1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500


The 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was the tenth running of the Bathurst 500 production car race. It was held on 5 October 1969 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. Cars competed in five classes based on purchase price of the vehicle.
The race was won by the newly formed Holden Dealer Team with Colin Bond and Tony Roberts with teammates Peter Brock and Des West finishing third in their Holden Monaro GTS350's, with the team's third car finishing sixth. In between them in second position was defending race winners Bruce McPhee and his single-lap co-driver Barry Mulholland driving a Phase 1 Ford Falcon GTHO. McPhee and Mulholland, who had won in 1968 driving the Holden Monaro GTS327, had originally intended to race a Monaro 350 in 1969 but after receiving no help from Holden, instead decided to race one of the new Falcons.
Peter Brock and Canadian Allan Moffat made their Bathurst débuts in the race. Brock with Harry Firth's Holden Dealer Team, and Moffat driving a works Falcon GTHO with Alan Hamilton. Between them, Brock and Moffat would go on to win 13 of the next 17 Bathurst 500/1000s, with Brock winning a record nine times, and Moffat winning four times for Ford.
The Ford Works Team were the favourites to win the race with their new Falcon GTHOs which with their new 5.8-litre V8's proved to have a speed advantage over the 5.7-litre Monaros. However, the decision by Ford Works Team's American manager Al Turner to import special racing tyres for the Falcons proved to be a disaster. During the race numerous tyre failures put the Works cars out of contention. After early tyre failures on the Ian and Leo Geoghegan car, as well as the Fred Gibson and Barry Seton car, Turner called Moffat into the pits for a tyre change. There it was found that Moffat had been far easier on his tyres than either Ian Geoghegan or Seton and that the stop was not necessary. As of 2016, Moffat believes that this decision cost himself and co-driver Alan Hamilton the race win. The day after the race, Ford ran a full page newspaper advert stating "We were a little deflated" referring to the tyre failures.
1969 was also notable for the first lap crash which saw at least one third of the field forced to retire or continue with accident damage. Bill Brown rolled his Falcon GTHO coming through Skyline, all but blocking the track while John French, who qualified 21st, rolled his Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV trying to avoid the carnage that Brown's rollover caused. One driver lucky to escape the carnage was Allan Moffat who had pulled up just out of The Cutting on the first lap with his Falcon stuck in neutral. Once he got going he was able to weave through the bedlam at Skyline and continue on his way. For Brown, it would be the first of three rollovers at Bathurst on the same piece of road, with the second in 1971 bringing a lucky escape from death.

Class structure

Class A

The smallest class was for under cars the cost less $1,860. It was made up of Datsun 1000, Hillman Imp, Morris Mini K and Toyota Corolla.

Class B

The $1,861 to $2,250 class was dominated by the Datsun 1600, but also contained Ford Cortina, Hillman Gazelle, Morris 1500, Renault 10 and Volkswagen Type 3.

Class C

The $2,251 to $3,100 class saw a mix of Chrysler Valiant, Fiat 125, Ford Capri, Mazda R100, Morris Cooper S and Renault 16.

Class D

The $3,101 to $4,500 class featured the outright contenders, Ford Falcon GTHO and Holden Monaro, but also contained a single Toyota Corona.

Class E

For cars over $4,500, had a single automatic gearbox version of the Ford Falcon GT but otherwise was all Alfa Romeo with 1750 GTV and a single 1750 Berlina.

Top 10 Qualifiers

Results

PosClassNoTeamDriversCarLapsQual
Pos
1D44Holden Dealer Team Colin Bond
Tony Roberts
Holden HT Monaro GTS3501307
2D46Kloster Pty Ltd Bruce McPhee
Barry Mulholland
Ford XW Falcon GTHO1302
3D43Holden Dealer Team Peter Brock
Des West
Holden HT Monaro GTS35013010
4D61Ford Australia Allan Moffat
Alan Hamilton
Ford XW Falcon GTHO1294
5D59Ford Australia Ian Geoghegan
Leo Geoghegan
Ford XW Falcon GTHO1281
6D42Holden Dealer Team Peter Macrow
Henk Woelders
Holden HT Monaro GTS3501288
7D54Wright Ford Motors Pty Ltd Bob Beasley
Bob Muir
Ford XW Falcon GTHO12718
8E71Alec Mildren Alfa Romeo Kevin Bartlett
Len Goodwin
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV12622
9E68C Smith Charlie Smith
Bill Ford
Ford XW Falcon GT Automatic12620
10D58Byrt Ford Martin Chenery
Ernie Johnson
Ford XW Falcon GTHO12519
11E69Canberra Speed Shop Peter Brown
Ray Gulson
Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina12227
12D63R Genders Joe Butta
Bob Genders
Ford XW Falcon GTHO12224
13D48Rowell Thiele Ford Pty Ltd Mike Savva
Bob Wilkinson
Ford XW Falcon GTHO12111
14C30Waterloo High Performance Tuning Centre Ron Gillard
Warren Gracie
Morris Cooper S11936
15C38Grenville Motors P/L Peter Finlay
Bob Forbes
Fiat 12511934
16C31Zanardo & Rodriguez Sales & Service Ron Kearns
Gerry Lister
Fiat 12511937
17C22Graham Ryan Auto Repairs Graham Ryan
Mike Kable
Chrysler Valiant Pacer11830
18B18W.H. Motors Bruce Stewart
George Garth
Datsun 160011741
19C25G Cooke Gary Cooke
Geoff Spence
Mazda R10011735
20C32Marque Motors Ian Hindmarsh
Bill Stanley
Morris Cooper S11733
21C23Trevor Mason Developments Trevor Mason
Neil Mason
Mazda R10011732
22C26Regal Motors Pty Ltd Les Grose
Graham Moore
Morris Cooper S11745
23B15Datsun Racing Team John Roxburgh
Doug Whiteford
Datsun 160011744
24B17W.H. Motors Don Smith
Peter Wilson
Datsun 160011443
25B19McInnes Automotive Conversions Dave Morrow
Bob Wootton
Datsun 160011451
26D57P Bradford Roy Griffiths
Glyn Scott
Ford XW Falcon GTHO11417
27B14Datsun Racing Team William Coad
Jon Leighton
Datsun 160011346
28C28D Frazer David Frazer
Allan Johns
Morris Cooper S11342
29A2AMI Toyota Brian Sampson
Bob Morris
Toyota Corolla11252
30A6Datsun Racing Team Bill Evans
Barry Tapsall
Datsun 100011055
31B20McLeod Ford Pty Ltd Max Dickson
Diane Dickson
Ford Cortina Mk.II 24010857
32B10Provincial Motors Pty Ltd Gary Campbell
Gerry Murphy
Volkswagen 160010758
33C27President Car Sales Bill Bryden
John T. Smith
Renault 16TS10753
34A7Kent BMC David Bye
Richard Willis
Morris Mini K10461
35B9R Edgerton Bob Edgerton
Ross Edgerton
Renault 1010062
36A8P & R Williams Arthur Olsen
Sandra Bennett
Morris Mini K9963
37B12R. G. Lanyon Alf Barrett
Mel Mollison
Morris 15009756
38D52Harry Gapps Ford Pty Ltd Harry Gapps
Frank Hann
Ford XW Falcon GTHO9423
39A4C.J. Cronin Martin Cortese
Steve Parkes
Toyota Corolla9360
40C35T Meehan Trevor Meehan
Mal Brewster
Morris Cooper S9339
41B16M.T.R. Services Nick Ledingham
Damon Beck
Hillman Gazelle8449
42C36E.M. Automation Pty Ltd Paul Mander
Phil Edwards
Morris Cooper S8229
DNFD51Fair Deal Car Sales Digby Cooke
David Bowden
Holden HT Monaro GTS350962
DNFD60Ford Australia Fred Gibson
Barry Seton
Ford XW Falcon GTHO935
DNFC24K Grose Keith Grose
John Wright
Ford Capri Mk.I 1600GT9238
DNFA1A Johns George Geshopulos
Ray Scanlan
Hillman Imp GT8859
DNFC37Grand Prix Auto Services Ann Thomson
Carole Corness
Morris Cooper S8247
DNFD56Scuderia Veloce
Alto Ford
David McKay
Brian Foley
Ford XW Falcon GTHO786
DNFD45AMI Toyota Max Stewart
Brian Reed
Toyota Corona 1900SL7828
DNFB21M.T.R. Services Hans Tholstrup
Brian Connell
Datsun 16007364
DNFD50McLeod Ford Pty Ltd John Goss
Denis Cribbin
Ford XW Falcon GTHO509
DNFC33Brian Foley Motors Pty Ltd Christine Gibson
Lynne Keefe
Fiat 1254840
DNFD62Anthony Horden & Sons Ltd Nick Petrilli
Max Stahl
Holden HT Monaro GTS3504515
DNFD64Boyded of Bankstown Bill Tuckey
Sib Petralia
Holden HT Monaro GTS3504413
DNFD53B Arentz Barry Arentz
Brian Michelmore
Ford XW Falcon GTHO3612
DNFC39D.H. Whitehead Bernie Haehnle
Peter Wherrett
Mazda R1003131
DNFB11Dependable Motor Sales Pty Ltd Bruce Darke
Dennis Cooke
Datsun 1600450
DNFC29Central Motors Penrith P/L Bob Cook
Alan Cant
Ford Capri Mk.I 1600GT148
DNFD55Scuderia Veloce
Alto Ford
Bill Brown
Phil West
Ford XW Falcon GTHO016
DNFE72Alec Mildren Alfa Romeo John French
Doug Chivas
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV021
DNFE67Bryan Thompson Motors Bryan Thompson
Graham Ritter
Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV025
DNFC34Varsity Auto Centre John Prisk
Alan Cameron
Morris Cooper S027
DSQA3AMI Toyota Barry Ferguson
Jim Laing-Peach
Toyota Corolla10354
DNSD49Young & Green Pty. Ltd. David Sheldon
Don Holland
Holden HT Monaro GTS35015
DNSA5Datsun Racing Team Bob Holden
Don Toffolon
Datsun 1000

Statistics