The 1985 Pukekohe 500 (known as the Nissan Sport 500 for sponsorship reasons) was an endurance race for Group A touring cars held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway in New Zealand on 3 February 1985. The race was the second and final round of the 1985 Nissan Sports Series. The race, held over 143 laps of the 2.841 km (1.765 mi) circuit for a total of 406 km (252 mi).[1]

Layout of the Pukekohe Park Raceway (1967-1989)

The race, held a week after the Wellington 500, was won by New Zealand drivers Neville Crichton and Wayne Wilkinson driving a BMW 635 CSi from the Tom Walkinshaw Racing Rover Vitesse of Tom Walkinshaw and Win Percy with Kiwis Neal Lowe and Kent Baigent finishing third in their BMW 635.

After finishing third in Wellington, the win saw Crichton and Wilkinson as co-winners of the Nissan Sports Series.

The Nissan Sport Series was run to the FIA's international Group A rules and provided a number of Australian teams, including the famed Holden Dealer Team, to get some racing laps in their new cars before the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship after changing from the locally developed Group C rules at the end of 1984.

Results edit

Position Class No. Entrant Drivers Car Laps Grid
1 Div.3 4 John Andrew Motorsport   Neville Crichton
  Wayne Wilkinson
BMW 635 CSi 143 2
2 Div.3 2 Tom Walkinshaw Racing   Tom Walkinshaw
  Win Percy
Rover Vitesse 143 1
3 Div.3 3 H. Kent Baigent   Kent Baigent
  Neal Lowe
BMW 635 CSi 141 5
4 Div.3 11 Mark Petch Motorsport   Michel Delcourt
  Robbie Francevic
Volvo 240T 141 6
5 Div.1 71   Paul Adams
  Allan Woolf
Toyota Corolla GT AE86 127 11
6 Div.2 37 Dealer Team Nissan   Kevin Ryan
  Ian Tulloch
Nissan Bluebird Turbo 124 19
7 Div.2 67 Ray Gulson   Ray Gulson
  Grant O'Donnell
Alfa Romeo GTV6 124 8
8 Div.1 72 Bob Holden Motors   Bob Holden
  Glenn Clark
Toyota Sprinter 123 10
9 Div.2 32   Glenn McIntyre
  Dennis Roderick
Isuzu Gemini ZZ 122 18
10 Div.2 32 MacDonald Halligan Motors   Derek MacDonald
  Ross MacDonald
Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo 122 16
11 Div.1 74 Sip ‘n Save Wines   Colin McGregor
  Bryce Platt
VW Golf GTI 117 15
?? Div.2 34 Chris Heyer's Kingswood Import Centre   Chris Heyer
  Graham McGregor
Audi 80 2.2 ?? 14
?? Div.1 73 K. Bolton   Steve Willy
  David Janes
Toyota Corolla GT AE86 ?? 13
?? Div.3 10 Pegasus Enterprises Ltd.   Robert Delbin
  Chris Delbin
Holden VK Commodore ?? 12
?? Div.3 9   Lew McKinnon
  John Power
Holden VK Commodore ?? 9
DNF Div.3 6 Johnstone BMW Auckland   John Morton
  Frank Sytner
BMW 635 CSi ?? 3
DNF Div.3 05 Holden Dealer Team   Peter Brock
  Larry Perkins
Holden VK Commodore ?? 7
DNF Div.3 17 Bruce Anderson   Bruce Anderson
  Dick Johnson
Ford XE Falcon ?? 4
DNF Div.2 31 L. Tattle   Bob Barry
  Rob Whitehouse
Fiat Ritmo 130TC ?? 17
DNS Div.2 8 Gemco Motor Sport   Gary Pederson
  Dave McMillan
Fiat Ritmo 130TC

* The event attracted 20 entries and 19 starters.

Notes edit

References edit

See also edit

  • James Hardie 1000, 1985/86
  • The Australian Racing History of Ford, 1989
  • The Official Racing History of Holden, 1988