The 1981 HANG TEN 400 Sandown (AEC R3)

/ super100mph
The 1981 Hang Ten 400 was an endurance race for Group C Touring Cars. The event, Round 3 of the 1981 Australian Endurance Championship, was staged on 13 September over 119 laps of the 3.1 km Sandown Park circuit in Victoria, Australia.
Commentated by:
Drew Morphett, Leo Geoghegan, Will Hagon and John Smailes.
All credit to ABC TV Sports Australia.
For full race results see:
en.wikipedia.o...
1981 AEC info:
en.wikipedia.o...
www.audioblocks... for music.
Motor sport is an international language

[@SydneyCroatia021]

So much better than watching the current touring car series

[@ToranaA9X308]

The mighty 308 with the king at the wheel showing yet AGAIN he was the greatest in anything with a steering wheel.

[@BadApe351]

Dick Johnson talking to John Smailes during the pit stop - what a classic. Dick always had the best one-liners.

[@davidrose5451]

great time of my life. great mates

[@area51isreal71]

The BMW might have been down on power compared to the others, but it was a hands down winner in the looks department. Great racing to watch.

[@2009deegan]

Hahaha haha that's a crack up. Nothing looked as good as the Torres. Still to this day sexy tuff cars. BMW should stay in Europe

[@jasonamykhoury6315]

7:56 "Spitting a bit of fuel from it's overflow" .. hahahaaa!! Can't believe what was allowed back then.

[@jeffwilliams3709]

The great days I was there at Sandown as a kid back then

[@slambo70]

DJ, Why don't you jump in and have a go, ha. Class.

[@jeffwilliams742]

I was then when I was kid got in for free great days then

[@jardim23]

flame and pops 20:07 youre welcome

[@jameswalker6942]

Hi

[@Kneedragon1962]

Start of a golden age for Brock... He already had a long and impressive record in Toranas, and they held off making a racing version of the new Commodore because the A9X was so good, and because they wanted the Commodore to be a winner from the start, so there was no rush to get it on track, but once it got there the group C Commodore just laid waste to Australian touring cars for the next ...when did group A start? That was '86 I think...

[@dj17q]

+Kneedragon1962 Bit far fetched mate. At Bathurst the Commodores might have won more but they had far more better CAMS approved gear and better 'factory' support. The Falcons and the Camaros were disadvantaged with crap wheel/tyres combo. The Group C Commodore only won one championship, the first year of its racing year while the competition were absolute crap. Even the KB Camaro had inferior drum brakes. The Falcon won back to back championship in 1981 and 1982, Moffat with the rice burner in 1983 before Johnson got his third again the following year. As far as everyone who were there during those days, the Commodores had far more freedoms than any other cars hence Moffat famously saying no one can win unless they have a Commodore. So mate, turn it up....

[@Kneedragon1962]

dj17q And so says Dick Johnson # 17 from Queensland, right... Righto, I'll be good and grown up and not pick a fight. I drove cabs around Brisbane for about 20 years, and I've done a lot of km in Falcons. They've actually these days turned into quite a good thing. The AU was alright (styling a bit questionable) and every one since has got better. And these days C'dores are alright again, or so they tell me. I loved the original VB ~ VL, but once they added a bit, they screwed the pooch, and it wasn't until they started over and designed a whole new car they finally fixed it. Ford and GM have both had good and bad, and they've both had some runs of good and bad. And now they're both going to bugger off and we'll all be driving Great Walls and blown Rickshaws... At least Skyline GTRs were a bloody interesting car...

[@dj17q]

+Kneedragon1962 AAaah you're hinting the Walkinshaw VL is a bit ??? No arguments there. The R32 Godzillas, nice looking but as Larry Perkins famously quoted, Group A is all wrong. It would not and it didn't work at all. Which is why I have absolute no faith with Gen2 cars next year. Cannot make it fair by adding, subtracting weight/restrictions if one car is winning too many. V8, turbos and V6, 2 and 4 door....how will the organisers gonna get it right without going too far with one make. It will be a repeat of Group C Commodores all over again. Even with the FG Falcon, as it turned out they had crap aero kit which is why at times we see Frosty working so hard but making mistakes, or having tyre/grip problems. With FGX and better aero kit, look at last year performance. A huge difference. So again I have no faith with Gen2. I will keep on watching as tintop has been part of my life but without V8s and Falcons I don't think I will have the passion for future racing. I love Australian made 4 door muscle cars, but the American Stangs and Camaros just arent the same.

[@Kneedragon1962]

+dj17q I didn't mind the Walkie doors, styling was a bit half arsed, but there were good aerodynamic and engineering reasons for everything they did. They lost the plot when they made the body / chassis bigger - VN, VP... VR, VS... The original car had a wonderful chassis, but when they grew it for the VN, they screwed the pooch. And until they started over again and designed a whole new car, they never quite fixed it. Ford did something similar. The XW, XY... XA, XB, XC were good. Then they made the XD. They went for a much newer, lighter chassis, and all square styling. They screwed it. No comment on the styling, it was 1980, but the balance and handling the old cars had, was gone. And it took nearly 20 years to fix. It started to come good when they put a rack and pinion in it, and each one after that got better as they figured it out.

[@sugarnads]

Kneedragon1962 lol grpA was wonderful. Finally it was more than 2 makes.

[@Steveaustin007]

Cams weighed the BMW down.

[@darrylmackie9184]

And AROUND GOES JOHNSON AGAIN AND NOT A PEBBLE TO BE SEEN.

[@holdenmad111]

@26:23 DJ shows a hint of his bad attitude forming!