1981 James Hardie 1000

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Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit (1938-1986) Mount Panorama 1938-1986.png
Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit (1938-1986)

The 1981 James Hardie 1000 was the 22nd running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 4 October 1981 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst. The race was open to cars eligible to the locally developed CAMS Group C touring car regulations with three engine configuration based classes, a system used uniquely for this race.

For the first time the race did not go the full race distance as on lap 121, a six car accident blocked the track at McPhillamy Park Corner. The Ford Falcon of Dick Johnson and John French were leading the race at the time of the accident and were declared the winners, becoming the first Queenslanders to win the race. Bob Morris and British endurance racer John Fitzpatrick, also driving a Falcon finished second. A lap down in third was Allan Moffat and British endurance racing great Derek Bell driving a Mazda RX-7, the best ever result to that point for a Japanese built car.

History was made at Bathurst in 1981. For the first (and as of 2024, the only) time in the races history, a reigning Formula One World Drivers' Champion drove in the Bathurst 1000. This honour fell to Australia's own 1980 World Champion Alan Jones who co-drove with Warren Cullen in Cullen's V8-engined Holden Commodore.

After 8 wins in the race dating back to Bob Jane and Harry Firth's win in a Ford Falcon XL at Phillip Island in 1962, this would prove to be the last Bathurst 1000 win for the Ford Falcon until 1994. It would also be the 6th and last Bathurst win for the 5.8 L 351 Cleveland V8 engine.

Class structure

Dick Johnson and John French won the race driving a Ford XD Falcon
(image from 1991) Ford Falcon XD Johnson & French (16331741192).jpg
Dick Johnson and John French won the race driving a Ford XD Falcon
(image from 1991)
Alan Browne and Tony Edmondson placed fifth in a Holden VC Commodore
(image from 2015) Holden Commodore (VC) - Browne & Edmondson.JPG
Alan Browne and Tony Edmondson placed fifth in a Holden VC Commodore
(image from 2015)
Colin Bond and Don Smith placed eighth in a Ford Capri
(image from 2005) Ford Capri at Queensland Raceway.jpg
Colin Bond and Don Smith placed eighth in a Ford Capri
(image from 2005)
Kevin Bartlett and Bob Forbes placed 13th in a Chevrolet Camaro
(image from 2010) Chevrolet Camaro Group C (5209924910).jpg
Kevin Bartlett and Bob Forbes placed 13th in a Chevrolet Camaro
(image from 2010)
Bob Muir and Ian Geoghegan placed 28th driving a Ford XD Falcon
(image from 2009) Falconmuir.jpg
Bob Muir and Ian Geoghegan placed 28th driving a Ford XD Falcon
(image from 2009)
Terry Finnigan and Ross Wittig failed to finish in an Isuzu Gemini
(image from 2005) Geminifinnigan.jpg
Terry Finnigan and Ross Wittig failed to finish in an Isuzu Gemini
(image from 2005)

Class : 8 Cylinder & Over

This class was almost exclusively for V8s; Holden Commodores, Ford Falcons and Chevrolet Camaros. The exception being a V12 Jaguar XJ-S.

Class : 6 Cylinder (Includes Rotary Engines)

The class for six-cylinder and rotary-engined cars was contested mostly by Ford Capris, with a single factory supported BMW 635CSi and those Mazda RX-7s entered, powered by rotary engines.

Class : 4 Cylinder (Includes 5 Cylinder & Turbo)

The class for cars with four-cylinder engines included Alfa Romeo Alfasud, Alfa Romeo Alfetta, Ford Escort, Isuzu Gemini, Mitsubishi Colt, Mitsubishi Lancer, Nissan Bluebird Turbo, Toyota Celica, Toyota Corolla, Triumph Dolomite, and Volkswagen Golf.

Hardies Heroes

PosNoTeamDriverCarTime
Pole9 Nine Network Racing Team Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kevin Bartlett Chevrolet Camaro Z28 2:36.432
217 Palmer Tube Mills Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dick Johnson Ford XD Falcon 2:38.813
305 Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Brock Holden VC Commodore 2:39.043
47Bob Morris Motor Sport Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Morris Ford XD Falcon 2:39.339
543 Peter Stuyvesant International Racing Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Allan Moffat Mazda RX-7 2:39.443
611Soundwave Discos Flag of Australia (converted).svg Garry Rogers Holden VC Commodore 2:41.315
73 Cadbury Schweppes Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg Larry Perkins Holden VC Commodore 2:42.621
825 Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Harvey Holden VC Commodore 2:43.018
921Ron Dickson Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ron Dickson Chevrolet Camaro Z28 2:44.505
1027 Roadways Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg Garth Wigston Holden VC Commodore 2:46.248

* This was the first Top 10 shootout to be held in wet conditions, though conditions were damp for the first ever shootout in 1978. [1]
* For the 2nd year running, Kevin Bartlett was fastest qualifier and won Hardies Heroes in his Channel 9 sponsored Chevrolet Camaro. It was also the second year in a row that Dick Johnson would equal Bartlett's time in qualifying, but would be slower in the shootout. Due to the extremely wet conditions, Bartlett's runoff time was almost 16 seconds slower than his time in qualifying.
* This was the first time a car powered by something other than a V8 engine had contested Hardies Heroes. The honor went to the 12A Rotary powered Mazda RX-7 of Allan Moffat who ended up 5th on the grid.
* Mazda became the fourth manufacturer to contest Hardies Heroes following on from Ford, Holden and Chevrolet.
* The gap of 2.381 seconds between Bartlett and Johnson broke the 1979 record of 1.966 seconds between Peter Brock and Bob Morris. As of the 2024 race, Bartlett's shootout record remains unbeaten.
* Roadways Racing's Garth Wigston spun his Holden Commodore through Murrays Corner on both of his laps during the runoff, losing between 10-20 seconds each time. With his best recorded time of 2:46.248 being only 9.8 seconds slower than Bartlett's pole time, it suggested that a much higher qualifying position might have gone begging for the Tasmanian driver.

Race

The race was stopped on lap 122 because of a multiple-car incident that blocked the track at McPhillamy Park Corner. The accident began with a collision between the Ford Falcons of Bob Morris and Christine Gibson. Garry Rogers and Tony Edmondson (both driving Holden Commodores) and the Isuzu Gemini of David Seldon collided with already crashed cars with the Chevrolet Camaro of Kevin Bartlett being the final car to be involved.

According to the regulations, the race was declared based on the timesheets as the race leader, at the time John French, completed lap 120. This is done so that crashed vehicles can be included in the results. This was particularly significant in this instance as a significant number of the vehicles involved held high race position. Morris was second, Rogers fourth, Edmondson fifth and Christine Gibson sixth.

Results

PosClassNoTeamDriversCarLapsQual
Pos
Shootout
Pos
18 Cylinder & Over17 Palmer Tube Mills Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dick Johnson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John French
Ford XD Falcon 12012
28 Cylinder & Over7Bob Morris Motor Sport Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Morris
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg John Fitzpatrick
Ford XD Falcon 12044
36 Cylinder & Rotary43 Peter Stuyvesant International Racing Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Allan Moffat
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Derek Bell
Mazda RX-7 11995
48 Cylinder & Over11Soundwave Discos Flag of Australia (converted).svg Garry Rogers
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Clive Benson-Browne
Holden VC Commodore 11876
58 Cylinder & Over4Re-Car Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Browne
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Edmondson
Holden VC Commodore 11711
68 Cylinder & Over20King George Tavern Flag of Australia (converted).svg Joe Moore
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Christine Gibson
Ford XD Falcon 11525
76 Cylinder & Rotary44 JPS Team BMW Flag of Australia (converted).svg Allan Grice
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg David Hobbs
BMW 635 CSi 11312
86 Cylinder & Rotary32Masterton Homes Flag of Australia (converted).svg Colin Bond
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Don Smith
Ford Capri Mk.II 11332
98 Cylinder & Over8 Garry Willmington Performance Flag of Australia (converted).svg Garry Willmington
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mike Griffin
Ford XD Falcon 11318
108 Cylinder & Over15Valley Meat Hall Flag of Australia (converted).svg John English
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Donnelly
Ford XD Falcon 11222
116 Cylinder & Rotary33Masterton Homes Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steve Masterton
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bruce Stewart
Ford Capri Mk.II 11134
124 Cylinder77Peter Williamson Toyota Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Williamson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Smith
Toyota Celica 11136
138 Cylinder & Over9 Nine Network Racing Team Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kevin Bartlett
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Forbes
Chevrolet Camaro Z28 11121
148 Cylinder & Over29Brian Callaghan Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brian Callaghan
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter McKay
Ford XD Falcon 11124
158 Cylinder & Over26Scotty Taylor Holden Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Taylor
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kevin Kennedy
Holden VC Commodore 10929
168 Cylinder & Over21Ron Dickson Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ron Dickson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Stevens
Chevrolet Camaro Z28 108109
176 Cylinder & Rotary39Capri Components Flag of Australia (converted).svg Lawrie Nelson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Jones
Ford Capri Mk.III 10841
186 Cylinder & Rotary46Hulcraft Autos Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Gates
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Craft
Ford Capri Mk.III 10840
194 Cylinder50Gary Leggatt Flag of Australia (converted).svg Gary Leggatt
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil McDonnell
Alfa Romeo GTV6 10745
204 Cylinder60Country Dealer Team Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jim Faneco
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Allan Gough
Isuzu Gemini 10352
218 Cylinder & Over05 Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Brock
Flag of New Zealand.svg Jim Richards
Holden VC Commodore 10333
228 Cylinder & Over6John Sands Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rusty French
Flag of New Zealand.svg Leo Leonard
Ford XD Falcon 10030
234 Cylinder68Dandenong Mitsubishi Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rod Stevens
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Craig Bradtke
Mitsubishi Lancer 10053
244 Cylinder59Bathurst Light Car Club Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Mulvihill
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brian Nightingale
Ford Escort Mk.II RS2000 9756
258 Cylinder & Over31Ron Dickson Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graham Moore
Flag of the United States.svg Steve Dymand
Chevrolet Camaro Z28 9628
266 Cylinder & Rotary40Peter McLeod Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter McLeod
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Dane
Mazda RX-7 9628
274 Cylinder64 Bob Holden Motors Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phillip Revell
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ron Barnacle
Ford Escort Mk.II 1.6 9359
288 Cylinder & Over24 Army Reserve Racing Team Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Muir
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Geoghegan
Ford XD Falcon 9213
DNF8 Cylinder & Over18Murray Carter Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg Murray Carter
Flag of New Zealand.svg Graeme Lawrence
Ford XD Falcon 10916
DNF4 Cylinder62Alexandra Surplice Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alexandra Surplice
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Doug Clark
Toyota Corolla Levin 8847
NC8 Cylinder & Over14Fred Geissler Flag of Australia (converted).svg Fred Geissler
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graham Watson
Holden VC Commodore 8514
NC4 Cylinder66Scottune Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Burrell
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rob Shute
Mitsubishi Colt 8357
NC4 Cylinder49Jagparts Flag of Australia (converted).svg Martin Power
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brian Winsall
Triumph Dolomite Sprint 8055
DNF8 Cylinder & Over16Re-Car Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ron Wanless
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ralph Radburn
Holden VC Commodore 7915
NC4 Cylinder70Colin Spencer Flag of Australia (converted).svg Colin Spencer
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John White
Isuzu Gemini 7560
DNF8 Cylinder & Over30Everlast Battery Service Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bill O'Brien
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Gary Cooke
Ford XD Falcon 7417
DNF6 Cylinder & Rotary41West End Mazda Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry Jones
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Geoff Leeds
Mazda RX-7 7426
DNF4 Cylinder61Rex Monaghan Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ray Cutchie
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ray Farrar
Ford Escort Mk.II 1.6 7358
NC8 Cylinder & Over10 John Goss Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Goss
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Barry Seton
Jaguar XJ-S 7319
NC4 Cylinder63Cherry City Ford Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Faulkner
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Gary Dumbrell
Ford Escort Mk.II 2.0 GL 7251
NC4 Cylinder57Sutton Motors P/L Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Seldon
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Gary Rowe
Isuzu Gemini ZZ 7046
DNF8 Cylinder & Over3 Cadbury Schweppes Racing Flag of New Zealand.svg Peter Janson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Larry Perkins
Holden VC Commodore 6787
DNF4 Cylinder56 Nissan Motor Co. Flag of Japan.svg Masahiro Hasemi
Flag of Japan.svg Kazuyoshi Hoshino
Nissan Bluebird Turbo 6631
DNF6 Cylinder & Rotary37Trend Windows P/L Flag of Australia (converted).svg Terry Daly
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Hopwood
Ford Capri Mk.II 5637
DNF6 Cylinder & Rotary45Precinct Performance P/L Flag of Australia (converted).svg Allan Bryant
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dean Gall
Mazda RX-7 5439
DNF8 Cylinder & Over27 Roadways Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg Garth Wigston
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steve Harrington
Holden VC Commodore 53610
DNF4 Cylinder47Walter Scott Flag of Australia (converted).svg Walter Scott
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Walton
Toyota Celica 5048
DNF8 Cylinder & Over12Warren Cullen Flag of Australia (converted).svg Warren Cullen
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones
Holden VC Commodore 4820
DNF6 Cylinder & Rotary35Alexander Rotary Engines Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Alexander
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ron Gillard
Mazda RX-7 4638
DNF4 Cylinder52 Bob Holden Motors Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Holden
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Wally Storey
Ford Escort Mk.II 2.0 GL 4449
DNF8 Cylinder & Over23Great Eastland Television Flag of Australia (converted).svg Paul Gulson
Flag of the United States.svg Rodney Combs
Holden VB Commodore 4221
DNF8 Cylinder & Over25 Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Harvey
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Vern Schuppan
Holden VC Commodore 3758
DNF4 Cylinder65 HDT Special Vehicles Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Brock
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Gary Scott
Isuzu Gemini ZZ 3644
DNF4 Cylinder51Chickadee Chicken Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graeme Bailey
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steve Land
Toyota Celica 3442
DNF4 Cylinder58Graham Mein Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graham Mein
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Geoff Russell
Ford Escort Mk.II RS2000 3450
DNF4 Cylinder55 Nissan Motor Co. Flag of Australia (converted).svg George Fury
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Fred Gibson
Nissan Bluebird Turbo 3043
DNF4 Cylinder54Terry Finnigan Flag of Australia (converted).svg Terry Finnigan
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ross Wittig
Isuzu Gemini 2954
DNF8 Cylinder & Over2Citizen Watches Australia P/L Flag of Australia (converted).svg Charlie O'Brien
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mike Quinn
Holden VC Commodore 1623
DNF6 Cylinder & Rotary34Penrith Mazda Centre Flag of Australia (converted).svg Terry Shiel
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Don Holland
Mazda RX-7 1327
DNF6 Cylinder & Rotary42Mazcars Croyden Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Duggan
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Michael O'Hehir
Mazda RX-7 135
DNQ [2] 8 Cylinder & Over19Neil Cunningham Flag of New Zealand.svg Neil Cunningham
Flag of New Zealand.svg Rod Coppins
Holden VC Commodore
DNQ [2] 8 Cylinder & Over22John Sands 3MP Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jim Keogh
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Andrew Newton
Ford XD Falcon
DNQ [2] 6 Cylinder & Rotary38Les Grose Flag of Australia (converted).svg Les Grose
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Cant
Ford Capri Mk.III
DNQ [2] 8 Cylinder & Over1Warren Cullen Flag of Australia (converted).svg Warren Cullen
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones
Holden VC Commodore
DNQ [2] 4 Cylinder53Chris Heyer Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris Heyer
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Lander
Volkswagen Golf
DNQ [2] 4 Cylinder71Ken Harrison Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ken Harrison
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Wells
Ford Escort Mk.II 1.6
DNQ [2] 4 Cylinder48Douglas B. Rutter Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ken Price
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steve Jonas
Isuzu Gemini
DNQ [3] 4 Cylinder67Ray Gulson Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ray Gulson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Gordon Mackinlay
Alfa Romeo Alfasud

References

Statistics