Australian racing legend Bob Jane dies of cancer

Bob Jane at home in 2014

Australian touring car legend and former Armstrong 500 winner Bob Jane has died of cancer, aged 88.

A statement released by Jane’s family advised that the four-time Australian Touring Car Champion had succumbed to prostate cancer overnight.

“It is with great sadness that we would like to share the passing of our dad, Bob Jane (Robert Frederick Jane)," read a statement issued by children Courtney, Charlotte, and Robert.

“After a long and brave fight with prostate cancer, he passed away last evening at 88 years of age, Friday September 28, 2018, surrounded by his loving family.

“It was our privilege to have had him as our dad, whom we loved and cherished. We will miss him deeply and he will forever be in our hearts.

“Whilst dad was an Australian icon and champion of the community, most importantly to us he was our loving dad."

Jane had a deep involvement in Australian motorsport.

On-track, he won the first two 500-mile races at Bathurst in 1963 and 1964 off the back of wins in the last two held at Phillip Island, and claimed the Australian Touring Car Championship four times (1962, 1963, 1971, 1972).

Off-track, he built the Thunderdome at Calder Park, which was the centerpiece of the local stock car racing which he sanctioned in the late 1980s and 1990s, and hosted the Australian Grand Prix on its road course from 1980 to 1984.

Bob Jane was inducted into the Supercars Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Australian Motor Sport Hall of Fame in 2016.