Group A - International Touring Car Formula

[Steve Holmes]

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The FIA introduced the Group A touring car regulations in 1982. Group A required that 2500 vehicles had to be produced in a 12 month period, for specific parts to be homologated, and that a special 'Evolution' of just 500 vehicles could be produced separate of the initial 2500.

Group A was first introduced in 1983, in the British Saloon Car Championship (1983-90), but then quickly spread to Germany (1984-92), Australia (1985-92), Japan (1985-93), and New Zealand (1984-92). Additionally was the European Touring Car Championship, held from 1983-88, and the World Touring Car Championship, which took place in 1987.

It was broken into three classes, based on engine size: 0-1,600cc, 1,601-2,500cc, and over 2,500cc. Weight formula's were used based on the production vehicle.

More than 60 different vehicle models were homologated for Group A, although as manufacturers sought to produce evolution models specifically for the formula, the racing became dominated by a single marque. The Ford Sierra RS500 dominated from 1988, the Nissan Skyline R32 from 1990.

But regardless, Group A produced some exciting racing, and some memorable cars. The 1984-86 period was possibly the most competitive, with Ford Sierra (XR4i), Volvo (240T), Jaguar (XJS), Rover (Vitesse), BMW (635CSi), and Holden (Commodore) all enjoying race winning success in the various countries the formula was used during this period, and no single marque appeared to dominate.

With all the Group A photos and stories appearing on The Roaring Season, this seems like a good time to start a thread dedicated to this formula.

Photo above courtesy Nigel Watts.

[Steve Holmes]

I've always had a soft spot for the Ford Sierra Cosworth and RS500. I still recall the first media photo I saw of one of these cars in 1986, and I still remember the first one I saw in the flesh, a brand new Moonstone Blue example in a car dealers showroom. They looked quite unique, in an era when cars were modelled off shoe boxes.

The first team in the world to get a handle on making the Sierra Cosworth both fast and reliable was Rudy Eggenbergers team. The Texaco sponsored Eggenberger Sierra's ran the full 1987 WTCC, winning the title, only to then be stripped of the championship on account of their wheel arch openings being too large.

Both Andy Rouse, who competed in the British Touring Car Championship and selected WTCC races in 87, and Dick Johnson, who competed in the Australian Touring Car Championship, managed to get on top of the Sierra by 1988, and each dominated their respective championships, while Eggenberger dominated the European Touring Car Championship after the WTCC was killed off.

Only one time, at Silverstone for the Touring Trophy race, which was also round 10 of the 1988 WTCC, did all three teams go head to head, not counting the Bathurst and Calder WTCC races in '87, where neither Johnson nor Rouse fared at all well. Johnson only took his Sierra to England in '88 because his cars showing the previous year when the Europeans visited, was quite an embarrassment for him, and he wanted to make amends.

The '88 Silverstone TT race was well publicised as a battle of the worlds best Sierra teams, but nobody expected Johnsons Australian car to dominate the way it did. Sadly, the Australian Sierra didn't reach the finish.

Here are highlights of that race.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Troo1CRMGCE

[kiwi285]

Have always been a fan of the Sierra Cosworth but the 635 Csi was a beautifull car

[nick_tassie]

Here's an interesting story I found tonight on Brock's first Mobil Group A VK Commodore, it was online from The Warrnambool Standard in 2010, the car is for sale in the current Unique Cars mag for you guessed it $750,000. Nice to see its been restored and has survived.

The Warrnambool Standard
IAN PECH
15 Oct, 2010 03:00 AM

DISGUISED by a thick layer of farmyard dust, Illowa poultry farmer Allan "Swampy" Marsh believes he has the automotive equivalent of the goose's golden egg sitting in a corner of one of his sheds. It's the shell of a VK Commodore HDT Group A touring car that he acquired from Australian motor sport legend Peter Brock in the late 1980s.

Mr Marsh said that automotive auction house Shannons had told him the car could be worth up to $750,000 fully restored. The VK was driven by the late Peter Brock to win the touring car round at Sandown in 1985. It was driven at the 1985 Bathurst 1000 race by team mate John Harvey. Harvey also drove it in 1986 touring car championship events.

Mr Marsh believed the car was the first to be fitted with Brock's controversial "Energy Polarizer" device, which eventually led to the disintegration of Brock's relationship with Holden. Mr Marsh said he bought the shell of the car in 1988 when he visited Brock's HDT business in Bertie Street, Port Melbourne, to get some spare parts for a VB Commodore he was doing up as a rally car. He said the HDT business was in the process of being liquidated after Brock's falling out with Holden, and the garage was chaotic.

"I saw the VK shell sitting out the back and said to Brock 'what are you doing with that'?" Mr Marsh said. "Brock said 'what do you want it for?' "I told him what I was doing and he said 'mate, if you can get it out of here quickly you can have it'" Mr Marsh said he had first met Peter Brock when they were both in their early days of motorsport.

Mr Marsh went on to establish a business building seats for racing cars and supplied Brock and other touring car drivers from the late '70s until the mid '90s. After moving to Warrnambool, Mr Marsh began rebuilding the Group A car for production-car rallying. He fitted it with a 400bhp, 308-cubic -inch V8 and a turbo-400 Chevrolet automatic gearbox. It retained the Ford nine-inch rear end and Volvo disc brakes, as fitted when the car was homologated for touring car competition. Mr Marsh rallied the car from 1991 to 1997.

Its days as a rusty, dirty hulk are about to come to an end. Mr Marsh said he had collected all the mechanical parts he needed to restore it to original condition. "I am going to completely restore it out of respect for Peter Brock and his achievements." He said Brock, who was killed aged 61 in an accident during a rally in Western Australia, had made a huge contribution to motorsport and had possessed a charismatic and magnetic personality. Mr Marsh expects the restoration of the Commodore to be completed in 12 months.

A Shannon's representative told Drive yesterday that the auction house was reluctant to make comments on the value of any car they had not personally inspected. But she said that a "Bathurst-winning Brock Commodore... may bring between $250,000 and $500,000". What a buyer was prepared to pay depended on many factors and someone might be willing to pay a higher price if a particular car was personally important to them.

[Steve Holmes]

750K! Yikes. Brock appeared at the first Wellington Street race in a VK Commodore sponsored by UDC Finance, which was supposed to be the first Brock Commodore built for Group A. I didn't do anything particularly well, and I don't think it had even raced in Aus yet as the 1985 ATCC was still a couple of months away. This car was quickly replaced from memory. So was this the car pictured above?

[Shano]

This car? Kept lunching its valve gear and timing chain, IIRC.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/benderboat/Nissan%20Mobil%20races/BrockNissan500852-1.jpg

[Steve Holmes]

Thats the one Shano, I knew someone on here would have a photo of it.

[timbo61]

I have heard that Australian Group C and Group A touring cars will be on the support race list for the 2012 Australian F1 Grand Prix, probably replacing F5000.

[TonyG]

Correct as heard

[Steve Holmes]

They'll be racing this weekend at the Muscle Car Masters at Eastern Creek also.

[Steve Holmes]

I know the 2 Litre Supertouring category was attempted in the US when it was taking over the world in the early to mid 1990s. But did Group A ever get started in the US?

[Steve Holmes]

Some nice action shots here by Warwick Clayton from the 1986 Wellington Street Race.

Rouse/Oxton Sierra XR4i

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[Steve Holmes]

Ray Smith/Denny Hulme Commodore. I believe this is a Brock built car? Second shot shows the Commodore being chased by the Dick Johnson/Neville Crichton Mustang. Crichton arranged JPS sponsorship for the Mustangs two NZ appearances. It looked awesome! Any experts on here who can tell me if the Mustang was actually painted black, or if it was just wrapped in a giant vinyl sticker?

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[TonyG]

http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq204/TGPhotography/img002-2_zpsd6a795e7.jpg

http://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq204/TGPhotography/img004-2_zps7883fc57.jpg

[Steve Holmes]

Nice pics Tony. I only discovered recently that the Morton/Francevic XE Falcon Group A car has been owned by George Sheweiry for many years!

[markec]

2010 635 at the ring

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzyLTnSMoR8&NR=1

[jimdigris]

Mr Marsh believed the car was the first to be fitted with Brock's controversial "Energy Polarizer" device

ahh the box of magnets, memories of Harvs coming back from a test session and saying (political correct version follows, not what really came out of Slug's mouth ;) ) "what the heck is this thing" when it came loose under the dash and got jammed under the brake pedal

[jimdigris]

did Group A ever get started in the US?

No. But feelers were put out by one Australian party to get GM to homologate the 1984 IROC Camaro for the 85 season once CAMS announced Australia was going Group A in 85. GM werent interested at all, wouldnt even submit the paperwork, even after being told the Ford Mustang was homolgated. Shame really. They saw it purely as European and hence no sales there, no local interest, no point. And in the US, if US manufacturers arent involved, then no-one cares

[jimdigris]

Nice pics Tony. I only discovered recently that the Morton/Francevic XE Falcon Group A car has been owned by George Sheweiry for many years!

This being a NZ temporary approval to compete? AFAIK the XE was never homologated in pure Group A, I do recall Dicky racing an XE in NZ but the car wasnt his, it was a cross between NZ production racing and the inoming Group A regulations, tons of grunt but no brakes and dodgy transmission, didnt it have non-standard front and rear spoilers, similar (probably was) to what came out on the Australian "sports pak" model?

[jimdigris]

Ray Smith/Denny Hulme Commodore. I believe this is a Brock built car?

The original Denny Hulme "Gold Bullion" car was definatly built by the HDT ;) after 85 the car was sold and updated to VK SS Group A and became the Bob Jane T-Marts car raced by Crosby in 1986, and if you were at Bathurst that year if you ever saw the car with the boot open you would have seen it still painted gold in the boot ;)

[jimdigris]

A Shannon's representative told Drive yesterday that the auction house was reluctant to make comments on the value of any car they had not personally inspected. But she said that a "Bathurst-winning Brock Commodore... may bring between $250,000 and $500,000".


It would have been better if this girl had said nothing at all, this chassis never won Bathurst

[Steve Holmes]

No. But feelers were put out by one Australian party to get GM to homologate the 1984 IROC Camaro for the 85 season once CAMS announced Australia was going Group A in 85. GM werent interested at all, wouldnt even submit the paperwork, even after being told the Ford Mustang was homolgated. Shame really. They saw it purely as European and hence no sales there, no local interest, no point. And in the US, if US manufacturers arent involved, then no-one cares

Thanks Jim. Re the Camaro, I also vaguely recall a story appearing in Auto Action about the Camaro being homologated for Group A, but of course it came to nothing. Naturally, AA interviewed Kevin Bartlett for the story.

[Steve Holmes]

This being a NZ temporary approval to compete? AFAIK the XE was never homologated in pure Group A, I do recall Dicky racing an XE in NZ but the car wasnt his, it was a cross between NZ production racing and the inoming Group A regulations, tons of grunt but no brakes and dodgy transmission, didnt it have non-standard front and rear spoilers, similar (probably was) to what came out on the Australian "sports pak" model?

The Falcon was actually fully legal to race in Group A, but I believe this may have only the case in NZ, using the same rule that initially allowed the Commodore to race in Aus. According to reports at the time, the FIA allowed locally sold NZ cars to have a production number of just 200. However, I've always been slightly confused by this, as my understanding is the XE Falcon V8 was never assembled in NZ. The XD had been, but the liveliest model was the 302ci Fairmont Ghia, with auto transmission!

True, the three Falcons that raced in New Zealand Group A had all come from the local production series which evolved into Group A. I once asked Bruce Anderson how it was the front and rear spoilers were fitted to the cars when racing in Group A trim, given they were never a production feature. He said his team fitted spoilers to their car, and nobody pulled them up on it, so they just left them there.

Ford Australia were never interested in racing the Falcon in Group A, so this model had a very limited life, even in NZ.

[jimdigris]

I once asked Bruce Anderson how it was the front and rear spoilers were fitted to the cars when racing in Group A trim, given they were never a production feature. He said his team fitted spoilers to their car, and nobody pulled them up on it, so they just left them there.

I love this story, that's a very European attitude to racing, do it and see if anyone picks us up for it. Or maybe the opposition didn't know what was right and what wasnt with everything being new

Ford Australia had announced the end of the cleveland when Australia would go to unleaded, and a very boring over square (pardon the pun) fuel injected OHV six was the falcons immediate future. Dicky Johnson toyed with the idea of a home grown turbo with help from HKS and even made a few prototypes, but the non reving engine wasnt really suited to racing, and besides, it would have to run in the 5-6 weight class. Shame Ford didnt have the foresight to fuel inject the big 351, I think it would have been at least as good as the Mustang even if it did have to run 1400KG

[Steve Holmes]

I love this story, that's a very European attitude to racing, do it and see if anyone picks us up for it. Or maybe the opposition didn't know what was right and what wasnt with everything being new

Ford Australia had announced the end of the cleveland when Australia would go to unleaded, and a very boring over square (pardon the pun) fuel injected OHV six was the falcons immediate future. Dicky Johnson toyed with the idea of a home grown turbo with help from HKS and even made a few prototypes, but the non reving engine wasnt really suited to racing, and besides, it would have to run in the 5-6 weight class. Shame Ford didnt have the foresight to fuel inject the big 351, I think it would have been at least as good as the Mustang even if it did have to run 1400KG

Yeah its funny how these things just sort of slip through. The story of the Falcons in Group A is more about evolution than anything. In a way they were part of the landscape, and were really just swept in to help with the transition as part of Group A when it was introduced to NZ. Their story really goes back to the early 1980s. In NZ, production car racing had always been really popular. The B&H sponsored 500 mile race that had begun in the '60s evolved into a race series in the early '80s, and there was another one sponsored by ANZ bank. In the large capacity class, the cars had to be NZ assembled, and the sportiest model for Holden was their V8 SL/E, while Ford had its V8 Fairmont Ghia. Both were only available with an auto trans, so thats what teams had to run.

The racing was pretty close, but then Holden decided to build a small production run of SS Commodores specifically for the series in 1982, fitted with a 4-speed gearbox, Simmons wheels, sporty suspension, front and rear spoilers, etc etc. Peter Brock was drafted in to help with them. The rules only required a batch of 25 homologation models be built, although Holden actually built 30 of them.

Obviously the Commodores just ran away with everything over the next couple of seasons, so the series rules were tweaked to allow the Falcons more freedoms to be more competitive, including running a 351, 4-speed gearbox, front and rear spoilers etc for the 1984 season. The rear spoilers were Group C spoilers. For the 1985 season, Group A was introduced, the Falcons were drafted in, and although their spoilers weren't actually legal, because they were already fitted with them, nobody seemed too bothered. When Group A arrived in NZ, Neville Crichton and Kent Baigent went and bought a couple of Group A BMW 635s from Europe, and these soundly trounced all the local Falcons and Commodores (the Commodores in that first season were all the old 1982 NZ built SS cars upgraded to Group A regs) anyway, so illegal spoilers on the Falcons weren't really an issue.

There were three Falcons that raced in NZ in the 1985, season, the Anderson brothers Pinepac XE, the John Morton owned XE which Robbie Francevic co-drove, and the Gary Sprague driven XD. But by the time the international Wellington street race was held in January 1985, only the Anderson car was still racing. Bruce Anderson made a tentative phone call to Dick Johnson to see if he'd be interested in sharing the Falcon at Wellington and the Pukekohe race that followed it a week later. Johnson agreed, and promptly stuck the big Ford on pole at Wellington. He was running away with the race early on, but only lasted 9 laps before the rear end gave up.

Regarding Johnsons Falcon turbo, he had one of these as a road car in 1984. At the time the general consensus seemed to be that he'd race a Falcon XE turbo in Group A in 1986, using the Mustang as an interim car in '85. Like you say though Jim, it came to nothing.

[jimdigris]

then Holden decided to build a small production run of SS Commodores specifically for the series in 1982, fitted with a 4-speed gearbox, Simmons wheels, sporty suspension, front and rear spoilers, etc etc. Peter Brock was drafted in to help with them. The rules only required a batch of 25 homologation models be built, although Holden actually built 30 of them.

I was standing in line at Surfers paradise in 83 or 84, I cant remember the exact year, waiting to talk to Peter Brock. The bloke in front of me (who was a kiwi) was telling everyone in the line that he had a VH commodore he had shipped from NZ that was "built by Brock and only one of a couple dozen" and "it's faster than any Brock Special sold in Australia" We all laughed and were thinking he was full of it. But when he got to talk to talk to Peter, he told him about it, Peter nodded and then he asked Peter if he would sign the dash. To everyones amazement Peter said yes and he followed the guy to the car park and left us standing there like stunned mullets
;) He came back and talked to us all waiting in line like it was par for course.

[Shano]

A friend of mine had one of those Brock Commodores. He described it as a beast and his wife was too scared of the thing to drive it.

[Steve Holmes]

Yep, thats right Jim, and in the case of these cars, the cars bought off the dealership showroom floor were the actual cars that raced. I believe of the 30 built, approx 1/3 became race cars. Brock himself raced one of them, shared with David Oxton, while a second GM Dealer Team car was shared by Peter Janson and Denny Hulme. They're all quite sought after now.

To be fair, they were indeed faster than the Aussie Commodores, but only because the Aussie cars were choked down by anti-pollution gear the Kiwi cars didn't have to have.

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[jimdigris]

some pics I took in early 1988, it must have been early as Lonhurst's Sierra (the same car that won Bathurst that year) is in Freeport colours. All are at Oran Park. Sadly these are the only surviving photos I have of a collection of over 900 I took during the GroupA era, the others were lost in a flood a couple of years ago. The only reason I have these is that they were at a mates place at the time of the flood.

http://imageshack.us/a/img854/4633/shell18e.jpg John Bowe instead of Greg Hansford in the second Shell Sierra

http://imageshack.us/a/img441/3674/shell17.jpg Dicky in the 17 Shell Sierra

http://imageshack.us/a/img11/2607/nissan302.jpg Factory Nissan Car 30

http://imageshack.us/a/img405/6503/nissan30.jpg Another shot of the Factory Nissan Car 30

http://imageshack.us/a/img23/2388/nissan15.jpg Factory Nissan Car 15

http://imageshack.us/a/img26/980/mobil7m.jpg Mobil BMW M3 Car 7

[jimdigris]

http://imageshack.us/a/img15/5002/mobil05.jpg Mobil BMW M3 Car 05 just lapped Murray Carter's woefully slow Sierra. Murray had a beautiful brand new NSW road registered black Sierra in the car park, there was a lot of speculation that the car was a genuine RS500, but I'm sure he said it was just a RS500 body kit on a Cosworth RS, still, it looked the goods!

http://imageshack.us/a/img708/4157/mobil1v.jpg Mbil BMW Car 1

http://imageshack.us/a/img163/2373/merc2n.jpg The beautifull sounding but outclassed Merc showing a Sierra the correct line :) , this car was heaven to the ears

http://imageshack.us/a/img18/9272/mercav.jpg Another shot of the merc, about to be put a lap down by a DJR Sierra

http://imageshack.us/a/img829/7179/mcp47.jpg Mobile Concrete Pumping VK, I don't know why but this VK had a completely different sound to all the other Commodores, it sounded like Grice's VL in 87

[jimdigris]

http://imageshack.us/a/img22/9485/hsv11p.jpg HSV VL in the paddock before the race

http://imageshack.us/a/img9/526/freeport02.jpg Tony Longhurst's brand new Sierra in Freeport colours, blindingly fast for new unsorted car, made everyone sit up and say wtf

http://imageshack.us/a/img803/6264/freeportt.jpg Another shot of the Freeport Sierra

http://imageshack.us/a/img689/1809/everlastp.jpg Everlast VL about to be lapped

[jimdigris]

Better comment before someone picks me up for it :rolleyes: Larry's VL is at Amaroo, not Oran park :o

[Steve Holmes]

Fantastic photos Jim, really enjoying these. Sorry to hear about your huge collection lost in the floods.

1988 was an interesting year in that it promised so much, but in hindsight was the beginning of the end for Group A. And not just in Australia. Many of the teams struggling to get both speed and reliability out of the Ford RS500s had tapped into it by 1988, and they just wiped the floor with everything. I remember the 1988 ATCC as being a DJR whitewash. I just went and found the results from that season, and either Dick Johnson or John Bowe won 8 of the 9 races. The only one that slipped away was won by Longhurst. It was already becoming a one-horse race. But the cars themselves were completely fascinating.

Those new Nissans were to my mind some of the best sounding cars ever to race in Group A.

Was that Merc the one raced by Phil Ward? Came out to Australia in 1986 from memory?

I remember Longhurst making an announcement late in the ATCC that he'd be unveiling a new paint scheme for Bathurst. Those B&H colours really popped and were quite different to anything the other teams had.

[jimdigris]

Have to agree about the 6 cyl Nissans, I remember a visiting U.K journalist in the pits commenting "now that's what a race car should sound like" when the Nissan went past changing up at about 7500 RPM, it sure did sound great, unlike the 4 cyl Nissan which sounded like a wet fart

Yes it was Phil Ward's merc, it IMHO was the best sounding 4 cyl touring car I have ever heard, for a couple of rounds he was running it just as it came from Europe, still with kevlar dash (and some penalty ballast) that he turned up at Bathurst 86 with, and still with a straight thru exhaust! I think it wasnt until Amaroo that he was forced to run a muffler because the EPA were there with their dreaded SPL meter, the bane of many that round. A friend who was in a teams pit crew said he heard the usually quite placid driver mumbling in the pits that round that he would like to stick that SPL meter where it deserved to be if he came their way again lol I was stunned because this particular person was considered the gentleman of Australian motorsport :o
Tony's car was immaculate, as you would expect for any car with Frank Gardner's magical touch, and it's straight line speed was equal to Dick Johnsons car 17. But if that car was considered immaculate, you should have seen the second unraced spare car TL had at Bathurst in 88, the standard of preparation for that car was second to none in the touring car world. I asked a member of TL's pit crew if they were going to roll out the new car and he said they hoped to, but alas it just sat in the garage for the whole week

[Steve Holmes]

Jim, I'd forgotten how good the Nissan HR31s sounded until I saw a couple of them racing at the Muscle Car Masters about 5 years ago. Brought back a lot of memories. Like you say, the earlier 4-cylinder Skylines just didn't compare.

So what happened to that spare Longhurst RS500? Did he ever race it?

And what happened to Murray Carters RS500? he drove that car for a few years.

[jimdigris]

Longhursts spare was raced by him the following year, I think Alan Jones? might have piloted the old car at Bathurst in 89

Dont know what happened to Carter's Sierra, but do I have a couple of pics of his road going Sierra :)


Here is a pic I took of Larry Perkins immaculate VL at Oran Park in 88, this car was eventually converted to TWR spec and was the seconf Perkins car at Sandown and the not raced spare at Bathurst that year. It was to be raced in 87 at Bathurst but Larry was so pleased with the VK he ran that instead, until Chrighton punted him into the wall :(

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/2467/on47.jpg

The rather spartan cockpit of Larry's VL, only the bare bones necessities with Larry

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/6466/pms7.jpg

[Steve Holmes]

Can't be too many photos around of the Perkins VL in that colour scheme pre-Walkinshaw spec Jim?

[Lindsay G]

A few from Wellington 88.Dick first.23923239242392523926

[Lindsay G]

Brock-Richards23927Crompton-Noske23928

[Lindsay G]

239292393023931

[Steve Holmes]

Wow, brilliant photos there Lindsay. The Yellow Pages Walkinshaw Commodore was Peter McLeod. Great looking car it was too, though suffered with issues throughout the event.

[Lindsay G]

Wow, brilliant photos there Lindsay. The Yellow Pages Walkinshaw Commodore was Peter McLeod. Great looking car it was too, though suffered with issues throughout the event.

Don't remember him.Where was he from Steve?

[Steve Holmes]

New South Wales I think Lindsay. He raced in Group C for several years, best known for racing a very successful Mazda RX7 sponsored by Slick-50. Great looking car, as all his cars were. It was yellow and black. He ran a Commodore in the early years of Group A from 1985, and was drafted into the Holden Dealer Team at last moment in 1987 to drive the teams second car, #10, alongside Jon Crooke, which Peter Brock and David Parsons jumped into when the 05 car broke early. The #10 HDT car was later declared the race winner after finishing third on the road when the Eggenberger RS500s were disqualified.

He ran this Walkinshaw Commodore for a short time, but then stopped racing.

[Lindsay G]

I had forgotten about Brockie jumping in the second car in 87.I remember him and Larry Perkins doing it in 84 in the John Harvey car but then I always liked the group C cars more.

[Lindsay G]

David Oxton's Sierra At Wigram .Wasn't this the car that Paul Radisich raced and won the championship with in England?2393723938

[Lindsay G]

Trevor Crowes BMW.I think Jim Richards and Tony Longhurst came 4th at Bathurst in this car in 852393923940

[Steve Holmes]

David Oxton's Sierra At Wigram .Wasn't this the car that Paul Radisich raced and won the championship with in England?2393723938

I love that car, and in those colours. Looks fantastic! Lindsay it was Andy Rouse who raced this car in the BTCC in 1985 and won the championship before it made its way to NZ. Rouse shared the car with David Oxton in a couple of events before Oxton took it over for the NZ series. Great looking car, but was ultimately a little disappointing.

This car is still MIA I believe?

[Rod Grimwood]

Wow, brilliant photos there Lindsay. The Yellow Pages Walkinshaw Commodore was Peter McLeod. Great looking car it was too, though suffered with issues throughout the event.



Think it was co-driven by NZ Formula Ford man ----- Clark. (Can not remember first name, blond hair) had a trailer outfit in Barry's Point Rd on north shore

[Grant Ellwood]

Think it was co-driven by NZ Formula Ford man ----- Clark. (Can not remember first name, blond hair) had a trailer outfit in Barry's Point Rd on north shore

Rod, guess that would be Glen Clark.

[seaqnmac27]

New South Wales I think Lindsay. He raced in Group C for several years, best known for racing a very successful Mazda RX7 sponsored by Slick-50. Great looking car, as all his cars were. It was yellow and black. He ran a Commodore in the early years of Group A from 1985, and was drafted into the Holden Dealer Team at last moment in 1987 to drive the teams second car, #10, alongside Jon Crooke, which Peter Brock and David Parsons jumped into when the 05 car broke early. The #10 HDT car was later declared the race winner after finishing third on the road when the Eggenberger RS500s were disqualified.

He ran this Walkinshaw Commodore for a short time, but then stopped racing.

Brock and Parsons replaced Crooke who subsequently seems to have disappeared.

[Rod Grimwood]

Rod, guess that would be Glen Clark.

That's him Grant, good guy, had trailer outfit called 'Pinto Trailers' it's coming back.

[Autopia]

I love that car, and in those colours. Looks fantastic! Lindsay it was Andy Rouse who raced this car in the BTCC in 1985 and won the championship before it made its way to NZ. Rouse shared the car with David Oxton in a couple of events before Oxton took it over for the NZ series. Great looking car, but was ultimately a little disappointing.

This car is still MIA I believe?
Steve - love TRS, have been reading it from the UK for a while, finally thought I might be able to add something useful…
Andrew Bagnall and I did a deal to buy the ex-Andy Rouse car and a Datapost Escort RS1600 turbo for the 1986 NZ season. We also arranged for Paul Radisich to return to UK F3 in 1986 with Murray Taylor. THe Ford was a German-market Merkur that Andy had built into a winning car. Ran 2.3L Pinto turbocharged, very effective but nothing on the RS500s about to come out. We did the deal directly with Stuart Turner at Ford, so I guess they must have owned the car, not Andy. David Oxton drove mainly, sharing with Andy on the longer events. Bags and I ran the Escort in the long races as well. Merkur wasn't as successful as we had hoped, believe it went to Australia after that, but not sure….
Despite some great races and good podiums, Paul never won the UK championship but he did of course win the 1994 (Monza) and 1995 (Donnington) Touring Car World Cups with the Ford Mondeo. I was sharing his (small, motel!) room with him at Monza and it was a real thrill to hear the NZ anthem played over the circuit - bettered only by the dinner that evening when the whole room rose and applauded him as we walked in. Monza grid had 14 current or ex F1 drivers all in Super Tourers, so he did pretty well!
Very sorry to read the sad news re Dave McKinney - great bloke.
Rob Whitehouse

[Steve Holmes]

Hi Rob, fantastic first post! Many thanks, its great to have you here.

Thanks for the info on the Sierra. I'm pretty certain its first NZ race was the 1986 Wellington Street Race, where Rouse and Oxton shared the car. Rouse put it on pole, but it suffered a mechanical problem early on. They would have driven the car together at the Pukekohe 500km race the following weekend as well. Then Rouse would have headed back home and Oxton drove the car on his own throughout the remaining NZ touring car events.

At some stage, the car ended up with Mark Petch, and he took it to Australia. He entered it at Bathurst in 1986, and Robbie Francevic was one of the drivers, having fallen out with the Volvo Team Australia after winning the '86 Australian Touring Car Championship in a 240T. Leo Leonard was the other driver. They qualified 21st, but were out of the race after 27 laps. From there, the trail seems to dry up. It didn't race in NZ the following season, and it doesn't appear to have raced in Aus again. It just sort of quietly disappeared.

Like you say Rob, it wasn't as successful as you'd hoped, but it was still a significant car, having won the 1985 BTCC. And, furthermore, it was a lovely looking car.

[Frosty5]

Hi Rob, fantastic first post! Many thanks, its great to have you here.

Thanks for the info on the Sierra. I'm pretty certain its first NZ race was the 1986 Wellington Street Race, where Rouse and Oxton shared the car. Rouse put it on pole, but it suffered a mechanical problem early on. They would have driven the car together at the Pukekohe 500km race the following weekend as well. Then Rouse would have headed back home and Oxton drove the car on his own throughout the remaining NZ touring car events.

At some stage, the car ended up with Mark Petch, and he took it to Australia. He entered it at Bathurst in 1986, and Robbie Francevic was one of the drivers, having fallen out with the Volvo Team Australia after winning the '86 Australian Touring Car Championship in a 240T. Leo Leonard was the other driver. They qualified 21st, but were out of the race after 27 laps. From there, the trail seems to dry up. It didn't race in NZ the following season, and it doesn't appear to have raced in Aus again. It just sort of quietly disappeared.

Like you say Rob, it wasn't as successful as you'd hoped, but it was still a significant car, having won the 1985 BTCC. And, furthermore, it was a lovely looking car.

Steve, it was a dog. It had a few successes here in NZ but was as unreliable as the weather. I recall at 86 Bathurst it broke so many rockers we could have started up our own foundry and supplied metal to the Chinese!!!!

Dave

[Rod Grimwood]

Frosty, know what you mean but not cars fault, the car did not put the engine together, and they were still pretty experimental back then and different parts than available for some other outfits.
It was a nice looking car and had finished a couple of races in BTCC. so was right at some stage,

[jimdigris]

Robbie Francevic was one of the drivers, having fallen out with the Volvo Team Australia after winning the '86 Australian Touring Car Championship in a 240T.

to be fair to Volvo Robbie had a fall out with the team manager, not the maker. Team manager John Sheppard was notorious for being a "my way or the highway" bloke and butted heads with Robbie on the direction the car was being developed and tested. Robbie wanted to be involved with both but team manager John Sheppard saw him as "just a driver" and refused to involve him, Robbie was so passionate about it he left the team after one race when the car didnt show up at the track until just before the end of qualifying and wasnt set up and he had to get dispensation to start at the rear of the grid

As for the Petch XR4T, it had a habit of popping off rockers (not breaking them, though it did break one in the race itself) at Bathurst, Rouse had built the engine with a 6500RPM redline but the only gearing available had the car doing 7200 down conrod!

[aussiemonza]

This car? Kept lunching its valve gear and timing chain, IIRC.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v298/benderboat/Nissan%20Mobil%20races/BrockNissan500852-1.jpg

This car did a couple of the early rounds of the ATCC before being sold to Tony Fall at GM Opel. The car has ended up back in Australia and was restored as the French TCC but will return to early MHDT Group A.

[librules]

Brock and Parsons replaced Crooke who subsequently seems to have disappeared.

Jon Crooke is still around and going strong. Here's his most recent venture, following on from the "Hyperstimulator"......
http://www.hyperracer.com/index.html

[Steve Holmes]

This car did a couple of the early rounds of the ATCC before being sold to Tony Fall at GM Opel. The car has ended up back in Australia and was restored as the French TCC but will return to early MHDT Group A.

Thats good to know Rowan! I hadn't realised it had left Australia.

[Steve Holmes]

to be fair to Volvo Robbie had a fall out with the team manager, not the maker. Team manager John Sheppard was notorious for being a "my way or the highway" bloke and butted heads with Robbie on the direction the car was being developed and tested. Robbie wanted to be involved with both but team manager John Sheppard saw him as "just a driver" and refused to involve him, Robbie was so passionate about it he left the team after one race when the car didnt show up at the track until just before the end of qualifying and wasnt set up and he had to get dispensation to start at the rear of the grid

As for the Petch XR4T, it had a habit of popping off rockers (not breaking them, though it did break one in the race itself) at Bathurst, Rouse had built the engine with a 6500RPM redline but the only gearing available had the car doing 7200 down conrod!

There was an excellent article on the career of Robbie put together by Gerard Richards in New Zealand Classic Car mag several years ago. Robbie said pretty much the same thing in the interview.

[tmann]

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levels raceway, late 80's

[Jeff]

25462

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[Steve Holmes]

I see Mark Petch has just purchased this car. This is not the Belgian GTM car he owned in 1985 that won the Wellington Street Race, but rather the second car that came on board in 1986 as part of the Volvo Dealer Team, and driven by John Bowe.

His Facebook posting reads:

"After a lot of investigation and negotiation I am very pleased to have been able to purchase John Bowe's GpA, Australian Touring Car Championship Volvo 240T that has been the subject matter on my timeline below.


"The car has an incredible history and is not the only surviving RAS Factory Volvo team car, but also the very last Volvo Factory "Works" GpA 240T car built. The car was assembled in Australia by the Australian Volvo Dealer Team, by key team mechanic Geoff Grech [who went on to become the Team manager at HRT] and a young fabricator, name unknown, who fabricated the first Chrome Moly roll cage ever run in a Volvo Works car in place of the Factory cars previously used Aluminium tube bolted together roll-cage.


"The car was finished only the day before the 1986 Sandown 500 Endurance race, were it DNF'd as it also did a month later at Bathurst when John was running in second place. All three AVDT cars including my own car that helped Robbie Francevic to the ATC Championship win in 1986 were returned to Sweden, when Volvo pulled out of GpA racing, In privateers hand's the car was immediately successful and dominate the 1987 Swedish Touring Car Championship driven by Peggen Andersson (https://www.facebook.com/peggen.andersson).


"The car went on to compete in many other races by various other drivers, including Sweden's famed Ulf Granberg (https://www.facebook.com/ulf.granberg.7). The car was purchased by Knud Knud E. Sørensen (https://www.facebook.com/kesorensen1) a Danish driver, who had just started to race, and against the later crop of cars such as the Ford Cosworth RS 500's it proved less than competitive. It was sold to another Danish aspiring racing driver who lived in Spain were it disappeared for 14 years, before being advertised for sale in 2009 when, Thor Rustad (https://www.facebook.com/thor.rustad.7)'s a Norwegian, purchased the car and stripped it down to bare metal and commenced at 6 year long, 2,476 Hour, complete rebuild of the car to as new condition, 100% period correct to when the car was last raced by John Bowe and Alfi Costanzo at Bathurst in 1986".

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[Andrew Metford]

Nice. Hope we can see it at the Festival in January.

[jimdigris]

"The car was finished only the day before the 1986 Sandown 500 Endurance race, were it DNF'd as it also did a month later at Bathurst when John was running in second place.


Ok, I'm picking at straws here but Mark Petch is wrong, Car 44 never got to the dizzy heights of position 2. It did reach position 3 on lap 42 and then pitted falling to position 7, worked it's way up to position 6 (it was having an entertaining dice with johnson in the mustang) just before it fell away into obscurity on lap 55, thanks to the rear aluminium trailing arms failing

Here is a transcript of the Official Lap Charts, taken from Bill Tuckey's 1986 book of the race

http://imageshack.com/a/img903/2796/edfpbk.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img910/1161/kt0uRr.jpg

[Andrew Metford]

You sure that's the right chart Jim? What you typed doesn't line up with that chart. It also shows cars in positions 60, 87, 91, 96 etc. Its only a 55 car grid.

[jimdigris]

You sure that's the right chart Jim? What you typed doesn't line up with that chart. It also shows cars in positions 60, 87, 91, 96 etc. Its only a 55 car grid.

You must be reading it wrong, those are Car numbers not positions. Across is no of laps, down is position on the track. For instance, Car 2, The Chickadee Commodore, led until lap 37 where Alan Grice pitted, putting car 05 in the lead for 2 laps, then Brock pitted, putting Gary Scott in car 15 into the lead for two laps before Gricey regained the lead.

On the completion of the first lap car 44 was in position 9, where it continually climbed the leader board swapping places with Johnson in car 17 for several laps

[Andrew Metford]

Sorry my mistake, I thought the vertical column was car number on the left rather than race position.

[jimdigris]

An interesting piece of the history of Group A is how the cost quickly escalated. In 1984 when CAMS announced Australia would be adopting Group A for 1985, part of their reasoning was the cost would be lower and the privateers would stand a better chance. This proved to be folly. In 1984 the cost of building a good Group C commodore was between 45-60k, in 1986 the cost of building (or buying a customer car) a commodore was 80k. In 1990 when asked about the progress in building the Nissan GTR, Gibson replied "you are looking at possibly the first half a million dollar group a race car"

Here is an interesting pic, it shows just what it takes to win Bathurst in Group A. Grice went to Bathurst in 1986 with no less than FIVE spare Roadways (read Les Small) built spare engines! yes FIVE! Now you think about it, in 1986 a customer Group A engine sold for between 15-20k from the likes of the HDT, Perkins and Roadways. That's a serious investment!

http://imageshack.com/a/img910/681/lQUzgr.jpg

[Oldfart]

And the cost of the current cars???

[jimdigris]

millions Oldfart! Like CAMS, the founders of V8Supercars promised it was going to be cheaper and simpler than what Group A had become. That sooned turned into a farce when they started issuing "licences" to build a car/field a team, locking out the real privateers and once a year Sunday drivers. Then they became a corporation and went high tech/high media profile.

[jimdigris]

One part of the history of Group A was it was supposed to be by the book and no special favours or considerations granted, aka what was destroying Group C. Group A in Europe was a dogs dinner, all the major teams cheated, most had gentlemen agreements bewteen each other to look the other way. Australia was by the book for the first two years, who can forget the arguement in pit lane between one team and the scrutineers over whether the tyre width could be measured with the car on jacks or on the ground. technically the team was right, the tyre could be measured with no weight, but the scrutinners insisted it couldnt be, and that year that team went into hardies heroes and the race with undersized rubber. Interestingly that same race Grice stuck by his guns and ran with the tyres measured legal off the ground, but illegal on the ground, yet no protests were made and the officials did nothing. There were many interesting points of contention in group a, dozens in fact, here is one you may not have heard of. The Shell cars were a running dual actuator bypass valve on their RS500s, whereas a single actuator was homologated. The dual was from the previous Cosworth, not the RS500. Several teams protested, including the Colin Bond Caltex team. DJR successfully argued the actuator was an "accessory" and hence "free". After that decision most teams started using the dual actuator system, including Bond. But to take it to an extreme, at one major race Bond argued that the turbo was an "accessory" when his turbo rotor was picked up as non-standard in pre-scrutineering, and hence "free"! lol, the cheek!

[jimdigris]

more on how the rules were being "INTERPRETATED" (flaunted!). The FIA Group A regs stated that aerodynamic aids and body panels were not to be "adjustable". In 1989 Allan Moffat turned up at Sandown with the front bumper/spoiler visibly at a different angle to the norm. When challenged by a non sierra team, the scrutineers declared it was just differences in panel fit tolerances that could be expected from a mass produced car! Hence the Sierra teams were given a green light to flaunt the rules. The other teams quickly followed suit. It was found by angling the rear downwards downforce was slightly enhanced. It got so bad that some teams were running the bumper with the rear a good inch down from where it was supposed to be. In 1991 they started to bring the whole bumper forward as well!

Here is a pic showing at top what the bumper is supposed to look like when fitted correctly, middle how it looks "adjusted" downwards and lower "adjusted" forwards

http://imageshack.com/a/img910/4210/SBiugs.jpg

[rogered]

An interesting piece of the history of Group A is how the cost quickly escalated. In 1984 when CAMS announced Australia would be adopting Group A for 1985, part of their reasoning was the cost would be lower and the privateers would stand a better chance. This proved to be folly. In 1984 the cost of building a good Group C commodore was between 45-60k, in 1986 the cost of building (or buying a customer car) a commodore was 80k. In 1990 when asked about the progress in building the Nissan GTR, Gibson replied "you are looking at possibly the first half a million dollar group a race car"

Here is an interesting pic, it shows just what it takes to win Bathurst in Group A. Grice went to Bathurst in 1986 with no less than FIVE spare Roadways (read Les Small) built spare engines! yes FIVE! Now you think about it, in 1986 a customer Group A engine sold for between 15-20k from the likes of the HDT, Perkins and Roadways. That's a serious investment!

http://imageshack.com/a/img910/681/lQUzgr.jpg

i tend to think there was a fair amount of profit in it for the builders of these cars and engines. Despite apearing hi tech, they were pretty basic builds at the end of the day.

[Milan Fistonic]

The Petch Sierra at Pukekohe in 1990. Drivers were Brancatelli and Gravett.

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[Milan Fistonic]

Robbie Ker, Bob Jones VL Commodore. Pukekohe 199034883

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by jimdigris
An interesting piece of the history of Group A is how the cost quickly escalated..... In 1990 when asked about the progress in building the Nissan GTR, Gibson replied "you are looking at possibly the first half a million dollar group a race car".....

Of course, such statements helped build credibility for the amount of money he asked (and got) from the sponsors...

And it would approach truth if you counted in some of the overall development work on the model by the makers. To build a car, and then a second car, sees the build price come down each time.

I also agree that there must have been some pretty handsome 'fat' in the engine costs, they were fairly ordinary engines though meticulously machined and assembled.

[Ray Bell]

Originally posted by jimdigris
One part of the history of Group A was it was supposed to be by the book and no special favours or considerations granted, aka what was destroying Group C. Group A in Europe was a dogs dinner, all the major teams cheated, most had gentlemen agreements bewteen each other to look the other way. Australia was by the book for the first two years, who can forget the arguement in pit lane between one team and the scrutineers over whether the tyre width could be measured with the car on jacks or on the ground. technically the team was right, the tyre could be measured with no weight, but the scrutinners insisted it couldnt be, and that year that team went into hardies heroes and the race with undersized rubber. Interestingly that same race Grice stuck by his guns and ran with the tyres measured legal off the ground, but illegal on the ground, yet no protests were made and the officials did nothing. There were many interesting points of contention in group a, dozens in fact, here is one you may not have heard of. The Shell cars were a running dual actuator bypass valve on their RS500s, whereas a single actuator was homologated. The dual was from the previous Cosworth, not the RS500. Several teams protested, including the Colin Bond Caltex team. DJR successfully argued the actuator was an "accessory" and hence "free". After that decision most teams started using the dual actuator system, including Bond. But to take it to an extreme, at one major race Bond argued that the turbo was an "accessory" when his turbo rotor was picked up as non-standard in pre-scrutineering, and hence "free"! lol, the cheek!

I must admit that I never heard either of those stories, but I wasn't all that close to the game by 1986...

I was there, however, for the post-race press conference after the Eggenberger car had 'won' at Bathurst. Brock was casual, even though the 'press' pushed him hard trying to get some sort of negative comment about the fuel issue (a sample of the fuel at one stop had come up funny).

He simply got into explaining that those cars had knock sensors and it wouldn't have made any great difference to them...

Of course, the pursuit of the inner guard alteration case was carried on with vigour and they justly outed the Sierras for that. It shows that you're right about that European agreement.

Remember, too, the Masterton car with the numberplate flapping to allow more air into the radiator?

And back a bit further, I understand that at least one of the Ron Hodgson Torana A9Xs had some work done (rack location?) to reduce bump steer.

[jimdigris]

From the FIA archives in the Jaguar XJS homologation papers. They show the details when ol Tom pulled the scam of the decade homologating the pre-may type heads despite them being long out of production. "May" type heads were restrictive and designed for swirl to get better fuel consumption, great for the then fuel crisis times but not ideal for racing. When ol tom got this "erratum" through his jags jumped from 390 to 460HP. As the rules at the time said parts like heads had to be the currently fitted to the road going car how the heck did FIA rubber stamp it? Note the visible difference in combustion chamber design and the port size difference!

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[jimdigris]

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[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Jim, this is outstanding!

[Keith844]

One of my favourites in Group A, the JPS BMW 325i E30. Great sounding car and it has quite a lot of history in New Zealand after leaving the JPS Team


https://youtu.be/ItN5UvRcBHk