1984 AUSTRALIAN GT CHAMPIONSHIP R3 Calder

/ super100mph A classic Max Smart "missed by that much" race for Allan Grice.. with Peter Fitzgerald and Bryan Thomson. (apologies for some squeaks in the audio, old tape)
en.wikipedia.or...
Some of the cars that competed in the series included Chevrolet Monza, Jaguar XJ-S, Porsche Carrera RSR, Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC, Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV, Porsche 935, BMW 318i Turbo, Holden Commodore and Holden Monaro.
Australian Touring Car Championship and Bathurst 1000 regular Allan Grice, won the series driving the ex-Bob Jane 6.0L Monza from Queenslander Mark Trenoweth driving the ex-John McCormack XJS Jag and Series Production ace Peter Fitzgerald in his Porsche Carrera RSR. Fitzgerald, the only driver other than Grice to win a race in the championship*, did not enter the first two races of the series at Lakeside and Adelaide. Going into the last round of the series at the then new 3.9 km (2.4 mi) International circuit at Sandown, only Grice and Trenoweth could win the championship, but with the Sydney based driver winning both heats and the Queenslander only finishing 4th and 3rd, the title was Grice's. It was Grice's third (and ultimately last) national title win after also capturing the 1978 and 1979 Australian Sports Sedan Championships

[@allandriver2066]

Bring it back!!

[@Hapkido82AUS]

that Monza was one of my favourite race cars as a kid. That and French's 935....

[@timjohnun4297]

Me too!

[@pigboy05]

i lived in diggers rest,just 7 k's up the calder from here from 83-99,a top fueller run took 4-5 seconds to reach our house,then the thunder....loved calder,remember crompton talking to a journo on top the grandstand,sayin he shit himself in brocks VL going around auscar 1-2 in the wet of the WTCC 1987 on the saturday.didnt miss many events

[@Holden308]

Hey Super100mph.....you don't happen to have footage of the WEC sportscar races from Sandown in 1984 and 1988 do you?

[@jeanette5457]

What a pale imitation of the great category the Sports Sedans once were. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have seen the great races of the mid seventies which the Malboro Sports Sedan Series provided can remember the class at its height.

[@Holden308]

A lot of the sports sedan runners only raced their local events during the run as the GT Championship from 1982-1985 and it was only the ones with a big enough budget who did all of the national championship rounds. Sometimes those like Amaroo's Wunderlich Series was better supported than the national championship, often because it paid more and there was pretty much guaranteed national television coverage on 7.

[@MiniOne82]

Chevy Monza, very heavily modified in power and streamlining. You don't say...

[@chopperking1122]

bryan thompson in bob janes old monaro

[@ldnwholesale8552]

Correct, in Tino's Gold&orange. As it was until Des Wall aquired it and converted it back to a Touring Car

[@armorgeddon]

Did the Mercedes have an engine from Mercedes in it or did they put a different brand in?

[@Holden308]

The Merc ran with a 4.2 litre Chev V8 with twin turbos added. It was allegedly putting out close on 1,000 hp, though I doubt that. It probably put out around 700 at best.

[@ldnwholesale8552]

4.4 twin turbo Chev. Very quick between explosions.

[@mortenfrosthansen84]

Well the track is not much of a challenge.. a great big lump of metal and 1,4 million horsepower will fix that