1985 Better Brakes 300

The 1985 Better Brakes 300 was an endurance race for Group A touring cars held at the Amaroo Park circuit in Sydney, New South Wales on 4 August 1985. The race was the opening round of the 1985 Australian Endurance Championship. It was held over 155 laps of the tight 1.94 km (1.20 mi) circuit for a total of 300.7 km (186 mi).[1]

The field was divided into three classes according to engine displacement.

  • Class A : 3001cc to 6000cc
  • Class B : 2001cc to 3000cc
  • Class C : Up to 2000cc

The race was won by the 1985 Australian Touring Car Champion Jim Richards driving his championship winning JPS Team BMW 635 CSi. Richards won the race by two laps from two more New Zealanders, Kent Baigent and Neal Lowe driving an ex-Schnitzer BMW 635 CSi, with Peter Brock in his Mobil Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore finishing third.

Colin Bond and Gregg Hansford finished 5th outright and 1st in Class B driving the Network Alfa Romeo GTV6 after a race long battle with the JPS BMW 323i of Tony Longhurst. Class C was won by the Team Toyota Australia Corolla of former open wheel star driver John Smith who also finished 7th outright.

One of the pre-race favourites, the Volvo 240T of Kiwi Robbie Francevic was out before the race started as the left front wheel parted company with the car on the formation lap going through Suttons Corner. Allan Grice, having his first ever Group A start driving in The Toy Shop Alfa GTV6, was out after just three laps with gearbox failure.

Richards qualified on pole for the race with a time of 53.80 seconds.[2]

Results
Position Class No. Entrant Drivers Car Laps Grid
1 A 62 JPS Team BMW Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi 155 1
2 A 3 H. Kent Baigent Kent Baigent
Neal Lowe		 BMW 635 CSi 153 8
3 A 05 Mobil Holden Dealer Team Peter Brock Holden VK Commodore 153 2
4 A 7 Mobil Holden Dealer Team David Parsons
John Harvey		 Holden VK Commodore 153 10
5 B 27 Network Alfa Colin Bond
Gregg Hansford		 Alfa Romeo GTV6 153 5
6 B 23 JPS Team BMW Tony Longhurst BMW 323i 152 9
7 C 10 Toyota Team Australia John Smith Toyota Corolla 148 11
8 A 19 Ken Mathews Prestige Cars Ken Mathews
Terry Finnigan		 Holden VK Commodore 147 14
9 A 33 Mike Bergmann Mike Bergmann
Bob Stevens		 Holden VK Commodore 144 17
10 A 24 Jagparts Gerald Kay
Don Bretland		 Holden VK Commodore 144 16
?? A 30 Yellow Pages Tony Kavich
Ralph Radburn		 Holden VK Commodore 13
?? A Bernie McClure Holden VK Commodore
?? A 39 Graeme Bowkett
Wayne Wilkinson		 Holden VK Commodore 15
?? B 39 Chris Heyer Chris Heyer Audi 5+5 19
?? C 13 Bob Holden Motors Bob Holden
Mike Quinn		 Toyota Corolla AE86 12
?? C 11 Toyota Team Australia Drew Price Toyota Corolla AE86 18
?? B 65 Hulcraft Autos John Craft Ford Capri Mk.III 20
?? B Hulcraft Autos Les Grose Ford Capri Mk.III 22
?? A 29 Ken Davison Ken Davison Ford Mustang 24
?? A 28 Capri Components Lawrie Nelson Ford Mustang 21
DNF A 2 Masterton Homes Steve Masterton Holden VK Commodore 6
DNF B 77 Peter Williamson Toyota Peter Williamson
Charlie O'Brien		 Toyota Supra 7 4
DNF B 26 The Toy Shop Allan Grice Alfa Romeo GTV6 3 7
DNS B 21 Mark Petch Motorsport Robbie Francevic Volvo 240T 3

* The event attracted 24 starters.

Notes
  • Pole Position: #1 Jim Richards, BMW 635 CSi - 0:53.80
  • Fastest Lap: #1 Jim Richards, BMW 635 CSi - 0:55.11
  • Race Time: 2:28:08.6
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References
  1. 1985 Better Brakes 300 at History of Touring Car Racing
  2. 1985 AEC Round 1 Amaroo highlights

See also
  • Australian Motor Racing Year, 1985/86
  • James Hardie 1000, 1985/86
  • The Australian Racing History of Ford, 1989
  • The Official Racing History of Holden, 1988
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