Moffat/holden???????

[jamie harris]

YES IT'S TRUE ALLAN MOFFAT DROVE A HOLDEN...AT SYDNEY'S AMAROO PARK EASTER1979.HE DROVE BOB MORRIS' SPARE RON HODGSON/CHANNEL7 TORANA IN THE SECOND ROUND OF THE $60.000 ROTHMANS AMSCAR SERIES.THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME MOFFAT HAD RACED A HOLDEN IN HIS 17 YEAR CAREER.A RECORD CROWD OF12.000 PEOPLE TURNED OUT TO SEE MOFFAT'S "TURNCOAT" DRIVE IN WHICH HE WON A HEAT & FINISHED 3rd. IN THE FINAL.THERE WAS DECUSSION ABOUT HIM DRIVING AT BATHURST THAT YEAR FOR HOLDEN(THEN HE WOKE UP) ALL THIS IS TRUE.......MORE OLD TRIVIA..JAMIE

[a9x]

hey jamie
what about bathurst 1986?

when he could not handle the Power of the HDT commodore and got on the wrong side of the ripple strip and lost it at mcphillamy park in qualifying

if you have that on video i would really love to see it

maybe he raced the A9X to remember what it was like to finish a race

[Esses]

Got beat to the punch. Fancy Brocky giving Moff. a job. There was a school of thought at the time, which persists to this day, that Moffat was still secretly in the pay of Ford, & just made the "accident" look really good. As for "turncoats", one D.Johnson used to race XU-1 Toranas before going Blue & Brocky himself has raced virtually anything with wheels!

[a9x]

my motor racing memory is blank between 1988-1990

maybe it was triggered by the rolling start at bathurst in 88

[Esses]

That's a shame A9X, you'd remember Brocky racing a F.., Fo.., FORD!!!!! and actually winning once or twice.

[a9x]

steve my best memories of the f#$D years was barry sheene writing off brockys sierra in a test drive.

i think it was a media day

[Esses]

Typical Pom. Must've been in the pay of Holden or possibly DJ.

[jamie harris]

Sorry i started this but i knew some of you "younger" ones may not have known about moffat..anyway I have just finished watching one of my old Bathurst videos of1987..where brock's 05 car died early in the race and he took over car 10 and came 3rd.which later became 1st.after the sierra's were disqualified.
(may be the "POLIZER" helped him?)good video to watch..seaton/nissan..bowe /nissan..johnson/sierra (d.n.f)and many more of todays top drivers starting out.big crashes on top of mountain..all part of motoring history...jamie

[a9x]

Originally posted by jamie harris
Sorry i started this but i knew some of you "younger" ones may not have known about moffat..anyway I have just finished watching one of my old Bathurst videos of1987..where brock's 05 car died early in the race and he took over car 10 and came 3rd.which later became 1st.after the sierra's were disqualified.
(may be the "POLIZER" helped him?)good video to watch..seaton/nissan..bowe /nissan..johnson/sierra (d.n.f)and many more of todays top drivers starting out.big crashes on top of mountain..all part of motoring history...jamie

great year that best memories brock and seton sliding around the track.

i used to work with a guy that was on the tafe team he slept through the race was tired after fixing all the bmw's

[Oh Five]

Moff also raced a hdt commodore at sandown in the early 80's.

[mustang1966]

Was there an agreement between Moffat and Brock for the drive in the HDT car? Something along the lines of Moffat not running a car at the Sandown 500 that year?

[brchi17]

Didn't Moffat also drive in the SPA & LeMans 24hr races with Brock & Harvey in the '80s (1986 rings a bell)

Also,
Dick Johnson drove for HDT in Torrana's at Lakeside as well.

I remember reading that the only reason Dick changed to Ford, was because he could get some support & sponsrship, thus the legend of Johnson & Ford began!
cheers.

[Graeme]

Moff drove Commodores in Australia, New Zealand and Europe with Brock in 1986, and the following year with John Harvey exclusively in Europe.

In fact, his 1987 car was actually a Brock built brand new VL Group A car discreetly purchased via a third party.
As I recall, Moff and Harves were proud of the fact that they won their class at the Spa 24 hour race in 1987 and finished fourth overall. This was despite their third nominated driver not qualifying, leaving the two to share all the driving.

Don't forget guys that Win Percy managed to do a "Moffat" to Gricey's Chickadee Commodore in Bathurst 1987 qualifying.

[ozrider]

I believe the VL campaigned in Europe by Moffat was sponsored by Rothmans and is back in Australia. I seem to recall Australia winning the "nations team" event at the Spa 24hr race one year with 3 Commodores.

Ozrider

[spoonster05]

Yep, in 1986 the two HDT VK's "joined" forces with Allan Grice's privateer VK to win the King's Cup as the Spa 24 Hour race, which I think is given to the team which has all it's cars finish the race.

If memory serves me correctly HDT also took out a mechanic's award that year at Spa for keeping both cars in the race despite numerous mechanical dramas.

[Graeme]

Moff's 1987 Rothmans/ANZ VL Commodore is alive and well in Melbourne, my brother having seen it perform in club races at Calder Park in recent years.

I saw the car proudly displayed on the stage at John Harvey's recent testimonial dinner, the Rothmans logos clearly on show for all to see, including the TV segment for Channel Ten's RPM show.

[brchi17]

The last time I saw the Rothmans car was at PI this year for the V8's round. It was going laps to celebrate the 50th year of PI raceway. I think the car is kept in their musum at the track. If you haven't been there it worth the visit if your on the island.

The 'nations teams' victory seem to ring some bells at Spa, but I can't remember who was driving the other cars. I know there was Brock, Moffat, Harvey, but i'm unsure as to who the other driver were.

Cheers.

[Damian]

brchi17,
Was it David Parsons?
Regards
Damian

[Graeme]

Brock, Moffat, and Harvey shared the #5 ( not #05 ) Commodore, and the sister car #6 was really a defacto New Zealand entry, driven by HDT team manager Neil Lowe and fellow Kiwis Kent Baigent and Graeme Bowkett who were better remembered as a regular Bathurst pairing in a Nissan Skyline.

Allan Grice ran his privateer #27 Commodore with many minor sponsorship logos and co-drivers from Belgium, namely Michele Delcourt and Alex Guyaux. At Spa, Graeme Bailey ( and his Chickadee company ) was no longer associated with Grice's European racing campaign.

Grice and the HDT signed as a pseudo-manufacturers team and as all three cars completed the event, they collected the teams prize, the King's Cup, or Coupe de Roi. It was a fabricated finish of sorts as the #6 car suffered oil pressure failure close to the end and was parked at the last corner to be restarted on the final lap to crawl over the finish line in company with #5 and #27.

There was also the Castrol Cup awarded to the HDT mechanics for their efforts in maintaining the two car HDT effort.

Despite the death rattles in car #6, it was classified as finishing in 18th overall, with the #5 car in 22nd, and Grice's #27 in 23rd.
In the 21st hour of the race, car #6 had been as high as 9th place overall.

BMW 635CSi's finished in the top four placings, with a Class 2 BMW 325i coming home in 5th place. The winning Bimmer had covered 499 laps in 24 hours compared to Lowe's 439 laps.

[Graeme]

I thought I'd revive Jamie's thread regarding Allan Moffat and his short career with Ron Hodgson Racing.

In 1979, Moff did not compete as a regular in the ATCC. The Ford Dealers affiliation had fallen apart after poor results in 1978 and the Torana A9X was riding high. The ATCC had pretty much developed into Formula Torana and it looked like more of the same for 1979.

Ford was busy with releasing the XD road car range and was apparently completely disinterested in motorsport. Rumours were out and about - what's new - that Allan Moffat was exploring the possibility of running a BMW at Bathurst in 1979.

Nevertheless, at times during the year Moff would appear in his now-black ( mourning the good times? ) XC Hardtop, sporting little sponsorship save for the logos of a 'single-humped' cigarette company. Other than selected rounds of the ATCC, he was to also appear at Sydney's Amaroo circuit for rounds of their exclusive sprint race AMSCAR Series. This series ran consistently during the Group C era of the seventies and eighties and attracted a good field of top cars and drivers. Each round consisted of three short races, typically varying in length from just five laps in the opening heat to around fifteen laps in the final of the day. Much spirited racing was always expected at the AMSCAR's.

At the Easter round referred to by Jamie, Moffat was not able to appear as planned because his transporter truck was caught up in a protest-type blockade of trucks south of Sydney. The Amaroo Park promoters apparently got the ball rolling with Ron Hodgson and a deal was hurriedly agreed upon whereby Allan Moffat would still appear, but behind the wheel of the spare Bob Morris A9X hatchback Torana.

The A9X remained dressed in it's ASL FINANCE / BREVILLE colours but also sported the logos of Moffat's cigarette company sponsor, and the name MOFFAT broadly proclaimed across the windscreen.

Of the three races that day, Allan Moffat won the short first heat with the cooperation of his new team-mate, but in the second heat he exited the race in a cloud of smoke brought about by a loose oil filter. Bob Morris won the second and third heats, with Moff pipped for second place in the final heat when caught by Allan Grice on the final turn.

It was by all accounts an impressive display in an unfamiliar car and reportedly lead to an invitation by Ron Hodgson to race the A9X again at Bathurst that year. Ultimately, Allan Moffat chose to stick with his Ford at Bathurst, but he did 'borrow' one of Hoddo's usual Bathurst import drivers, John Fitzpatrick. The Hodgson team ended up only running one A9X team car for Bob Morris at Bathurst in 1979, in which the co-driver was none other than ex-Moffat 1974 BRUT33 Austrian import, Dieter Quester.

[ferrari fan]

The BROCK winning car was bought from BROCK by a racedriver of the time named BRADKEY who after that sold the car to P.Johnson he turned the car in to a VL walkingshaw (He had 2, other one was the BARBAGALLO one) and raced in some touringcar rounds. (PERMACOAT sponsored) the same team that took over the Next Barbagallo VP ,was updated and Mainsponsor (ahum) CLAIRION,. The Brock car is now in BRISBANE and apperantly being put back as a VK? winning Brock car .
Funny that as a lot of the original parts are still in the shed including the Fibre glass and engine block (this was a Bathurst winning Brock car )

[Senator1]

I've got a book "BrockMoffat On The Road To Spa" was published in October 1986 by Garry Sparke & Associates & gives an hour by hour account of the race. Hard bound book consisting approx 100pages
Highly recommend this book if you can find a copy anywhere:)

[Yogi]

The Hodgson team ended up only running one A9X team car for Bob Morris at Bathurst in 1979, in which the co-driver was none other than ex-Moffat 1974 BRUT33 Austrian import, Dieter Quester.
Graeme,
Moffat's 1974 Bathurst co-driver was Dieter Glemser, not Dieter Quester. I think 1974 was Glemser's only Bathurst drive.

Peter