MHDT at 1986 ETCC

[lj79]

"MotorSport" magazine here in the Uk ran an article in its latest edition about Brock / Moffat's foray in to Europe in 86.

Key points I can remember from the article:

Team was amazed (suspicious) that a 3.5 Rover could blitz the Commodore's on Monza's long straights.

The energy polarizer first surfaced - those that didn't believe Brock had to pretend they did or would be shown the exit door...

Following this, rumours that Brock (Peter and Bev) and others performed a "ritual" in the Ardennes forest on the eve of the race

By the time of Spa, money had run out (it was believed that Holden was in talks with Walkinshaw about 1987)

[Rob 18]

IIRC, earlier in 1986 when both teams (HDT & TWR Rovers) competed in the Nissan-Mobil series in New Zealand, The Rover Vitesse had no speed at all on the straights & the 304 Holden V8 absolutely hosed em on the straights & won the race quite covincingly from Johnsons Mustang, & in the meantime giving the HDT pairing of Brock & Moffat a lot of confidence before heading oversea's to take on Europe's best.

Take the Rovers back to Europe & it was a different story though. This time the 5 litre Holden was getting hosed on the straights by the little 3.5 litre Rovers.

I know it had a few of the Holden runner's a bit mystified...

[amiers]

Bathurst 1987 showed the difference in the way they read the rules.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by lj79

"MotorSport" magazine here in the Uk ran an article in its latest edition about Brock / Moffat's foray in to Europe in 86.

Which edition of the magazine is it in?? Might be worth a look

[racer69]

If it is the latest Motorsport in England, they usually reach us about 3 months after.

Regarding the Rovers, wasn't the drubbing TWR got at Wellington and Pukekohe (Brock/Moffat won at Wellington, Harvey and Lowe won at Pukekohe in the second car) what got their arses into gear development wise for the European season. Remember in 1987 2.3ltr BMW M3's were passing V8 Commodore's on the straights. The Rovers were lighter as well remember.

On the 1986 ETCC review video (the one released in Australia by Atlab, with commentary from Mike Raymond, Neil Crompton and Neville Hay), it shows footage from a camera above the HDT pits showing Bev 'waving' something over Peter's food during the Spa 24 Hours........

Wasn't there a downturn in the economy right before the 1986 campaign (being 3 at the time i've no memory), which also hurt Grice's campaign, that resulted in contesting the 3 opening rounds (Monza, Donnington Park & Hockenheim), plus the Spa 24 Hours. They were also meant to go back for the Silverstone TT later in the year, but the HDT didn't. The car was there in Mobil colours (minus the Holden Dealer Team signage), run by GM Dealersport for John Cleland and Vince Woodman.

Although the campaign is remembered as a bit of a failure, due to the attention paid by Grice beating them, it is worth remembering Brock and Moffat scored a pair of 5th places (Donnington & Hockenheim), and led the Donnington round with Grice (running 1-2) in the early stages, before tyre choices let them down. Not too shabby for what at the time was the best touring car championship in the world.

[GTRMagic]

I can recall at the time that at least one of the 2 TWR Rovers that ended up in the Wellington race were Australian visitors to Bathurst in 1984... in the first year of Group 'A'

The Rover engine got some homologation benefits related to engine parts (for same reason "flat plane crank" rings a bell) and the Rovers were rocketships in a straight line in Europe.

TWR as Dunlop distributor in Europe at the time may also have helped the Rovers along as well (although not at Spa, when the tyres kept-a-popping...)

[lj79]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Which edition of the magazine is it in?? Might be worth a look

The July edition

[Rob 18]

I do remember in 86 at Wellington the Rovers were running like dogs though. Weather it was a fuel issue or what, they definately had problems getting them to run properly..

[chavez]

Remember that all the stuff that was going on in the Brock camp at the time would not have contributed much to team spirit, morale or performance.

Also the ability to get out of the chicanes onto the long Monza straights was (and still is) important.

[Henry]

I don't believe tha HDT's morale was too bad at that stage... although there were signs that all wasn't quite as it used to be by then...

Their appearance in Europe in 1986 was high quality... cars and team immaculately turned out etc, which lent a huge amount of credibility to the performance of the Chickadee car, as they identified them as the battlers, and the HDT as the works guns...

The aussies were beaten on a couple of occasions by local knowledge, and (to quote a commonly-used Brockism) gave it a red-hot go. Their showing set Grice up with a number of European drives in the ensuing years. Another of the things which came out of the 1986 ETC, was validation of Grice's aggessive style of racing.

[Falcadore]

Originally Posted by Henry

I don't believe tha HDT's morale was too bad at that stage... although there were signs that all wasn't quite as it used to be by then...

Their appearance in Europe in 1986 was high quality... cars and team immaculately turned out etc, which lent a huge amount of credibility to the performance of the Chickadee car, as they identified them as the battlers, and the HDT as the works guns...

The aussies were beaten on a couple of occasions by local knowledge, and (to quote a commonly-used Brockism) gave it a red-hot go. Their showing set Grice up with a number of European drives in the ensuing years. Another of the things which came out of the 1986 ETC, was validation of Grice's aggessive style of racing.

Read the article at my local newso during the week - current Australian shelf issue GTR - and it seemed by the story that internal MHDT morale was fueled by Alcohol. Brock picked the mechs up at the airport in a paralytic Boonie type state.

Joe Saward scrawled the words.

[lj79]

Originally Posted by Henry

Their appearance in Europe in 1986 was high quality... cars and team immaculately turned out etc, which lent a huge amount of credibility to the performance of the Chickadee car, as they identified them as the battlers, and the HDT as the works guns...
Another of the things which came out of the 1986 ETC, was validation of Grice's aggessive style of racing.

Diasagree - saw the races that year and Grice (Les Small prepared ?) had loads more ooomph than Brock. The MHDT looked good, but Schnitzer, Ras (Volvo) and TWR Bastos Rovers were miles better prepared.

Sorry guys but Brock / Moffat was a let down in 86. At Monza, Donington. Hockenheim the consensus amongst the fans I spoke to was that Grice was the man and Brock / Moffat were bit players at best. I recall fans cheering Grice big time, but not Brock - that includes me.

[GTRMagic]

A Roadways engine in Group C and Group A was always a little stronger, a little noisier than an HDT engine. The problem was though the level of reliability... they were fast in a straight line, could rev to 8,000rpm (when nobody else was trying such a thing) and were good in practice/qualifying.

The Grice squad was also helped a lot by their Yokohama works deal, which gave them a wide selection of soft, sticky covers. The HDT mob picked tyres from what was available... I can recall reading that the Pirelli people didnt think the team was serious until it practiced in the top 5 at their first event... so didnt give them the gun compounds... Bridgestone were yet to be a force in the sport by then......

As for HDT morale... surely it was a dream job, to work for one of the very few pro outfits in Australia, especially with the roadcar division right next door

[alfasud]

Originally Posted by Rob 18

IIRC, earlier in 1986 when both teams (HDT & TWR Rovers) competed in the Nissan-Mobil series in New Zealand, The Rover Vitesse had no speed at all on the straights & the 304 Holden V8 absolutely hosed em on the straights & won the race quite covincingly from Johnsons Mustang...

Don't remember the Rover being that slow... was at the 1986 Pukekohe race and remember the Rover made it onto the podium, although it would appear the Walkinshaw Rover was a couple of laps down on the Harvey/Lowe Commodore and the Crowe/Longhurst BMW 635CSi.

http://homepage.mac.com/frank_de_jon...0Pukekohe.html

[racer69]

Originally Posted by Falcadore

Joe Saward scrawled the words.

That explains it then. He's the man that thought the Aussie scruiteneers and teams were in the wrong at Bathurst in 1987, and reported so.

Originally Posted by Henry

....and the HDT as the works guns...
.

It definatly appeared that way, as thats how it was in Australia. But the MHDT effort in Europe was abit of a shoestring affair (though not to Roadways extent) compared to their Australian efforts. Holden weren't really tipping in much, they were relying on Mobil backing and help locally from Tony Fall at Opel and the GM Euroteam.

Remember as well as their European foray, MHDT still ran two cars in the first 6 rounds of the ATCC, Neal Lowe replacing Brock at Sandown when he was in Europe. It was a major effort and was a shakedown for the 1987 WTCC which Brock wanted the HDT to enter completely, of course this didn;t come off. (Neither did Grice's)

[mountainstar]

There was another article on the same topic in Australian Muscle Car or Motor Racing Australia that ran within the past two years.

[Harves]

Don't forget in 86 the same team (HDT) went to Japan to race at Mt Fuji, I know this because I was there with them, so if as reported, the money was running out it certainly didn't show.

Never believe everything you read!!!!

[racer69]

The race at Fuji was right at the end of the year though. It was run on the same weekend as the Pepsi 250 at Oran Park, which Harves Snr was competing in the #3 HDT car.

[Harves]

2nd I think from memory?

[MHDT]

The HDT did a fantastic job during their 1986 ETCC foray, despite any negative connotations derived from a retrospectively generated piece of journalism.

Three main things lessened their attack, these being:

1. European Fuel - a different octane rating nullified Neil Lowe's engine development work, and subsequently caused head gasket failures.

2. Tyres - the inability to sustain heat in a tyre during extremely cold conditions not experienced in Australia

3. The Australian dollar devaluating against other currencies during 1986, on the back of Mr Keating’s "Banana Republic" comments.

A possible 4th factor may have been the uncertainty of future Holden support, with certain people sharpening up their hatchets back in Melbourne.

This topic has also been raised a couple of times previously:

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62164
http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...=44464&page=10