Article: 1985 Bathurst 1000 - Group A Comes To Australia

[Steve Holmes]

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By 1984, the Confederation for Australian Motor Sports (CAMS) had had a guts-full of trying to control the monster they’d created in their localised Group C touring car category. Group C had been introduced in 1973, as the best solution to the highly publicised ‘Supercar Scare’ of the year before. In 1972, Evan Green had written an article for the Sun Herald in which he’d interviewed New South Wales Transport Minister Milton Morris on his views relating to the increasingly potent products being produced by Ford, General-Motors Australia, and Chrysler in the pursuit of victory at the annual Bathurst endurance race. Under Series Production regulations, very few modifications could be made to the standard car before it went racing. Therefore, the most obvious way around this barrier for the manufacturers was to essentially build a race car that buyers could purchase straight off the showroom floor.

The article and associated bad publicity left the manufacturers reeling, and immediately cancelled plans for their upcoming efforts. In order to remove the requirement to build road going Bathurst specials, CAMS introduced Group C, which allowed far greater freedoms to be made to the road going vehicle for racing purposes, and although a homologation special would still be required by manufacturers if they were serious about Bathurst success, these specials were far less potent in standard road guise than their predecessors, and could be quietly slipped out the back door to genuine buyers, without any fanfare.

Group C effectively became a two-horse race, between Ford and Holden. Each manufacturer released a new homologation special for the first couple of years, but Fords interest began to wane, and they disbanded their factory team following a successful 1973 season which included winning both the Australian Touring Car Championship and Bathurst. Although they’d continue involvement at a distance, through releasing various new homologation specials, it was now left to former Ford factory driver Allan Moffat to almost take on the numerous Holden teams almost single-handedly.

In 1977, Moffat ran a two-car team of Falcon hardtops for himself and former Holden factory driver Colin Bond, funded by both Ford and the combined efforts of several Ford dealerships around Australia. Moffat and Bond finished first and second in the ATCC, then claimed an emphatic victory at Bathurst, where their two cars finished first and second, and ran side by side for the last half of the last lap, in one of the most famous scenes ever witnessed at the mountain.

However, somewhat naively, Ford chose to rest on their laurels for 1978, and rather than expand on what they’d achieved the previous season to counter the obvious attack that was to come from Holden, they retained their efforts to 1977 levels, and were soundly beaten upon all season long. At that, they decided to step away from touring car racing in 1979, leaving the Holden factory squad to effectively compete against privateer Holden teams, which was a completely pointless exercise from a marketing perspective. So Holden followed Fords lead, and withdrew from touring car racing at the end of 1979.

So now CAMS had a dilemma. Both Ford and Holden had withdrawn from touring car racing, and the cars that were all competing in 1979 were outdated models, with Holden releasing the new Commodore in 1978, Ford the new Falcon in 1979. CAMS needed cars, and they needed teams racing the latest models. And so they tweaked the Group C rules for the 1980 season, to allow in several new makes and models, and made it possible for cars to become eligible without manufacturer involvement. And so, by 1984, they were bouncing around a political hot potato as they attempted to create an even playing field between several vehicles that had little in common, and which included Holden Commodore, Ford Falcon, Mazda RX7, Jaguar XJS, Chevrolet Camaro, Nissan Bluebird, BMW 635CSi. Furthermore, they had representatives from each brand lobbying to get accepted various demon tweaks to make their package more competitive. And as such, they decided to step back from the role of rule makers, and adopted the international set of Group A regulations instead.

[Steve Holmes]

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Group A was based on a set of regulations set down by the FIA in 1982, and used for that years European Touring Car Championship. They were adopted for the British Touring Car Championship in 1983, followed by Germany and New Zealand a year later. Australia and Japan introduced them in 1985. Group A rules required 25,000 units be built in a single year, from which a minimum 2,500 of the competing model must be produced (unless Australian made, then the number was just 1,000). Additionally, a homologation special could then be released, of which only 500 cars were required.

Ideally, Group A was to be a platform from which multiple brands competed evenly. Indeed, when introduced to Australia for 1985, several brands took part throughout the year, including the local Holden Commodore, plus the BMW 635CSi, BMW 323i and 325i, Ford Mustang, Rover Vitesse, Volvo 240T, Jaguar XJS, Mitsubishi Starion, Toyota Supra, Mazda RX7, Alfa Romeo GTV6, Toyota Corolla, etc.

New Zealand had adopted Group A in late 1984, and held an international endurance event for Group A cars in January 1985 on a temporary street circuit in Wellington. This race allowed several Australian teams to get a taster for what lay ahead for them, and while the BMW 635CSi, Rover Vitesse, and even the new Holden Commodore all looked like potential victors at various times throughout the race, it was the turbo-charged Volvo 240T of Robbie Francevic and Michel Delcourt who were awarded the win.

The 1985 ATCC consisted of 10 rounds, and while Peter Brock showed some early promise in the Commodore by winning Round 2 at Sandown, and Francevic’s ex-Eggenberger Volvo whistled its way to victory at Symmons Plains and Oran Park, it was Jim Richards in the BMW who dominated the championship, winning the other seven races, and amassing 218 points. Second in the championship was Dick Johnson on 175 points, who finished in the top three on eight occasions, but didn’t win a single race, in his Ford Mustang. While the Mustang was a good handling car, Ford US had no interest in taking it touring car racing, and it suffered for lack of horsepower.

And so, heading for Bathurst in October, Jim Richards and the stunning black and gold JPS BMW, partnered by young hot-shot Tony Longhurst, looked the combination to beat. Another 635 expected to do well would be the Schnitzer machine from Europe, driven by Roberto Ravaglia and motorbike racer Johnny Cecotto. Schnitzer had won the Spa 24 Hour race earlier in the year, having run a full campaign in the ETCC.

Something of an unknown, although expected to be a major force, was the three car Jaguar team entered by Tom Walkinshaw Racing. The six drivers consisted of Walkinshaw/Win Percy (car #8), Jeff Allam/Ron Dickson (car #9), Armin Hahne/John Goss (car #10). The inclusion in the team of Goss surprised many, as he was by now only a part-time campaigner, and considered by some critics to be past his prime. But Walkinshaw had joined Goss for Bathurst the previous year in Goss’ locally built Group C XJS, and although the event proved a disaster when the big cat with the big Scott at the wheel never left the line, and was slammed into by Peter Williamsons Toyota Supra, he surely saw something in the Aussie that convinced him to include Goss in his line-up. Certainly, it had been nearly ten years since Goss had won at Bathurst, but even still, his local knowledge would be of great use to the team.

What also surprised some was Walkinshaws decision to bring with him a team of Jaguars. Indeed, TWR had won the ETCC drivers championship in 1984 with a team of the big cats, but Jaguar then promptly withdrew from touring car racing to focus on Group C sports car racing, while Walkinshaw switched to running a Rover Vitesse factory team, and won 6 of the 14 ETCC rounds in 1985. So the choice to switch back to the Jaguar, which hadn’t been raced since 1984, was curious, but Walkinshaw obviously felt the howling V12 machines would have an edge on the long Bathurst straights.

[Steve Holmes]

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From early 1985, the Holden Commodore was forced to run a minimum weight of a porky 1,400kg, but with the release of the partially approved Group A evolution model, featuring a very slight engine destroke from 5044cc to 4,987cc, the Commodore teams could now race to a much more competitive 1,325kg. So the Commodore could also be a factor. There would be a large contingent of local Holden Commodores, led by the two-car Mobil Holden Dealer Team, headed by Peter Brock. Brock would share the leading #05 car with Kiwi David Oxton, while the second car would be driven by John Harvey/David Parsons. Another Commodore expected to do well was the Roadways built machine of Warren Cullen, who would be partnered by Allan Grice, with Les Small in charge of preparation. Grice hadn’t done a lot of racing in 1985, but was still expected to be a threat. Also a contender was the New Zealand entered Commodore of Ray Smith, which he shared with 1967 World Formula 1 Champion, Denny Hulme. In all, 21 Commodores were entered.

Dick Johnson entered two Mustangs, these being the cars he’d taken stock of in late 1984, as built by the German Zakspeed company. Johnson was teamed with Larry Perkins, who was no longer with the Holden Dealer Team. Both Johnson and Perkins would qualify a Mustang each, but would share one car in the race.

The Mark Petch owned Volvo 240T was considered something of a joke by many Aussies when it first appeared in early 1985. But with the big Kiwi, Robbie Francevic, at the wheel, the laughter soon stopped when he stormed to a brace of victories against the best touring cars in the land. The Volvo 240T model had raced in both Europe, Great Britain, and Australia under a cloud of controversy, after Volvo built the required 500 homologation specials with rear spoiler, larger turbo, intercooler and water injection, to qualify for Group A, then promptly converted 477 of them back to standard 240 spec once approved. This, the FIA were none too pleased about, and the squabbles raged on throughout much of the year. At the mountain, Francevic would be partnered by young single seater driver John Bowe, who was making his Bathurst debut.

Five Mitsubishi Starions were entered in Class B for Bathurst, headed by the 2-car Mitsubishi Ralliart cars of Kevin Bartlett/Peter McKay, and Brad Jones/Peter Fitzgerald. There was a lone Toyota Supra for Peter Williamson who was teamed with Tomas Mezera, although Toyota were much better represented in Class A with several Corolla’s competing for class honours.

Colin Bond was expected to be another of the top-guns in Class B with his Alfa GTV6, partnered with former motorcycle ace Gregg Hansford. Other vehicles of interest were the Tim Slako/Geoff Leeds Rover Vitesse, and the Garry Willmington/Peter Janson Jaguar XJS, along with several more 635CSi BMW’s, for Neville Crichton/George Fury (which was run as the second JPS car even though Kiwi Neville Crichton owned the car). 635’s were also entered for Kent Baigent/Neil Lowe, Jim Keogh/Garry Rogers, Charlie O’Brien/John English, and Simon Emerling/Trevor Hine.

In all, 55 cars were entered for the great race in 1985, including the second Johnson Mustang, and a spare Commodore for Cullen/Grice, neither of which would start.

Throughout practice, the Jag’s stretched their legs and comfortably held the top positions throughout each session. Walkinshaw himself was fastest through most of the sessions, while, in the third car, Goss was following orders and happy to play the role of number-two to Hahne.

Group A was still new to Australia, but the locals proved they were fast learners. Both Grice and Johnson were the fastest of the non-Jags, along with Francevic in the Volvo which ran like a bullet on the straights. Walkinshaw was impressed by what he saw in Goss, and his willingness to be a team player, and promoted him to lead driver come official qualifying on Friday. And within four laps, the Aussie banged in an outstanding 2:19.77, to top the times, just pipping the boss by 1/100th. The pits and media were in a frenzy! Many thought Goss was past his best, yet, here he was, soundly beating the fastest European touring car drivers in a car he’d not even driven two day earlier! Third fastest in qualifying was the Allam/Dickson TWR machine.

[Steve Holmes]

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Fastest of the local teams was Richards/Longhurst, more than a second slower than the third Jag. But the black JPS BMW would be kinder on its fuel load, as would the Schnitzer car, and both would run more laps between stops. Fifth fastest were Grice/Cullen, followed by Johnson, Perkins, Francevic/Bowe, Brock/Oxton, and Harvey/Parsons. Plenty were having drama’s, including the #17 Johnson Mustang, which split the oil cooler in one of the sessions. But, rather than replace it, the team took the decision to instead weld it up. Also, Grice had destroyed the second Roadways entered car on Thursday after whacking a rock.

The one-lap Hardies Heroes would decide the grid positions for the ten fastest cars from qualifying, as it had done every year at Bathurst since 1978. Just to confuse matters, 1985 would feature 11 cars in Hardies Heroes. The 11th fastest Ravaglia/Cecotto BMW would be drafted in, and while the Perkins Mustang would get to run its lap, would then be withdrawn so Perkins could take his place alongside Johnson.

Come Hardies Heroes, and, as expected, it was an all-TWR Jaguar front row, but the Goss/Hahne machine wasn’t among them. Pushing hard to stay on top, Goss fluffed a gear, and could do no better than 6th fastest. Behind the two big gleaming Jag’s on the front row was an impressive Johnson, who’d flung the little under-powered Mustang around to be just over 0.6sec behind the second XJS. Next to Johnson was Grice, who took to the one-lap banzai run with his usual gusto. On the inside of row three was the Volvo, while 7th and 8th fastest were Richards and Perkins. Ravaglia, Parsons, and Brock rounded out the top 11, though with the Perkins machine being immediately withdrawn, everyone behind him moved up one spot.

Come Sunday morning, and as the Honourable Gerald Lascelles gave the announcement for the ‘most famous words in motorsport’, the streams of balloons were set loose, the pit crews and media scurried off the track, and the engine notes rose. At the drop of the flag, legendary tv commentator Mike Raymond was typically up for the occasion: “They’re racing, and Walkinshaw gets a blind of it, so too does Johnson and Johnson will split them and so does Grice! Taking on the Jaguars it was Walkinshaw who made a blind of it, Allam missed the start completely. They head to the first turn, where Walkinshaw, from Dick Johnson, they all go through and now make their way up Mountain Straight”.

As the big field streamed through Hell Corner and up Mountain Straight for the first time, Walkinshaw had Johnson right on his hammer, while Francevic and Grice went through side-by-side, with Allam back in 5th. But by the time they’d reached the top of Mountain Straight, Allam had already powered up to second, followed by Francevic. Johnson went from second to fifth, in the space of a few hundred meters, the little Mustang was well short of legs against its rivals.

Across the top of the mountain, and for traditional Bathurst race fans, the sight of a pair of Jaguars, leading a Volvo, in the opening lap of their great race that had been dominated by Australian machinery for twenty years, would take some getting used to. Of course, they cheered, but were they cheering the European machines, or the local battlers? The top five cars had already pulled out a gap, while Goss in sixth and Brock in seventh were themselves well ahead of the following group. Richards was next, then Hulme. Down Conrod Straight, the Jag’s stretched their legs, and were well ahead as the field crossed the stripe for the first time. Meanwhile, Grice had out-braked Francevic off the end of the straight, and lay third as he set out to start lap two.

In all the excitement off the line, what few people had realised was that Grice had clunked the front right corner of the Allam XJS as he went by, and had broken the Jag’s headlight. The shards of glass were quickly sucked into the engine bay, and into the big V12s intakes, where they ravaged the internals. Allam was in the pits after 3 laps, and there he stayed. Then, a short time later, Grice stopped, heading up Mountain Straight, when a screw from the distributor rotor had worked loose, and jammed in the distributor drive

[Steve Holmes]

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Goss, now, was quickly moving forward. When sat on the grid, he’d noticed the engine temperature was rising, so shut it off until just before the start. He paced himself comfortably for the first couple of laps, until the cylinder head temperature returned to where it should be, then set off after the leaders. With Allam out and Grice stopped, he moved into second, and while Francevic was keen to take up the fight, soon settled into his pre-planned race pace.

The thirsty Jaguar’s would require four pitstops to make race distance, the Volvo and the V8s needed three, while the BMW’s could go all the way on two. As Walkinshaw made his first stop, so Goss, who’d sat a respectable 2sec off the boss throughout the first stint, moved through to lead the race for the first time since the 1970s, but took his turn to pit one lap later.

Francevic had held third, ahead of a battling Johnson, Richards, and Brock, who were trading places between them, but then the Mustang began spewing smoke, a result of the oil-cooler having split again. If only the team had replaced it, rather than simply welded it! Brock, in behind, started flapping his right arm out the window at Johnson as his windscreen became coked in a layer of oil, courtesy of the green Mustang.

So now Johnson was pitted, while Francevic began falling back into the clutches of Brock and Richards. Richards had been pacing himself, the BMW unable to contend with the V8s or the Volvo on the straights, but could produce faster outright laps. With Johnson gone, Richards caught Francevic, but couldn’t get past. He’d be all over the boxy silver Volvo through the corners, but as soon as they got to the straight bits, Francevic would disappear up the road again. After a concerted effort to get by, his temperatures began to rise with all the heat generated by the turbo Volvo, so he dropped back behind the chasing Brock, waited until the temps returned to normal, then put in a few hard laps to clear both cars.

When the Jag’s took their first stops, Richards swept by to take the lead. Although the black BMW couldn’t quite compete on outright lap speed, the fact Richards/Longhurst would only need to stop half as many times as the Jaguar’s made them a genuine threat, some calculating they could be in front by as much as a lap at the finish, all going well. But this wasn’t to be. When a Commodore lost its motor on the pit straight and dumped all its oil on the track, so Richards slithered through it moments later, sliding off the end of the straight and into the sand trap on Hell Corner. Moments later he was joined by the second JPS machine, and both cars lost three laps in the bunkers while track marshalls swarmed about desperately trying to dig them out.

So, with the Jag’s having pitted, and now back on the charge, and Richards making sand castles at Hell Corner, Francevic moved to the front for a few laps, before pitting to hand over to Bowe. Brock also pitted. Bowe’s first Bathurst was short-lived. A diode in the alternator failed, which meant the alternator would need changing. In the rush to replace the alternator, the radiator got punctured. While removing it, someone noticed its replacement didn’t have an anti-freeze plug, so the damaged one had to be repaired. The race was effectively over for the Volvo team.

[Steve Holmes]

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Up front, the Jaguar’s circulated at speed, pulling away from Brock/Oxton, and Ravaglia/Cecotto, and it appeared nobody was able to challenge them. Ultimately, this now became TWR’ s race to lose, and only failure of both big cats could stop them from a runaway victory. And at that, the gremlins began to nibble just after Goss took over the reigns for his second stint. The fibreglass seat had somehow broken at the base, and Goss began to struggle with little lower back support. His only option was to reduce his cornering speed until his next stop. There, the team attempted a make-shift fix to tie the seat together, but this failed to work. The drivers were forced to use the steering wheel to hold them up, while bracing their right elbow on the door, and hooking their left foot under the clutch. This proved incredibly uncomfortable, and the #10 machine began falling away from the lead car.

And then, the leading TWR machine with Percy at the helm, began trailing light whisps of smoke, which grew gradually thicker, and Percy pitted early for the scheduled final stop, for the problem to be rectified, and for Walkinshaw to do the final stint. A broken oil line was found to be the culprit, it was crimped, bandaged, the oil topped up, and Walkinshaw was sent on his way, still in the lead.

Now, with a sniff of a chance, Brock, having taken over from Oxton for the final time, got his head down as the Jaguar’s began to stutter. The Commodore’s Achilles-heel with the new 4.9 motor was its single timing chain, which it was forced to run under Group A rules. The second HDT car had already been retired on lap 96 with this problem. Holden sought to have its new Group A car homolgated well before Bathurst, with upgrades including front and rear spoilers, larger grill opening, and double timing chain, but their bid was partially rejected, with only the smaller motor and lighter weight being accepted, and they were forced to run in this lesser configuration until 1986.

However, as Brock gunned it, his problem was not with the timing chain, rather, the windscreen! A rock from another car had flicked up and put a crack in the screen while Oxton was at the wheel. At first, it didn’t spread, but as Brock went after the Jag’s, so the crack grew, and the windscreen began coming apart. Frustratingly for Brock, the crack was right in his line of sight. Eventually, with the windscreen slowly disintegrating in front of him, Brock shot into the pits to have it removed. Bang! The screen was quickly kicked out, and Brock took off again, having lost little time.

Up ahead, as Goss continued to struggle with his broken seat, which was getting worse, and Walkinshaw was in trouble once again. Oil began spewing from the car, and he darted back into the pits to have it repaired once more. The earlier quick-fix had failed, and this time the oil cooler had to be replaced, losing the #8 car three laps as it sat silent, and Walkinshaw’s chance of a win began to vanish.

Now Goss took the lead, with Brock, sans-windscreen, giving chase, while Ravaglia was third. The expected threat from the Schnitzer car never really materialised, as the car struggled with a motor down on power, thanks to a fault in the computer management system. All Ravaglia could do was drive his BMW like he’d stolen it, and hope those ahead of him struck trouble. And Brock did, briefly. The Clerk of Course noted that as the windscreen of the Commodore had been removed, so too the rear window should also come out, in case it blew out at speed on the track. And so, once again, Brock darted in, a crew member leapt in through a back door, kicked the screen out, leapt back out, slammed the door, and Brock was off and away once more! But while this was happening, Ravaglia buzzed through into second.

Soon, the MHDT Commodore powered back past the BMW, and set off after Goss. The Jag was 30sec up the road, but Brock was charging, and closing the gap. A few hours earlier, as the big green TWR machines comfortably powered away from the competition at will, and the local teams were dropping like flies, it appeared the fans were in for a fairly tedious afternoon. But now the race had come alive. Here was John Goss, 30sec in front, driving what should have been the fastest car, but which had a broken seat, making driving excruciatingly difficult. And now, giving chase and closing the gap, was Peter Brock, on a charge for what could be his ninth Bathurst victory, and the most unlikely of all his wins at the mountain to date.

[Steve Holmes]

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Goss knew Brock was coming, so really dug deep, and pushed aside the discomfort he was being subjected to. Brock was still charging, but now the gap was beginning to level out as Goss lifted his pace. With 6 laps to go, it looked like Goss could do it, but at the same time, it wasn’t known if his seat would hold up, or completely collapse beneath him. Then, with three laps remaining, bellowing down Conrod Straight, the timing chain snapped on Brocks motor, and he coasted into the pits, to retire. He’d come to Bathurst in 1985 as an underdog, a role he wasn’t used to playing, but he’d almost pulled it off, despite the challenges thrown at him, and the fans loved him for it.

Now Ravaglia moved back into second, and Goss looked to have the race under control, as the pressure was relieved. The BMW was struggling for pace, and so the TWR driver could control how he ran the final laps. Walkinshaw moved into fourth after his lengthy stop, then inherited third when Brocks Commodore expired. In fact, now it was Ravaglia who was in trouble. As he set out on his final lap, the BMW began running out of fuel. He switched to the reserve, eased off over the final lap, and actually ran out of juice altogether coming towards the chequered flag, and coasted over the line.

But Goss had won! This was an unexpected victory from what was supposed to be the third of the team Jaguar’s, expected to back the two lead cars for the duration. Goss himself was really now a part-time driver, a far cry from a decade earlier where he was contesting the full ATCC, and Formula 5000. As he came down Conrod Straight for the final time, and swept out on to the pit straight, so Walkinshaw caught him and the two Jaguar’s crossed the line together. They were three laps apart, and were separated by the Schnitzer BMW on the score-board, but that didn’t matter.

Richards/Longhurst finished fourth, three laps behind Goss, followed by Baigent/Lowe, Keogh/Rogers, Johnson/Perkins, Bond/Hansford (first in Class B), Bartlett/McKay, and privateers Barry Jones and Tony Mulvihill, who rounded out the top ten in their Commodore, which, incidentally, was the first Holden home.

From what, by quarter distance, was looking set to become a Jaguar procession, turned out to be an exciting, enthralling, and unpredictable contest, and one packed with drama right to the end. This was a race in which there could have been so many different outcomes; had Richards/Longhurst not slipped on the oil and lost three laps. In the end, they were three laps behind the winners; had Johnson replaced his oil cooler, rather than welding it; had the Volvo not broken what was a 20cent part, that led to a spate of unrelated dramas. But Bathurst has always been a race packed full of tails of what might have been.

In the end, Goss/Hahne took a deserved win, and a one well earned. For Goss, this was his first win in 9 years at Bathurst, and he was understandably delighted, making sure to praise Walkinshaw, and share the victory with him. This was also the first Bathurst win for a British car since 1966, when Rauno Aaltonen/Bob Holden led a frantic slip-streaming Mini Cooper extravaganza that was completely dominated by the little flying bricks.

But Group A touring car racing also emerged as the winner, and had gained some much needed respect following the ditching by CAMS of its Group C rules, which were heartily loved and embraced by the local fan base. Of course, Group A would eventually collapse through the very loophole which appeared blindingly obvious from the outset, that one manufacturer would want to win more than all the others, and would out-spend them in order to do so, effectively turning the category into a one-make class. But in 1985, and 1986 for that matter, Group A was the darling of world touring car racing.

My thanks to David Blanch at Autopics for supplying the stunning photos for this article. Please visit and support David at: www.autopics.com.au (http://www.autopics.com.au/)

[Frosty5]

The picture of the Volvo shows Randell Edgell under the bonnet checking the alternator. The guy on the jack was ex F1 spanner man for Williams (Wayne Eckersley) one tough Aussie I can tell you, no beg your pardons with that guy and me standing behind the pit wall under the drivers names. We had air jacks but for some reason they were not used. The pits in those days were more akin to sheep pens and there was no 40kph limit in pit lane. The lane marked for entry and exit to and from the pits was classed as part of the race track and one had to be wide awake when cars were travelling down the pit road. The race could have been very interesting but for the sake of a $2 diode and the subsequent damage to the radiator. It was a great car and Robbie pedalled it well along with John Bowe. It was affectionately known as the "Flying Brick" or in Dick Johnsons words the "Swedish Taxi". He just didn't like it, probably because it blew him away at Symmons Plains during the '85 ATCC.

[Steve Holmes]

The picture of the Volvo shows Randell Edgell under the bonnet checking the alternator. The guy on the jack was ex F1 spanner man for Williams (Wayne Eckersley) one tough Aussie I can tell you, no beg your pardons with that guy and me standing behind the pit wall under the drivers names. We had air jacks but for some reason they were not used. The pits in those days were more akin to sheep pens and there was no 40kph limit in pit lane. The lane marked for entry and exit to and from the pits was classed as part of the race track and one had to be wide awake when cars were travelling down the pit road. The race could have been very interesting but for the sake of a $2 diode and the subsequent damage to the radiator. It was a great car and Robbie pedalled it well along with John Bowe. It was affectionately known as the "Flying Brick" or in Dick Johnsons words the "Swedish Taxi". He just didn't like it, probably because it blew him away at Symmons Plains during the '85 ATCC.

Really great insight there. This must have been a race to be filed under 'the one that got away' for you guys? You needed one less fuel stop than the Jag's who struck trouble towards the end, but your pace was really competitive.

The Volvo 240T Group A racer was a car that tended to polarize opinion. I always loved them. So were an unlikely race car, but incredibly fast. The Eggenberger 240T's trounced everyone in 1985 in the ETCC.

[kiwi285]

Another extremely well written article Steve with some good insights. I always thought that the Volvo was a most unlikely looking race car but man could it motor and did it leave some teams with egg on their faces.

I believe that this car still exists in Australian - is this right ?

[neale]

fantastic article!!!

There is a volvo racing in Group A in Australia, not sure of the background of this car, but there is a pretty good replica of the car shown in the pics floating around aswell.

Here is a pic of the car
http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/551573_10151215331626264_945424847_n.jpg

[rogered]

Another extremely well written article Steve with some good insights. I always thought that the Volvo was a most unlikely looking race car but man could it motor and did it leave some teams with egg on their faces.

I believe that this car still exists in Australian - is this right ?

thought it was back in europe, the original petch one any way, which ,i guess begs the question as to where the second aussie car is

[rogered]

http://people.physics.anu.edu.au/~amh110/240T_GpA_racing.htm
just found this on the interweb,

[Oldfart]

This LH drive car contributed to Volvo winning the '1986 Australian Touring Car Championship' (ATCC) the most popular category of Australian motorsport, a brilliant result against the V8 Fords & Holdens.
Late 1986 - Volvo pulls out of racing worldwide due in part to world GpA rule changes (eg turbo factor raised from 1.4 to 1.7) and disputes with the FIA. The 3 Australian cars (the LH plus 2 RH drives) were ordered back to Sweden by Volvo HQ, departing in a giant Antonov Russian transport plane.
1987 - Söderqvist Racing Services, (SRS) purchased the ex-Petch LH car and the AVDT built RH drive car. Apparently one of the cars was for 'Volvo Finland', where later Leif Wiik won the 1987 Finnish Touring Car Championship. Anders Lindberg rebuilt the ex-Petch LH car and drove for Steffansson Automotive (SAM) in the Swedish championship in 1989. SAM (Sweden) sold car to a collector in Austria 1992. Sold again to PK in Germany, 2003. The car is in top good condition and lives on, being used in historic racing in Germany.

[Greg Ghost]

Just as an aside Grahame Baker and Charlie Obrian race one at Silverstone owned by Earle Mcrae from Southplant Hire I think it was an ex factory car

[Steve Holmes]

This LH drive car contributed to Volvo winning the '1986 Australian Touring Car Championship' (ATCC) the most popular category of Australian motorsport, a brilliant result against the V8 Fords & Holdens.
Late 1986 - Volvo pulls out of racing worldwide due in part to world GpA rule changes (eg turbo factor raised from 1.4 to 1.7) and disputes with the FIA. The 3 Australian cars (the LH plus 2 RH drives) were ordered back to Sweden by Volvo HQ, departing in a giant Antonov Russian transport plane.
1987 - Söderqvist Racing Services, (SRS) purchased the ex-Petch LH car and the AVDT built RH drive car. Apparently one of the cars was for 'Volvo Finland', where later Leif Wiik won the 1987 Finnish Touring Car Championship. Anders Lindberg rebuilt the ex-Petch LH car and drove for Steffansson Automotive (SAM) in the Swedish championship in 1989. SAM (Sweden) sold car to a collector in Austria 1992. Sold again to PK in Germany, 2003. The car is in top good condition and lives on, being used in historic racing in Germany.

Thanks Rhys, thats some great info.

[Steve Holmes]

fantastic article!!!

There is a volvo racing in Group A in Australia, not sure of the background of this car, but there is a pretty good replica of the car shown in the pics floating around aswell.

Here is a pic of the car
http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/551573_10151215331626264_945424847_n.jpg

Thats cool. Is it an actual Group A car? Most of the Volvo's that raced were built in Europe, and most were lhd, including the Petch machine, although there were a few rhd cars.

[Steve Holmes]

By the way, I should clarify, the two cars Dick Johnson purchased from Zakspeed in late 1984, were not built by Zakspeed specifically for Johnson. They were existing race cars by my understanding. However, I don't know if they were cars Zakspeed had been racing themselves, or cars Zakspeed had built for a customer in Europe. There were a lot of championships taking place throughout Europe for Group A cars, and several Mustangs were racing in these, so its possible Zakspeed were running the cars themselves somewhere.

One book I have says the cars were originally built in 1981 and 1982. But Group A wasn't introduced until 1982, so perhaps the first date is incorrect?

Can anyone shed any light on this?

[Frosty5]

Thats cool. Is it an actual Group A car? Most of the Volvo's that raced were built in Europe, and most were lhd, including the Petch machine, although there were a few rhd cars.

It sure is a Group A car. This car was actually engineered in Belgium. The chap that built it was a frenchman named Guy (cant remember his surname) spoke very little English but was a wizard in the technical department on this car. Michelle Delcourt raced this actual car in the ETCC and partnered Robbie Francevic in the NIssan Mobil races in 1985. Petch airfreighted it out prior to the race however, it was offloaded in Frankfurt and a lot of talking and desk thumping saw it on another aircarft bound for NZ. It was then air freighted down to Wellington in a chartered Bristol Freighter and the team worked on it overnight. Robbie and Michelle did thier practice laps in a widetrack Nissan Bluebird before racing the next day. Started at the back of the grid and blitzed to field to 7th place at the end of lap one. It was just a flyer and people had eyes as big as dinner plates watching this box tear through the field. Won Wellington by a lap and 100 meters. John Morton and Frank Sytner still maintain they won it but the lap charts tell a different story. A marvellous and exciting time in NZ Motorsport.

[Steve Holmes]

But the car pictured above in post #11 is right hand drive, whereas the Petch car driven by Francevic was left hand drive. Was it converted at some stage?

[Frosty5]

But the car pictured above in post #11 is right hand drive, whereas the Petch car driven by Francevic was left hand drive. Was it converted at some stage?

Your'e right Steve. This looks like a replica alright or alternatively the car which John Bowe drove once Volvo funded the team in '86. However my thread above was just to elaborate a little more on the car that shook the southern hemisphere motorsport fraternity especially Dick Johnson. At one stage I thought we were going to have a similar repeat scenario of KZ7 and Dennis Connor!!!!!

[Steve Holmes]

Yeah sorry, I was referring to the car posted by Neale, as its obviously running the 1985 Petch livery, but is right hand drive, so confused me.

But you're right about the Volvo, it was a sensation, and the most unlikely race car, but it was so successful all around the world. Its success must have done wonders for Volvo's image at the time.

[Shoreboy57]

It was sensational - have never forgotten the Wellington debut. But for real promotional impact perhaps the BTCC Volvo wagons (estates) take the prize

[Oldfart]

Sorry Frosty, the car pictured is NOT the Petch car. I posted the verified history of the Petch car and current whereabouts. There is a 240T being raced in Oz, if you go to http://people.physics.anu.edu.au/~amh110/group_a_volvo_specs.htm this will give links to this recent reconstruction.

[Steve Holmes]

Your'e right Steve. This looks like a replica alright or alternatively the car which John Bowe drove once Volvo funded the team in '86. However my thread above was just to elaborate a little more on the car that shook the southern hemisphere motorsport fraternity especially Dick Johnson. At one stage I thought we were going to have a similar repeat scenario of KZ7 and Dennis Connor!!!!!

Hey Frosty were you still with the team in 1986 when Francevic won the ATCC? Why did the team disband at the end of '86? Did Volvo Australia choose to quit racing, or was it Volvo in Sweden?

[Steve Holmes]

It was sensational - have never forgotten the Wellington debut. But for real promotional impact perhaps the BTCC Volvo wagons (estates) take the prize

Yeah those wagons were definitely a clever marketing choice, and are still well remembered today. But I reckon the '80s Group A cars must have been a real turnaround for Volvo in terms of brand imaging, as prior to them racing the 240T, their products were considered pretty bland and stodgy, with almost total emphasis on safety at a time most other manufacturers didn't give that much thought. To be fair, it would take much more than winning some Group A races to turnaround that image, but that surely must have gone a long way. By the time of the Super Touring Estates, Volvo's image had changed quite a lot, and they'd become much more trendy.

[Frosty5]

Hey Frosty were you still with the team in 1986 when Francevic won the ATCC? Why did the team disband at the end of '86? Did Volvo Australia choose to quit racing, or was it Volvo in Sweden?
Steve, yes I was, however Petch sold his interest in the LHD car I think after the 2nd round of the '86 ATCC and John Sheppard assumed control of the team known as Volvo Dealer Team. He obviously brought in some of his own troops but the majority of the guys left. With the withdrawal of Volvo support the rest of the team went their own ways. In retrospect while a a good team manager it was his way or the highway and there are numerous references to the difficulties Robbie had with him. Petch then had the ex Rouse Sierra and while it performed reasonably well here in NZ it was not up with the play at Bathurst in '86. Then came the CeeBeeEmm M3 followed by an ex Wolf Racing Sierra known as the Whittakers Peanut Slab Sierra. Volvo Sweden as I understand it pulled out of GrpA and ordered the cars back to Sweden. The spanner man I was trying to recall in a previous thread was Guy Trigaux and the Petch Volvo was a GTM built car in Belgium raced by Michelle Delcourt

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks for that, fantastic info! I guess Volvo in Sweden really needed to further invest to keep the model competitive beyond 1986, but possibly felt they'd got what they needed from racing in terms of marleting. After Eggenberger ditched Volvo for Ford in 1986, the Volvo factory team was run by RAS Sport, who still won several races in the ETCC, but it was obvious the competition was getting much stronger. In the ATCC, Francevic got a really good jump on the competition by winning three times and finished second twice and third once in the first six races, so by the time the new turbo Nissan Slylines were really getting up to speed in the second half of the season, Francevic was really too far ahead to catch.

To my mind this was really the last great year of Group A around the world. So many different manufacturers, and the racing was close and exciting.

[neale]

Just to clear it up. I probably should have worded my post better, but the car in the picture that I posted is a replica of the car that was mentioned in the original post.

[Frosty5]

Just to clear it up. I probably should have worded my post better, but the car in the picture that I posted is a replica of the car that was mentioned in the original post.

No problem Neale, I should have looked a little more closely myself. Age and eyes ain't what they used to be. But it sure was a ripper of a car and I still have an affection for it

[jimdigris]

Great Thread, Group A was IMHO a far better (but flawed) formula than the current formula yawn sillouettes (V8 Supercars and the like) but here are a couple of points to ponder


Group A rules required 25,000 units be built in a single year, from which a minimum 2,500 of the competing model must be produced (unless Australian made, then the number was just 1,000). Additionally, a homologation special could then be released, of which only 500 cars were required.

This was correct for Group A rally cars, but for Group A touring cars it was as follows:

Group A rules required 5000 units ("base models") be built in a single year, (unless Australian made, then the number was just 1,000, but the cars could only race in the Asia-Pacific region, for International racing, read Europe, Australian manufacturers still had to build 5000 base models). The "base model" had to have the same capacity/configuration. ie you couldnt build 5000 cars, 4000 of them hard tops and 1000 of them soft tops and count them as the same for the 5000, also the engine had to be the same configuration, ie if 4000 were a straight six and 1000 were a v8 then they were not considered 5000 base models, eg BMW had to build 5000 six cylinder 3.5 635s in the space of one year, Holden had to build 1000 5.0 V8 commodores in the space of one year to race in Asia-Pacific or 5000 in the space of one year to race Internationally. Additionally, a homologation special could then be released, of which a minimum of 500 cars were required (but didnt have to be actually "sold", more of which later).


From early 1985, the Holden Commodore was forced to run a minimum weight of a porky 1,400kg, but with the release of the partially approved Group A evolution model, featuring a very slight engine destroke from 5044cc to 4,987cc, the Commodore teams could now race to a much more competitive 1,325kg

Partially correct. The previous porkydore was homologated based on the 1000 build rule, using the Commodore 5.0 SS with large valve heads (but no roller valve train, aero package etc etc) as the base car. The destroked more competitive 4.9 SS commodore was a new 1000 minimum build homologation, and definately not a "sporting evolution". Unfortunately being a base car it was homologated with small valve heads, no roller valve train, aero package etc etc. On the one hand the 5.0 SS had the big valve heads and hence more HP, but it had to weigh 75KG more. The 5.0 SS was also homologated with a four speed gearbox. Gearboxes were technically "free" ie unlike the engine they did not have to be the same unit fitted to the road car, but they had to be the same configuration and actuation, ie if the road car had a H pattern floor shift then so must be the race box, and hence not a sequential, or a paddle shift, and the gear ratios had to homolgated for approval also. The 4.9 SS was homologated with the Getrag 5 speed and a wider range of ratios, so on the other hand it was lighter, but less powerfull, but had a better range of gear ratios available. Most Australian teams opted for the 4.9 SS as soon as it was available, but most had trouble getting the Getrag because they had to go through Brock to get one, Brock had made a "group buy" deal with Getrag to get the best deal for the Australian teams but the German manufacturer was slow on delivery, and naturally he kept the first couple that arrived for his team, as most people would I guess, but the way it was handled did piss off a lot of the teams

The 4.9 SS Group A, a 500 build sporting evolution, was planned for homologation in the first week of september 1985, but it did not eventuate until Dec 1985, mainly due to Victorian wharfie industrial disputes preventing the HDT getting the evolution parts needed to build the 500 cars, these parts being mostly valve train components imported from the USA. One week before the September FIA homologation date deadline the HDT had only built just over 300 cars, and an appeal for a special consideration for "Australia only" homolgation was made to CAMS to allow the sporting evolution to run at Sandown and Bathurst, but this sort of thing was exactly why CAMS went to Group A in the first place and wanted to be rid of, so it was rejected. Hence the rocker saga that plagued the commodores at Sandown and the timing chain failures at Bathurst. Something you may not be aware of, Walkinshaw on learning that the HDT had approached CAMS for special consideration publicly stated:
If they allow those "Hot Rods" to race at Bathurst then we wont be coming which was hypocritical (more of which later) and was probably another reason why CAMS didnt cave it to the HDT's request.

The Holden Commodore 4.9 SS "base model" was also homolgated under the 5000 build rule in Dec 1985 hence also making the "sporting evolution" eligble to race anywhere in the world, clearing the way for Brocky and Gricey to take on the Europeans on their home turf.


The Volvo 240T model had raced in both Europe, Great Britain, and Australia under a cloud of controversy, after Volvo built the required 500 homologation specials with rear spoiler, larger turbo, intercooler and water injection, to qualify for Group A, then promptly converted 477 of them back to standard 240 spec once approved.

Volvo pulled a swifty on the homologation of the sporting evolution. The rules made no mention of a need for the cars to be sold to the public. On inspection of the 500 cars in the USA the front row of cars were all assembled with the good bits, further back in the rows the cars had the sporting evolution parts sitting on the back seat and in the trunk! For reasons only known to the FIA inspectors this was deemed as ok, but once the competing manufacturers found out the shit started to hit the fan, remember that up until then, not many manufacturers had built a full on sporting evolution, most cars racing were "5000 build base models" and they saw this as playing unfair. It finally came to head when FIA learnt that Volvo had returned most of the cars to standard and sold them standard. FIA requested proof from Volvo of a list of registered owners of the cars. When no registered examples in the USA could be found (two road registered sporting evolutions in Sweden belonging to Volvo exectutives were "found") FIA ordered the car's sporting evolution was "not in the spirit of the regulations" and were hencefore illegal, but Volvo protested the fact under technicalities of the wording of the regulations and won (when it comes down to it, Volvo saw a weakness they could exploit and they played it, but they did nothing illegal).

The Volvos configuration was ideal for the formula, despite their boxy unaerodynamic appearance they had a good chassis/suspension and a strong reliable engine package. (If anyone doubts their chasis, then consider this, in the 1986 James Hardie shoot out, the volvo was 19kmh slower down conrod than the Grice Commodore, 12 kmh slower going up mountain straight but still managed a 2.19.5! Most of the time was gained over the top)

With the inadequate 1.4 weight factor for turbo cars the Volvos (and later the Nissans) had a clear power to weight/tyre size advantage. There was a lot of ridiculous accusations and pit talk in Australia of them cheating in 1985 when they blowing everyone away down any sort of straight (including a bedazzled Dick Johnson in his V8 Mustang) and with them staying with the best cars on the twisty bits, there were even absurd rumours of hidden NO2 tanks in the roll cage, but the fact was the Volvos could be built to the minimum weight, and the capacity/weight/tyre width rules gave them their advantage. Volvo knew that that would end in 87 when the weight factor was changed to 1.7 so they pulled the plug whilst still successful. smart move by them.

(speaking of weight, who remembers the sporting evolution light alloy trailing arms failing in the 1986 Bathurst race, and John Bowe quipping that a standard steel Volvo part would never had failed)


Steve, yes I was, however Petch sold his interest in the LHD car I think after the 2nd round of the '86 ATCC and John Sheppard assumed control of the team known as Volvo Dealer Team. He obviously brought in some of his own troops but the majority of the guys left.

I can't quite be sure on this as it was a long time ago, maybe Frosty5 can confirm it or not but I seem to recall Mark Petch initially contract Les Small of Roadways to manage and run the 1986 car, and it won on it's first outing at Symmons Plains. It was either after that success or the following round that the team was sold and Les Small went back to building customer Commodores. There was quite a bit of disharmony in the Volvo Dealer Team that eventuated when Sheppard took over :(

[jimdigris]

Had to do this reply in two parts due to a forum text length restriction :(


What also surprised some was Walkinshaws decision to bring with him a team of Jaguars. Indeed, TWR had won the ETCC drivers championship in 1984 with a team of the big cats, but Jaguar then promptly withdrew from touring car racing to focus on Group C sports car racing, while Walkinshaw switched to running a Rover Vitesse factory team, and won 6 of the 14 ETCC rounds in 1985. So the choice to switch back to the Jaguar, which hadn’t been raced since 1984, was curious, but Walkinshaw obviously felt the howling V12 machines would have an edge on the long Bathurst straights.

Make no mistake about it, the Jaguars were very good naturally aspirated touring cars. Most people would assume with the 1400KG weight penalty they had to run due to being in the 5-6L class that they would never be dominant, and possibly struggle to be competitive, but in the end they were very successful. But in fact, they should not have been as good as they were. When Walkinshaw homologated the big cats in 1982 the V12 had just over 370 HP. The lighter 280HP BMW 635s could run with them, especially on the twistier tracks. By the end of 1983 after a lot of engine development the cats had 390 HP, but the BMWs were giving them a very hard time. In the first round of the 1984 ETC, the cats all of sudden had 450HP on tap. Why? The restricting factor for the pre84 engines was the "may type" heads. These heads were developed for the road to give better fuel consumption and driveability, but ran out of puff approaching 7000RPM. Walkinshaw turned up in 84 with the pre "may type" heads, which were better suited to racing, developing power right up to 7500RPM. Now the Europeans had a different attitude to rules and cheating to us here in the pacific (or rule interpretation as they prefered to call it), and they had a lot of "if you dont protest us doing X we wont protest you doing Y" gentlemen agreements between the major players, and most of the time it all evened itself out. But FIA was not impressed as these clearly were not the heads homologated on the road cars. When told, Walkinshaw threatened to pull all his cars out from every championship. FIA caved in, and gave the heads a tick of approval. This except for the M3 non standard air box in 1987 was the only example I know of when FIA approved a regulated part that was supposed to be fitted to the road cars but wasnt, (ignoring Eggenbergers blatant wheel arch modifications on the 87 Sierras, in that case they didnt give it a tick, they just turned a blind eye to it). At least FIA fixed the M3 air box fiasco in 1988. My point? How well would the big cats have gone if they turned up at bathurst with the "May type" heads and "only" 390HP instead of 450HP? I suspect they would have still been on the front two rows of the grid, but the faster cars, especially the Volvo, would have given them a very hard time.


By the way, I should clarify, the two cars Dick Johnson purchased from Zakspeed in late 1984, were not built by Zakspeed specifically for Johnson. They were existing race cars by my understanding. However, I don't know if they were cars Zakspeed had been racing themselves, or cars Zakspeed had built for a customer in Europe.

The two Zakspeed cars were built to run in the 1984 DTM. The first car to be finished was raced by Klaus Ludwig, I remember he qualified well and finished second or third? I dont know who the second car was built for but after that one race both cars were shelved, never to race again in the DTM for reasons only known to Zakspeed, most probably relevent marketing and hence sponsorship reasons.


To my mind this was really the last great year of Group A around the world. So many different manufacturers, and the racing was close and exciting.

I concur. What killed Group A was the inadequate weight factoring for turbo cars, which the volvo and nissan took advantage of and later the Sierra and Godzilla made a mockery of. When FIA drew up the rules the current turbo cars werent the potential weapons they became a mere five years later. Poor hindsight we can say now, but back then look at what was on the market, eg the Ford Escort turbo, hardly world beating stuff.

Now further on the point of the rules, it was amazing that the Holden Commodore and the big Cat was as succesfull as they were. FIAs rules were specifically made to keep those pesky yanks with their big low tech V8s from being competetive, the last thing they wanted was for the yanks to come and spoil the party, hence the rules were drawn up to favour small capacity cars like mostly sold in Europe and a 6L limit to keep out those big blocks or woe forbid turbocharged/supercharged V8s! But with the power that was potentially available to the small block larger V8s, they had to make them uncompetetive as well, (at the time I dont think FIA had any inkling anyone would want to homolgate the Jags, indeed there is still doubt to this day whether 5000 XJS's were made in the homologation year) so they hit the top two capacity classes with two hammers, extra large weight (which as you know not only affects speed but has an effect on tyre wear) and not much bigger tyres than the smaller cars were allowed to run. For example, 4,501 cc to 4,999 cc - 1,325 kg, over 5,000 cc cars - 1,400 kg, yet a typical sporting touring car sold in europe, 3,001 to 3,500 cc – 1,110 kg, was allowed to be nearly 300KG lighter than the expected capacity class most V8s would be in!

And the most common type of touring car sold in Europe, ie 2L cars, 2,001 to 2,500 cc - 960kg a whopping 440KG lighter! Under this formula a 2L turbo that had a potential of say 360 HP only had to weigh only 1035KG! (2,501 to 3,000 cc – 1,035 kg) A potential rocket ship compared to a 370HP V8 weighing 1325KG or 390HP V12 that had to weight 1400KG! Even with the 1987 turbo factor of 1.7, a 2L turbo such as the Sierra Cosworth only had to weigh 1100KG, and the RS500 had a potential of over 500HP! (3,001 to 3,500 cc – 1,100 kg in 1988) yes that's right, FIA LOWERED the weight limit for this class but raised the weight for the 4.5-5 and 5-6 classes! The poor old commodore got a weight INCREASE in 1987 (4,501 cc to 4,999 cc - 1,340 kg in 1987) and as a double whammy 1" smaller width tyres. And you wonder why with this sort of shenanigans with the rules Group A was dominated by turbos? And then came the 600+HP 4WD Skyline to make a complete mockery of the formula. Enormous power, medium weight, big tyres.

And now a hypothetical question. What would have Group A racing been in Europe if Brock had the hindsight to homologate a sporting evolution VH Commodore to compete in the 1983 ETC? Assuming the follow on model VK was also homolated in 1984, how would this have affected the 1985 Nissan Sport series at Wellington & Pukekohe in late January 1985, and the ATTC in 1985? One can only wonder what if. geeze I wish I had a time machine :)

[Shano]

Interesting analysis there, Jim.

[markec]

16468
16467

[markec]

Definatly Left Steer.

16469

[Carlo]

"Group A rules required 5000 units ("base models") be built in a single year etc.etc."

This was the requirement for both race and rally, there were only one set of rules and one set of homologation numbers and papers per make/model and numerous extension papers that were approved on a regular basis

[jimdigris]

there were only one set of rules and one set of homologation numbers

true for International racing, however, CAMS decided on the "Australian Manufacturer 1000 build rule" for base models for local racing, this was purely for the region what CAMS deemed "Asia-Pacific" which in reality was Aust-NZ, (I cant recall if Japan had agreed, but it doesnt matter as no commodore raced there until 1986). CAMS local rules had no revelevence or standing in Europe. If Holdens hadnt also homolgated the VK and further models under the 5000 build rule then they would not have been allowed to race in the ETC, the WTCC, SPA 24 hours etc.

A couple of cars are still under question as to whether 5000 were built in a calender year, one being (as I previously mentioned) the Jaguar XJS, the other was the Masserati that we briefly saw in the WTCC, anyone remember it?

[Powder]

"Group A rules required 5000 units ("base models") be built in a single year etc.etc."

This was the requirement for both race and rally, there were only one set of rules and one set of homologation numbers and papers per make/model and numerous extension papers that were approved on a regular basis

I thought evolution models weren't permitted for rallying, ie no Sierra RS500s, or was that just a quirk of the World Rally Championship at that time?

[Steve Holmes]

Had to do this reply in two parts due to a forum text length restriction :(



Make no mistake about it, the Jaguars were very good naturally aspirated touring cars. Most people would assume with the 1400KG weight penalty they had to run due to being in the 5-6L class that they would never be dominant, and possibly struggle to be competitive, but in the end they were very successful. But in fact, they should not have been as good as they were. When Walkinshaw homologated the big cats in 1982 the V12 had just over 370 HP. The lighter 280HP BMW 635s could run with them, especially on the twistier tracks. By the end of 1983 after a lot of engine development the cats had 390 HP, but the BMWs were giving them a very hard time. In the first round of the 1984 ETC, the cats all of sudden had 450HP on tap. Why? The restricting factor for the pre84 engines was the "may type" heads. These heads were developed for the road to give better fuel consumption and driveability, but ran out of puff approaching 7000RPM. Walkinshaw turned up in 84 with the pre "may type" heads, which were better suited to racing, developing power right up to 7500RPM. Now the Europeans had a different attitude to rules and cheating to us here in the pacific (or rule interpretation as they prefered to call it), and they had a lot of "if you dont protest us doing X we wont protest you doing Y" gentlemen agreements between the major players, and most of the time it all evened itself out. But FIA was not impressed as these clearly were not the heads homologated on the road cars. When told, Walkinshaw threatened to pull all his cars out from every championship. FIA caved in, and gave the heads a tick of approval. This except for the M3 non standard air box in 1987 was the only example I know of when FIA approved a regulated part that was supposed to be fitted to the road cars but wasnt, (ignoring Eggenbergers blatant wheel arch modifications on the 87 Sierras, in that case they didnt give it a tick, they just turned a blind eye to it). At least FIA fixed the M3 air box fiasco in 1988. My point? How well would the big cats have gone if they turned up at bathurst with the "May type" heads and "only" 390HP instead of 450HP? I suspect they would have still been on the front two rows of the grid, but the faster cars, especially the Volvo, would have given them a very hard time.



The two Zakspeed cars were built to run in the 1984 DTM. The first car to be finished was raced by Klaus Ludwig, I remember he qualified well and finished second or third? I dont know who the second car was built for but after that one race both cars were shelved, never to race again in the DTM for reasons only known to Zakspeed, most probably relevent marketing and hence sponsorship reasons.



I concur. What killed Group A was the inadequate weight factoring for turbo cars, which the volvo and nissan took advantage of and later the Sierra and Godzilla made a mockery of. When FIA drew up the rules the current turbo cars werent the potential weapons they became a mere five years later. Poor hindsight we can say now, but back then look at what was on the market, eg the Ford Escort turbo, hardly world beating stuff.

Now further on the point of the rules, it was amazing that the Holden Commodore and the big Cat was as succesfull as they were. FIAs rules were specifically made to keep those pesky yanks with their big low tech V8s from being competetive, the last thing they wanted was for the yanks to come and spoil the party, hence the rules were drawn up to favour small capacity cars like mostly sold in Europe and a 6L limit to keep out those big blocks or woe forbid turbocharged/supercharged V8s! But with the power that was potentially available to the small block larger V8s, they had to make them uncompetetive as well, (at the time I dont think FIA had any inkling anyone would want to homolgate the Jags, indeed there is still doubt to this day whether 5000 XJS's were made in the homologation year) so they hit the top two capacity classes with two hammers, extra large weight (which as you know not only affects speed but has an effect on tyre wear) and not much bigger tyres than the smaller cars were allowed to run. For example, 4,501 cc to 4,999 cc - 1,325 kg, over 5,000 cc cars - 1,400 kg, yet a typical sporting touring car sold in europe, 3,001 to 3,500 cc – 1,110 kg, was allowed to be nearly 300KG lighter than the expected capacity class most V8s would be in!

And the most common type of touring car sold in Europe, ie 2L cars, 2,001 to 2,500 cc - 960kg a whopping 440KG lighter! Under this formula a 2L turbo that had a potential of say 360 HP only had to weigh only 1035KG! (2,501 to 3,000 cc – 1,035 kg) A potential rocket ship compared to a 370HP V8 weighing 1325KG or 390HP V12 that had to weight 1400KG! Even with the 1987 turbo factor of 1.7, a 2L turbo such as the Sierra Cosworth only had to weigh 1100KG, and the RS500 had a potential of over 500HP! (3,001 to 3,500 cc – 1,100 kg in 1988) yes that's right, FIA LOWERED the weight limit for this class but raised the weight for the 4.5-5 and 5-6 classes! The poor old commodore got a weight INCREASE in 1987 (4,501 cc to 4,999 cc - 1,340 kg in 1987) and as a double whammy 1" smaller width tyres. And you wonder why with this sort of shenanigans with the rules Group A was dominated by turbos? And then came the 600+HP 4WD Skyline to make a complete mockery of the formula. Enormous power, medium weight, big tyres.

And now a hypothetical question. What would have Group A racing been in Europe if Brock had the hindsight to homologate a sporting evolution VH Commodore to compete in the 1983 ETC? Assuming the follow on model VK was also homolated in 1984, how would this have affected the 1985 Nissan Sport series at Wellington & Pukekohe in late January 1985, and the ATTC in 1985? One can only wonder what if. geeze I wish I had a time machine :)

Wow, thanks Jim, this is a really great and well thought out response.

[Steve Holmes]

And now a hypothetical question. What would have Group A racing been in Europe if Brock had the hindsight to homologate a sporting evolution VH Commodore to compete in the 1983 ETC? Assuming the follow on model VK was also homolated in 1984, how would this have affected the 1985 Nissan Sport series at Wellington & Pukekohe in late January 1985, and the ATTC in 1985? One can only wonder what if. geeze I wish I had a time machine :)

This is a great hypothetical question. Indeed, the VK Group A was competitive in Europe when it raced there in 1986, and that was really from just a single year racing the Commodore in Group A, and the new-found problems having parts homologated for Group A. The Commodore always seemed to be about 12 months behind where it really needed to be at most times, ie, the Group A VK that first appeared in 1986, needed to have been racing in 1985 etc, as that package would have been competitive in 1985. But it was quite impressive what was achieved in the time-frame. To my mind, 1987 and beyond was a no-win situation for any V8, as European manufacturers began ramping up their efforts with their homologation specials to take full advantage of the rules which favoured small capacity cars. But the Commodore could have stamped its mark on Group A up to 1986 much greater than it did had it been given a larger head-start than it had.

[Steve Holmes]

The two Zakspeed cars were built to run in the 1984 DTM. The first car to be finished was raced by Klaus Ludwig, I remember he qualified well and finished second or third? I dont know who the second car was built for but after that one race both cars were shelved, never to race again in the DTM for reasons only known to Zakspeed, most probably relevent marketing and hence sponsorship reasons.


Thanks Jim, this is what had baffled me, as Germany had several touring car championships all happening in a similar time-frame in the early 1980s, including DRM, DRP, DRT. The DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft) didn't begin until 1986, but it was essentially just a renamed version of the Deutsche Produktionswagen Meisterschaft), which itself only ran for two years, 1984/85 and had grown from the DRM.

I have only been able to find one Group A Mustang that raced in the DPM in 1984, run by the ABR Ringhausen Rennsport team, driven by Manfred Trint. This car was quite competitive in 1984, but the pictures I have seen of it, the car doesn't look the same as the Johnson car. I also thought the Zakspeed car would have been used in the DPM, but can't find any reference to this, which is why I wondered where Johnsons cars had raced.

However, Zakspeed did race a Mustang at the touring car support race at the 1983 Hockenheim GP event, driven by Klaus Niedzwiedz. Could this possibly be one of the cars bought by Johnson?

You can see a photo of the Trint car here: http://touringcarracing.net/Pages/p%201984%20Westfalenpokal.html

[Steve Holmes]

the other was the Masserati that we briefly saw in the WTCC, anyone remember it?

Yep, I certainly do! I was very excited to see the Biturbo when it was touring with the WTCC in 1987. However, like several of the other teams racing in the WTCC, it didn't make it as far as New Zealand, where I was living. By this stage, the Rouse/Moffat RS500 had also gone home. The squadron of Alfa 75s didn't even get to Australia! I had purchased the 1987 Bathurst preview book which included the full entry list prior to the Bathurst race, but several of the European teams entered didn't front up.

Back to the Maserati, from what I can recall, two of them were entered for Bathurst, but only one qualified and raced. Kevin Bartlett was one of the drivers, and I think there was talk he may continue racing one in Australia? The car did seem quite exotic with a twin-turbo V6, but I guess under Group A rules it must have been lugging around a lot of ballast.

[jimdigris]

Big Rev Kev had two of the Pro Team Italia Maserati's at Bathurst in 87. He thought both were entered when he nominated one and the second nomination was a TBA, however, the powers to be saw it differently and only gave one car a start in the race. He was running the second car as a T-Car right up until final qualifying, hoping his protests to allow the secon car to race would be heard. Alas, only one raced. The European "Pro Team Italia" cars running in the WTCC in Europe became quite competetive in the second ranks, and one had a great battle with the Rothmons Commodore in one race, very heady stuff. Then all of a sudden it disapeared. Strangly Big Rev Kev's car was a good five seconds off the pace needed to run with the top 15 in the race

The squadron (FIVE!) of Alfas disapearance was disapointing. One Alfa actually finished third at Silverstone in Spetember, then wham, the team was disbanded. Like I said, very disapointing, I guess they saw the writing on the wall when the RS500 was homologated.

[Steve Holmes]

Jim, did the Alfa's have to race to the same weight as the RS500s? Wasn't the Alfa 75 a 1.7 turbo?

Yeah shame about the Maserati, was certainly an interesting car. In fact, 1987 started out as an interesting year, with some fascinating machinery, and high expectations. As well as the Sierra Cosworth/RS500, the Alfa 75, Maserati Biturbo, BMW M3, Toyota Supra turbo, there were the existing Nissan Skylines and new VL Commodores etc. I guess everyone began the year with high expectations that theirs might be the weapon to beat. But it soon became clear the RS500 was superior, even if only Eggenberger and Rouse could get them to be both fast and reliable to begin with. But by 1988, if you didn't have an RS500, you were there to make up the numbers, and I guess this is where Group A began to come apart. It essentially became a one-make series.

[seaqnmac27]

the point about Alfa Romeo's involvement was, as you may remember, Bernie Ecclestone decided to end the WTCC and switch to a "Silhouette" Formula. This never got off the ground as Alfa was the only manufacturer who got behind it. So as this was mooted mid 87 Alfa's focus shifted to these cars, this was the result.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQigN057dMw

[Steve Holmes]

Yeah I remember that! Wow, that Silhouette formula had the potential to be something pretty exciting. Of course, only one car was built as you said Sean. I think from memory when they tested it the car was actually faster in a straight line than an F1 car?

[seaqnmac27]

I believe this to be true as well. i have a suspicion the powerplant was derived from the Alfa Romeo that the Ligier team were due to use in 1987 but Alfa pulled out after Arnoux said some unfortunately timed comments.

[Steve Holmes]

Yikes! 30 years ago. Where did the time go?

[John McKechnie]

Soooo.............you have just noticed ????????????????

[Mark Petch]

Steve, yes I was, however Petch sold his interest in the LHD car I think after the 2nd round of the '86 ATCC and John Sheppard assumed control of the team known as Volvo Dealer Team. He obviously brought in some of his own troops but the majority of the guys left. With the withdrawal of Volvo support the rest of the team went their own ways. In retrospect while a a good team manager it was his way or the highway and there are numerous references to the difficulties Robbie had with him. Petch then had the ex Rouse Sierra and while it performed reasonably well here in NZ it was not up with the play at Bathurst in '86. Then came the CeeBeeEmm M3 followed by an ex Wolf Racing Sierra known as the Whittakers Peanut Slab Sierra. Volvo Sweden as I understand it pulled out of GrpA and ordered the cars back to Sweden. The spanner man I was trying to recall in a previous thread was Guy Trigaux and the Petch Volvo was a GTM built car in Belgium raced by Michelle Delcourt...Post by Frosty5.


I can't quite be sure on this as it was a long time ago, maybe Frosty5 can confirm it or not but I seem to recall Mark Petch initially contract Les Small of Roadways to manage and run the 1986 car, and it won on it's first outing at Symmons Plains. It was either after that success or the following round that the team was sold and Les Small went back to building customer Commodores. There was quite a bit of disharmony in the Volvo Dealer Team that eventuated when Sheppard took over

A few years late I know but just to set the record straight, Les Small helped me in 1985 and we ran the team out of Les workshop in Melbourne for Sandown, Symonds Plain's, Adelaide and Perth. We then moved the team down to by factory in Sydney and at that point we employed Wayne Eckersley, and Tony Fraser, who moved down from Melbourne we he had been working for Les.

There is a lot of misinformation about what happened in 1986 when I pursuaded Volvo Australiam with the invaluable help of Bob Atkin's, to back the formation of a Volvo dealer Team. John Sheppard had nothing to do with the formation of the team and was suggested to me as an ideal person to run the team on a day to day basis as the Team Manager. John in theory was supposed to report to me but soon learnt that he could bypass me, and on the 10th July 1986 I resigned, and Volvo Australia paid me out. The rest is pretty much history.