The 1971 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was a motor race held on 3 October 1971 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was open to production vehicles competing in showroom condition, [1] with the field divided into five classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle in Australian dollars. Although an outright winner was officially recognised, all other official awards were for class results only. [2] The race was the 12th in a sequence of annual "Bathurst 500" production car races dating back to the 1960 Armstrong 500. The outright winner was Allan Moffat driving a Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III.
The 1971 race is perhaps best remembered for Sydney driver Bill Brown's lucky escape after the biggest single car crash in the race's history. On lap 43, the right front tyre on Brown's Phase III GTHO Falcon burst at over 100 mph (161 km/h) on the approach to the daunting McPhillamy Park, which in 1971 had no runoff area on the outside of the track, just the earth bank and a fence made of railway sleepers on top. The Falcon barrel-rolled along the fence (with two marshals lucky to escape with their lives by only just scampering out of the way) and ended upside down after 3½ rolls. Brown was lucky because his seat broke in the first roll and he was lying flat in the car as it continued rolling. Amazingly his only injuries were a grazed shin and a black eye. [3]
1971 will also be remembered as the year that Moffat had a stray cardboard Southwark Bitter carton attach itself to the front of his GTHO for a number of laps, blocking the car's radiator. Pit boards told him of the problem and the team attempted to call Moffat in for a quick stop to remove the carton, but Moffat, seeing no change to the engine temperature and no reduction in the car's performance, waved them off and remained on the track until his scheduled pit stop with the approval of Ford Works Team manager Howard Marsden. [4]
Cars competed in five classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle in Australian dollars.
Class A was for cars costing less than $2,150. It was contested by Datsun 1200, Mazda 1300 and Toyota Corolla.
The $2,151 to $2,500 class had the smallest number of starters with just four cars: Datsun 1600 and Mazda Capella 1600.
The $2,501 to $3,150 class saw a mix of Ford Cortina, Ford Escort, 2.8 litre Holden Torana GTR, Honda 1300, Mazda RX-2 and Morris Cooper S.
The $3,151 to $4,350 class featured Alfa Romeo Giulia, the E38 version of the Chrysler Valiant Charger, Ford Falcon 500 and 3.0 litre Holden Torana GTR XU-1.
For cars over $4,350. Apart from a single Fiat 124S, the class consisted only of Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase IIIs.
Pos | No | Team | Driver | Car | Qual |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pole | 65 | Ford Motor Co of Australia | Allan Moffat | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 2:38.9 |
2 | 64 | Ford Motor Co of Australia | John French | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 2:41.9 |
3 | 66 | Road & Track Auto Services | Fred Gibson | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 2:43.3 |
4 | 57 | Finnie Ford Pty Ltd | David McKay | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 2:44.4 |
5 | 63 | FF Newell & Son | Bill Brown | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 2:44.7 |
6 | 62 | Byrt Ford Pty Ltd | Phil Barnes | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 2:45.4 |
7 | 69 | Trevor Thiele Ford Pty Ltd | Trevor Meehan | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 2:45.5 |
8 | 43 | Geoghegan's Sporty Cars | Leo Geoghegan | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E38 | 2:45.7 |
9 | 61 | Baldwin Ford Pty Ltd | Damon Beck | Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III | 2:46.6 |
10 | 45 | Reg Papps & Sons | Bob Beasley | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E38 | 2:46.3 |
The Bathurst 1000 is a 1,000-kilometre (621.4 mi) touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most recent incarnation of the Australian Touring Car Championship. In 1987 it was a round of the World Touring Car Championship. The Bathurst 1000 is colloquially known as The Great Race among motorsport fans and media. The race originated with the 1960 Armstrong 500 with a 500 mile race distance at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit; it was relocated to Bathurst in 1963 also with the 500 mile distance and has continued there every year since extending to a 1,000 kilometer race in 1973. The race was traditionally run on the New South Wales Labour-Day long weekend in early October. Since 2001, the race has been run on the weekend following the long weekend, generally the second weekend of October.
Allan George MoffatOBE is a Canadian-born Australian racing driver known for his four championships in the Australian Touring Car Championship, six wins in the Sandown 500 and his four wins in the Bathurst 500/1000. Moffat was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 1999.
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The Ford Motor Company Falcon XY GT is a sports sedan based on the Ford Falcon XY. Released in 1970 by Ford Australia, with the GTHO Phase III released in 1971. Some 1,557 units were produced from September 1970 to December 1971 with 300 GTHO Phase IIIs produced from May 1971 to November 1971. It was the fourth in the initial series of the Ford Falcon GT. A limited number were exported to South Africa, wearing Fairmont GT badging. The Fairmont GT model is starting to increase in value as Falcon GTs become harder to find and buyers beginning to see the Fairmont as a genuine GT.
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The 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was an endurance motor race open to Group E Series Production Touring Cars. The race was held on 1 October 1972 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. Cars competed in four classes defined by Capacity Price Units, where the engine capacity, expressed in litres, was multiplied by the purchase price in Australian dollars to arrive at a CP value for each vehicle. It was the 13th running of the Bathurst 500 race and the last to be held over the original distance of 500 miles. It was also the last to allow drivers to compete for the full distance without a relief driver. The race was the third round of the 1972 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
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