[William Dale Jr]

Castrol Clash
Oran Park South Circuit, NSW (15/2/1987)

Circuit Length: 1.96 km
Race Distance: 25 laps
Weather: Rain clearing

Oran Park was celebrating its 25th anniversary, and on the programme was the first Group A race for 1987 in Australia. A 25-lapper on the original short-circuit drew a solid local entry, with the bigger names mostly still on their way home from New Zealand's Nissan-Mobil Series. Larry Perkins entered, but didn't quite make it back in time.

Cars making their debut were Colin Bond's long-awaited Alfa Romeo 75, and two Ford Sierra RS Cosworths from the OXO team. Tony Noske planned to have his first run in his ex-Perkins VK but put it into the wall during practice, while Phil Ward had the first of many drives in his ex-AMG Mercedes-Benz 190E.

Reed mastered the greasy early conditions to run out a comfortable winner from Bond. Laurie Hazelton backed his Volvo into the pit wall late in the race, injuring a TV cameraman. Magazine sources disagree over whether the crash caused the race to be stopped, something I suspect the TV coverage would solve.

Position	Number	Entrant	Driver	Car	Class	Race Time/Laps	Retirement Cause	Fastest Time	Qualifying Time	Grid Position
1	34	Lansvale Smash Repairs	Steve Reed	Holden Commodore VK	A	20m19.79s			0m47.18s	2
2	75	Network Alfa	Colin Bond	Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo	B	20m43.88s			0m46.86s	1
3		Terry Finnigan	Terry Finnigan	Holden Commodore VK	A	21m06.54s			0m48.35s	9
4		Formula 1 Investments	Graham Moore	Holden Commodore VK	A	21m48.43s			0m47.38s	4
5		Lusty Engineering	Graham Lusty	Holden Commodore VK	A	24 laps			0m48.19s	7
6		Tony Mulvihill	Tony Mulvihill	Holden Commodore VK	A	24 laps			0m48.01s	6
7		Reithmuller-Ward	Phil Ward	Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16	B	24 laps			0m47.47s	5
8		Paul Jones	Paul Jones	Toyota Corolla	C	23 laps			0m51.66s	15
9		Gemspares	Daryl Hendrick	Izusu Gemini ZZ	C	23 laps			0m52.04s	16
10		Ray Gulson	Graham Gulson	BMW 635CSi	A	23 laps			0m48.51s	10
11		Ratcliff Transport Spares	David Ratcliff	Toyota Corolla	C	22 laps			0m51.??s	14
12		Laurie Hazelton	Laurie Hazelton	Volvo 240T	A	22 laps	crashed		0m55.22s	17
13		Kevin Clark	Kevin Clark	Ford Mustang	A	21 laps			0m51.12s	13 (pits)
DNF	35	OXO Supercube Motorsport	Craig Harris	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS	A	6 laps?	withdrew		0m50.11s	12
DNF	34	OXO Supercube Motorsport	Don Smith	Ford Sierra Cosworth RS	A	1 lap?	withdrew		0m48.21s	8
DNS			Peter McLeod	Holden Commodore VK	A		lost wheel - parade lap		0m47.21s	3
DNS	26	Kalari Transport	Tony Noske	Holden Commodore VK	A		practice crash		0m48.92s	11
ENT	11		Larry Perkins	Holden Commodore VK	A