Hardie-Ferodo 1000
Mount Panorama, Bathurst
3rd October, 1976

Number of Laps: 163

Total Race Time: 7:7:12.0
Fastest lap: Allan Moffat and Peter Brock, 2:28.4 (149m73 km/h)
Classes: Class A - Up to 1300cc; Class B - 1301 to 2000cc; Class C - 2001 to 3000cc; Class D - 3001 to 6000cc

1976 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 Program

The 1976 Hardie-Ferodo was the first time the race had genuinely attracted international interest, mainly because of the entry of Australia's own three times former world champion Jack Brabham, who had teamed with the legendary Stirling Moss, the pair driving a Torana. Other internationals included expatriate Australian Vern Schuppan partnering Allan Moffat, and English long-distance ace John Fitzpatrick driving with Bob Morris in the Ron Hodgson Torana.

There were two other Falcons entered, the Brian Wood car being crewed by Murray Carter and Ray Winter and the John Goss/Jim Richards car. Practice looked good for Ford with Moffat getting pole position with a incredible time of 2 min 25 sec. Goss was there too, with fifth fastest, while Carter was back on 13th position.

The race started on a very dramatic note when Jack Brabham's Torana was stuck on the grid with jammed gears, and was then rammed very hard from behind. This incident effectively put Brabham and Moss out of the race, but the car reappeared several hours later simply for appearances. Eventually the motor blew while Moss was at the wheel. It was, incidentally, the first time Stirling Moss had driven on slick racing tires!

Things didn't look too bad for Ford when, at half distances, Moffat and Schuppan were 40sec in front and doing it easily. Suddenly the crankshaft pulley on Moffat's car failed, cooking the engine and putting a disappointing end to a fine effort. Neither of the other two Falcons lasted the distance, but were still classed as finishers. Goss was credited with 29th outright after retiring with a broken clutch with 129 laps to his credit.

Actually Jim Richards did most of the driving, as Goss himself was ill on the day. The Murray Carter/Ray Winter Falcon blew its engine after 148 laps and was credited with 17th outright. The eventual winner, in a very exciting finish was the Morris/ Fitzpatrick Torana which crossed the line in a very sick state just ahead of the also ailing Colin Bond/John Harvey Torana. Fastest lap was shared between Moffat and Brock at 2min 28.4sec.

Please Note: You can sort this listing by simply clicking on the column heading