The 1985 Castrol 500 was an endurance race for "Group A" Touring Cars staged at the Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit in Victoria on 15 September 1985. Race distance was 129 laps of the 3.878 km (1.928 mi) circuit, totaling 500.262 km.
The event was Round 3 of both the 1985 Australian Endurance Championship and the 1985 Australian Manufacturers' Championship. There were 36 starters, of which 21 were classified as finishers.[1]
The race was won by the JPS Team BMW 635 CSi of Australian Touring Car Champion Jim Richards, and his co-driver Tony Longhurst. It was Longhurst's first major win in Australian touring car racing. JPS Team BMW made it a 1-2 finish when their second car, driven by Neville Crichton and on-loan Nissan team driver George Fury finished only a few seconds behind. Finishing in third place was the surprising Toyota Supra of Peter Williamson and 1985 Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series winner Tomas Mezera.
The 1985 Castrol 500 was the first time since 1972 that neither Peter Brock or Allan Moffat had won the Sandown enduro. 1984 Castrol 500 winner Brock, who claimed pole position with a time of 1:52.3 in his Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore, suffered engine failure after 41 laps, while Moffat, who was without a drive in 1985 due to Mazda not racing in Group A, was part of the ABC television commentary team.
Classes edit
The field was divided into three classes according to engine displacement.[2]
Results edit
Top 10 Qualifiers edit
| Pos | No.[2] | Entrant [2] | Driver | Car [1] | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pole | 05 | Mobil Holden Dealer Team |  Peter Brock
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 1:52.3 |
| 2 | 6 | Roadways Racing Services | Allan Grice
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 1:52.4 |
| 3 | 17 | Palmer Tube Mills | Dick Johnson
|
Ford Mustang GT | 1:52.4 |
| 4 | 1 | JPS Team BMW |  Jim Richards
|
BMW 635 CSi | 1:52.7 |
| 5 | 55 | Mark Petch | Robbie Francevic
|
Volvo 240T | 1:52.9 |
| 6 | 43 | Mitsubishi Ralliart | Peter Fitzgerald
|
Mitsubishi Starion turbo | 1:53.3 |
| 7 | 7 | Mobil Holden Dealer Team | John Harvey
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 1:53.7 |
| 8 | 42 | Mitsubishi Ralliart | Kevin Bartlett
|
Mitsubishi Starion turbo | 1:54.4 |
| 9 | 31 | JPS Team BMW | George Fury
|
BMW 635 CSi | 1:54.4 |
| 10 | 3 | K. Baigent | Neal Lowe
|
BMW 635 CSi | 1:54.4 |
Race edit
| Position [1] | Class [2] | No.[2] | Entrant [2] | Drivers [1] | Car [1] | Laps [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A | 1 | JPS Team BMW | Jim Richards Tony Longhurst
|
BMW 635 CSi | 129 |
| 2 | A | 31 | JPS Team BMW | Neville Crichton George Fury
|
BMW 635 CSi | 129 |
| 3 | B | 44 | Peter Williamson Toyota | Peter Williamson Tomas Mezera
|
Toyota Supra | 127 |
| 4 | B | 47 | Network Alfa | Colin Bond Gregg Hansford
|
Alfa Romeo GTV6[2] | 126 |
| 5 | A | 36 | Lusty Engineering Pty Ltd | Graham Lusty Ken Lusty
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 123 |
| 6 | A | 39 | Sleepy Head Bedding Co. | Graeme Bowkett Wayne Wilkinson
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 123 |
| 7 | A | 14 | Auckland Coin & Bullion Exchange Co. | Denny Hulme Ray Smith
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 121 |
| 8 | A | 13 | Grellis Marketing | Ray Ellis Bernie McLure
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 120 |
| 9 | C | 61 | Toyota Team Australia | Ray Cutchie John Faulkner
|
Toyota Sprinter | 115 |
| 10 | C | 57 | Bob Holden Motors | Bob Holden Glenn Clark
|
Toyota Sprinter | 115 |
| 11 | C | 58 | Bob Holden Motors | David Ratcliffe [2] Don Smith
|
Toyota Sprinter | 114 |
| 12 | C | 88 | J. White | John White Les Szreniawski
|
Isuzu Gemini ZZ | 112 |
| 13 | B | 45 | Alfa City | Ray Gulson Frank Porter
|
Alfa Romeo GTV6 | 111 |
| 14 | B | 53 | Hulcraft Auto | John Craft Les Grose
|
Ford Capri | 107 |
| 15 | B | 52 | Hulcraft Auto | Pat Hogbin John Hogbin
|
Ford Capri | 102 |
| 16 | C | 64 | K. Harrison | Ken Harrison Ian Wells
|
Ford Escort | 100 |
| 17 | B | 42 | Mitsubishi Ralliart | Kevin Bartlett Peter McKay
|
Mitsubishi Starion turbo[2] | 100 |
| 18 | B | 50 | J. L. Hazelton | Laurie Hazelton Jerry Stauberg
|
Ford Capri | 100 |
| 19 | A | 17 | Palmer Tube Mills | Dick Johnson Larry Perkins
|
Ford Mustang GT[2] | 92 |
| 20 | C | 66 | Jagparts Racing | Lorraine Orchard Paul Taylor
|
Triumph Dolomite | 84 |
| 21 | B | 54 | Melbourne Clutch & Brake Service | Brian Sampson Garry Waldon
|
Mitsubishi Starion turbo[2] | 51 |
| DNF | A | 41 | B. Jones | Barry Jones Tony Mulvihill
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 92 |
| DNF | A | 24 | Jagparts Racing | Gerald Kay Martin Power
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 92 |
| DNF | A | 12 | G. Willmington | Gary Willmington [2] Peter Janson
|
Jaguar XJS | 81 |
| DNF | A | 7 | Mobil Holden Dealer Team | John Harvey David Parsons
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 78 |
| DNF | A | 6 | Roadways Racing Services | Allan Grice Warren Cullen
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 68 |
| DNF | C | 60 | Toyota Team Australia | John Smith Drew Price
|
Toyota Corolla | 66 |
| DNF | B | 49 | J. Bundy | John Bundy Norm Carr
|
Mazda RX-7 | 65 |
| DNF | B | 55 | Mark Petch | Robbie Francevic John Bowe
|
Volvo 240T | 60 |
| DNF | B | 43 | Mitsubishi Ralliart | Peter Fitzgerald Brad Jones
|
Mitsubishi Starion turbo[2] | 50 |
| DNF | A | 21 | Erle McRae Motor Sport | Charlie O'Brien Andrew Miedecke
|
BMW 635 CSi | 50 |
| DNF | A | 05 | Mobil Holden Dealer Team | Peter Brock David Oxton
|
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] | 41 |
| DNF | A | 28 | Capri Components | Laurie Nelson Bill O'Brien
|
Ford Mustang | 41 |
| DNF | A | 20 | J. Keogh | Jim Keogh Garry Rogers
|
BMW 635 CSi | 39 |
| DNF | A | 3 | K. Baigent | Kent Baigent Neal Lowe
|
BMW 635 CSi | 38 |
| DNF | C | 56 | M. Minear | Mike Minear Paul Elliott
|
Volvo 360 GLT | 22 |
Notes edit
- Pole Position: #05 Peter Brock - Holden Commodore (VK) - 1:52.3
- Fastest Lap: Dick Johnson / Larry Perkins - Ford Mustang - 1:53.6 (New lap record) [1]
- Race Time: 4:12:26.4
References edit
- Australian Motor Racing Year, 1985/86
- James Hardie 1000, 1985/86
- Official Programme, Castrol 500, 14 and 15 September 1985
- The Australian Racing History of Ford, 1989
- The Official Racing History of Holden, 1988