The 1976 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 17th running of the

Bathurst 1000 The Bathurst 1000 (formally known as the Repco Bathurst 1000) is a touring car race held annually on the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is currently run as part of the Supercars Championship, the most rece ...

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 3 October 1976 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in

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, Australia. The race was open to cars complying with CAMS Group C Touring Car regulations. The race was dramatically won by the

Ron Hodgson Motors Ron Hodgson Motors (later known as Ron Hodgson Channel 7 Racing) was a Parramatta-based car dealership, primarily associated with Holden. One of the largest dealerships of its kind in Australia, on several occasions it lent its name and faciliti ...

entered Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 of Bob Morris and British driver John Fitzpatrick. Second on the same lap was the

Holden Dealer Team The Holden Dealer Team (HDT) was Holden's semi-official racing team from 1969 until 1986, primarily contesting Australian Touring Car events but also rallying, rallycross and Sports Sedan races during the 1970s. From 1980 the Holden Dealer T ...

Torana L34 of

Colin Bond Colin John Bond (born 24 February 1942) is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team. He quickly found succ ...

and

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician * John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

. Brothers Peter and Phil Brock in the Team Brock entered Torana L34 completed a second consecutive podium clean sweep for the Torana L34. In fact, Torana L34s filled the top seven places. The competitors in the over three-litre class included ex- Formula 1 drivers

Jack Brabham Sir John Arthur Brabham (2 April 1926 – 19 May 2014) was an Australian racing driver who was Formula One World Champion in , , and . He was a founder of the Brabham racing team and race car constructor that bore his name. Brabham was a R ...

and Stirling Moss, in a Torana L34 entered by Esmonds Motors of Queanbeyan. Brabham was driving competitively for the first time since 1971, and Moss had not competed in a circuit race since his Goodwood crash in 1962. The two former Grand Prix stars attracted much publicity and ultimately qualified tenth. However, their race effectively ended when Brabham lined up to take the start; the Torana's gears became jammed on the grid and a Triumph Dolomite Sprint rammed it hard from behind (in his attempt to find a gear, Jack had failed to put his arm out the window to warn other drivers). Although the Torana was hastily repaired, and reappeared several hours later simply for appearances, it eventually blew its motor with Moss at the wheel. Unfortunately Moss attracted criticism from other drivers after the Torana's engine blew as he continued to drive the car on the racing line for ¾ of a lap, with smoke billowing from the exhaust and dropping oil on the track. The 2001 to 3000cc class saw Ford Capri drivers

Barry Seton Barry Seton (known as 'Bo'), (born 5 October 1936), is an Australian racing driver. He won the Bathurst 500 (500-mile race, about 800 km) in 1965 with co-driver Midge Bosworth driving a Ford Cortina GT500.

and Don Smith take a one lap victory over the

Mazda RX-3 The is an automobile which was produced by Mazda in Japan from 1971 to 1978. It was sold as the Mazda 808 in some export markets including Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, and as the Mazda 818 in many others - this was mostly due to Peugeot hav ...

of Don Holland and Lynn Brown. Another Capri, the car of Graham Moore and emerging

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driver Dick Johnson was a further lap down in third. The 1301 to 2000cc class also saw one lap margins between the top three cars with the Ford Escort of Eric Boord and Tom Tymons beating the Alfa Romeo GTV of Phil McDonnell and Jim Hunter. The

Bob Holden Robert Lee Holden Jr. (born August 24, 1949) is an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 53rd Governor of Missouri from 2001 to 2005. Previously, he served as the State Treasurer of Missouri from 1993 to 2001 ...

run Ford Escort of Lyndon Arnel and Peter Hopwood was third. The John Roxburgh Motors entered

Datsun 1200 The is an automobile built by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1966 to 2006. In the early 1980s, the brand changed from Datsun to Nissan in line with other models by the company. Although production of the Sunny in Japan ended in 2006, the na ...

of Bill Evans and Bruce Stewart took a two lap victory in the Up to 1300cc class over the Honda Civics of Brian Reed and Ian Chilman, and Roger Bonhomme and

Doug Whiteford Doug Whiteford was an Australian racing driver. Whiteford raced from the mid-1930s through to 1975 with a short period of inactivity during the 1960s.Ray Bell, Vale – Doug Whiteford, Racing Car News, February 1979, page 11 He was best known a ...

. The 1976 race continues to be a source of controversy, as it has been claimed that a lap scoring error caused the Hold Dealer Team Torana of Bond and Harvey not to be counted for a lap, thus robbing them of the victory. However HDT, the team backed by Holden, did not appeal the results; some have claimed this is because Holden did not want to appear to be doing a disservice to the Morris/Fitzpatrick team which was run by Ron Hodgson Motors, which at the time was Sydney's largest Holden dealership. The lap counting error has been denied by the Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC), and by some teams (including the race winners and television broadcaster Channel 7) who carried out their own lap scoring. An appeal of the results was not lodged prior to the expiration date meaning the results as published are final. In 2003 Holden offered Harvey an apology for not appealing the results. This occurred at a testimonial dinner for Harvey who after retiring from racing had gone on to become a senior executive with

Holden Special Vehicles Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) was the officially designated performance vehicle division for Holden. Established in 1987 and based in Clayton, Victoria, the privately owned company modified Holden models such as the standard wheelbase Commodore, ...

. Since that time though, Harvey has caused controversy by publicly stating that he was the winner of the race, though the official results continue to show him finishing second. For his part, Colin Bond has remained in dignified silence.

Class structure

Holden LH Torana SLR 5000 L34 race replica

The field was divided into four classes based on engine capacity.1976 Official Programme, Hardie-Ferodo 1000, Entry List, pages 35 & 37

Class: Up to 1300cc

The class comprised Alfa Romeo 1300,

, Fiat 128 3P, Ford Escort, Honda Civic,

Mazda 1300 The , also marketed prominently as the Mazda 323, Mazda Protegé and Mazda Allegro, is a small family car that was manufactured by Mazda between 1963 and 2003. The Familia line was replaced by the Mazda3/Axela for 2004. It was marketed as the '' ...

Morris Clubman GT The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

, Toyota Corolla and

Volkswagen Passat The Volkswagen Passat is a series of large family cars manufactured and marketed by the German automobile manufacturer Volkswagen since 1973, and now in its eighth generation. It has been marketed variously as the Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Mag ...

Class: 1301cc - 2000cc

The class saw a mix of

Alfa Romeo Alfetta The Alfa Romeo Alfetta (Type 116) is a front-engine, five-passenger sedan and fastback coupé manufactured and marketed by Alfa Romeo from 1972 to 1987 with a production total over 400,000. The Alfetta was noted for the rear position of its ...

and 2000 GTV,

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, Fiat 124 Sport,

Ford Escort RS2000 The Ford Escort is a small family car that was manufactured by Ford of Europe from 1968 until 2000. In total there were six generations, spread across three basic platforms beginning with the original rear-wheel drive Mk.1/Mk.2 (1968–1980), ...

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 ...

and

Volkswagen Golf The Volkswagen Golf () is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) produced by the German automotive manufacturer Volkswagen since 1974, marketed worldwide across eight generations, in various body configurations and under various nameplates ...

Class: 2001cc - 3000cc

The class featured BMW 3.0Si, Ford Capri and

Class: 3001cc - 6000cc

The class consisted only of Holden Torana and

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 ...

entries.

Top 10 Qualifiers

Results

Statistics

* Pole Position - #9 Allan Moffat - 2:25.0 * Fastest Lap - #9 Allan Moffat & #5 Peter Brock - 2:28.4 * Average Speed - 141 km/h * Race Time of winning car - 7:07:12.0

References

External links

Hardie-Ferodo 1000 Bathurst 1976, touringcarracing.net

Hardie-Ferodo 1000 - Mount Panorama, Bathurst - 3rd October, 1976, www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au

Bathurst 1976, autopics.com.au
{{Bathurst 1000 races Motorsport in Bathurst, New South Wales Hardie-Ferodo 1000