1979 Hardie-Ferodo 1000

The 1979 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 20th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on September 30, 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.

Peter Brock and Jim Richards won their second successive Bathurst 1000 driving a Holden Dealer Team A9X SS Hatchback Torana. In the most dominant performance in the races history, Brock, starting from pole position, got a perfect start and from that point the 05 MHDT Torana was never headed. Brock and Richards won the race by a record six laps, easily beating the old winning margin of 2 laps set in 1975 with Brock claiming the lap record of 2:21.1 on the last lap of the 6.172km long circuit. Brock later claimed that he just wanted to show how good the Torana was even after 1000km of hard racing. It was Brock's fourth and Richards second win. Brock's win put him equal on most wins with Harry Firth, Bob Jane and his longtime rival Allan Moffat. Toranas swept the podium with Peter Janson and Larry Perkins finishing second ahead of Ralph Radburn and John Smith.

Class structure

Class A

Morris/Quester Holden Torana

For cars over 3000cc, or three litres of engine capacity, the class featured the V8 Holden Toranas, Ford Falcons and a pair of Chevrolet Camaros, making their Bathurst debut. Class A cars would fill the first eight positions in the outright results, all of the Holden Toranas. Mirroring the outright result, Brock and Richards took a six lap victory over the similar Torana of Janson and Perkins. Smith and Radburn were two laps further behind.

Class B

The under three litre class saw the debut of the Mazda RX-7 (13B powered rotaries were rated as 2.292 litres capacity) which raced alongside its predecessor, the Mazda RX-3 and against Ford Capris, a BMW 3.0Si and a largely unmodified Volvo 242GT entered as a publicity exercise by veteran journalist-racer David McKay. Mechanical issues struck this class more than most, with the class winning car finishing in 13th outright, 26 laps behind Brock and Richards. That car was the Mazda RX-3 of Barry Lee and John Gates. Second in class was the Ford Capri of Peter Hopwood and Alan Cant, nine laps behind Lee and Gates. Third in class, finishing on the same lap as Hopwood/Cant was the Mazda RX-3 of Stephen Stockdale and John Duggan. The Volvo of McKay and Spencer Martin finished a creditable fourth in class, just a lap behind second and third.

Class C

Harrison/Cutchie Ford Escort

The under two litre class saw a mix Alfa Romeo Alfettas, Ford Escort RS2000s, Toyota Celicas and Triumph Dolomites. Class C outperformed Class B with the Toyota Delaer Team Toyota Celica of Peter Williamson and Mike Quinn winning the class and finishing ninth outright and 17 laps behind Brock and Richards. The Brian Foley Alfa Romeo entered Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV of Phil McDonnell and British sportscar legend Derek Bell finished tenth outright, a lap behind the Celica. Frank Porter and Tony Niovanni were three laps further back in third in another Alfetta.

Class D

Class D had an upper engine capacity limit of 1600cc. The entry was dominated by Holden Geminis, but also included an Isuzu Gemini, a 1.6 litre Ford Escort, a Toyota Corolla, and a Volkswagen Golf. The Isuzu Gemini of Garry Leggatt and David Seldon won the class, finishing 21st outright, 36 laps down. Bernie McClure and David Langman's Holden Gemini was second, a lap behind the class winners with the Holden Gemini of Jim Faneco and Gary Rowe two laps further behind. Eight laps behind was the first non-Gemini, the Ford Escort of Bob Holden and David Earle.

Hardies Heroes

Pos	No	Team	Driver	Car	Time
Pole	05	Marlboro Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	2:20.500
2	7	Ron Hodgson Racing	Bob Morris	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	2:22.466
3	6	Craven Mild Racing	Allan Grice	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	2:23.539
4	25	Allan Moffat Racing	Allan Moffat	Ford XC Falcon Cobra	2:24.270
5	21	Roadways / Gown-Hindhaugh	Charlie O'Brien	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	2:24.579
6	34	Greater Pacific Finance Coy	Garry Rogers	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	2:25.918
7	19	Cadbury Schweppes	Larry Perkins	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	2:26.212
8	11	Citizen Watches Aust. P/L	Gary Cooke	Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 A9X Sedan	2:27.043
9	17	Bryan Byrt Ford	Dick Johnson	Ford XC Falcon Cobra	2:27.655
10	4	Thompson Ford	Colin Bond	Ford XC Falcon Cobra	2:30.018

* Allan Moffat only qualified 22nd in his Falcon after engine troubles in qualifying. He was moved into Hardies Heroes by the ARDC at the expense of the HDT Torana SS A9X of John Harvey and ended up starting from 4th on the grid. Apart from race broadcaster Channel 7 wanting Moffat in the runoff for better television ratings, Harvey was bumped to 11th place on the grid due to the ARDC's desire to not have two cars from the same team in the top 10. As the #05 HDT Torana of Peter Brock was the fastest qualifier this saw Harvey the one left out.
* After Jack Brabham and Derek Bell in 1978, Larry Perkins became the third ex-Formula One driver to appear in the shootout driving Peter Janson's Torana. While neither Brabham or Bell would again appear in the runoff, Perkins would make another 16 appearances up until 2002 and would claim pole in 1993 (he also sat on pole in 1983 but that time was set by Peter Brock)
* Peter Brock claimed his 4th straight front row start at Bathurst (and his 5th in 6 years after starting 3rd in 1975) as well as his 3rd straight pole position. Brock's time was 1.966 faster than Bob Morris' 2nd place time in his ATCC winning A9X Torana. This was despite Brock admitting to making a big mistake at the Cutting on his second lap where his foot slipped off the brake pedal and the car went wide towards the wall forcing him to come to almost a complete stop at the bottom of the steepest part of the circuit.

Results

Pos	Class	No	Team	Drivers	Car	Laps	Qual Pos	Shootout Pos
1	A	05	Marlboro Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock Jim Richards	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	163		1
2	A	19	Cadbury Schweppes	Peter Janson Larry Perkins	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	157		7
3	A	14	Ralph Radburn	Ralph Radburn John Smith	Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 A9X Sedan	155	17
4	A	6	Craven Mild Racing	Allan Grice Alfredo Costanzo	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	154		3
5	A	34	Greater Pacific Finance Coy	Garry Rogers Bob Stevens	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	152		6
6	A	15	Scotty Taylor Holden	Alan Taylor Kevin Kennedy	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback[1]	151	15
7	A	8	Unipart Australia	Barry Seton Don Smith	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	148	16
8	A	21	Roadways / Gown-Hindhaugh	Charlie O'Brien Garth Wigston	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	147		5
9	C	66	Peter Williamson P/L	Peter Williamson Mike Quinn	Toyota Celica	146	33
10	C	58	Brian Foley P/L	Phil McDonnell Derek Bell	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV	145	27
11	C	59	Beninca Motors	Frank Porter Tony Niovanni	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV	142	39
12	C	64	Ray Gulson	Ray Gulson Paul Gulson	Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV	140	37
13	B	48	Barry Lee	Barry Lee John Gates	Mazda RX-3	139	29
14	A	12	Rusty French Racing	Jim Keogh John Mann	Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop	138	22
15	C	65	Lockyer Wreckers	Walter Scott Peter Walton	Toyota Celica	133	30
16	B	46	Fury Ford P/L	Terry Daly Eric Boord	Ford Capri Mk.II	133	30
17	A	24	Re-Car Racing	Alan Browne Brian Sampson	Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 A9X Sedan	133	15
18	B	41	Jag Racing P/L	Peter Hopwood Alan Cant	Ford Capri Mk.II	130	32
19	B	39	Stephen Stockdale	Stephen Stockdale John Duggan	Mazda RX-3	130	31
20	B	44	Scuderia Veloce P/L	Spencer Martin David McKay	Volvo 242 GT	129	47
21	D	70	Garry Leggatt	Garry Leggatt David Seldon	Isuzu Gemini[2]	129	43
22	D	71	Rejon Industries P/L	Bernie McClure David Langman	Holden Gemini	128	52
23	D	75	Victoria Police MSC	Jim Faneco Gary Rowe	Holden Gemini	126	48
24	D	74	Modulaire Air Conditioning	Ken Price Ian Wells	Holden Gemini	124	55
25	C	56	Jagparts	Terry Wade Gerald Kay	Triumph Dolomite Sprint	120	40
26	D	68	Bob Holden	Bob Holden David Earle	Ford Escort Mk.II 1.6	116	61
27	C	62	Jagparts	Martin Power Peter Kuebler	Triumph Dolomite Sprint	114	46
28	D	73	Lennox Motors	Chris Heyer Peter Lander	Volkswagen Golf	111	49
DNF	A	25	Allan Moffat Racing	Allan Moffat John Fitzpatrick	Ford Falcon XC Cobra	136		4
DNF	B	52	Masterton Homes Pty Ltd	Steve Masterton Phil Lucas	Ford Capri Mk.II	130	28
DNF	A	32	King George Tavern	Fred Gibson Joe Moore	Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 A9X Sedan	125	18
DNF	A	3	John Goss Racing P/L	John Goss Henri Pescarolo	Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop	118	58
DNF	A	13	TJ Slako	Tim Slako Colin Hall	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback[3]	111	19
DNF	B	47	Barry Jones	Barry Jones Terry Finnigan	Mazda RX-3	106	26
DNF	A	33	Tony Packard Holden	Bob Skelton Don Holland	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	105	44
DNF	B	50	Capri Components	Lawrie Nelson Tony Farrell	Ford Capri Mk.III	105	53
DNF	C	55	Graham Mein	Graham Mein Geoff Russell	Ford Escort Mk.II RS2000	105	41
DNF	A	7	Ron Hodgson Racing	Bob Morris Dieter Quester	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	95		2
DNF	A	29	Garry Willmington Performance	Garry Willmington John Wright	Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop	95	24
DNF	A	18	Brian Wood Ford	Murray Carter Graeme Lawrence	Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop	74	14
DNF	B	40	Ross Burbidge	Terry Shiel Ross Burbidge	Mazda RX-7	72	36
DNF	B	43	Unipart Australia	Lakis Manticas Geoff Leeds	Ford Capri Mk.II	69	34
DNF	A	9	Nine Network Racing Team	John McCormack Bob Forbes	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	62	60
DNF	A	30	Everlast Battery Service	Bill O'Brien Ray Winter	Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop	62	21
DNF	A	26	Marlboro Holden Dealer Team	John Harvey Ron Harrop	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	57	11
DNF	A	11	Citizen Watches Aust. P/L	Gary Cooke Warwick Brown	Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 A9X Sedan	57		8
DNF	D	69	Victoria Police MSC	Mal Smith Mal Owen	Holden Gemini	51	56
DNF	C	61	Brian Hilton Toyota	Graeme Bailey Doug Clark	Toyota Celica	46	35
DNF	D	77	Peter Williamson P/L	Mark Thatcher Kiyoshi Misaki	Toyota Corolla Levin	41	54
DNF	A	35	B Parsons / T Rabold	Barry Parsons Tom Rabold	Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop	38	63
DNF	A	22	Settlement Road Motor Wreckers	Warren Cullen Graham McRae	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	30	13
DNF	A	36	Brian Wood Ford	Rod Stevens Bill Evans	Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop	24	25
DNF	C	54	Roger Cartwright	Roger Cartwright Greg Toepfer	Ford Escort Mk.II RS2000	24	62
DNF	A	17	Bryan Byrt Ford	Dick Johnson Gary Scott	Ford XC Falcon Cobra	24		9
DNF	A	4	Thompson Ford	Colin Bond John French	Ford XC Falcon Cobra	23		10
DNF	C	60	Bill Stanley	Bill Stanley Ian Messner	Ford Escort Mk.II RS2000	23	45
DNF	A	27	Denmac Ford P/L	Ron Wanless Leo Leonard	Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop	21	12
DNF	A	2	AWA-Thorn Consumer Products	Ron Dickson Dick Barbour	Chevrolet Camaro Z28	16	59
DNF	B	45	Precinct Performance P/L	Dean Gall Allan Bryant	Mazda RX-7	16	57
DNF	A	10	Rusty French Racing	Rusty French Graham Moore	Ford XC Falcon GS500 Hardtop	9	23
DSQ	B	42	Brian Boyd	Lynn Brown Brian Boyd	BMW 3.0Si	138	38
DSQ	D	76	Re-Car Racing	Allan Gough Kel Gough	Holden Gemini	135	42
DNS	C	53	Ken Harrison	Ken Harrison Ray Cutchie	Ford Escort Mk.II RS2000		51
DNS	D		Lennox Motors	Peter Lander Paul Bernasconi	Volkswagen Golf

References

Statistics

• Provisional Pole Position - #05 Peter Brock - 2:26.8
• Pole Position - #05 Peter Brock - 2:20.500
• Fastest Lap - #05 Peter Brock - 2:21.1 - Lap 163 (lap record)
• Average Speed - 152 km/h
• Race Time - 6:38:15.8

External links

• CAMS Manual reference to Australian titles
• www.touringcarracing.net
• race results
• Autopics Bathurst images