1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500

The 1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was the 11th running of the Bathurst 500 touring car race. It was held on 4 October 1970 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst. The race was open to standard production sedans competing in five classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle (in Australian dollars).

Layout of the Mount Panorama Circuit (1938-1986)

Allan Moffat won his first Bathurst endurance race, leading home Bruce McPhee in a one-two result for the Ford works team and their Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II's. It was the fifth Phillip Island / Bathurst 500 victory for the factory team. Third, a lap behind the Fords, was Don Holland driving a Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1.

Defending winners Colin Bond and Tony Roberts drove separate cars in the event. Bond finished 16th in his Holden Dealer Team Torana GTR XU-1 after having led the early laps, while Roberts was lucky to survive a spectacular accident when his Ford Falcon GTHO crashed at Skyline only 6 laps from the finish. The Falcon spun backwards, leapt over the guard rail and rolled about 50 metres down the mountain before being stopped by a tree.

Class structure edit

 
A race replica of the Ford XW Falcon GTHO driven by Kim Aunger and John Walker in the 1970 Hardie Ferodo 500

Class A edit

For cars up to $1,960. It was made up of Datsun 1200s, 1.3 litre Ford Escorts, Mazda 1300s and Toyota Corollas. A Datsun 1200 won the class with an average lap time of 3 minutes, 26 seconds.[1]

Class B edit

The $1,961 to $2,400 class consisted of Datsun 1600, Fiat 128, Ford Cortina and 2.6 litre Holden Torana.

Class C edit

The $2,401 to $3,150 class saw a mix of two barrel carburettor Chrysler Valiant Pacer, 1.6 litre Ford Escort, 3.1 litre Holden Torana and Morris Cooper S.

Class D edit

The $3,151 to $4,100 class featured only the four barrel carburettor Chrysler Valiant Pacer, a Fiat 125 and a Triumph 2.5 PI although a Ford Capri was also entered but did not start.

Class E edit

For cars over $4,100. Apart from a single BMW 2800 and a Holden Monaro the class consisted only of Ford Falcon GTHO Phase II.

Top 10 Qualifiers edit

Pos No Entrant Driver Car Qual
Pole 64 Ford Motor Co of Australia   Allan Moffat Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 2:49.3
2 63 Ford Motor Co of Australia   Bruce McPhee Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 2:50.0
3 62 Ford Motor Co of Australia   Fred Gibson Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 2:53.6
4 39 Holden Dealer Team   Colin Bond Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 2:54.0
5 30 Max Wright Motors Pty Ltd   Don Holland Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 2:54.3
6 40 Holden Dealer Team   Peter Brock Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 2:54.8
7 67 The Tony Roberts Team   Tony Roberts Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 2:54.9
8 56 Stillwell & Co Pty Ltd   Graham Ritter Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 2:55.1
9 55 Finnie Ford Pty Ltd   David McKay Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 2:55.1
10 60 Wright Ford Motors Pty Ltd   Bob Muir Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 2:55.4

Results edit

Pos Class No Entrant[2] Drivers Car Laps Qual
Pos
1 E 64 Ford Motor Co of Australia   Allan Moffat Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 130 1
2 E 63 Ford Motor Co of Australia   Bruce McPhee Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 130 2
3 C 30 Max Wright Motors Pty Ltd   Don Holland Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 129 5
4 C 35 Geoghegan's Sporty Cars   Doug Chivas
  Graham Ryan
Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 2 Barrell 129 25
5 C 34 Geoghegan's Sporty Cars   Leo Geoghegan
  Nick Ledingham
Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 2 Barrell 128 22
6 C 33 McLeod Kelso & Lee Pty Ltd   George Garth
  John Hall
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 128 19
7 D 51 Geoghegan's Sporty Cars   Peter Brown
  Des West
Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 4 Barrell 127 11
8 C 31 Booran Motors Pty Ltd   Brian Reed
  Bob Watson
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 127 14
9 E 53 McLeod Ford Pty Ltd   John Goss
  Bob Skelton
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 127 32
10 C 28 Waterloo High Performance Centre   Ron Gillard
  Warren Gracie
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 126 30
11 C 37 Boyded Pty Ltd   Bob Martin
  Spencer Martin
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 125 16
12 E 66 Commonwealth Industrial Gases Limited   Bill Ford
  Hans Tholstrup
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 125 21
13 C 38 Holden Dealer Team   Sandra Bennett
  Christine Cole
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 123 24
14 E 65 Alto Ford Racing Pty Ltd   Bob Holden
  (Bill Fanning)[3]
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 123 26
15 D 46 Central Motors (Nepean) Pty Ltd   Bob Cook
  Alan Cant
Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 4 Barrell 121 31
16 C 39 Holden Dealer Team   Colin Bond Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 119 4
17 C 36 Thomson Ford Pty Ltd   Bob Drane Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 119 34
18 E 54 Rowell Thiele Ford Pty Ltd   Trevor Meehan
  Peter Wherrett
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 118 15
19 B 23 W.H. Motors Pty Ltd   Don Smith
  (Herb Taylor)[4]
Datsun 1600 117 38
20 B 20 Datsun Racing Team   Doug Whiteford Datsun 1600 117 39
21 C 42 Muir Motors (Ryde) Pty Ltd   Martin Cortese
  Chris Cronan
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 117 29
22 E 58 Eiffeltower Group   Jack Nougher
  David O'Keefe
BMW 2800 117 33
23 D 47 John McNicol Pty Ltd
Zanardo & Rodriguez
  Ron Kearns
  Gerry Lister
Fiat 125S 116 40
24 A 6 Datsun Racing Team   Jon Leighton
  Barry Tapsall
Datsun 1200 114 43
25 A 1 Denlo Motors Pty Ltd   Bernie Haehnle
  Neil Revell
Mazda 1300 114 47
26 A 12 John Palmer Motors   Gary Hodge
  John Leffler
Mazda 1300 113 45
27 A 10 AMI Racing Team   Brian Sampson
  Dick Thurston
Toyota Corolla 113 48
28 A 7 Mazda House Pty Ltd   Barry Ferguson
  Jim Laing-Peach
Mazda 1300 112 50
29 B 21 Kloster Pty Ltd   Ray Marquet
  Geoff Westbury
Ford Cortina 240 Mk.II 112 53
30 A 9 AMI Racing Team   Max Stewart
  Dick Young
Toyota Corolla 112 51
31 D 48 TVW 7 Perth
Artransa Park Television
  Brian Culcheth
  Lyndon McLeod
Triumph 2.5 PI 111 37
32 A 13 Tynan Motors   Ray Morris Mazda 1300 111 54
33 A 4 Parry's Car Sales Pty Ltd   Trevor Mason Mazda 1300 111 55
34 C 32 Fair Deal Car Sales Pty Ltd   Digby Cooke
  David Seldon
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 108 13
35 A 14 C Kennedy   Carl Kennedy
  Bill Slattery
Datsun 1200 108 56
36 C 26 P & R Williams   Lyn Keefe
  Arthur Olsen
Morris Cooper S 107 57
37 C 40 Holden Dealer Team   Peter Brock
  Bob Morris
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 107 6
38 A 2 Marque Motors   Bill Stanley
  Mike Kable
Toyota Corolla 106 52
39 B 22 Grenville Motors Pty Ltd   Peter Finlay
  Bob Forbes
Fiat 128 106 58
40 C 43 BP Muirfield Service Station   Ross Hewison
  Brian Hones
Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 105 36
41 A 8 Harry Gapps Ford Pty Ltd   Harry Gapps
  Frank Hann
Ford Escort 1300 Mk.I 103 59
42 A 15 Woman's Day   Carole Corness
  Gloria Taylor
Ford Escort 1300 Mk.I 103 60
43 D 49 J Butta   Joe Butta
  Bob Genders
Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 4 Barrell 63 18
DNF E 67 The Tony Roberts Team   Tony Roberts Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 124 7
DNF A 5 Datsun Racing Team   John Roxburgh Datsun 1200 100 46
DNF A 11 AMI Racing Team   Bill Evans
  Gary Cooke
Toyota Corolla 98 49
DNF C 27 Les Grose Racing Division   Les Grose
  Keith Grose
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 81 27
DNF B 19 G Moore   Graham Moore
  Bill Brown
Holden LC Torana 2600S 52 42
DNF E 56 Stillwell & Co Pty Ltd   Graham Ritter
  Richard Knight
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 49 8
DNF D 50 N Beechey   Norm Beechey
  Bruce Hindhaugh
Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 4 Barrell 39 17
DNF C 29 Pat Cullen's Garage   John Keran
  Clyde Hodgins
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 38 23
DNF E 62 Ford Motor Co of Australia   Fred Gibson
  Barry Seton
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 33 3
DNF B 24 W.H. Motors Pty Ltd   Bruce Stewart
  Iain Corness
Datsun 1600 32 41
DNF E 61 Byrt Ford Pty Ltd   Garry Rush
  Martin Chenery
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 27 12
DNF E 55 Finnie Ford Pty Ltd   David McKay Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 23 9
DNF E 57 Aunger Accessories
Fairway Ford
  Kym Aunger
  Johnnie Walker
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 18 28
DNF E 59 Southern Motors Pty Ltd   Bruce Hodgson Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 16 35
DNF E 69 EL Hugo   David Sheldon Holden HT Monaro GTS 350 11 20
DNF E 60 Wright Ford Motors Pty Ltd   Bob Beasley
  Bob Muir
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II 6 10
DNF A 3 Tynan Motors   Geoff Leeds
  Les Carne
Mazda 1300 3 44
DNS E 70 Rollington Pty Ltd   Murray Carter Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II
DNS E 71 Ira L & AC Birk Pty Ltd   Nick Petrilli
  Mike Savva
Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II
DNS D 52 B Arentz   Barry Arentz
  Brian Michelmore
Ford Capri V6 GT
DNS C 45 Sydney Speed Shop Pty Ltd   Scott McNaughton
  Bob Inglis
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1
DNS C 44 R Radford   Rick Radford Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1
DNS A 17 M Daddo   M Daddo
  P Ulbrich
Morris Mini K
DNS A 18 RG Lanyon   A Barrett
  R Withers
Mazda 1300

Statistics edit

  • Pole Position - #64 Allan Moffat - 2:49.3
  • Fastest Lap - #53 Goss/Skelton - 2:53 (lap record)
  • Race time of winning car - 6:33:47

References edit

  1. ^ "New Datsun 1200 wins Class A in Bathurst 500". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. Port Moresby: 12. 18 November 1970. Retrieved 21 November 2020 – via Trove.
  2. ^ Official Programme, 1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500, pages 28-29
  3. ^ "How They Finished Last Year", Official Programme, 1971 Hardie Ferodo 500, page 58 indicates that Fanning co-drove the car with Holden. Australia's Greatest Motor Race, 1990 edition, page 300 omits Fanning from the results
  4. ^ "How They Finished Last Year", Official Programme, 1971 Hardie Ferodo 500, page 58 indicates that Taylor co-drove the car with Smith. Australia's Greatest Motor Race, 1990 edition, page 300 states that both Smith and Taylor have confirmed that Smith completed the race solo
  • Greenhalgh, David; Thomas B. Floyd; Bill Tuckey (2000). Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999. Chevron Publishing Group. pp. 170–177 & 458. ISBN 1-875221-12-3.

External links edit