Hang Ten 400

[Kingair]

The Hang Ten 400 was it always a 500km race?

[chavez]

No.

During the late seventies / early eighties it seemed to vary from year to year. The "400" may suggest 400 kilometres but some years it was much less.

Only from '84 onwards did the "500" become 500 kilometres.

[racer69]

Originally Posted by chavez

During the late seventies / early eighties it seemed to vary from year to year. The "400" may suggest 400 kilometres but some years it was much less.

The LCCA really couldn't seem to make up their mind what 400 was, a few years examples of race lengths for the same circuit

In 1978 the "Hang Ten 400" was 129 laps
In 1981 the "Hang Ten 400" was 119 laps
In 1982 the "Castrol 400" was 110 laps
In 1983 the "Castrol 400" was 129 laps

It was a nice piece of symmetry that when the race became 500 kilometres in 1984 with the advent of the GP circuit, it stayed at 129 laps, and then in 1989 when the 500 event cut out the GP section and used Dandenong Rd esses, the number of laps went to 161, just like Bathurst.

[PVDA]

The LCCA obviously still hadn't worked out how to convert 250 miles to kilometres.

When the track was extended in 1984 the 400 became the 500 using the longer track configuration and as r69 mentioned above they bumped up the number of laps when they stopped using the long track.