1973 Hardie-Ferodo 1000
The 1973 Hardie-Ferodo 1000 was the 14th running of the Bathurst 1000 touring car race. This was the first race to be held under the new metricised distance of 1000 kilometres, rather than the 500 miles previously contested. It was held on 30 September 1973 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst. The race was open to cars eligible to the locally developed CAMS Group C touring car regulations with four engine capacity based classes and it was the 3rd round of the 1973 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.
Allan Moffat claimed his third win in the event and the long-awaited first win for Ian Geoghegan driving a Ford Falcon GT. It was also the seventh and final win for the factory Ford Australia racing team. Peter Brock and Doug Chivas lost the race after their Holden Torana ran out of fuel, forcing Chivas to push the car uphill along the pit lane to make it to the Holden Dealer Team pit bay. Despite this Brock and Chivas finished on the same lap as Moffat and Ian Geoghegan, ahead of their teammates Colin Bond and Leo Geoghegan, also on the same lap, in third position.
Class structure
Class A
The smallest class was for under 1300cc engine capacity. It was made up of Datsun 1200, Fiat 128, Honda Civic, Morris Cooper S and Renault R8.Class B
The under two litre class saw a mix of Alfa Romeo GTV 2000, Datsun 180B, Ford Escort, Mazda RX-3 and Subaru 1400 GSR.Class C
The under three litre class featured 2.8 litre Holden Torana and Mazda RX-2.Class D
For cars over three litres of engine capacity, the class consisted of Chrysler Valiant Charger, Ford Falcon, Holden Monaro and the larger engined Toranas.Top 10 Qualifiers
Results
In part sourced from:| Pos | Class | No | Team | Drivers | Car | Laps | Qual Pos |
| 1 | D | 9 | Ford Australia |  Allan Moffat Ian Geoghegan | Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop | 163 | 3 |
| 2 | D | 1 | Holden Dealer Team | Peter Brock Doug Chivas | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 163 | 2 |
| 3 | D | 24 | Holden Dealer Team | Colin Bond Leo Geoghegan | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 163 | 5 |
| 4 | D | 2 | Bob Jane Racing | Bob Jane John Harvey | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 161 | 9 |
| 5 | D | 10 | Nixdorf | Bob Forbes Dick Johnson | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 154 | 11 |
| 6 | D | 21 | Ray Kaleda Peter Granger | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 150 | 18 | |
| 7 | D | 15 | Murray Carter Lawrie Nelson | Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop | 150 | 19 | |
| 8 | B | 49 | A.F. & M. Beninca | Ray Harrison Mal Robertson | Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 | 149 | 23 |
| 9 | B | 45 | Mel Mollison Bruce Hindhaugh | Mazda RX-3 | 144 | 36 | |
| 10 | C | 34 | Bernie Haehnle Wayne Rogerson | Mazda RX-2 | 144 | 36 | |
| 11 | D | 31 | Brian Ovenden Max McGinley | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 143 | 29 | |
| 12 | C | 37 | John Palmer Motors | Bob Beasley Enno Buesselmann | Mazda RX-2 | 143 | 39 |
| 13 | B | 44 | Geoff Leeds Jim Murcott | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 143 | 32 | |
| 14 | B | 41 | Datsun Racing Team | John Roxburgh Doug Whiteford | Datsun 180B SSS | 143 | 40 |
| 15 | A | 56 | Datsun Racing Team | Bill Evans James Laing-Peach | Datsun 1200 | 142 | 46 |
| 16 | A | 55 | Lakis Manticas Peter Lander | Fiat 128SL | 142 | 43 | |
| 17 | C | 33 | W.H. Motors | Herb Taylor Don Smith | Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 | 141 | 28 |
| 18 | D | 3 | Pacific Film Laboratories | Don Holland Max Stewart | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 141 | 10 |
| 19 | B | 39 | Ray Gulson Peter Brown | Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 | 140 | 27 | |
| 20 | D | 29 | Peter Kilmore | Peter Kilmore Kevin Kennedy | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 138 | 41 |
| 21 | A | 66 | David Clement Neil Mason | 136 | 50 | ||
| 22 | A | 54 | John Lord Peter Janson | Honda Civic | 134 | 53 | |
| 23 | B | 38 | Chris Heyer Peter Mill | Subaru 1400 GSR | 133 | 55 | |
| 24 | A | 63 | Ken Brian Noel Riley | Honda Civic | 131 | 52 | |
| 25 | A | 68 | Chick Audsley Bob Williamson | 131 | 56 | ||
| 26 | A | 67 | Caroline O'Shanesy Peter Williamson | 131 | 57 | ||
| 27 | A | 64 | David Frazer Bob Edgerton | Renault R8 Gordini | 130 | 49 | |
| 28 | B | 43 | Bob Holden Lyndon Arnel | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 129 | 44 | |
| 29 | B | 48 | Geoff Perry Brian Reed | Mazda RX-3 | 126 | 34 | |
| 30 | A | 59 | John Symon Philip Arnull | Datsun 1200 | 125 | 58 | |
| DNF | C | 35 | James Mason Motors | Gary Cooke Len Searle | Mazda RX-2 | 142 | 38 |
| DNF | D | 8 | Muirs Motors | Ron Dickson Bob Stevens | Holden HQ Monaro GTS | 130 | 20 |
| DNF | B | 50 | Chesterfield Racing Team | Herb Vines Chris Batger | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 116 | 54 |
| DNF | D | 5 | McLeod Ford | John Goss Kevin Bartlett | Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop | 110 | 1 |
| DNF | D | 4 | Bryan Byrt Ford | John French Bob Skelton | Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop | 91 | 4 |
| DNF | A | 57 | Geoff Newton Cam Richardson | 89 | 51 | ||
| DNF | D | 17 | G. Ryan | Graham Ryan Ray Lintott | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 89 | 14 |
| DNF | D | 26 | Ray Thackwell | Ray Thackwell Barry Coleman | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 89 | 22 |
| DNF | A | 58 | Lynn Brown Paul Hamilton | 77 | 45 | ||
| DNF | C | 36 | McLeod Kelso Lee | Bruce Stewart George Garth | Holden LC Torana GTR | 75 | 31 |
| DNF | D | 12 | Dustings of Burwood | Rod McRae Tony Niovanni | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 64 | 21 |
| DNF | B | 42 | Graham Ritter Tony Farrell | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 64 | 25 | |
| DNF | D | 27 | Leo Leonard Ernie Sprague | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 62 | 17 | |
| DNF | D | 30 | John Stoopman | John Stoopman Dennis Martin | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 61 | 30 |
| DNF | D | 23 | Bob Holden Motors | Jim Hunter Phil Ward | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 58 | 16 |
| DNF | A | 53 | Ian Cook Terry Finnigan | Honda Civic | 56 | 48 | |
| DNF | D | 16 | Tony Allen Phil Brock | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 45 | 13 | |
| DNF | D | 19 | Cessnock Motor Works | Allan Grice Keith Murray | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 42 | 8 |
| DNF | D | 13 | Bruce McPhee | Bruce McPhee Tom Nailard | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 41 | 15 |
| DNF | B | 47 | Warren Thompson Rod Dale | Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I | 36 | 33 | |
| DNF | A | 60 | Gary Leggatt Bob Wedd | 27 | 42 | ||
| DNF | D | 20 | Chas Tierney | Ray Strong Ron Gillard | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 25 | 37 |
| DNF | D | 11 | Des West Bill Brown | Chrysler Valiant Charger R/T E49 | 17 | 12 | |
| DNF | D | 6 | Ford Australia | Fred Gibson Barry Seton | Ford XA Falcon GT Hardtop | 17 | 7 |
| DNF | B | 40 | Brian Foley Motors | Christine Gibson Sue Ransom | Alfa Romeo GTV 2000 | 5 | 24 |
| DNF | D | 7 | Ron Hodgson Racing | Bob Morris John Leffler | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 4 | 6 |
| DNF | A | 66 | John Dellaca Jon Leighton | 3 | 47 | ||
| DNF | D | 25 | D & P Traders | Pat Peck Darrilyn Huit | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | 3 | 26 |
| DNS | D | 14 | Freds Treads | John Duggan Gordon Rich | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | ||
| DNS | D | 28 | B. Nitschke | Bill Nitschke John Lewis | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 | ||
| DNS | D | 32 | Gosford Motors | Kingsley Hibbard Brian Shead | Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 |
Statistics
- Pole Position - #5 John Goss - 2:33.4
- Fastest Lap - #5 John Goss - 2:34.8 - Lap 2
- Average Speed - 137 km/h
- Race Time - 7:20:06.8