1985 Better Brakes 300

The 1985 Better Brakes 300 was an endurance race for Group A touring cars held at the Amaroo Park circuit in Sydney, New South Wales on 4 August 1985. The race was the opening round of the 1985 Australian Endurance Championship. It was held over 155 laps of the tight 1.94 km (1.21 mi) circuit for a total of 300.7 km (186.8 mi).[1]

Layout of the Amaroo Park Raceway

The field was divided into three classes according to engine displacement.

  • Class A : 3001cc to 6000cc
  • Class B : 2001cc to 3000cc
  • Class C : Up to 2000cc

The race was won by the 1985 Australian Touring Car Champion Jim Richards driving his championship winning JPS Team BMW 635 CSi. Richards won the race by two laps from two more New Zealanders, Kent Baigent and Neal Lowe driving an ex-Schnitzer BMW 635 CSi, with Peter Brock in his Mobil Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore finishing third.

Colin Bond and Gregg Hansford finished 5th outright and 1st in Class B driving the Network Alfa Romeo GTV6 after a race long battle with the JPS BMW 323i of Tony Longhurst. Class C was won by the Team Toyota Australia Corolla of former open wheel star driver John Smith who also finished 7th outright.

One of the pre-race favourites, the Volvo 240T of Kiwi Robbie Francevic was out before the race started as the left front wheel parted company with the car on the formation lap going through Suttons Corner. Allan Grice, having his first ever Group A start driving in The Toy Shop Alfa GTV6, was out after just three laps with gearbox failure.

Richards qualified on pole for the race with a time of 53.80 seconds.[2]

Results

Position Class No. Entrant Drivers Car Laps Grid
1 A 62 JPS Team BMW New Zealand Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi 155 1
2 A 3 H. Kent Baigent New Zealand Kent Baigent
New Zealand Neal Lowe
BMW 635 CSi 153 8
3 A 05 Mobil Holden Dealer Team Australia Peter Brock Holden VK Commodore 153 2
4 A 7 Mobil Holden Dealer Team Australia David Parsons
Australia John Harvey
Holden VK Commodore 153 10
5 B 27 Network Alfa Australia Colin Bond
Australia Gregg Hansford
Alfa Romeo GTV6 153 5
6 B 23 JPS Team BMW Australia Tony Longhurst BMW 323i 152 9
7 C 10 Toyota Team Australia Australia John Smith Toyota Corolla 148 11
8 A 19 Ken Mathews Prestige Cars Australia Ken Mathews
Australia Terry Finnigan
Holden VK Commodore 147 14
9 A 33 Mike Bergmann Australia Mike Bergmann
Australia Bob Stevens
Holden VK Commodore 144 17
10 A 24 Jagparts Australia Gerald Kay
Australia Don Bretland
Holden VK Commodore 144 16
 ?? A 30 Yellow Pages Australia Tony Kavich
Australia Ralph Radburn
Holden VK Commodore 13
 ?? A Australia Bernie McClure Holden VK Commodore
 ?? A 39 New Zealand Graeme Bowkett
New Zealand Wayne Wilkinson
Holden VK Commodore 15
 ?? B 39 Chris Heyer Australia Chris Heyer Audi 5+5 19
 ?? C 13 Bob Holden Motors Australia Bob Holden
Australia Mike Quinn
Toyota Corolla AE86 12
 ?? C 11 Toyota Team Australia Australia Drew Price Toyota Corolla AE86 18
 ?? B 65 Hulcraft Autos Australia John Craft Ford Capri Mk.III 20
 ?? B Hulcraft Autos Australia Les Grose Ford Capri Mk.III 22
 ?? A 29 Ken Davison Australia Ken Davison Ford Mustang 24
 ?? A 28 Capri Components Australia Lawrie Nelson Ford Mustang 21
DNF A 2 Masterton Homes Australia Steve Masterton Holden VK Commodore 6
DNF B 77 Peter Williamson Toyota Australia Peter Williamson
Australia Charlie O'Brien
Toyota Supra 7 4
DNF B 26 The Toy Shop Australia Allan Grice Alfa Romeo GTV6 3 7
DNS B 21 Mark Petch Motorsport New Zealand Robbie Francevic Volvo 240T 3

* The event attracted 24 starters.

Notes

  • Pole Position: #1 Jim Richards, BMW 635 CSi - 0:53.80
  • Fastest Lap: #1 Jim Richards, BMW 635 CSi - 0:55.11
  • Race Time: 2:28:08.6

References

See also

  • Australian Motor Racing Year, 1985/86
  • James Hardie 1000, 1985/86
  • The Australian Racing History of Ford, 1989
  • The Official Racing History of Holden, 1988
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