Manufacturer | Jaguar, Holden, Triumph, Ford |
---|---|
Team Principal | Bruce Richardson Ron Missen |
Team Manager | Ron Hodgson |
Race Drivers | Ron Hodgson Charlie Smith John French Bob Beasely Bruce McPhee Bob Morris John Leffler Frank Gardner James Laing-Peach Graham Moore John Fitzpatrick Ron Dickson Graeme Lawrence Johnny Rutherford Janet Guthrie Derek Bell Dieter Quester |
Chassis | Jaguar Mk.II Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 Triumph Dolomite Ford Capri Holden LX Torana SL/R 5000 A9X Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback |
Debut | 1960 |
Drivers' Championships | 1 (1979) |
Round wins | 7 |
Ron Hodgson Motors (later known as Ron Hodgson Channel 7 Racing) was a Parramatta-based car dealership, primarily associated with Holden. [1] One of the largest dealerships of its kind in Australia, on several occasions it lent its name and facilities to support motor racing teams. It did this initially as the base for the racing efforts of its own principal dealer, Ron Hodgson, who first raced Jaguars in the early days of the Australian Touring Car Championship. In the 1970s, it became the front for Hodgson's protege, Bob Morris. With Morris at the wheel, the team became best known for winning the Bathurst 1000 in 1976 and the Australian Touring Car Championship in 1979.
The independent one-car team was formed by Ron Hodgson, who ran the team from his dealership in the west of Sydney. Hodgson himself had finished third in both the 1960 and 1961 Australian Touring Car Championships as well as entering the Bathurst 500 between 1963 and 1966. After running Bruce McPhee in the major endurance races in 1972, the team aligned with Bob Morris for a partial campaign of the 1973 Australian Touring Car Championship, also receiving sponsorship from the Seven Network. In 1974 Morris finished second in the championship, but did not win his first championship rounds until 1975. [2] Morris, driving with Frank Gardner, then finished second at the 1975 Hardie-Ferodo 1000. In 1976 and 1977, the team also experimented with a Triumph Dolomite Sprint instead of the V8 Torana, attempting to maximise the championship points by winning smaller capacity class in some races. In conjunction with Leyland Australia, the team had in fact aimed to develop a locally-made competition version of the Dolomite Sprint but the proposal was rejected by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport. [1]
The team recruited British driver John Fitzpatrick to drive with Morris in the 1976 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 and the duo were able to conquer the event, limping home in dramatic circumstances thanks to a leaking oil seal resulting in smoke pouring from the car in the closing laps. [3] The race result remains disputed by some due to the suggestion that the second-placed Holden Dealer Team entry of Colin Bond and John Harvey should have won the race due to a timing error. [4] The result was allegedly not protested on the day due to the public relations issues of Hodgson being a leading Holden car dealer, however Bob Morris maintains to this day that the result was correct. [4]
The following year, the Seven Network increased their sponsorship and the team became known as Ron Hodgson Channel 7 Racing. After a difficult 1977 season, Morris matched his and the team's best championship result in 1978 with a runner-up result behind Peter Brock in the official Holden Dealer Team. [2] Morris had in fact scored equal points to Brock but lost the title due to the requirement that only the best six scores counted to the championship totals. [5] In another close battle, Morris narrowly defeated Brock to win the 1979 title. This meant the team had outperformed the HDT, which had markedly more resources and staff, in the same car over a full season. Having achieved his aims within the sport, Hodgson folded his team before the 1980 season.
Between 1975 and 1978, the team also entered a second car at the Bathurst 1000. In the 1975 and 1976 races the team ran a Triumph Dolomite Sprint, which achieved a top ten result in 1975. In 1977 and 1978 the team ran international drivers for their second car, this time with a Holden Torana to match their lead car. In 1977 the team ran an all-American line-up consisting of the then two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Johnny Rutherford and Janet Guthrie, and in 1978 a European line-up of the then one-tine 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Derek Bell and Dieter Quester. [3]
Year | Class | No | Drivers | Chassis | Laps | Grid | Qualifying / Shootout |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Engine | |||||||
1976 | 3001cc - 6000cc | 7 | Bob Morris John Fitzpatrick | Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 | 163 | 4 | 2:26.4 (Top 10) |
Holden 308 5.0 L V8 |
Year | Championship or Series | Driver | Car |
---|---|---|---|
1979 | Australian Touring Car Championship | Bob Morris | Holden LX Torana SS 5000 A9X |
Rothmans AMSCAR Series | Bob Morris | Holden LX Torana SS 5000 A9X |
The Triumph Dolomite was a small saloon car produced by the Triumph Motor Company division of the British Leyland (BL) in Canley, Coventry, between October 1972 and August 1980.
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.
Jim Richards is a New Zealand racing driver who won numerous championships in his home country and in Australia. While now retired from professional racing, Richards continues to compete in the Touring Car Masters series.
The Holden Dealer Team (HDT) was Holden's semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1986, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and Sports Sedan races during the 1970s. From 1980 the Holden Dealer Team, by then under the ownership of Peter Brock, diversified into producing modified road-going Commodores and other Holden cars for selected dealers via HDT Special Vehicles.
Colin John Bond is an Australian former 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.
John GossOAM is an Australian retired motor racing driver who competed in his home country during the 1960s, 1970's and 1980's. He is the only driver to have won Australia's two most prestigious races, the Bathurst 1000, and the Australian Grand Prix (1976).
Allan Maxwell Grice, known to motor-racing fans as "Gricey", is an Australian former racing driver and politician, most famous for twice winning the prestigious Bathurst 1000, and as a privateer driver of a Holden in the Australian Touring Car Championship.
The 1975 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 16th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was an endurance race for touring cars complying with CAMS Group C regulations. The event was held at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst, New South Wales on 5 October 1975 over a distance of 1006.036 km. The race was Round 3 of the 1975 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
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.
The Ford works team was the unofficial name for an Australian motor racing team which was supported by the Ford Motor Company of Australia. The team was formed in 1962 and was disbanded when Ford Australia withdrew from motor racing at the end of 1973. Drivers for the works team included Allan Moffat, Fred Gibson, Harry Firth, Bob Jane, Barry Seton, Bruce McPhee, John French, Ian Geoghegan and his brother Leo Geoghegan. Ford Australia also supported a factory rally team in Australia from 1977 to 1980.
The 1980 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 21st running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 5 October 1980 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. The race was open to cars eligible under the locally developed CAMS Group C Touring Car regulations with four engine capacity based classes.
The 1979 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 20th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 30 September 1979, 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 four engine capacity based classes.
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The 1977 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was a motor race for Group C Touring Cars, held on 2 October 1977 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was the 18th in a sequence of "Bathurst 1000" events commencing with the 1960 Armstrong 500.
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.
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John Francis Harvey was an Australian racing driver. He was a top Speedcar driver for many years in the 1950s and 1960s, winning many championship races including the NSW Championship for three successive years and the Victorian Championship twice before turning his skills to road racing where he had a long and successful career until his retirement at the end of 1988. In 1987 John made history driving the General Motors Sunraycer to victory in the inaugural World Solar Challenge from Darwin to Adelaide, the first international race for purely solar powered cars.
The 1977 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing championship open to Group C Touring Cars. It was the 18th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. The championship began at Symmons Plains Raceway on 7 March and ended at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on 20 November after eleven rounds. 1977 was the second and final time that the series incorporated the longer distance races which made up the Australian Championship of Makes. These races included the Sandown 400 and the Phillip Island 500K, although notably not the Bathurst 1000.
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