Kenny Habul (below), a billionaire who was taken in by Peter and Bev Brock as a youngster in Melbourne, is the new custodian of the Holden Dealer Team. He has taken ownership of the remaining HDT assets, including the born-again ‘Blue Meanie’ road going Commodore, from long-time owner Peter Champion.

Full details of the changeover were planned to be revealed at Bathurst during the ‘after party’ on the Monday following the running of this year’s 1000 classic at Mount Panorama, but Champion has jumped the gun with a personal posting on Facebook.

“I felt it was time for me to move on and sell it to someone that is just as passionate as myself and that person is Kenny Habul,” said Champion.

Kenny Habul on a podium in a blue AMG race suit, holding a sign about Mercedes-AMG GT3 winning the title and a bottle of champagne.
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“For those who have heard the rumours floating around it is now official. I’ve known Kenny for quite a long time and he, like myself, has had a personal friendship with PB, so that makes it easier for me to let go.”

Champion was one of Brock’s greatest supporters and a close friend who built a huge collection of Brock-mobiles, including a group of Mount Panorama winners, into a museum at his home at Yeppoon in Queensland, before it was moved to Dreamworld on the Gold Coast before being broken up.

He also took on the HDT name, road cars, and a new program. Champion revealed that HDT will now move to a base in Bathurst, although there are no details of a product plan.

“Kenny has some amazing ideas of what he wants to do with the brand and is moving it all to Bathurst,” said Champion.

Red and white race car with Marlboro 05 livery speeding along a track, grandstands filled with spectators in the background.
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Habul, 53, was born in Sydney and earned a law degree from Bond University on the Gold Coast, before moving to Melbourne where he lived for a time with the Brock family. He credits a lot of his ambition and success to that time.

He eventually moved to the USA as an entrepreneur and is the founder and CEO of SunEnergy1, one of the country’s biggest solar energy providers and a multi-billion dollar business. His business success has allowed him to dive deeply into motorsport and he is a highly successful GT category team owner and driver, whose credits include two wins in the Bathurst 12-Hour race with Mercedes-AMG.

His connection to Bathurst includes property on Conrod Straight, and Brock’s son Robert served for a time as caretaker at one of his homes.

Champion (below) said giving up HDT was “one of the toughest decisions I’ve made in a long time”. “The truck turned up today and picked up five of those (HDT) cars and that, my friends, was a tough day. To show how passionate and thoughtful Kenny was … he got out of bed early hours in the morning from the other side of the world to check and make sure that I was okay.

Man kneeling beside a blue car, resting his arm on the hood and smiling at the camera.
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“Kenny is the right person to take on the challenge of keeping this famous brand with these amazing cars alive.

It is business as usual for HDT. I will be staying on as ambassador for HDT. I look forward to being a part of the next chapter and, for anybody going to Bathurst this year, make sure you check out all that is happening around the NEW HDT launch.”