcy now has recordings of 38 of the Bathurst races - from 1978 to 2015.

“But I almost missed it this year,” he explained.

“My machine wasn’t working and it got down to about the last 15 minutes before I realised I was going to miss it.

“But Dylan, an apprentice from Parkes Sight ‘N Sound, saved the day and just in time, I was able to record it.”

Darcy proudly outlines details of his collection which includes:

Seven of Peter Brock’s nine wins;

All seven of Jim Richards; 

All six of Mark Skaiffe;

All six of Larry Perkins; 

All six of Craig Lowndes; 

All four of Greg Murphy;

All four of Jamie Whincup;

All four of Steven Richards; 

All three of Garth Tander; and

All three of Dick Johnson.

“I even have the two 2-litre races of 1997 and 1998.

“My favourite is the Larry Perkins/Russell Ingall 1995 race when Larry popped the valve on his left front wheel after clashing with Craig Lowndes at the first corner of the first lap - and fought all day from last place to win.

“The 1985 race with the big V12 Jaguars which had their own distinct sound, was also a great race.”