1983 Castrol 400
The 1983 Castrol 400 was an endurance race for Group C Touring Cars held at the Sandown Park circuit in Victoria, Australia on 11 September 1983.[1] The race was staged over 129 laps of the 3.1 km circuit, totalling 399.9 km.[1] It was Round 3 of the 1983 Australian Endurance Championship and Round 3 of the 1983 Australian Endurance Championship of Makes.[2]
The race, which was the 18th annual Sandown long distance race,[3] was won by Allan Moffat driving a Mazda RX-7.[1] The ease in which Moffat won his 5th Sandown endurance race put him as the hot favourite for the upcoming James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst. Moffat had stalked early race leaders Peter Brock and Allan Grice before they both fell by the wayside leaving the Mazda to take its second straight win in the Sandown enduro. Second place went to the JPS Team BMW 635 CSi of Jim Richards. The performance of the BMW suddenly saw the car as a darkhorse for Bathurst. Finishing third in their Holden Commodore were Warren Cullen and Ron Harrop.
Pre-race favourite and pole winner Peter Brock suffered a rare failure when he lost the brakes on his Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Commodore early on and actually hit the fence, forcing him out of the race. Brock later took over the second MHDT Commodore from John Harvey and eventually finished third on the road, however he was later disqualified as he had not cross-entered to drive the #25 car.
After a poor ATCC in which he lost his crown to Moffat, Dick Johnson served notice that the Ford XE Falcon would be a force at Bathurst after development work had cured the big Ford's suspension problems. Johnson put the now green coloured car on the front row matching Brock's pole time, although after winning the start his race ended with gearbox failure only a few hundred metres later.
Classes
As a round of the 1983 Australian Endurance Championship, cars competed in two classes:[4]
Results
Top 10 Qualifiers
| Pos | No | Team | Driver | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pole | 05 | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
Holden VH Commodore SS | 1:10.7 |
| 2 | 17 | Palmer Tube Mills | |
Ford XE Falcon | 1:10.7 |
| 3 | 6 | STP Roadways Racing | |
Holden VH Commodore SS | 1:10.7 |
| 4 | 3 | Cadbury Schweppes Pty Ltd | |
Holden VH Commodore SS | 1:11.3 |
| 5 | 15 | Nissan Motorsport Australia | |
Nissan Bluebird Turbo | 1:11.4 |
| 6 | 43 | Peter Stuyvesant International Racing | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} |
Mazda RX-7 | 1:11.5 |
| 7 | 31 | JPS Team BMW |  |
BMW 635 CSi | 1:11.7 |
| 8 | 2 | Masterton Homes | |
Ford XE Falcon | 1:12.3 |
| 9 | 50 | Petrolon Slick 50 | |
Mazda RX-7 | 1:12.5 |
| 10 | 11 | Soundwave Discos | |
Holden VH Commodore SS | 1:12.6 |
Race
| Position [1] | Drivers [1] | No. | Car [1] | Entrant | Class | Laps [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allan Moffat | 43 | Mazda RX-7 | Peter Stuyvesant International Racing | Over 3000cc | 129 |
| 2 | Jim Richards | 31 | BMW 635 CSi | JPS Team BMW | Over 3000cc | 129 |
| 3 | Warren Cullen Ron Harrop |
22 | Holden VH Commodore SS | Cullen Automotive Industries | Over 3000cc | 127 |
| 4 | Murray Carter | 18 | Mazda RX-7 | Valentine Greetings | Over 3000cc | 126 |
| 5 | Terry Shiel | 37 | Mazda RX-7 | Eurocars (Northside) | Over 3000cc | 123 |
| 6 | Gregg Hansford Gary Waldon |
42 | Mazda RX-7 | Peter Stuyvesant International Racing | Over 3000cc | 122 |
| 7 | Johnnie Walker Gene Cook |
32 | Mazda RX-7 | Johnnie Walker | Over 3000cc | 120 |
| 8 | Scotty Taylor Kevin Kennedy |
24 | Holden VH Commodore SS | Scotty Taylor Holden | Over 3000cc | 119 |
| 9 | Lawrie Nelson | 59 | Ford Capri V6 | Capri Components | Up to 3000cc [1] | 119 |
| 10 | Barry Jones Peter Dane |
41 | Mazda RX-7 | BF Goodrich Australia Ltd | Over 3000cc | 119 |
| 11 | Terry Ryan Graham Storah |
42 | Mazda RX-7 | Over 3000cc | 113 | |
| 12 | John White | 61 | Isuzu Gemini | John White | Up to 3000cc | 108 |
| 13 | Joe Beninca Peter Beninca |
46 | Alfa Romeo GTV | Up to 3000cc | 90 | |
| NC [5] | Andrew Harris [5] Gary Cooke [5] |
9 | Ford XE Falcon [5] | Andrew Harris | Over 3000cc | |
| NC [5] | John Craft [5] Don Smith [5] |
56 | Ford Capri V6 [5] | Up to 3000cc | ||
| DNF [6] | Allan Grice [6] Colin Bond [6] |
6 | Holden VH Commodore SS [6] | STP Roadways Racing | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF [6] | Andrew Manson [6] [6] Geoff Manson |
48 | Holden VH Commodore SS [6] | Roger Manson Holden | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF [1] | Christine Gibson [1] | 60 | Nissan Pulsar EXA [1] | Nissan Motorsport Australia | Up to 3000cc [1] | |
| DNF [6] | David Parsons [6] Peter Janson [6] |
3 | Holden VH Commodore SS [6] | Cadbury Schweppes Pty Ltd | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF [5] | Dick Johnson [5] Kevin Bartlett [5] |
17 | Ford XE Falcon [5] | Palmer Tube Mills | Over 3000cc | 1 [1] |
| DNF [7] | Fred Gibson [7] John French [7] |
16 | Nissan Bluebird Turbo [7] | Nissan Motorsport Australia | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF [6] | Garry Rogers [6] Clive Benson-Brown [6] |
11 | Holden VH Commodore SS [6] | Soundwave Discos | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF | George Fury [7] Gary Scott [7] |
15 | Nissan Bluebird Turbo [7] | Nissan Motorsport Australia | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF [5] | Jim Fanenco [5] Tony Hubbard [5] |
40 | Ford XE Falcon [5] | Over 3000cc | ||
| DNF [6] | Jim Keogh [6] Leo Leonard [6] |
12 | Holden VH Commodore SS [6] | Team Toshiba | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF [5] | Mike Imrie [5] Graeme Treasure [5] |
57 | Ford XE Falcon [5] | CDT Performance Vehicles | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF [6] | Peter Brock [6] | 05 | Holden VH Commodore SS [6] | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF | Peter McLeod [1] | 50 | Mazda RX-7 [1] | Petrolon Slick 50 | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF | Ron Dickson [8] Bob Stevens |
21 | Mazda RX-7 | Over 3000cc | ||
| DNF [6] | Rusty French [6] Alan Browne [6] |
4 | Holden VH Commodore SS [6] | John Sands Racing | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF [6] | Steve Harrington [6] | 14 | Holden VH Commodore SS [6] | STP Roadways Racing | Over 3000cc | |
| DNF [5] | Steve Masterton [5] | 2 | Ford XE Falcon [5] | Masterton Homes | Over 3000cc | |
| DSQ [6] | John Harvey [6] Peter Brock [6] |
25 | Holden VH Commodore SS [6] | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | Over 3000cc | 127 [1] |
| DNS [7] | Craig Bradtke [7] Bob Holden [7] |
62 | Toyota Celica [7] | Up to 3000cc | ||
Note:
- The total number of starters has not yet been ascertained
- There were 16 finishers in the race [7]
- Peter Brock took over the car of John Harvey after his own car suffered brake problems.[1] The Brock/Harvey car placed third,[1] but was subsequently disqualified due to the unauthorized driver change.[6]
Statistics
- Pole Position - #05 Peter Brock - (Holden VH Commodore) - 1:10.7 [1]
- Race time - 3 hrs 20 mins 0.4 secs [1]
- Fastest lap - #43 Allan Moffat - (Mazda RX-7) - 1:10.9 [1] (new lap record)
Notes & references
- Wayne Webster, Endurance Championship Round Three - Sandown Park, Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1983/84, pages 294 & 295
- Wayne Webster, Australian Endurance Championship, Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1983/84, page 288
- Records, Titles and Awards, 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-8
- Australian Title Conditions - The Australian Endurance Championship, 1983 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 95
- Stewart Wilson & Max Stahl, Ford - The racing history, 1989, page 311
- Stewart Wilson, Holden - The official racing history, 1988, page 358
- Bill Tuckey, The enduros begin: and so do the politics, James Hardie 1000 1983/84, pages 62 to 73
- Tuckey, page 69 makes reference to the "Dickson / Stevens Mazda" making a pit stop on lap 4 without giving further details