1971 Hardie-Ferodo 500


The 1971 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was a motor race held on 3 October 1971 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. It was open to production vehicles competing in showroom condition, with the field divided into five classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle in Australian dollars. Although an outright winner was officially recognised, all other official awards were for class results only. The race was the 12th in a sequence of annual "Bathurst 500" production car races dating back to the 1960 Armstrong 500. The outright winner was Allan Moffat driving a Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III.
The 1971 race is perhaps best remembered for Sydney driver Bill Brown's lucky escape after the biggest single car crash in the race's history. On lap 43, the right front tyre on Brown's Phase III GTHO Falcon burst at over on the approach to the daunting McPhillamy Park, which in 1971 had no runoff area on the outside of the track, just the earth bank and a fence made of railway sleepers on top. The Falcon barrel-rolled along the fence and ended upside down after 3½ rolls. Brown was lucky because his seat broke in the first roll and he was lying flat in the car as it continued rolling. Amazingly his only injuries were a grazed shin and a black eye.
1971 will also be remembered as the year that Moffat had a stray cardboard Southwark Bitter carton attached itself to the front of his GTHO for a number of laps, blocking the cars radiator. Pit boards told him of the problem and the team attempted to call Moffat in for a quick stop to remove the carton, but Moffat, seeing no change to the engine temperature and no reduction in the cars performance, waved them off and remained on the track until his scheduled pit stop with the approval of Ford Works Team manager Howard Marsden.

Class structure

Cars competed in five classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle in Australian dollars.

Class A

Class A was for cars costing less than $2,150. It was contested by Datsun 1200, Mazda 1300 and Toyota Corolla.

Class B

The $2,151 to $2,500 class had the smallest number of starters with just four cars: Datsun 1600 and Mazda Capella 1600.

Class C

The $2,501 to $3,150 class saw a mix of Ford Cortina, Ford Escort, 2.8 litre Holden Torana GTR, Honda 1300, Mazda RX-2 and Morris Cooper S.

Class D

The $3,151 to $4,350 class featured Alfa Romeo Giulia, the E38 version of the Chrysler Valiant Charger, Ford Falcon 500 and 3.0 litre Holden Torana GTR XU-1.

Class E

For cars over $4,350. Apart from a single Fiat 124S, the class consisted only of Ford Falcon GT-HO Phase IIIs.

Top 10 Qualifiers

Results

Pos.ClassNo.EntrantDriversCarLapsQual
Pos.
1E65Ford Motor Co of Australia Allan MoffatFord XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III1301
2E62Byrt Ford Pty Ltd Phil Barnes
Bob Skelton
Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III1296
3E57Finnie Ford Pty Ltd David McKayFord XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III1294
4D31Holden Dealer Team Colin BondHolden LC Torana GTR XU-112915
5E64Ford Motor Co of Australia John FrenchFord XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III1292
6E60McLeod Ford Pty Ltd John Goss
Barry Sharp
Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III12917
7D43Geoghegan's Sporty Cars Leo Geoghegan
Peter Brown
Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E381298
8D32Holden Dealer Team Peter BrockHolden LC Torana GTR XU-112911
9D30Max Wright Motors Brian Foley
Don Holland
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-112922
10D45Reg Papps & Sons Bob BeasleyChrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E3812910
11E59J Harding Murray CarterFord XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III12721
12D41Shell Racing Norm Beechey
Jim McKeown
Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E3812719
13D28Suttons Motors Bruce McPheeHolden LC Torana GTR XU-112732
14E55Sinclair Ford Pty Ltd Kevin BartlettFord XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III12630
15D40Harvey Drew Pty Ltd Joe Butta
Geoff Hunter
Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E3812624
16D49Courtesy Motors Martin CheneryChrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E3812518
17D29Dusting & Co Pty Ltd Tony RobertsHolden LC Torana GTR XU-112536
18D39City State Racing Team Johnnie Walker
Malcolm Ramsay
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-112428
19D42Liverpool Chrysler Doug Chivas
Graham Moore
Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E3812416
20E67Wright Ford Motors Pty Ltd Des WestFord XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III12312
21D47John McNicol Pty Ltd Gerry Lister
David Seldon
Ford XY Falcon 50012234
22D37M Brown Mick BrownHolden LC Torana GTR XU-112133
23D34The Commonwealth Ind. Gases Geoff Leeds
Digby Cooke
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-112023
24E54Zanardo & Rodriguez
Sales & Services Pty Ltd
Ron KearnsFiat 124 Sport11835
25D38L Seaton Brian Reed
Graham Ritter
Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E3811826
26C17G Cooke Gary Cooke
Garry Holmes
Mazda RX-211739
27C27Victorian Police Motor Sports Club Geoff Wade
Geoff Perry
Holden LC Torana GTR11740
28D44Blue Point Motors Pty Ltd Graham RyanChrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E3811627
29C51D&P Traders Pty Ltd Pat Peck
Jan Holland
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-111561
30C19Chas Tierney Pty Ltd Mal Brewster
Ray Strong
Holden LC Torana GTR11542
31C16John Hile Ford Pty Ltd Ross Hewison
Brian Hones
Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I11045
32C22Mazda Racing Team Wayne Rogerson
Alan Mayne
Mazda RX-211337
33C25Marque Motors Bob Cracknell
Bob Wedd
11147
34C24H Vines Herb Vines
Chris Batger
Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I11045
35C20Kloster Pty Ltd Geoff Westbury
Jim Sullivan
Ford TC Cortina 2000L11049
36B12WH Motors Pty Ltd Bruce StewartDatsun 160010951
37A6John Palmer Motors John LefflerMazda 130010853
38A8Mazda Racing Team Les Carne
Peter Cray
Mazda 130010757
39A5AMI Racing Team Barry ArentzToyota Corolla 120010659
40A7C Kennedy Carl Kennedy
Bill Slattery
Mazda 130010560
41C21Bennett Honda Pty Ltd Ken Brian
Noel Riley
Honda 1300-S10456
42C15Marque Motors Bill Stanley
Mike Kable
10244
43A1Datsun Racing Team Doug WhitefordDatsun 120010052
44B14Mazda Racing Team George Garth
John Hall
Mazda Capella 16009946
45B11WH Motors Pty Ltd Don SmithDatsun 16009748
DNFE61Baldwin Ford Pty Ltd Damon Beck
Garry Rush
Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III1179
DNFA4AMI Racing Team Brian SampsonToyota Corolla 120010258
DNFD50R Lanyon Tom Naughton
Ross Wemyss
Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E389825
DNFD48B Thomson Bryan Thomson
John Mann
Alfa Romeo 1600 Giulia Super8043
DNFE58Mark IV Car Air Conditioning Bob Morris
Ray Morris
Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III8014
DNFE69Trevor Thiele Ford Pty Ltd Trevor MeehanFord XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III557
DNFD33Bob Jane Racing Team Bob Jane
John Harvey
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-15029
DNFD46Bardahl International Oil Corp Bob Forbes
John Millyard
Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E384613
DNFE63FF Newell & Son Bill BrownFord XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III435
DNFE66Road & Track Auto Services Fred Gibson
Barry Seton
Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III323
DNFA9Mazda Racing Team Bernie Haehnle
Ray Kaleda
Mazda 13001754
DNFD36BS NcNaughton Scott McNaughton
Geoff Harvey
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1720
DSQC23Sinclair Ford Pty Ltd Alan Cant
Herb Taylor
Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I11541
DSQB10Datsun Racing Team John Roxburgh
Jon Leighton
Datsun 160011150
DSQA2Datsun Racing Team Jim Laing-PeachDatsun 120010955
DNSA3AMI Racing Team Bill EvansToyota Corolla 1200
DNSB13Harry Gapps Ford Pty Ltd Harry Gapps
Frank Hann
Ford Cortina 1600L
DNSC18Waterloo High Performance Tuning Centre Warren Gracie
Ron Gillard
Holden LC Torana GTR
DNSC26Harry Gapps Ford Pty Ltd R KramerFord Escort Twin Cam
DNSD35L Grose Les Grose
Lakis Manticas
Holden LC Torana GTR XU-131
DNSD52R Lanyon Lawrie Nelson
Tony Farrell
Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E38
DNSD53Formula 1 International Motoring Pty Ltd Tony Allen
Len Searle
Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E38
DNSE56McCluskey Ford Pty Ltd Ian Geoghegan
Brian Michelmore
Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III
DNSE68G Ward Graham WardVolvo 164
DNSE70HG Fenton H Fenton
F Ure
Ford XW Falcon GT-HO Phase II

Statistics