New Zealand Touring Cars of 86

[Mikelee]

Does anyone know what happened to the sierra xr4ti 2.3 that was race by Robbie Francevic and Leo Leonard in 1986-87?

[rdmdog]

Wasnt there one raced here too, Winton maybe? There was one at Bathurst that didnt fare too well in 85 or 86.

[KA]

From memory, I think two XR4Ti's found their way down under- the first was an ex-Rouse car at the end of 85, the second was ex-Eggenberger and ran in NZ in late 86- think Nevile Crichton might have been involved with that one?

I think the car that ran at Bathurst in 86 was the ex-Rouse one

[marcus]

1986 wasnt Francevis running a Volvo , in fact he won the championship in 86 for Volvo ?

[Raglanparade]

He won the championship in 1985 for Volvo i think ?

[anthony81901]

Francevic won the 86 ATCC driving a Volvo and then left the team following a dust up with team manager George Shepherd at the Sandown 500.

He linked up with long time backer Mark Petch to run a Sierra XR4Ri, and despite Francevic talking up how the car would blow all other contenders into the weeds, the car chugged around to qualify mid field before exiting the race early. This car had been run at the Surfers Paradise ATCC by David Oxton and was presumably the same car he shared in the Wellington 500 earlier in the year with Rouse.

[KA]

That's certainly how it's reported in the Bathurst annuals of the period- David Oxton ran one of Rouse's 1985 BTCC cars in the 1985/6 Nissan-Mobil 500 races, and some of the 86 ATCC- from the photos I've seen, the car was still in the basic blue/white livery of Rouse's sponsor ICS. It then ran at Bathurst in a white Mark Petch livery for Francevic/Leonard

Neville Crichton then imported an Eggenberger XR4Ti which he shared with Steve Soper in the 86/7 NZ races

What happened to the cars after that?

[Henry]

Originally Posted by anthony81901

Francevic won the 86 ATCC driving a Volvo and then left the team following a dust up with team manager George Shepherd at the Sandown 500.

He linked up with long time backer Mark Petch to run a Sierra XR4Ri, and despite Francevic talking up how the car would blow all other contenders into the weeds, the car chugged around to qualify mid field before exiting the race early. This car had been run at the Surfers Paradise ATCC by David Oxton and was presumably the same car he shared in the Wellington 500 earlier in the year with Rouse.

For the more pedantic among us (I guess that's probably only me), John Shepherd (ex-HDT, ex-Geoghegan, ex-Bob Jane) was the Volvo team manager who had the falling-out with Robbie Francevic at Sandown.

IIRC the XR4 had trouble at Bathurst with gearing and front hubs or something... didn't Denny Hulme run it in early 1987 as well?

[racer69]

I was of the impression it was the same car in 86 and 87.

Crichton had bought the car off Petch and ran it at round 1 of the 1987 ATCC at Calder, then the car was run at some further rounds by Denny Hulme (Lakeside, maybe AIR as well).



If Francevic had been driving that Fiat Uno at Bathurst in 1986 he'd still have been talking up a pole position

[KA]

[QUOTE=racer69]I was of the impression it was the same car in 86 and 87.

Crichton had bought the car off Petch and ran it at round 1 of the 1987 ATCC at Calder, then the car was run at some further rounds by Denny Hulme (Lakeside, maybe AIR as well).

QUOTE]

So did Crichton have two XR4Ti's- the ex-Rouse/Oxton/Petch car and an Eggenberger, or are we only talking about there being one car, originally imported for Oxton, run by Petch for Francevic at Bathurst 86, and then being sold on to Crichton?

What makes me wonder is that the photos I've seen of the car in Oxton's hands show an obviously ex-Rouse RHD car, the white Petch car at Bathurst is also RHD, but the pics I've seen of Crichton/Soper in NZ clearly show an LHD car- two different Sierras, or did Crichton buy the Petch car after Bathurst and have it converted to LHD?

[Steve Holmes]

I'm sort of working from memory here, which isn't always a good thing when you're talking about 20 years ago, but heres how I remember it. The Rouse/Oxton car is a different one to the Soper/Francevic/Crichton etc car. I remember when the Oxton car first arrived in late 85, there was a lot of excitement over the car, as turbos were still relatively new at that time in touring cars, and this thing was going to blow everyone off the face of the map. It was supposed to win the NZ touring car championship, then go and run the ATCC.

Rouse came with the car to run the January 86 Wellington Street Race, then the Pukekohe 500k event which traditionaly followed a week later. Rouse put it on pole for the street race, but Francevic in the Volvo, and Brock both soon left it behind, then eventually a wheel feill off, and the car was stuffed into a wall. I think Oxton drove it in the NZ Group A championship, but I don't recall it being much of a standout. I think it ran some ATCC events, but again it didn't stand out.

After Francevic split with the Volvo team after they won the 86 ATCC he got back together with Mark Petch, who was the guy who originally imported the Volvo from Europe which Francevic and Michel Delcourt won the 85 Wellington race with. I thought I read somewhere at the time that this was a two car Sierra team for Bathurst??? Either way, it (they?) didn't make much of an impact, I can't even remember if it featured at all? I also can't remember if this was the Oxton car, or the newer lhd one.

The Crichton car came late in 86. Was this the Petch Bathurst car? Either way, it was definitely not the Oxton car. It was lhd. Again, there was a lot of excitement over this car. I can't recall who drove it, but both Crichton and Hulme ring a bell. The Sierra Cosworths were due to debut in 87, and I recall this XR4 was looked upon as an interim car, which the team would replace with a Cosworth, but this never eventuated. It ran a couple of early 87 ATCC events, and ran around mid pack from memory, then dissapeared.

One of these two cars, I'm sure, was later turned into a sports sedan. Either way, they both had very brief Australasian careers. Shame really, they were very pretty cars. I guess they're both sitting around NZ somewhere now.

[Southern Man]

Don't forget that Petch Motorsport also had a brown Sierra ex Walter Wolf Racing, think that it was in Whittakers colours. This was used by Robbie F, Tall Pockets and Kayne Scott. The other car that Mark Petch ran was I think the ex Rouse car which apeared in BP colours for Robbie to drive.

Croaky's car was an ex Egenburger car

[racer69]

According to the 1986 edition of 'The Great Race', the Petch XR4Ti Sierra was the ex-Oxton car.

Hopefully whoever owns these two Sierra's nowadays know what they have got.

Mark Petch had a deal with Walter Wolf Racing, to run his southern hemisphere side of the business, this soured after a while though. I'm not sure how many cars were brought down here for that effort, but Petch ran cars in the ATCC during 1988 and 1989 with Francevic at the wheel (I don't think the Whittakers backing came until Bathurst '88 though), but they couldn't re-create the form they had with the Volvo in 1985 and 1986.

[pete60]

Bit of a story to the Wolf Sierras.

One Wolf car was imported in Australia in early 1988 for Francevic to drive. It fronted at one round of the ATCC and was knocked back by the scrutineers. Another car was imported later that year for Warwick Rooklyn but was never run.

Tony Longhurst bought both cars in early 1989 and rebuilt them to the correct specs. One car was used as a spare and the other was run in 1989 by Neville Crichton, while Longhurst ran a new car he had built in 1988 ( the Bathurst winner was sold to Ken Mathews to run in Caltex colours in 1989....this car was later presented to the Bathurst museum by Benson & Hedges).

Petch then brought in another Wolf Sierra in 1989...this was the brown Peanut Slab car run by Francevic and Brancatelli at Bathurst that year. It retired early in th erace. I don't think it ran in Australia again.

[anthony81901]

Thw Whittakers Peanut Slab Sierra was Armin Hahne's 88 ETCC car. It was shipped to Australia for Bathurst 88 and in 89 and 90 raced at Wellington, Pukehoke and Bathurst by Gianfranco Brancatelli in Whittakers colours.

[William Dale Jr]

Originally Posted by Southern Man

The other car that Mark Petch ran was I think the ex Rouse car which apeared in BP colours for Robbie to drive.

Was that ex-Rouse, or ex-DJR? I think Petch had an ex-DJR car at one stage, the #19 car for Kayne Scott/Greg Taylor from Bathurst 1991. Then there was the ex-Roush Transam Merkeur/Sierra that was also in Peanut Slab colours. But that isn't a touring car...

[racer69]

Originally Posted by pete60

Bit of a story to the Wolf Sierras.

One Wolf car was imported in Australia in early 1988 for Francevic to drive. It fronted at one round of the ATCC and was knocked back by the scrutineers. Another car was imported later that year for Warwick Rooklyn but was never run.

Tony Longhurst bought both cars in early 1989 and rebuilt them to the correct specs. One car was used as a spare and the other was run in 1989 by Neville Crichton, while Longhurst ran a new car he had built in 1988 ( the Bathurst winner was sold to Ken Mathews to run in Caltex colours in 1989....this car was later presented to the Bathurst museum by Benson & Hedges).

Petch then brought in another Wolf Sierra in 1989...this was the brown Peanut Slab car run by Francevic and Brancatelli at Bathurst that year. It retired early in th erace. I don't think it ran in Australia again.

Petch ran the car again at Bathurst in 1990, for Branca and Jeff Allam.

The car (or a Petch run- Whittakers backed car at least) was run in the Nissan-Mobil series in 1991 (Kayne Scott and Brett Riley) and 1992 (Kayne Scott and Greg Murphy).

Francevic had more break-ups and make-ups with Mark Petch than well...... according to the Bathurst program for 1990 he was meant to be in the Petch car, of course he wound up in the Bagnell Gullivers Travel entry with the Waldock/Stone team.

The New Zealand Touring Car scene is one that has always intrigued me, there were many good cars to grace your local scene during the Group A years, just not all at the one time.

[Steve Holmes]

For the 1988/89 NZ Group A series, Petch was running two Cossies. The brown Peanut Slab car for Francevic, which I'm sure appeared at Bathurst 88, then the following two years. This was the car which Brancatelli was running away with the Wellington Street race in, when he collided heavily with Chris Lambdens Commodore, when lapping him. The Sierra got some good air after it hit the wall.


The other Petch car that appeared in that 88/89 season was a white lhd car driven by Garry Croft, with Husqvarna sponsorship. This was a nice car, and quicker than Francevics at times too. This was the car which was later turned into a sports sedan and painted in green BP colours. It had fibreglass flares fitted, and bigger wheels, but wasn't wildy modified. By this stage, Petch (with Greg Lancasters money from memory?) had imported the turbo Ford Merker for Kayne Scott to drive, which blew everything away in NZ sports sedans.

NZ teams imported quite a few Group A cars from Europe, thats where many of our GpA cars originated from.

[Just Do It!]

Originally Posted by racer69

Francevic had more break-ups and make-ups with Mark Petch than well...... according to the Bathurst program for 1990 he was meant to be in the Petch car, of course he wound up in the Bagnell Gullivers Travel entry with the Waldock/Stone team.

The New Zealand Touring Car scene is one that has always intrigued me, there were many good cars to grace your local scene during the Group A years, just not all at the one time.

You arent alone. Most people will be in awe of your Petch statement. I know of several. It really is amazing what some have done in NZ motorsport - and this is not an isolated case - over the years, and there have been a lot of years.

[rdmdog]

I recon the K1W1s with $$ arent as afraid to use it on our great sport, unlike the main part of Aussie Richie Riches!!!

[911]

Originally Posted by William Dale Jr

I think Petch had an ex-DJR car at one stage, the #19 car for Kayne Scott/Greg Taylor from Bathurst 1991....

You're right, Petch did have the #19 DJR car from 1991 Bathurst at one stage.
This was the car that Kayne Scott hit the wall with coming out of the cutting during one of the early practice sessions.

[brown dog]

A really old thread this, but thought I would revive it!
A friend of mine and I went to look at a Sierra Sport Sedan last week, with a view to buying it (I looked at it 8 or 9 years ago when Mark Petch still owned it and nearly bought it then)

From reading through various books, talking to MP and looking throught this thread it is fairly obvious it is the ex - Crichton Eggenberger XR4Ti. The car has no running gear, but all of the original Gp.A suspension is still fitted as well as the brakes and centrelock wheels. Plan is to rebuild it back to original Gp.A form, not an easy job for sure but enough remains of the original car (we have even located one of the original 2.3 turbo engines) that it can be restored back to corect spec.

Would anyone happen to have photos of this car back in the day? It was plain white when run by Eggenberger with minimal sponsorship. I have found plenty of outside pics, but any interior or engine bay shots would be great.

[GTRMagic]

Andy Rouse Xr4yi

An Andy Rouse thread...

[Mark Petch]

Originally Posted by Steve Holmes

For the 1988/89 NZ Group A series, Petch was running two Cossies. The brown Peanut Slab car for Francevic, which I'm sure appeared at Bathurst 88, then the following two years. This was the car which Brancatelli was running away with the Wellington Street race in, when he collided heavily with Chris Lambdens Commodore, when lapping him. The Sierra got some good air after it hit the wall.


The other Petch car that appeared in that 88/89 season was a white lhd car driven by Garry Croft, with Husqvarna sponsorship. This was a nice car, and quicker than Francevics at times too. This was the car which was later turned into a sports sedan and painted in green BP colours. It had fibreglass flares fitted, and bigger wheels, but wasn't wildy modified. By this stage, Petch (with Greg Lancasters money from memory?) had imported the turbo Ford Merker for Kayne Scott to drive, which blew everything away in NZ sports sedans.

NZ teams imported quite a few Group A cars from Europe, thats where many of our GpA cars originated from.

Hi thread participant's,

Ok lets start with Steve Holmes last post, I purchased Neville Chrichton's ex Eggenburger Sierra XR4ti with all of his many spares. I then converted it to a Sierra Cosworth 500, using the very extensive array of spares I purchased from Walter Wolf when I bought the ex Armin Hahne car from him.

I ran both Sierra's as a two car team, for Robbie Francevic and Garry Croft, in the New Zealand Group A Touring car Championship, in the 89/90 season. The cars were pretty much identical. As Group A was doomed I then converted the ex Eggenburger car to a sports sedan for Robbie Francevic, however Mountune stuffed up the engine by fitting it with a monster Turbo that made the car almost impossible to drive.

I also purchased the ex DJR Sierra Cosworth that Kayne looped accelerating out of the cutting, in association with the Scotts. I ran that car with Dick and the Rat at Wellington in Shell Colour's. Greg Lancaster later payed me to run him in that car, but at no stage did he ever have any equity in that car.

The ex Andy Rouse XR4ti, that I ran at Bathurst with Robbie and Leo, was bloody fast when it wasn't spitting the cam follower's of their pedestals, and indeed at one time was clearly the fastest car at Bathurst that year

The famed Peanut Slab Sierra, ex Walter Woolf, I still own and is immaculate, with a virtually brand new engine just installed. I would also like to correct some statements made that are simply not correct.

Armin Hahne pitted whilst in the lead, after some 6 hours, with a blown head gasket, so we certainly did not exit out of the race early on as one poster thought.

When Gianfranco came up to lap the woefully slow Chris Lambdon, and ended up 'kissing' the barriers, the damage to the car was so minor Brannca's could have easily continued but for a damaged oil radiator dumping out most of the engine oil. We elected not to risk blowing the engine, as the car had zero oil pressure when he pitted. At that point in the race we had a 22 second lead and if not for Lambden's atrocious driving, a second Wellington Street Race looked a for gone conclusion.

I trust this dots the i and cross's the T's for some of you historians.

Cheers,

Mark Petch.

[Ricky Bobby]

Thanks Mark for your last post.
It's always good to get the facts seperated from the fiction.
I"m just wondering if you would be able to answer a couple of more questions.
Do you still have the DJR car?
Was the DJR car the one that won the previous years Championship (or Bathurst)?