The 1980 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 21st running of the Bathurst 1000

touring car Touring car and tourer are both terms for open cars (i.e. cars without a fixed roof). "Touring car" is a style of open car built in the United States which seats four or more people. The style was popular from the early 1900s to the 1930s. Th ...

race. It was held on 5 October 1980 at the

Mount Panorama Circuit Mount Panorama Circuit is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama (Wahluu) and is best known as the home of the Bathurst 1000 motor race held each October, and the Bathurst 12 Hour ...

just outside Bathurst in New South Wales,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The race was open to cars eligible under the locally developed CAMS Group C Touring Car regulations with four engine capacity based classes.

Peter Brock Peter Geoffrey Brock (26 February 1945 – 8 September 2006), known as "Peter Perfect", "The King of the Mountain", or simply "Brocky", was an Australian motor racing driver. Brock was most often associated with Holden for almost 40 years, al ...

and Jim Richards won their third consecutive Bathurst 1000 debuting the

Holden Commodore The Holden Commodore is a full-size car that was sold by Holden from 1978 to 2020. It was manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of the locally manufactured versions in Australia endin ...

for the Holden Dealer Team. In taking a one lap win over Peter Janson and Larry Perkins, Brock won his fifth Bathurst 1000, breaking the record for most wins in the history of the race. Janson and Perkins finished second for the second successive year and finished three laps ahead of

Ian Geoghegan Ian "Pete" Geoghegan, (26 April 1939 – 15 November 2003) was an Australian race car driver, known for a quick wit and natural driving skills. Sometimes referred to as "Pete" Geoghegan, he was one of the iconic characters of the 1960s and 197 ...

and Paul Gulson as Commodores filled the first seven positions. The race is most famous for the retirement of the

Ford Falcon Ford Falcon is an automobile nameplate applied to several vehicles worldwide. * Ford Falcon (North America), an automobile produced by Ford from 1960 to 1970. * Ford Falcon (Argentina), a car built by Ford Argentina from 1962 until 1991. * Fo ...

of Dick Johnson. The

1980 Australian Touring Car Championship The 1980 Australian Touring Car Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Group C Touring Cars.CAMS Manual of Motor Sport 1980 Authorised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as a National Title, it was the 21st Aust ...

had featured one of the smallest fields in its then twelve years as a multi-race championship. The championship was dominated by Brock, with only two or three other cars competitive, including the

Chevrolet Camaro Z28 The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sh ...

of Kevin Bartlett. The emergence of hard charging Ford privateer Johnson into a race winning threat just one month prior to Bathurst revitalised interest, more so when Johnson qualified on the front row of the grid, alongside the pole-setting Camaro of Bartlett, and ahead of Brock. Johnson ran away from the field at the start and Brock dropped a lap behind Johnson after a clash with a back-marker Holden Gemini. Johnson crashed heavily into the wall just after the Cutting on lap 17 after clipping a large rock on the track when presented with no other options as a slow-moving tow truck carrying a dead-car blocked the other side of the track. During a

Channel 7 Channel 7 or TV7 may refer to: Television networks, channels and stations ;Algeria *TV7 (Algerian TV channel) ; Argentina *Channel 7 (Argentina), a government-owned Argentine TV station * Channel 7 – Bahía Blanca, an Argentine TV station in Bue ...

television interview with visiting pit reporter

Chris Economaki Christopher Constantine Economaki (October 15, 1920 – September 28, 2012) was an American motorsports commentator, pit road reporter, and journalist. Economaki was given the title "The Dean of American Motorsports Journalism."

, a distraught Johnson stated he had dedicated all of his finances in a final shot at the winning the race after ten years as a competent mid-fielder. Mike Raymond then interrupted the interview from the commentary booth to inform a moved Johnson that their switchboards around the country were flooded with calls from people pledging money to get Johnson and his Ford back racing. Eventually a total of

AU$ The Australian dollar (sign: $; code: AUD) is the currency of Australia, including its external territories: Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Norfolk Island. It is officially used as currency by three independent Pacific Island s ...

72,000 was raised. This was matched dollar for dollar by the then boss of Ford Australia, Edsel Ford II, who quickly saw the value of having Johnson keeping Ford at the front of touring car racing despite the company having pulled out of racing at the end of 1978. Johnson would go on to repay the faith shown in him by Edsel Ford and the Australian public, using the $144,000 he received to build a new Falcon in which he would go on to win the 1981 ATCC and the crash shortened

1981 James Hardie 1000 The 1981 James Hardie 1000 was the 22nd running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. It was held on 4 October 1981 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst. The race was open to cars eligible to the locally developed CAMS Group ...

. The 1980 win by the HDT Commodore saw

Holden Holden, formerly known as General Motors-Holden, was an Australian subsidiary company of General Motors. It was an Australian automobile manufacturer, importer, and exporter which sold cars under its own marque in Australia. In its last thre ...

become the first manufacturer since Ford in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

and

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

to win three consecutive races on The Mountain.

Class structure

3001-6000cc

The class featured the V8

s, racing at Bathurst for the first time, the equally new

Ford XD Falcon The Ford Falcon (XD) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia from 1979 to 1982. It was the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Falcon and also included the Ford Fairmont (XD)—the luxury-oriented version.

s, Chevrolet Camaros and a

Jaguar XJ-S The Jaguar XJ-S (later called XJS) is a luxury grand tourer manufactured and marketed by British car manufacturer Jaguar Cars from 1975 to 1996, in coupé, fixed-profile and full convertible bodystyles. There were three distinct iterations, ...

2001-3000cc

The class featured a battle between

Ford Capri The Ford Capri is a fastback coupé built by Ford of Europe, designed by Philip T. Clark, who was also involved in the design of the Ford Mustang. It used the mechanical components from the Mk2 Ford Cortina and was intended as the Euro ...

s and

Mazda RX7 The Mazda RX-7 is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car that was manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 until 2002 across three generations, all of which made use of a compact, lightweight Wankel rotary engine. ...

s, with a six-cylinder Holden Commodore.

1601-2000cc

The class saw a mix Alfa Romeo Alfettas, Ford Escorts, Toyota Celicas and

Triumph Dolomite The Triumph Dolomite small saloon car was produced by the Triumph Motor Company division of the British Leyland Corporation in Canley, Coventry between October 1972 and August 1980. Background The Dolomite was the final addition to Triumph's ...

s plus a single Isuzu Gemini.

Up to 1600cc

The final class featured Ford Escorts, Holden Geminis, Isuzu Geminis, a

Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has been one of the best-selling cars in ...

, an Alfa Romeo Alfasud, a Volkswagen Golf GTi and a Mitsubishi Lancer.

Hardies Heroes

* This was the first touring car race in which he competed during 1980 where

's #05 HDT Commodore did not claim pole position. Brock had claimed pole in his previous 12 races during the year including all 8 rounds of the ATCC and the

Hang Ten 400 The Sandown 500 (formally known as the Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The event's name, distance – and the category of cars c ...

at Sandown.
* It was the first time that the 5.7L V8 Chevrolet Camaro, an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

car, had sat on pole for the race. The Camaro was also the first non-

or Ford to compete in Hardie's Heroes since its inception in

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...

. During qualifying Kevin Bartlett' Camaro was recorded at on Conrod Straight, a then record for a Group C touring car at Bathurst.
*

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

winner Kevin Bartlett, and emerging star Dick Johnson, had set equal fastest times during qualifying, though Bartlett set his time before Johnson and was credited with provisional pole. The pair would repeat this in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...

Results

Statistics

* Provisional Pole Position - #9 Kevin Bartlett * Pole Position - #9 Kevin Bartlett - 2:20.972 * Fastest Lap - #17 Dick Johnson - 2:22.2 * Average Speed - 148 km/h * Race Time - 6:47:52.7

References

External links

CAMS Manual reference to Australian titles

Retrieved from www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au on 6 February 2009

Retrieved from www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au on 6 February 2009 {{Bathurst 1000 races Motorsport in Bathurst, New South Wales Hardie-Ferodo 1000