1987 Sandown 500

[racer69]

I was having a read today of The Great Race 1987/88, by Bill Tuckey, detailing the 1987 World Touring Car Championship round at Bathurst and the lead-up to it.

For anyone who has the book, turn to page 64-65 and tell me if what i'm seeing is really there. In the picture of the pack heading into the first corner of the Castrol 500, have a look just to the right of the Grice/Percy Holden, under the Winfield 25s sign. There is someone standing on what looks like almost the side of the track. Doesn't look like a marshall, nor a photographer. Anyone know what was going on there?

[RaceTime]

- Where's Wally?

Sure is someone there but I think camera foreshortening <sp?> is coming into play here - from memory the armco you can see in the shot was well back off the track near where the old pits were.

Not a bad edition the 87/88 one - pity about the page numbes though - seem to recall a much younger RaceTime timing team get a good write up in that edition

[The Snout]

Can't scan the image for a looksey ?

[Crash Test]

I think with that there, he is standing behind the bit of armco that overlaps with the visible bit of armco. I doubt anyone in their right mind would stand there, and I doubt CAMS would approve a track with an exposed end to a wall like that..

[RaceTime]

Originally posted by The Snout
Can't scan the image for a looksey ?

OK - two versions for you - the first is scaled at 840 pixels wide - around 73k download


The second is full size - 3368 x 1600 pixels - but is around 1.1 Mb - take your pic
http://www.racetime.com.au/images/sandown.jpg

Unfortunately the image goes across two pages - thus the flare in the centre...

Sorry RT- the second was way to big and would probably kill a lot of non-cable viewers. The first one is good enough, I've left a link there for people to click at their own discretion

[The Snout]

Thanks for scanning the image, just seeing those cars again is cool.

There is an object just off the left of Gricey's windscreen, I'll take a punt that it's the end of the armco fence and this guy is inside at the end of it.

Between his legs but more over towards the right one is something which either he is holding or is in the distance in front of him.

Ok, just had a look at the big image and I recon it is a photographer. You can see a clip around the back of his neck from a strap probably from a camera around his neck. Take a look at the bigger image, it's pretty clear actually.

[V8 Fan]

Originally posted by The Snout


There is an object just off the left of Gricey's windscreen, I'll take a punt that it's the end of the armco fence and this guy is inside at the end of it.

I agree. Back in those days I'm pretty sure there was an opening in the Armco fence.

[racer69]

Interesting that they seem to be the only photographer there, you wouldn't get many bad shots from there.

3 Commodore's (Perkins obscured behind Grice) and 3 Nissan's at the front, a year later it was all Sierra and a token BMW.

[PVDA]

As a Turn 1 regular he is standing behind armco it's just that the cars are blocking you from seeing it.

Most photographers stand on the other side of the track or in a head on position (like the photographer who took this pic) or stand with the flaggies up at Turn 4 which gives them a great long shot of all of Turn 1.

[William Dale Jr]

Originally posted by racer69
... a year later it was all Sierra and a token BMW.

Actually, in 88 Johnson and Longhurst took up the front row, but the Skylines and the then-new HSV Commodores were right up there with them. In fact, it was probably their best showing for the whole year. By the time they got to the first corner, all but Johnson and Miedecke had been swallowed up by the charging Skylines and Commodores - although that was helped somewhat by Longhurst's drivetrain crying enough just after the lights went green. The poor little Beemer was left standing.

[racer69]

Yeah you are correct, i was mainly just trying to sum up the season. The '88 Sierra domination wasn't helped obviously by the lateness of the new Skyline and Walkinshaw Commodore's, and the probably underperformance in some ways of the Brock BMW's

[Falcadore]

Originally posted by racer69
Interesting that they seem to be the only photographer there, you wouldn't get many bad shots from there.

3 Commodore's (Perkins obscured behind Grice) and 3 Nissan's at the front, a year later it was all Sierra and a token BMW.

Not that surprising. If you were inside the circuit at the start of the race, your there for the duration. No pedestrian overpass at Sandown.

[RaceTime]

Wasn't the underpass still there back then? The one at the end of the old pits?

[Crash Test]

Could you wade through the creek crossing at the entry to the new pits?

[RaceTime]

Seeing as a was missing assume this is a genuine query....nope - it's one of those small culvert type crossings.
The tunnel at the end of the old pit lane was at least trailer width and height - it was accessed from the car park. Not sure if it was ever closed up though and, if so, when. In fact, on the off chance, just rang Margaret Hardy (was office manager with LCCA at the time) - she isn't sure if the tunnel was ever closed off completely - My timing team is at Sandown next Saturday - will see if one of them can go and check and see what is or isn't there...

[Morris 1100]

I think the tunnel is still there, I had a look 2 years ago when I drove out the gate down that end and it looked like it was still there.

[racer69]

Where was the old pitlane and pit straight in relation to where turns 1, 2 & 3 are now? There used to be abit of tarmac, just passed the edge of the sand trap, that ran in line with the straight on the entrance to turn 4, just after the chicane. Was that the old pit straight?

[Crash Test]

I do believe that the pits were between the old turns one and two, where the track now is out of turn one and the silly chicane

[RaceTime]

Crash - yes - correct..

[William Dale Jr]

Here's a pic of Jim Keogh passing the old pits during the Castrol 500 in 1983. And, believe it or not, they had already widened the pitlane since the previous year after Moffat screamed down the pitlane a couple of times and put the frighteners into everyone. Full credits to the book 'Raceyear 1984' for the picture.

[racer69]

So now pretty much were the pitlane is is where the track now goes, and turn 1 is under the sand trap. The pitlane is certainly very narrow, reminds me of the pits at Amaroo.

Moffat got a 'stop-go' penalty (possibly more, i think this may have also been the first time a penalty like this had been handed out, & also he got it for going too fast in the pits, even though there was no speed limit, or was it for driving dangerously in the pits?) in the '82 race (by 1982 was it the Castrol or Hang Ten 400), but didn't take them, so the flag was given to Allan Grice. I think Moffat was eventually declared the winner, though i'm not sure.

[RaceTime]

Well Moffat is listed as the winner for 1982 and 1983 - Grice has never won a Sandown 500.

[William Dale Jr]

Actually, Moffat got a one minute penalty for being adjudged too quick on his first trip through the pits for fuel, then he did the exact same thing on his next fuel stop, after which he was black-flagged. He pitted, but no-one had told team manager Allan Horsley why he had been black-flagged, so he sent Moffat back out.

After he continued, he kept being shown the black flag but Moffat ignored it and was eventually excluded (which was announced over the PA system) but he continued to the end of the second-last lap ahead of Grice. Moffat went over the line and then the chequers were shown to Grice - one lap early.

Moffat thought he'd won the race, Grice was being told that he'd won the race, and the third-across-the-line Dick Johnson, well, to quote his take on the events, Dick was "...buggered if I know."

Moffat was eventually placed in second, but protested the decision on the grounds that CAMS had not been notified of special pit lane speeding penalties, and was eventually given the win on appeal.

[RaceTime]

and knowing the timing crew during that period they would have been absolutely besides themselves in a tizz not knowing which way to jump!

(Some of them are STILL timing at state level these days - with the same attitudes....)

[PVDA]

The tunnel is still there and has always been open (with skid marks on the roof of it (think tandem trailers with tyre carriers at the front!). It is used by officials, TV & media to access the infield while racing is in progress. It is located between what is now called Turns 3 & 4.

The Old Pits was located where the track now runs. Turn 1 is now 60-70 metres closer to the start line than it was and Turn 2 became Turn 4.

The 1984 Touring Car round was run on the old track and the "400" was upgraded to a "500" and run on the new track layout.