The 1984 Castrol 500 was an endurance motor race staged at the Sandown Park circuit in Victoria, Australia on 9 September 1984. The event was open to Group C Touring Cars, competing in two engine capacity classes, Up to 3000cc and Over 3000cc. It also included a class for Group A cars which were to replace Group C cars in Australian Touring Car racing in 1985. The race, which was held over a distance of 503 km, was Round 3 of the 1984 Australian Endurance Championship.Australian Motor Racing Year, 1984/85, pages 298–301

This was the first Sandown endurance race where the distance was 500 km and the first of five races on the new 3.878 km (1.928 mi) long 'International Circuit'. Prior to 1984 the Sandown Enduro had been held over distances including: 6 Hours (1964–65), 3 Hours (1968–69), 250 miles (1970–75) and 400 km (1976-83), all held on the old 3.100 km (1.926 mi) circuit. The meeting also saw the opening of the new International standard Sandown Park with changes including the relocating of the pits from between turns 1 and 2 to a new $600,000 pit complex at the start of the main straight which was long enough to accommodate over 40 cars with lock-up garages for each pit. Other changes included lengthening and re-profiling of the circuit to the minimum length required for an International circuit of 3.9 km, primarily by the inclusion of an 800-metre infield section, which for the first time saw the circuit cross to the inside of the venue's horse racing track.

Due to the new length of 500 km, teams were required to have at least two drivers per car as no one driver was permitted to complete the entire distance without a break. This saw most teams use their upcoming Bathurst pairings.

Qualifying Nissan driver George Fury sat on pole in his Bluebird Turbo with a time of 1:46.2 for the new track. Alongside Fury in a brand new Roadways Racing Holden VK Commodore was Allan Grice who was only 0.1 behind. Filling out the second row of the grid was newly crowned Australian Touring Car Champion Dick Johnson in his "Greens-Tuf" Ford XE Falcon, and the Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore of Peter Brock. The third row of the grid consisted of the top two finishers from 1983. Winner Allan Moffat in his Mazda RX-7 and Jim Richards in the JPS Team BMW 635 CSI.

Fury's pole time remains the fastest ever recorded time by a touring car of the 3.878 km International Circuit.

1982 Australian Sports Car Champion Chris Clearihan, who was to have co-driven with David Grose in a Mazda RX-7, was excluded from the meeting after qualifying following an altercation in the pits with Allan Moffat in which punches were allegedly thrown. Moffat and Clearihan had tangled out on the circuit with a confrontation following in the pits. After Clearihan's exclusion, the 1983 Sports Car Champion Peter Hopwood who was driving in the final round of the 1984 Australian Drivers' Championship at the meeting, was given permission to take his place in the RX-7.

Race Driving with regular co-driver and HDT team manager Larry Perkins, Peter Brock won his 9th and last Sandown enduro. The pair finishing a lap ahead of the Moffat/Gregg Hansford RX-7 with the second HDT Commodore of John Harvey and new team recruit David Parsons finishing 3rd. Early race leader Dick Johnson suffered gearbox failure on lap 37, attributed to the increased strain from the tight new infield section, while pole sitter Fury was out on lap 32 with head gasket failure. The only other car to lead the race, the Roadways Racing VK Commodore of Grice/Steve Harrington, stopped with a broken gearbox while running 2nd on lap 103. Grice had the consolation on the day of not only winning the final round of the 1984 Australian GT Championship (and subsequently his third Sports Sedan/GT national title) in his Chevrolet Monza, but also setting the fastest lap of the Sandown 500 in his new Commodore before it expired. As this was the only Group C touring car race held on the new 3.9 km long international circuit, Grice's lap of 1:48.3 remains the category lap record for the circuit.

Dean Lindstrom and Larry Kogge won the Up to 3000cc class and finished 9th outright in their RX-7, 18 laps down on Brock/Perkins, while the winner of the new Group A category was Peter Williamson and Charlie O'Brien who finished 6th outright driving an ex-BTCC Toyota Celica Supra formerly driven by Win Percy.

Results

Top 10 Qualifiers Pos. Driver No Car EntrantOfficial Programme, Castrol 500, Sandown, September 9 (1984) Time Pole George Fury 15 Nissan Nissan Bluebird Turbo 1:46.2 2 Allan Grice 6 Roadways RacingCar No. 6 was not listed in the Official Programme Holden VK Commodore 1:46.3 3 Dick Johnson 17 Palmer Tube Mills Ford XE Falcon 1:46.9 4 Peter Brock 05 Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VK Commodore 1:47.0 5 Allan Moffat 2 Peter Stuyvesant International Racing Mazda RX-7 1:47.5 6 Jim Richards 31 JPS Team BMW BMW 635 CSi 1:47.8 7 Warren Cullen 8 K. Mart Auto Racing Holden VK Commodore 1:48.7 8 Ron Harrop 9 K. Mart Auto Racing Holden VH Commodore SS 1:49.0 9 John Harvey 25 Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VK Commodore 1:49.1 10 Murray Carter 18 Valentine Greetings Mazda RX-7 1:49.9

Race PositionBarry Naismith, Bathurst 1984/85, pages 42–53 Drivers No. Car Entrant Class Laps 1 Peter BrockLarry Perkins 05 Holden VK Commodore Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Over 3000cc 129 2 Allan MoffatGregg Hansford 43 Mazda RX-7 Peter Stuyvesant International Racing Over 3000cc 128 3 John HarveyDavid Parsons 25 Holden VK Commodore Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Over 3000cc 127 4 Murray CarterJohn Goss 18 Mazda RX-7 Valentine Greetings Over 3000cc 125 5 Bernie StackWayne CliftJim Keogh 20 Holden VH Commodore SS Jim Keogh Over 3000cc 122 6 Peter WilliamsonCharlie O'Brien 77 Toyota Celica Supra Peter Williamson Toyota Group A 119 7 Alf GrantCraig Harris 27 Ford XD Falcon Bryan Byrt Ford Over 3000cc 118 8 Tony MulvihillBrian Nightingale 51 Mazda RX-7 Tokico Over 3000cc 113 9 Dean LindstromLarry Kogge 74 Mazda RX-7 Dean Lindstrom Up to 3000cc 111 10 John CraftLes Grose 56 Ford Capri Mk III Hulcraft Autos Group A 109 11 Brian BolwellRay Cutchie 28 Ford Escort Mk II Brian Bolwell Up to 3000cc 107 12 Warren CullenAlan Jones 8 Holden VK Commodore K. Mart Auto Racing Over 3000cc 102 13 Ken HarrisonIan Wells 80 Ford Escort Mk II Ken Harrison Up to 3000cc 96 14 Martin PowerPhilip Larmour 49 Triumph Dolomite Sprint Martin Power Up to 3000cc 95 NC Rusty FrenchGeoff Russell 10 Holden VH Commodore SS John Sands Racing Over 3000cc 91 DNF Allan GriceSteve Harrington 6 Holden VK Commodore Roadways Racing Over 3000cc 103 DNF Colin BondPeter Fitzgerald 70 Alfa Romeo GTV6 Network Alfa Group A 93 DNF Graham LustyJohn Lusty 21 Holden VH Commodore SS Lusty Engineering Pty Ltd Over 3000cc 84 DNF Lawrie NelsonPeter Jones 64 Ford Capri Mk III Capri Components Up to 3000cc 76 DNF Jim RichardsTony Longhurst 31 BMW 635 CSi JPS Team BMW Over 3000cc 72 DNF John WhiteLes Szreniawski 61 Isuzu Gemini John White Up to 3000cc 70 DNF John BundyBarry Jones 39 Mazda RX-7 J. Bundy Over 3000cc 64 DNF Peter McLeodGraeme Bailey 50 Mazda RX-7 Petrolon Slick 50 Over 3000cc 57 DNF Peter JansonGarry Rogers 3 Holden VH Commodore SS Cadbury Schweppes Pty Ltd Over 3000cc 46 DNF Jim KeoghTerry Shiel 19 Holden VH Commodore SS Jim Keogh Over 3000cc 44 DNF Andrew HarrisRon Harrop 9 Holden VH Commodore SS K. Mart Auto Racing Over 3000cc 43 DNF Bill O'BrienGarry Cooke 30 Ford XD Falcon Everlast Battery Service Over 3000cc 41 DNF Dick JohnsonJohn French 17 Ford XE Falcon Palmer Tube Mills Over 3000cc 37 DNF George FuryGary Scott 15 Nissan Bluebird Turbo Nissan Over 3000cc 32 DNF Steve MastertonPhil Ward 2 Ford XE Falcon Masterton Homes Pty Ltd Over 3000cc 14 DNF Colin CampbellJohn Faulkner 38 Holden VH Commodore SS Bayswater Auto Wreckers Over 3000cc 9 DNS Chris Clearihan 32 Mazda RX-7 Berklee ExhaustsCar No. 32 was not listed in the Official Programme Over 3000cc

Statistics Pole Position – #15 George Fury - Nissan Bluebird Turbo – 1:46.2 Fastest Lap – #6 Allan Grice - Holden VK Commodore – 1:48.3 (new lap record)

References

Further reading Stewart Wilson & Max Stahl, Ford – The Racing History, 1989, page 312 Stewart Wilson, Holden – The official Racing history, 1988, page 359 Bill Tuckey, James Hardie 1000, 1984/85, pages 114–121

External links The Brock / Perkins Holden VK Commodore at the 1984 Castrol 500 Retrieved from www.brock05.com on 24 March 2009