The 1976 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 17th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 3 October 1976 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race was open to cars complying with CAMS Group C Touring Car regulations.
The race was dramatically won by the Ron Hodgson Motors entered Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 of Bob Morris and British driver John Fitzpatrick. Second on the same lap was the Holden Dealer Team Torana L34 of Colin Bond and John Harvey. Brothers Peter and Phil Brock in the Team Brock entered Torana L34 completed a second consecutive podium clean sweep for the Torana L34. In fact, Torana L34s filled the top seven places.
The competitors in the over three-litre class included ex-Formula 1 drivers Jack Brabham and Stirling Moss, in a Torana L34 entered by Esmonds Motors of Queanbeyan. Brabham was driving competitively for the first time since 1971, and Moss had not competed in a circuit race since his Goodwood crash in 1962. The two former Grand Prix stars attracted much publicity and ultimately qualified tenth. However, their race effectively ended when Brabham lined up to take the start; the Torana's gears became jammed on the grid and a Triumph Dolomite Sprint rammed it hard from behind (in his attempt to find a gear, Jack had failed to put his arm out the window to warn other drivers). Although the Torana was hastily repaired, and reappeared several hours later simply for appearances, it eventually blew its motor with Moss at the wheel. [1] [2] [3] Unfortunately Moss attracted criticism from other drivers after the Torana's engine blew as he continued to drive the car on the racing line for ¾ of a lap, with smoke billowing from the exhaust and dropping oil on the track.
The 2001 to 3000cc class saw Ford Capri drivers Barry Seton and Don Smith take a one lap victory over the Mazda RX-3 of Don Holland and Lynn Brown. Another Capri, the car of Graham Moore and emerging Queensland driver Dick Johnson was a further lap down in third.
The 1301 to 2000cc class also saw one lap margins between the top three cars with the Ford Escort of Eric Boord and Tom Tymons beating the Alfa Romeo GTV of Phil McDonnell and Jim Hunter. The Bob Holden run Ford Escort of Lyndon Arnel and Peter Hopwood was third.
The John Roxburgh Motors entered Datsun 1200 of Bill Evans and Bruce Stewart took a two lap victory in the Up to 1300cc class over the Honda Civics of Brian Reed and Ian Chilman, and Roger Bonhomme and Doug Whiteford.
The 1976 race continues to be a source of controversy, as it has been claimed that a lap scoring error caused the Hold Dealer Team Torana of Bond and Harvey not to be counted for a lap, thus robbing them of the victory. However HDT, the team backed by Holden, did not appeal the results; some have claimed this is because Holden did not want to appear to be doing a disservice to the Morris/Fitzpatrick team which was run by Ron Hodgson Motors, which at the time was Sydney's largest Holden dealership. The lap counting error has been denied by the Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC), and by some teams (including the race winners and television broadcaster Channel 7) who carried out their own lap scoring. An appeal of the results was not lodged prior to the expiration date meaning the results as published are final. In 2003 Holden offered Harvey an apology for not appealing the results. This occurred at a testimonial dinner for Harvey who after retiring from racing had gone on to become a senior executive with Holden Special Vehicles. Since that time though, Harvey has caused controversy by publicly stating that he was the winner of the race, though the official results continue to show him finishing second. For his part, Colin Bond has remained in dignified silence. [4]
The field was divided into four classes based on engine capacity. [5]
The class comprised Alfa Romeo 1300, Datsun 1200, Fiat 128 3P, Ford Escort, Honda Civic, Mazda 1300, Morris Clubman GT, Toyota Corolla and Volkswagen Passat.
The class saw a mix of Alfa Romeo Alfetta and 2000 GTV, BMW 2002, Fiat 124 Sport, Ford Escort RS2000, Mazda RX-3, Triumph Dolomite and Volkswagen Golf.
The class featured BMW 3.0Si, Ford Capri and Mazda RX-3.
The class consisted only of Holden Torana and Ford Falcon entries.
Pos | No | Team | Driver | Car | Qual |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pole | 9 | Moffat-Ford Dealer Team | Allan Moffat | Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop | 2:25.0 |
2 | 5 | Team Brock | Peter Brock | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | 2:25.1 |
3 | 1 | Holden Dealer Team | Colin Bond | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | 2:26.2 |
4 | 7 | Ron Hodgson Motors | Bob Morris | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | 2:26.4 |
5 | 2 | John Goss Racing Pty Ltd | John Goss | Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop | 2:27.5 |
6 | 20 | Craven Mild Racing | Allan Grice | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | 2:28.1 |
7 | 8 | Holden Dealer Team | Charlie O'Brien | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | 2:28.3 |
8 | 12 | Craven Mild Racing | Frank Gardner | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | 2:29.1 |
9 | 15 | Captain Peter Janson | Kevin Bartlett | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | 2:29.5 |
10 | 17 | Esmonds Motors | Jack Brabham | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | 2:30.0 |
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 concept originated with the 1960 Armstrong 500 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, before being relocated to Bathurst in 1963 and continuing there in every year since. The race was traditionally run on the Labour Day long weekend in New South Wales, in early October. Since 2001, the race is run on the weekend after the long weekend, normally the second weekend in October.
Colin John Bond is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team. He quickly found success, winning the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 mile race at Bathurst, New South Wales in a Holden Monaro.
The 1983 James Hardie 1000 was a motor race for Group C Touring Cars contested at the Mount Panorama Circuit, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia on 2 October 1983. It was the 24th "Bathurst 1000" and the third to carry the James Hardie 1000 name. The race, which took place as part of Round 4 of the 1983 Australian Endurance Championship, was contested over 163 laps of the 6.172 km circuit, a total distance of 1006.036 km.
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Robert Morris is an Australian former racing driver. Morris was one of the leading touring car drivers during the 1970s and continued racing until 1984. Morris won Australia's premier Touring car race, the Bathurst 1000 in 1976. He also won the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1979. Morris was inducted into the V8 Supercars Hall of Fame in 2004.
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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, 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. 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.
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