1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500
The 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was an endurance motor race open to Group E Series Production Touring Cars. The race was held on 1 October 1972 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. Cars competed in four classes defined by Capacity Price Units, where the engine capacity, expressed in litres, was multiplied by the purchase price in Australian dollars to arrive at a CP value for each vehicle. It was the 13th running of the Bathurst 500 race and the last to be held over the original distance of 500 miles. It was also the last to allow drivers to compete for the full distance without a relief driver. The race was the third round of the 1972 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
The race was memorable as the first time rain had significantly affected the race. It was won by Peter Brock driving a Holden Dealer Team prepared Holden Torana, the first of Brock's record nine victories. Brock finished a lap ahead of Queensland racer John French driving a Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III, this despite Brock being penalised one minute at his last pit stop for starting his car while the HDT crew were still re-fueling. A further lap behind was the Chrysler Valiant Charger of Doug Chivas. It was the only time the big three manufacturers of Australia in the 1960s and 1970s all had representatives in the top three finishers.
Pole sitter and winner of the previous two Bathurst 500's, Allan Moffat, had a race he would rather forget. After dicing for the lead with Brock in the early laps, Moffat spun his Works Phase III Falcon at Sulman Park on top of The Mountain in the wet conditions. Although he would fight his way back, he would twice be penalised one minute for restarting his car during pit stops before the re-fueling had been completed. Later in the race the Falcon would also encounter brake problems and Moffat dropped back to finish the race in 9th place, 8 laps down on Brock.
1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 winner Colin Bond's race ended early when he rolled his Holden Dealer Team Torana on lap 3 while in 4th place. 1967 winner Fred Gibson also rolled his Works GTHO Falcon at McPhillamy Park in the early wet conditions after being forced offline when lapping a slower car. The Falcon spun into the bank and rolled onto its roof on lap 22.
Class structure
Class A
The smallest class was for under 3000 CP units. It was made up of Chrysler Valiant Galant, Datsun 1200, Fiat 850 and Mazda 1300.Class B
The 3001 to 9000 CP units class saw a mix of Datsun 1600, Fiat 124 Sport, Ford Escort, 2.8 litre Holden Torana and Mazda RX-2.Class C
The 9001 to 18000 CP units class featured Alfa Romeo GTV 1750, E38 version of the Chrysler Valiant Charger and 3.3 litre Holden Torana.Class D
For cars over 18001 CP units, the class consisted only of E49 version of the Chrysler Valiant Charger and Ford Falcon GT-HO.Top 10 Qualifiers
Results
Results sourced in part from:| Pos | Class | No | Entrant | Drivers | Car | Laps | Qual Pos |
| 1 | C | 28 | Holden Dealer Team |  Peter Brock | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 130 | 5 |
| 2 | D | 5 | Bryan Byrt Ford Pty Ltd | John French | Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III | 129 | 3 |
| 3 | D | 15 | D Beck | Doug Chivas Damon Beck | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 128 | 9 |
| 4 | D | 2 | Geoghegan Sporty Cars | Leo Geoghegan | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 127 | 6 |
| 5 | C | 19 | Max Wright Motors Pty Ltd | Don Holland | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 125 | 11 |
| 6 | C | 27 | R Forbes | Bob Forbes | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 124 | 12 |
| 7 | D | 10 | CP Gulson | Paul Gulson Ray Gulson | Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III | 123 | 16 |
| 8 | C | 20 | Roamer Watches of Australia Pty Ltd | Ray Kaleda Paul Pressler | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E38 | 122 | 26 |
| 9 | D | 1 | Ford Motor Company of Australia |  Allan Moffat | Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III | 122 | 1 |
| 10 | D | 3 | M Carter | Murray Carter | Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III | 120 | 22 |
| 11 | D | 4 | Eastside Chrysler | Tony Farrell Tom Naughton | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 118 | 21 |
| 12 | B | 44 | Rowell Thiele Ford Pty Ltd | Digby Cooke Geoff Leeds | Ford Escort GT 1600 Mk.I | 117 | 31 |
| 13 | B | 37 | Mazda Dealer Team | Wayne Rogerson | Mazda RX-2 | 117 | 27 |
| 14 | B | 41 | Mazda Dealer Team | Bernie Haehnle | Mazda RX-2 | 116 | 39 |
| 15 | B | 36 | Finnie Ford Pty Ltd | Barry Seton Herb Taylor | Ford Escort GT 1600 Mk.I | 116 | 34 |
| 16 | B | 38 | Slideaway Car Roofs Pty Ltd | Pat Hogan Lakis Manticas | Ford Escort GT 1600 Mk.I | 116 | 28 |
| 17 | C | 25 | AF&M Beninca Pty Ltd | Ray Harrison Mal Robertson | Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV | 115 | 33 |
| 18 | B | 52 | Bruce Lynton Car Sales | Bob Holden | Ford Escort GT 1600 Mk.I | 115 | 38 |
| 19 | B | 43 | Rolls Motors Pty Ltd | Ron Kearns | Fiat 124 Sport | 115 | 37 |
| 20 | C | 32 | Leach Motors | George Giesberts | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 113 | 24 |
| 21 | B | 49 | Mazda Dealer Team | George Garth | Mazda RX-2 | 112 | 30 |
| 22 | B | 51 | Chas Tierney Pty Ltd | Mal Brewster Ray Strong | Holden LC Torana GTR | 112 | 40 |
| 23 | B | 39 | R Wedd | Bob Cracknell Bob Wedd | Holden LC Torana GTR | 111 | 36 |
| 24 | A | 73 | Datsun Racing Team | Bill Evans | Datsun 1200 | 107 | 50 |
| 25 | A | 72 | Mazda Dealer Team | Gary Cooke | Mazda 1300 | 106 | 48 |
| 26 | A | 63 | Datsun Racing Team | Jon Leighton | Datsun 1200 | 106 | 53 |
| 27 | A | 62 | Mazda Dealer Team | Lynn Brown | Mazda 1300 | 106 | 49 |
| 28 | A | 64 | Bainbridge Motors | Mel Mollison M Hayson | Mazda 1300 | 105 | 47 |
| 29 | B | 53 | B Bassingthwaighte / R Hanger | Ray Hanger Barry Bassingthwaite | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 105 | 43 |
| 30 | A | 75 | WH Motors Pty Ltd | Bruce Stewart | Datsun 1200 | 105 | 57 |
| 31 | A | 70 | John Palmer Motors | John Leffler | Mazda 1300 | 104 | 55 |
| 32 | A | 61 | WH Motors Pty Ltd | Don Smith | Datsun 1200 | 103 | 56 |
| 33 | B | 45 | Davidson Motors | Doug Grimson Morrie Miller | Datsun 1600 | 103 | 54 |
| 34 | A | 71 | LC Giddings & Son | Ray Lintott | Datsun 1200 | 102 | 60 |
| 35 | A | 69 | Formula 1 Europa-Garage | Gary Leggatt | Fiat 850 Coupe | 101 | 52 |
| DNF | B | 48 | Olbis Industries | Eric Olsen | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 104 | 32 |
| DNF | C | 21 | G Lister | Gerry Lister David Seldon | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 103 | 15 |
| DNF | B | 42 | AR Keith | Alan Keith | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 42 | |
| DNF | A | 66 | Collins Motors | Roger Bonhomme | Chrysler Valiant Galant | 94 | 59 |
| DNF | B | 47 | Pacific Film Laboratories Pty Ltd | Christine Gibson Jan Holland | Holden LJ Torana 2850 | 88 | 44 |
| DNF | D | 14 | Essendon Chrysler | Lawrie Nelson Tony Roberts | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 13 | |
| DNF | A | 68 | Datsun Racing Team | Doug Whiteford | Datsun 1200 | 76 | 51 |
| DNF | D | 13 | Gold Power Automotive Australia Pty Ltd | Des West | Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III | 74 | 10 |
| DNF | C | 29 | Norman G. Booth Pty Ltd | Graham Moore | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 72 | 8 |
| DNF | C | 30 | D&P Traders Pty Ltd | Pat Peck | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 71 | 25 |
| DNF | B | 46 | M Grayson | Max Grayson Bill Gates | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 68 | 41 |
| DNF | C | 31 | Ron Hodgson Motors | Bruce McPhee | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 66 | 19 |
| DNF | B | 54 | Bryan Byrt Ford Pty Ltd | Lyndon Arnel | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 64 | 35 |
| DNF | A | 65 | Datsun Racing Team Qld | Barry Tapsall | Datsun 1200 | 46 | 58 |
| DNF | D | 11 | Formula 1 Europa-Garage | Tony Allen Len Searle | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 36 | 20 |
| DNF | D | 12 | McLeod Ford Pty Ltd | John Goss | Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III | 24 | 2 |
| DNF | B | 40 | Brian Wood Ford | Jim Murcott | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 23 | 29 |
| DNF | D | 8 | Ford Motor Company of Australia | Fred Gibson | Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III | 22 | 4 |
| DNF | C | 33 | WS Negus | Wayne Negus Neville Grigsby | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 21 | 14 |
| DNF | C | 22 | P Ramsay | Bill Brown | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 20 | 18 |
| DNF | D | 9 | Lakemba Chrysler | Graham Ryan | Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 14 | 17 |
| DNF | B | 50 | HLVines | Herb Vines Chris Batger | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 8 | 45 |
| DNF | C | 24 | Holden Dealer Team | Colin Bond | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 2 | 7 |
| DSQ | A | 67 | Bainbridge Motors | Geoff Perry | Mazda 1300 | 107 | 46 |
| DNS | A | 74 | Victorian Police Motor Sports Club | Fred Sutherland | Mazda 1300 | ||
| DNS | C | 35 | Cessnock Motor Works Pty Ltd | Allan Grice | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 |
Statistics
- Pole Position - #1 Allan Moffat - 2:35.8
- Fastest Lap - #1 Allan Moffat - 2:36.5
- Average Speed - 133 km/h
- Race Time - 6:01:53
- One minute penalties were applied to #28 Peter Brock, #3 Murray Carter and #53 Bassingthwaite/Hanger
- Two one minute penalties were applied to both #1 Allan Moffat and #2 Leo Geoghegan