[htc]

Originally Posted by Jesper OH

YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8hE9HYd8qg

After the beating by Jim Richards and Nissan on the tight confines of Amaroo, the Ford Sierras could unleash their mighty horsepower on the blast around the windy wide open spaces of Symmons Plains in Tasmania. From pole position Peter Brock looked as he had a firm grip on the race, but late in the day he had to relinquish the lead to Dick Johnson. After several laps of pressuring Brock Johnson finally blasted by on the long righthander opposite the pit. The battle for the lead allowed John Bowe to close up, but never became a threat for Peter Brock in second. Bowe on his hand had the attention of Glenn Seton from behind before finishing third and fourth respectively. Two more Sierras made it a Ford 1-6 in the second Mobil car of Andrew Miedecke and Colin Bond in the sole Caltex version. Only then came first round winner Jim Richards as the only official Nissan driver of the weekend, Mark Skaife missing this round.
Gregg Hansford finished a lonely 8th from the Holdens of Win Percy and Larry Perkins, the privateer being the first lapped finisher. The two B&H Sierras of Tony Longhurst and Alan Jones only featured shortly in this race. Jones was a pit caller on the first lap for new tyres eventually finishing 12th, while Longhurst held second behind Brock before his engine let go.

This left defending champion Dick Johnson in the points lead with 32 from team mate John Bowe at 27 and Jim Richards at 24. Another two weeks would commence before the competitors would make an ATCC comeback at Victoria's Phillip Island.

Dick Johnson hounding Peter Brock for the lead reminded me of Jim Richards working Peter Brock during the 1987-race, but the final pass was reminiscent of Johnson passing Brock on the opening lap of Bathurst '89.

A third Brock RS500 was in the hands of Tony Noske. I have only seen a small b/w picture of this car running a seperate paint scheme from the Mobil cars of Brock and Andrew Miedecke. The car was entered under the 'The Brock Racing Team' name. In the past I believed the Peter Brock Ford Sierra team was Advantage Racing, only to find out that that name was only coined around late 1991/early 1992. If I know my Australian touring car scene Peter Brock was effectively his own boss from the forming of the Holden Dealer Team for the 1980 season, no matter what name the team bore.

Six Toyota Corollas started, the class dominating John Faulkner car an AE92, the cars of David Sala, Alf Grant and Phil Alexander being the older AE82s and finally two rwd AE86s for Geoff Full and Matthew Springer. Somehow I suspect the Grant, Alexander and Springer cars were all Bob Holden owned cars, but what do the local experts say?

Mark Skaife missed this race, but I don't know exactly why. I half remember it being down to an engine failure during testing at Amaroo, but also a shunt was involved. An engine change would be relatively easy, while a crash would be the more likely reason for Skaife not racing at Symmons Plains.

Jesper

the Alexander and Grant Corollas were the cars Bob got from England and the Springer car was Bob's 2nd Sprinter