1987 Shell Ultra Australian Touring Car Championship
Round 1 - Calder Park, VIC (1/3/1987)
Circuit Length: 2.40 km
Race Distance: 60 laps
Weather: Overcast
The big story before the race meeting was Holden's dumping of Peter Brock a week prior. The originally planned 3-car attack was pared down to two, with the team's new VL auctioned off to raise funds. Gary Scott was drafted in to replace the departing Allan Moffat and John Harvey.
The JPS team debuted the new BMW M3 - not yet officially homologated until race-day - along with Dick Johnson's new Sierras, now in the red and yellow colours of Shell as part of a rumoured million-dollar sponsorship deal. Grice was back in a Roadways-prepared VK, alongside him Graeme Crosby, while Andrew Miedecke joined the OXO team to drive the #35 car alongside Don Smith. Unchanged apart from Scott's departure was the Nissan team, with two cars for George Fury and Glenn Seton, the team having sorted out their tyre-chewing issues from Bathurst 1986.
The front row had a new look to it, a wet qualifying session saw Richards and Johnson qualifying their new cars 1-2. It would be Dick's best qualifying performance of the ATCC.
The rolling start works against the men on the front row, the normally-aspirated runners coming the the fore. Perkins makes a storming start before outbraking himself at the end of the straight and running off the circuit, letting Seton through into a lead he wouldn't lose. Brock, Fury, and a recovering Perkins would give chase, until Brock dropped out with engine issues.
Position | Number | Entrant | Driver | Car | Class | Race Time/Laps | Retirement Cause | Fastest Time | Qualifying Time | Grid Position |
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1 | 15 | Peter Jackson Nissan Racing | Glenn Seton | Nissan Skyline DR-30 | A | 1h02m34.72s | | 1m01.75s | 1m07.89s | 3 |
2 | 11 | Enzed Team Perkins | Larry Perkins | Holden Commodore VK | A | 1h02m37.27s | | 1m01.61s | 1m09.27s | 7 |
3 | 30 | Peter Jackson Nissan Racing | George Fury | Nissan Skyline DR-30 | A | 1h02m37.74s | | 1m01.87s | 1m08.70s | 5 |
4 | 2 | Bob Jane T-Marts | Allan Grice | Holden Commodore VK | A | 1h02m50.49s | | 1m02.14s | 1m08.78s | 6 |
5 | 3 | JPS Team BMW | Jim Richards | BMW M3 | B | 1h03m20.35s | | 1m02.74s | 1m07.62s | 1 |
6 | 4 | JPS Team BMW | Tony Longhurst | BMW M3 | B | 1h03m26.14s | | 1m02.46s | 1m08.67s | 4 |
7 | 35 | OXO Supercube Motorsport | Andrew Miedecke | Ford Sierra Cosworth RS | A | 1h03m38.86s | | 1m02.60s | 1m12.82s | 15 |
8 | 14 | Murray Carter | Murray Carter | Nissan Skyline DR-30 | A | 1h03m39.23s | | 1m02.78s | 1m11.08s | 13 |
9 | 17 | Shell Ultra Hi.Tech Racing | Dick Johnson | Ford Sierra Cosworth RS | A | 59 laps | | 1m02.70s | 1m07.85s | 2 |
10 | 10 | John Andrew Motorsport | Neville Crichton | Ford Sierra XR4Ti | A | 59 laps | | 1m03.04s | 1m09.78s | 9 |
11 | 34 | OXO Supercube Motorsport | Don Smith | Ford Sierra Cosworth RS | A | 59 laps | | 1m03.39s | 1m24.04s | 23 |
12 | 75 | Network Alfa | Colin Bond | Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo | B | 58 laps | | 1m04.94s | 1m10.97s | 12 |
13 | 26 | Kalari Transport | Tony Noske | Holden Commodore VK | A | 57 laps | | 1m04.78s | 1m13.64s | 16 |
14 | 27 | Ray Gulson | Graham Gulson | BMW 635CSi | A | 56 laps | | 1m05.95s | 1m24.39s | 24 |
15 | 86 | Gemspares | Daryl Hendrick | Isuzu Gemini ZZ | C | 53 laps | | 1m10.42s | 1m20.84s | 22 |
16 | 88 | David Sala | David Sala | Isuzu Gemini ZZ | C | 52 laps | | 1m11.10s | 1m18.13s | 21 |
17 | 57 | Michael Freeman | Mike Freeman | Toyota Celica RA40 | C | 51 laps | | 1m11.55s | NTR | 26 |
DNF | 38 | Grellis Marketing | Ray Ellis | Holden Commodore VK | C | 54 laps | | 1m04.91s | 1m33.15s | 25 |
DNF | 6 | Mobil Holden Dealer Team | Gary Scott | Holden Commodore VK | A | 45 laps | spun off | 1m02.44s | 1m11.37s | 14 |
DNF | 05 | Mobil Holden Dealer Team | Peter Brock | Holden Commodore VK | A | 35 laps | engine | 1m02.30s | 1m10.14s | 11 |
DNF | 32 | Toyota Team Australia | Drew Price | Toyota Corolla | C | 35 laps | | 1m07.23s | 1m17.51s | 19 |
DNF | 31 | Toyota Team Australia | John Smith | Toyota Corolla | C | 30 laps | | 1m07.16s | 1m14.08s | 17 |
DNF | 18 | Shell Ultra Hi.Tech Racing | Gregg Hansford | Ford Sierra Cosworth RS | A | 25 laps | turbo | 1m03.26s | 1m09.74s | 8 |
DNF | 28 | Capri Components | Lawrie Nelson | Ford Mustang | A | 24 laps | | 1m05.33s | 1m15.25s | 18 |
DNF | 21 | Lusty Engineering | Graham Lusty | Holden Commodore VK | A | 11 laps | spun off | 1m04.05s | 1m18.04s | 20 |
DNF | 8 | ICL Racing | Graeme Crosby | Holden Commodore VK | A | 10 laps | brake failure | 1m02.04s | 1m09.85s | 10 |