1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500

The 1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was the 11th running of the Bathurst 500 touring car race. It was held on 4 October 1970 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst. The race was open to standard production sedans competing in five classes based on the purchase price of the vehicle (in Australian dollars).

Allan Moffat won his first Bathurst endurance race, leading home Bruce McPhee in a one-two result for the Ford works team and their Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II's. It was the fifth Phillip Island / Bathurst 500 victory for the factory team. Third, a lap behind the Fords, was Don Holland driving a Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1.

Defending winners Colin Bond and Tony Roberts drove separate cars in the event. Bond finished 16th in his Holden Dealer Team Torana GTR XU-1 after having led the early laps, while Roberts was lucky to survive a spectacular accident when his Ford Falcon GTHO crashed at Skyline only 6 laps from the finish. The Falcon spun backwards, leapt over the guard rail and rolled about 50 metres down the mountain before being stopped by a tree.

Class structure

A race replica of the Ford XW Falcon GTHO driven by Kim Aunger and John Walker in the 1970 Hardie Ferodo 500

Class A

For cars up to $1,960. It was made up of Datsun 1200s, 1.3 litre Ford Escorts, Mazda 1300s and Toyota Corollas. A Datsun 1200 won the class with an average lap time of 3 minutes, 26 seconds.^[1]

Class B

The $1,961 to $2,400 class consisted of Datsun 1600, Fiat 128, Ford Cortina and 2.6 litre Holden Torana.

Class C

The $2,401 to $3,150 class saw a mix of two barrel carburettor Chrysler Valiant Pacer, 1.6 litre Ford Escort, 3.1 litre Holden Torana and Morris Cooper S.

Class D

The $3,151 to $4,100 class featured only the four barrel carburettor Chrysler Valiant Pacer, a Fiat 125 and a Triumph 2.5 PI although a Ford Capri was also entered but did not start.

Class E

For cars over $4,100. Apart from a single BMW 2800 and a Holden Monaro the class consisted only of Ford Falcon GTHO Phase II.

Top 10 Qualifiers

Pos	No	Entrant	Driver	Car	Qual
Pole	64	Ford Motor Co of Australia	Allan Moffat	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	2:49.3
2	63	Ford Motor Co of Australia	Bruce McPhee	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	2:50.0
3	62	Ford Motor Co of Australia	Fred Gibson	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	2:53.6
4	39	Holden Dealer Team	Colin Bond	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	2:54.0
5	30	Max Wright Motors Pty Ltd	Don Holland	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	2:54.3
6	40	Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	2:54.8
7	67	The Tony Roberts Team	Tony Roberts	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	2:54.9
8	56	Stillwell & Co Pty Ltd	Graham Ritter	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	2:55.1
9	55	Finnie Ford Pty Ltd	David McKay	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	2:55.1
10	60	Wright Ford Motors Pty Ltd	Bob Muir	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	2:55.4

Results

Pos	Class	No	Entrant^[2]	Drivers	Car	Laps	Qual Pos
1	E	64	Ford Motor Co of Australia	Allan Moffat	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	130	1
2	E	63	Ford Motor Co of Australia	Bruce McPhee	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	130	2
3	C	30	Max Wright Motors Pty Ltd	Don Holland	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	129	5
4	C	35	Geoghegan's Sporty Cars	Doug Chivas Graham Ryan	Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 2 Barrel	129	25
5	C	34	Geoghegan's Sporty Cars	Leo Geoghegan Nick Ledingham	Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 2 Barrel	128	22
6	C	33	McLeod Kelso & Lee Pty Ltd	George Garth John Hall	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	128	19
7	D	51	Geoghegan's Sporty Cars	Peter Brown Des West	Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 4 Barrel	127	11
8	C	31	Booran Motors Pty Ltd	Brian Reed Bob Watson	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	127	14
9	E	53	McLeod Ford Pty Ltd	John Goss Bob Skelton	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	127	32
10	C	28	Waterloo High Performance Centre	Ron Gillard Warren Gracie	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	126	30
11	C	37	Boyded Pty Ltd	Bob Martin Spencer Martin	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	125	16
12	E	66	Commonwealth Industrial Gases Limited	Bill Ford Hans Tholstrup	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	125	21
13	C	38	Holden Dealer Team	Sandra Bennett Christine Cole	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	123	24
14	E	65	Alto Ford Racing Pty Ltd	Bob Holden (Bill Fanning)^[3]	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	123	26
15	D	46	Central Motors (Nepean) Pty Ltd	Bob Cook Alan Cant	Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 4 Barrel	121	31
16	C	39	Holden Dealer Team	Colin Bond	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	119	4
17	C	36	Thomson Ford Pty Ltd	Bob Drane	Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I	119	34
18	E	54	Rowell Thiele Ford Pty Ltd	Trevor Meehan Peter Wherrett	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	118	15
19	B	23	W.H. Motors Pty Ltd	Don Smith (Herb Taylor)^[4]	Datsun 1600	117	38
20	B	20	Datsun Racing Team	Doug Whiteford	Datsun 1600	117	39
21	C	42	Muir Motors (Ryde) Pty Ltd	Martin Cortese Chris Cronan	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	117	29
22	E	58	Eiffeltower Group	Jack Nougher David O'Keefe	BMW 2800	117	33
23	D	47	John McNicol Pty Ltd Zanardo & Rodriguez	Ron Kearns Gerry Lister	Fiat 125S	116	40
24	A	6	Datsun Racing Team	Jon Leighton Barry Tapsall	Datsun 1200	114	43
25	A	1	Denlo Motors Pty Ltd	Bernie Haehnle Neil Revell	Mazda 1300	114	47
26	A	12	John Palmer Motors	Gary Hodge John Leffler	Mazda 1300	113	45
27	A	10	AMI Racing Team	Brian Sampson Dick Thurston	Toyota Corolla	113	48
28	A	7	Mazda House Pty Ltd	Barry Ferguson Jim Laing-Peach	Mazda 1300	112	50
29	B	21	Kloster Pty Ltd	Ray Marquet Geoff Westbury	Ford Cortina 240 Mk.II	112	53
30	A	9	AMI Racing Team	Max Stewart Dick Young	Toyota Corolla	112	51
31	D	48	TVW 7 Perth Artransa Park Television	Brian Culcheth Lyndon McLeod	Triumph 2.5 PI	111	37
32	A	13	Tynan Motors	Ray Morris	Mazda 1300	111	54
33	A	4	Parry's Car Sales Pty Ltd	Trevor Mason	Mazda 1300	111	55
34	C	32	Fair Deal Car Sales Pty Ltd	Digby Cooke David Seldon	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	108	13
35	A	14	C Kennedy	Carl Kennedy Bill Slattery	Datsun 1200	108	56
36	C	26	P & R Williams	Lyn Keefe Arthur Olsen	Morris Cooper S	107	57
37	C	40	Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock Bob Morris	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	107	6
38	A	2	Marque Motors	Bill Stanley Mike Kable	Toyota Corolla	106	52
39	B	22	Grenville Motors Pty Ltd	Peter Finlay Bob Forbes	Fiat 128	106	58
40	C	43	BP Muirfield Service Station	Ross Hewison Brian Hones	Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I	105	36
41	A	8	Harry Gapps Ford Pty Ltd	Harry Gapps Frank Hann	Ford Escort 1300 Mk.I	103	59
42	A	15	Woman's Day	Carole Corness Gloria Taylor	Ford Escort 1300 Mk.I	103	60
43	D	49	J Butta	Joe Butta Bob Genders	Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 4 Barrel	63	18
DNF	E	67	The Tony Roberts Team	Tony Roberts	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	124	7
DNF	A	5	Datsun Racing Team	John Roxburgh	Datsun 1200	100	46
DNF	A	11	AMI Racing Team	Bill Evans Gary Cooke	Toyota Corolla	98	49
DNF	C	27	Les Grose Racing Division	Les Grose Keith Grose	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	81	27
DNF	B	19	G Moore	Graham Moore Bill Brown	Holden LC Torana 2600S	52	42
DNF	E	56	Stillwell & Co Pty Ltd	Graham Ritter Richard Knight	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	49	8
DNF	D	50	N Beechey	Norm Beechey Bruce Hindhaugh	Chrysler VG Valiant Pacer 4 Barrel	39	17
DNF	C	29	Pat Cullen's Garage	John Keran Clyde Hodgins	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1	38	23
DNF	E	62	Ford Motor Co of Australia	Fred Gibson Barry Seton	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	33	3
DNF	B	24	W.H. Motors Pty Ltd	Bruce Stewart Iain Corness	Datsun 1600	32	41
DNF	E	61	Byrt Ford Pty Ltd	Garry Rush Martin Chenery	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	27	12
DNF	E	55	Finnie Ford Pty Ltd	David McKay	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	23	9
DNF	E	57	Aunger Accessories Fairway Ford	Kym Aunger Johnnie Walker	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	18	28
DNF	E	59	Southern Motors Pty Ltd	Bruce Hodgson	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	16	35
DNF	E	69	EL Hugo	David Sheldon	Holden HT Monaro GTS 350	11	20
DNF	E	60	Wright Ford Motors Pty Ltd	Bob Beasley Bob Muir	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II	6	10
DNF	A	3	Tynan Motors	Geoff Leeds Les Carne	Mazda 1300	3	44
DNS	E	70	Rollington Pty Ltd	Murray Carter	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II
DNS	E	71	Ira L & AC Birk Pty Ltd	Nick Petrilli Mike Savva	Ford XW Falcon GTHO Phase II
DNS	D	52	B Arentz	Barry Arentz Brian Michelmore	Ford Capri V6 GT
DNS	C	45	Sydney Speed Shop Pty Ltd	Scott McNaughton Bob Inglis	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1
DNS	C	44	R Radford	Rick Radford	Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1
DNS	A	17	M Daddo	M Daddo P Ulbrich	Morris Mini K
DNS	A	18	RG Lanyon	A Barrett R Withers	Mazda 1300

Statistics

Pole Position - #64 Allan Moffat - 2:49.3
Fastest Lap - #53 Goss/Skelton - 2:53 (lap record)
Race time of winning car - 6:33:47

References

^ "New Datsun 1200 wins Class A in Bathurst 500". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. Port Moresby: 12. 18 November 1970. Retrieved 21 November 2020 – via Trove.
^ Official Programme, 1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500, pages 28-29
^ "How They Finished Last Year", Official Programme, 1971 Hardie Ferodo 500, page 58 indicates that Fanning co-drove the car with Holden. Australia's Greatest Motor Race, 1990 edition, page 300 omits Fanning from the results
^ "How They Finished Last Year", Official Programme, 1971 Hardie Ferodo 500, page 58 indicates that Taylor co-drove the car with Smith. Australia's Greatest Motor Race, 1990 edition, page 300 states that both Smith and Taylor have confirmed that Smith completed the race solo

Greenhalgh, David; Thomas B. Floyd; Bill Tuckey (2000). Australia's Greatest Motor Race 1960-1999. Chevron Publishing Group. pp. 170–177 & 458. ISBN 1-875221-12-3.

External links

[1] "New Datsun 1200 wins Class A in Bathurst 500". Papua New Guinea Post-Courier. Port Moresby: 12. 18 November 1970. Retrieved 21 November 2020 – via Trove.

[2] Official Programme, 1970 Hardie-Ferodo 500, pages 28-29

[3] "How They Finished Last Year", Official Programme, 1971 Hardie Ferodo 500, page 58 indicates that Fanning co-drove the car with Holden. Australia's Greatest Motor Race, 1990 edition, page 300 omits Fanning from the results

[4] "How They Finished Last Year", Official Programme, 1971 Hardie Ferodo 500, page 58 indicates that Taylor co-drove the car with Smith. Australia's Greatest Motor Race, 1990 edition, page 300 states that both Smith and Taylor have confirmed that Smith completed the race solo

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]