1985 Castrol 500

Layout of the Sandown Raceway international circuit (1984-1998)

The 1985 Castrol 500 was an endurance race for "Group A" Touring Cars staged at the Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit in Victoria on 15 September 1985. Race distance was 129 laps of the 3.878 km (1.928 mi) circuit, totaling 500.262 km.

The event was Round 3 of both the 1985 Australian Endurance Championship and the 1985 Australian Manufacturers' Championship. There were 36 starters, of which 21 were classified as finishers.[1]

The race was won by the JPS Team BMW 635 CSi of Australian Touring Car Champion Jim Richards, and his co-driver Tony Longhurst. It was Longhurst's first major win in Australian touring car racing. JPS Team BMW made it a 1-2 finish when their second car, driven by Neville Crichton and on-loan Nissan team driver George Fury finished only a few seconds behind. Finishing in third place was the surprising Toyota Supra of Peter Williamson and 1985 Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series winner Tomas Mezera.

The 1985 Castrol 500 was the first time since 1972 that neither Peter Brock or Allan Moffat had won the Sandown enduro. 1984 Castrol 500 winner Brock, who claimed pole position with a time of 1:52.3 in his Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore, suffered engine failure after 41 laps, while Moffat, who was without a drive in 1985 due to Mazda not racing in Group A, was part of the ABC television commentary team.

Classes

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The field was divided into three classes according to engine displacement.[2]

  • Class A : 3001 cc to 6000 cc [2]
  • Class B : 2001 cc to 3000 cc [2]
  • Class C : Up to 2000 cc [2]

Results

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Top 10 Qualifiers

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Pos No.[2] Entrant [2] Driver Car [1] Time
Pole 05 Mobil Holden Dealer Team Australia Peter Brock Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 1:52.3
2 6 Roadways Racing Services Australia Allan Grice Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 1:52.4
3 17 Palmer Tube Mills Australia Dick Johnson Ford Mustang GT 1:52.4
4 1 JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi 1:52.7
5 55 Mark Petch New Zealand Robbie Francevic Volvo 240T 1:52.9
6 43 Mitsubishi Ralliart Australia Peter Fitzgerald Mitsubishi Starion turbo 1:53.3
7 7 Mobil Holden Dealer Team Australia John Harvey Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 1:53.7
8 42 Mitsubishi Ralliart Australia Kevin Bartlett Mitsubishi Starion turbo 1:54.4
9 31 JPS Team BMW Australia George Fury BMW 635 CSi 1:54.4
10 3 K. Baigent New Zealand Neal Lowe BMW 635 CSi 1:54.4

Race

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Position [1] Class [2] No.[2] Entrant [2] Drivers [1] Car [1] Laps [1]
1 A 1 JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards
Australia Tony Longhurst
BMW 635 CSi 129
2 A 31 JPS Team BMW New Zealand Neville Crichton
Australia George Fury
BMW 635 CSi 129
3 B 44 Peter Williamson Toyota Australia Peter Williamson
Australia Tomas Mezera
Toyota Supra 127
4 B 47 Network Alfa Australia Colin Bond
Australia Gregg Hansford
Alfa Romeo GTV6[2] 126
5 A 36 Lusty Engineering Pty Ltd Australia Graham Lusty
Australia Ken Lusty
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 123
6 A 39 Sleepy Head Bedding Co. New Zealand Graeme Bowkett
New Zealand Wayne Wilkinson
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 123
7 A 14 Auckland Coin & Bullion Exchange Co. New Zealand Denny Hulme
Australia Ray Smith
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 121
8 A 13 Grellis Marketing Australia Ray Ellis
Australia Bernie McLure
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 120
9 C 61 Toyota Team Australia Australia Ray Cutchie
New Zealand John Faulkner
Toyota Sprinter 115
10 C 57 Bob Holden Motors Australia Bob Holden
New Zealand Glenn Clark
Toyota Sprinter 115
11 C 58 Bob Holden Motors Australia David Ratcliffe [2]
Australia Don Smith
Toyota Sprinter 114
12 C 88 J. White Australia John White
Australia Les Szreniawski
Isuzu Gemini ZZ 112
13 B 45 Alfa City Australia Ray Gulson
Australia Frank Porter
Alfa Romeo GTV6 111
14 B 53 Hulcraft Auto Australia John Craft
Australia Les Grose
Ford Capri 107
15 B 52 Hulcraft Auto Australia Pat Hogbin
Australia John Hogbin
Ford Capri 102
16 C 64 K. Harrison Australia Ken Harrison
Australia Ian Wells
Ford Escort 100
17 B 42 Mitsubishi Ralliart Australia Kevin Bartlett
Australia Peter McKay
Mitsubishi Starion turbo[2] 100
18 B 50 J. L. Hazelton Australia Laurie Hazelton
Australia Jerry Stauberg
Ford Capri 100
19 A 17 Palmer Tube Mills Australia Dick Johnson
Australia Larry Perkins
Ford Mustang GT[2] 92
20 C 66 Jagparts Racing Australia Lorraine Orchard
Australia Paul Taylor
Triumph Dolomite 84
21 B 54 Melbourne Clutch & Brake Service Australia Brian Sampson
Australia Garry Waldon
Mitsubishi Starion turbo[2] 51
DNF A 41 B. Jones Australia Barry Jones
Australia Tony Mulvihill
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 92
DNF A 24 Jagparts Racing Australia Gerald Kay
Australia Martin Power
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 92
DNF A 12 G. Willmington Australia Gary Willmington [2]
New Zealand Peter Janson
Jaguar XJS 81
DNF A 7 Mobil Holden Dealer Team Australia John Harvey
Australia David Parsons
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 78
DNF A 6 Roadways Racing Services Australia Allan Grice
Australia Warren Cullen
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 68
DNF C 60 Toyota Team Australia Australia John Smith
Australia Drew Price
Toyota Corolla 66
DNF B 49 J. Bundy Australia John Bundy
Australia Norm Carr
Mazda RX-7 65
DNF B 55 Mark Petch New Zealand Robbie Francevic
Australia John Bowe
Volvo 240T 60
DNF B 43 Mitsubishi Ralliart Australia Peter Fitzgerald
Australia Brad Jones
Mitsubishi Starion turbo[2] 50
DNF A 21 Erle McRae Motor Sport Australia Charlie O'Brien
Australia Andrew Miedecke
BMW 635 CSi 50
DNF A 05 Mobil Holden Dealer Team Australia Peter Brock
New Zealand David Oxton
Holden Commodore (VK)[2] 41
DNF A 28 Capri Components Australia Laurie Nelson
Australia Bill O'Brien
Ford Mustang 41
DNF A 20 J. Keogh Australia Jim Keogh
Australia Garry Rogers
BMW 635 CSi 39
DNF A 3 K. Baigent New Zealand Kent Baigent
New Zealand Neal Lowe
BMW 635 CSi 38
DNF C 56 M. Minear Australia Mike Minear
Australia Paul Elliott
Volvo 360 GLT 22

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g Barry Naismith, Bathurst 1985/86, page 77
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Official Programme, Castrol 500, September 14 and 15, 1985
  • Australian Motor Racing Year, 1985/86
  • James Hardie 1000, 1985/86
  • Official Programme, Castrol 500, 14 and 15 September 1985
  • The Australian Racing History of Ford, 1989
  • The Official Racing History of Holden, 1988
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Preceded by Sandown 500
1985
Succeeded by