1981 James Hardie 1000

1981 James Hardie 1000

James Hardie 1000 - Mount Panorama, Bathurst - 4th October, 1981

Mount Panorama, Bathurst - 4th October, 1981
Number of Laps: 120

Total Race Time: 4:53:52.7
Fastest lap: Dick Johnson, 2:20.98 (157.61 km/h)
Classes: Class A - 8 or more Cylinders; Class B - 6 Cylinders & Rotaries; Class C - 4 or 5 Cylinders

1981 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 Program

The 1981 season wasn't going to see a repeat of the previous year. Dick Johnson had a reputed 100 horsepower advantage over the Commodore and Brock was eager to homologate his 'HDT Special Edition' Commodore with heads and inlet manifolding. But numbers just weren't there.Despite the disadvantage, the Marlboro HDT driver won three of the eight ATCC races and stood a big chance of taking the title with a win at the final round.

The 1981 Bathurst was one of the greatest races ever. Dick Johnson cemented his first national championship in a torrid encounter that saw the pair fight tooth and nail to the flag. Apart from the Bathurst race being shortened due to the multi-car pile-up, the Holdens could only fare fourth and fifth in the declared result. The Garry Rodgers / Clive Benson-Brown and Alan Browne / Tony Edmondson cars were the leading Holdens, despite both being involved in the accident.

The then-current Formula One champ, Alan Jones, made a historic appearance in Warren Cullen's Commodore. Unfortunately, the venture was ill-fated and the car retired shortly after Jones took the wheel. The opening laps of the race were a torrid affair with Johnson, Bartlett, Brock and Morris (Falcon) hard at it. But Brock was soon in trouble with rear-end problems, while the second Marlboro HDT car of Harvey and Vern Schuppan crashed while leading.

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

PLACE	DRIVER / CO DRIVER(S)	VEHICLE	CLASS	LAPS	QUALIFYING
1	Dick Johnson / John French	Falcon XD	A	120	0:2:38.813
2	Bob Morris / John Fitzpatrick	Falcon XD	A	120	0:2:39.339
3	Allan Moffat / Derek Bell	Mazda RX7	B	119	0:2:39.443
4	Garry Rogers / Clive Benson-Brown	Commodore VC	A	118	0:2:41.315
5	Alan Browne / Tony Edmondson	Commodore VC	A	117	0:2:25.100
6	Joe Moore / Christine Gibson	Falcon XD	A	115	0:2:29.900
7	Allan Grice / David Hobbs	BMW 635CSi	B	113	0:2:26.200
8	Colin Bond / Don Smith	Ford Capri	B	113	0:2:33.000
9	Garry Willmington / Mike Griffin	Falcon XD	A	113	0:2:27.300
10	John English / John Donnelly	Falcon XD	A	112	0:2:29.000
11	Steve Masterton / Bruce Stewart	Ford Capri	B	111	0:2:33.700
12	Peter Williamson / John Smith	Toyota Celica	C	111	0:2:34.900
13	Kevin Bartlett / Bob Forbes	Chev Camaro	A	111	0:2:36.432
14	Brian Callaghan / Peter McKay	Falcon XD	A	111	0:2:29.400
15	Alan Taylor / Kevin Kennedy	Commodore VC	A	109	0:2:32.200
16	Ron Dickson / Bob Stevens	Chev Camaro	A	108	0:2:44.505
17	Lawrie Nelson / Peter Jones	Ford Capri	B	108	0:2:36.600
18	John Gates / John Craft	Ford Capri	B	108	0:2:35.700
19	Gary Leggatt / Phil McDonell	Alfetta GTV	C	107	0:2:42.100
20	James Faneco / Allan Gough	Isuzu Gemini	C	103	0:2:47.900
21	Peter Brock / Jim Richards	Commodore VC	A	103	0:2:39.430
22	Rusty French / Leo Leonard	Falcon XD	A	100	0:2:32.400
23	Rod Stevens / Craig Bradtke	Mitsubishi Lancer	C	100	0:2:49.300
24	Tony Mulvihill / Brian Nightingale	Escort RS2000	C	97	0:2:52.100
25	Graham Moore / Steve Dymand	Chev Camaro	A	96	0:2:30.700
26	Peter McLeod / Peter Dane	Mazda RX7	B	96	0:2:33.200
27	Phil Revell / Ron Barnacle	Escort 1.6	C	93	0:2:55.700
28	Bob Muir / Ian Geoghegan	Falcon XD	A	92	0:2:26.400
DNF	Murray Carter / Graeme Lawrence	Falcon XD	A	DNF	0:2:38.813
DNF	Alexandra Surplice / Doug Clark	Toyota Celica	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Fred Geissler / Graham Watson	Commodore VC	A	DNF	not available
DNF	Ian Burrell / Rob Shute	Mitsubishi Colt	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Martin Power / Brian Wilsall	Dolomite Sprint	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Ron Wanless / Ralph Radburn	Commodore VC	A	DNF	not available
DNF	Colin Spencer / John White	Isuzu Gemini	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Bill O'Brien / Gary Cooke	Falcon XD	A	DNF	not available
DNF	Barry Jones / Geoff Leeds	Mazda RX7	B	DNF	not available
DNF	Ray Cutchie / Ray Farrar	Escort 1.6	C	DNF	not available
DNF	John Goss / Barry Seton	Jaguar XJ-S	A	DNF	not available
DNF	John Faulkner / Gary Dumbrell	Escort 2.0GL	C	DNF	not available
DNF	David Seldon / Gary Rowe	Isuzu Gemini	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Peter Janson / Larry Perkins	Commodore VC	A	DNF	not available
DNF	Masahiro Hasemi / Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Nissan Bluebird	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Terry Daly / Peter Hopwood	Ford Capri	B	DNF	not available
DNF	Allan Bryant / Dean Gall	Mazda RX7	B	DNF	not available
DNF	Garth Wigston / Steve Harrington	Commodore VC	A	DNF	not available
DNF	Wally Scott / Peter Walton	Toyota Celica	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Warren Cullen / Alan Jones	Commodore VC	A	DNF	not available
DNF	Phil Alexander / Ron Gillard	Mazda RX7	B	DNF	not available
DNF	Bob Holden / Wally Storey	Escort 2.0GL	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Paul Gulson / Rodney Combs	Commodore VB	A	DNF	not available
DNF	John Harvey / Vern Schuppan	Commodore VC	A	DNF	not available
DNF	Phil Brock / Gary Scott	Isuzu Gemini	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Graeme Bailey / Steve Land	Toyota Celica	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Graham Mein / Geoff Russell	Escort RS2000	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Fred Gibson / George Fury	Nissan Bluebird	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Terry Finnigan / Ross Wittig	Isuzu Gemini	C	DNF	not available
DNF	Charlie O'Brien / Mike Quinn	Commodore VC	A	DNF	not available
DNF	Terry Shiel / Don Holland	Mazda RX7	B	DNF	not available
DNF	John Duggan / Michael O'Hehir	Mazda RX	B	DNF	not available