1983 AGP Sport Sedan/GT Challenge

[@Holden308]

To put things into perspective: * The Porsches (3.0L twin turbo F6 - 935/K3, 935/78 Moby Dick and 935/80) were Group C1 / IMSA GTP cars. * The Kaditcha Cosworth (3.0L DFV V8) was a CAMS Group A Sports Car (with ground effect), but was essentially a Group C2 car. * The Chevrolet Monza (6.0L V8) was IMSA GTO spec. * The Alfa Romeo Alfetta Chevrolet (6.0L V8), Mercedes 450 SLC Chevrolet (4.3L twin turbo) and BMW 318i's (1.8L I4 turbo) were CAMS (IMSA) GT spec.

[@BMC1100]

I was at the meeting working on a car in the GP. The Fitzpatrick Porsche of Alan Jones broke the starter ring gear in practice, it took out a large piece of gearbox casing and also took one of the gearbox mounting studs out of the block. The bits exited through the rear windows (a window in the correct position and an extra outer window in a more aerodynamic position faired into the revised tail). There was a huge effort to find the bits and get it all to Alan Hamilton's to weld it all back together. A magnificent effort! I would say that it was a real touch and go thing to get it back together, not an easy repair. So much for Alan Jones's comment about getting it off the plane and not touching it! I met Gianpiero Moretti, a lovely man, he said that they were having too much fun and forgot to charge the battery the previous day!

[@Super100MPH]

Thanks for your comments, very interesting. Cheers, Super100MPH

[@datzed]

This video certainly deserves so much more views. Fantastic!

[@Super100MPH]

+datzed Thanks datzed.

[@markmark5269]

Love Calder. It proves that long circuits are not required for action, indeed, the cars come past more often and you can see the whole track, a real bonus for fans. Could you imagine watching a race at the Nurburgring and seeing them flash past every 7 minutes, fuck that.

[@garymarquett7989]

These car were as fast as Formula 5000s and being the early 80s they were quite outstanding.

[@jeffwilliams742]

I was at this race when my friend had a Mazda R100 rotary and Lary cog was driving the Mazda I remember walking around the pits what a great day

[@ronniebraine9692]

Awesome racing. I was there that day and remember it well.

[@LurcherVonPapsmear]

SENSATIONAL!!! Thanks for sharing! Please post more 80's Australian sports car races...?!

[@JoelSmithR1]

That John Briggs BMW looks amazing

[@armorgeddon]

Saab sponsorship on Jones' overall who just drove a Porsche in the race LOL. And he gets a Sega computer as the prize! Great stuff, thanks for uploading.

[@Super100MPH]

You're welcome!

[@glensgraphix]

I'm not sure of when he owned one but Jones had a SAAB 900 Turbo Aero model that came into the country for him. At the time there weren't very many around then. I'm going to guess that's the tie in there.

[@stewartwalter407]

Jones was an ambassador for Saab at the time and had their road car. He opened a dealership on Sydney’s northern beaches, so i turned up, said hello and had a bit of a chat to him. A real Aussie larrikin.

[@Holden308]

I believe from listening to Evan Green that this is in fact a support race to the 1983 Australian Grand Prix. Otherwise Group A Sports Cars like the Kaditcha K583 driven by Bap Romano wouldn't be there. This was a Sports Car / GT invitation race.

[@Super100MPH]

Hi Holden308, I believe you are right. I had been a bit worried about the date of this race, as I couldn't source any solid info on it. So, this was a one-off Sports Car/GT Invitation, which was a support race of the 1983 Australian Grand Prix held at Calder Park. Thanks for the heads up!

[@Holden308]

Super100MPH Yeah the other thing that made me believe this was 1983 was Green mentioning that the Monza driven by Brocky had been repaired since its accident in Adelaide earlier in the year. Since it wasn't crashed there in 1982 he had to mean the start line pileup the Monza (or Brock, depending on who you believe) caused at AIR in 1983. One thing I am kinda surprised at is that Jones was able to get away from the Kaditcha K583 fairly easily. With a better driver (eg Aflie Costanzo or John Bowe), the Kaditcha should have been faster. But Bap Romano was really only a gentleman racer at that point.

[@MultiDesignGuy]

Ok so the AJ Porsche 935 (here) is a K4 imported by John Fitzpatrick, the Monza (in the 1982 series) was frankly in 1982 a better car handling and power wise than a 935 but brock couldn’t keep tyres from going off... im amazed at the difference between 1982 v 1983 with Monza..what happened??

[@Holden308]

If truth be told, Brock was probably guilty of over-driving the Monza. Unlike a touring car, this was a purpose built race car with about 600 bhp worth of Chevy V8, but that didn't mean it could be driven hard every lap. Brock tended to do that, especially when he had Alan Jones and the Porsche 935/80 as his main opposition, and it hurt the Monza's tyres. When Alan Grice drove the car for Alan Browne of Re-Car in 1984, and won the Australian GT Championship, he always seemed to be driving within the limits of the Monza. Though to be fair he didn't have the caliber of an Alan Jones driving a well prepared Le Mans thoroughbred Porsche as opposition either. The likes of Bryan Thompson, Mark Trenoweth and Peter Fitzgerald were more amateurs driving somewhat inferior, almost back yard, machinery (except Fitzgerald who had a Porsche 911 RSR).

[@Andrew-jh5uv]

True. Great commentary, Yes Peter got a bit of Red mist in that 1st encounter with AJ. Later Fitzpatrick apparently left no stone unturned improving the ground effects on the old K3 ... the Monza had no where near the R&D spent on it (still an awesome car) FYI if you search Lee Keen at 2015 Interscope 935 despite driving the absolute t!$* off the 935 still gets owned by a Chevy Monza 😳 (i couldnt believe it) Monza a great car I certainly never heard about... Gricey yep a great driver but Peter did have that edge but he certainly didnt spare the horse ☺️

[@jadesmith6823]

#nuts 🇦🇺🔥

[@ase2060]

Alan Jones Porsche K4?

[@geneva760]

Yes - one of 2 - originally the Jägermeister car. Kremer built.

[@MultiDesignGuy]

Wow a K4 that car looked so well balanced. The 1982 K3 Porsche Jones drove against Brock’s Chevy Monza really has its work cut out (Monza a great car and driver aside)

[@alexfrankl7861]

The JPS BMW 👍