1984 Australian Grand Prix

September 2020 January 2012 CUST Formula Mondial race Australian Australia File:Calder Park Map 003.png XLIX Dunlop Tyres Australian Grand Prix Calder Park Raceway, Melbourne, Victoria 18 November 1984 Permanent racing facility 1.000 1.609 100 100 160.9 Sunny Roberto Moreno BRA Ralt-Ford 0'40.45 Niki Lauda Ralt-Ford 0'41.27 AUT Roberto Moreno BRA Ralt-Ford Keke Rosberg FIN Ralt-Ford Andrea de Cesaris ITA Ralt-Ford thumb|Roberto Moreno won the race driving a Ralt RT4, similar to the example pictured above The 1984 Australian Grand Prix was a race for Formula Mondial racing cars, held at Calder Park Raceway in Victoria, Australia on 18 November 1984. It was contested over a distance of 160.9 km (100 laps x 1.609 km) or an even 100 miles. The race was the forty ninth Australian Grand Prix, the fifth to be held at Calder and the fourth to be held specifically for Formula Pacific / Formula Mondial racing cars. It was the last Australian Grand Prix to be held prior to the race becoming a round of the Formula One World Championship the following year. Race The race was won by Brazilian driver Roberto Moreno, his third win during the four years in which the Grand Prix was held for the Formula Pacific / Formula Mondial category. While Formula Mondial would continue as the premier Australian open-wheel racing category for another two years, and would not be completely replaced until the creation of Formula Holden in 1989, this was the last year it would be associated with the Australian Grand Prix, as the race was granted Formula One World Championship status from 1985 and would be contested only by Formula One cars. In many ways, Australian domestic open-wheel racing would be deprived of a signature race by the arrival of Formula One, a situation that continues as of 2015. The trend of the race organiser Bob Jane of importing overseas star racers (mostly Formula One drivers) continued. In addition to Moreno, the starters for the 1984 race included 1975, 1977 and 1984 F1 World Champion Niki Lauda, 1982 F1 World Champion Keke Rosberg, as well as Formula One drivers Andrea de Cesaris and François Hesnault. De Cesaris started from an unguarded pit lane ahead of the field and led the race briefly, although official lap scoring started his race when he started his second lap. 1984 Australian Drivers' Championship winner and front row qualifier, John Bowe, led the race until lap 9 when overtaken by Moreno after a loose spark plug lead caused his 1.6-litre Ford engine to misfire. He was forced to pit for a replacement plug lead. Poor starts by Moreno's teammate for the race, Niki Lauda, Rosberg and de Cesaris were overcome as the race progressed. Both keen aviators, Lauda and Rosberg had actually spent most of practice and qualifying attending an air show at the nearby Essendon Airport, with newly crowned World Champion Lauda stating that he was in Australia mostly for a holiday and just to get away from Europe. Hesnault, Bowe's teammate, retired after a bump with Bruce Connolly. Lauda and Rosberg diced briefly for third, before Rosberg and Terry Ryan clashed when Ryan was being lapped, with the closely following Lauda also colliding with Ryan, the result being that Rosberg and Ryan were able to continue while Lauda was out. Bowe dropped down the field with electrical problems. First Rosberg then de Cesaris caught and overtook the Tiga FA81/83 of Alfredo Costanzo to fill the podium positions. Bowe finished sixth behind David McMillan. The Ralt RT4 was the choice of car for three-quarters of the field, with 18 of the 24 starters driving one. Other cars included Costanzo's Tiga FA81/83, two Cheetah Mk.8's, a Kaditcha FA82A, a Liston BF2 and a Dart 83M. All cars were powered by the 1.6-litre Ford BDA 4 cylinder engine. Touring car driver Peter Williamson was entered in a Toyota powered Toleman TG860, but a crash in early practice that damaged the car saw him announce his retirement from open wheel racing. Consequently, the Toleman was withdrawn from the meeting. Due largely to the Australian Grand Prix becoming a round of the Formula One World Championship from 1985, John Bowe became the last Australian driver to lead an AGP until Mark Webber led lap 21 of the 2006 Australian Grand Prix in a Williams FW28-Cosworth. With Moreno taking the lead from Bowe on lap 9 of the race, it would be a total of 1,504 race laps before Webber would next put an Australian in the lead of an Australian Grand Prix. Classification Results as follows:Wilson Stewart Graham Howard The Official 50-race history of the Australian Grand Prix 1986 R & T Publishing Gordon, NSW 0-9588464-0-5 476–485 1984 Qualifying Pos No Driver Car Qual Gap 1 19 BRA Roberto Moreno Ralt RT4 Ford 0:40.45 — 2 4 AUS John Bowe Ralt RT4 Ford 0:40.66 +0.21 3 1 AUS Alfredo Costanzo Tiga FA81/83 Ford 0:40.68 +0.23 4 9 FIN Keke Rosberg Ralt RT4/85 Ford 0:40.83 +0.38 5 8 ITA Andrea de Cesaris Ralt RT4/85 Ford 0:40.86 +0.41 6 5 FRA François Hesnault Ralt RT4 Ford 0:41.17 +0.72 730 AUS Lucio Cesario Ralt RT4 Ford 0:41.33 +0.88 8 6 AUS Richard Davison Ralt RT4 Ford 0:41.45 +1.00 9 21 AUS Keith McClelland Ralt RT4 Ford 0:41.75 +1.30 10 51 AUS Bruce Connolly Ralt RT4 Ford 0:41.85 +1.40 11 41 NZL Dave McMillan Ralt RT4 Ford 0:41.89 +1.44 12 17 NZL Paul Radisich Dart 83M Ford 0:41.98 +1.53 13 74 AUS Chris Hocking Ralt RT4 Ford 0:42.09 +1.64 14 22 AUS Peter Hopwood Ralt RT4/85 Ford 0:42.10 +1.65 15 36 AUS Terry Ryan Ralt RT4 Ford 0:42.13 +1.68 16 25 AUS Peter Macrow Cheetah Mk.8 Ford 0:42.13 +1.68 17 13 AUS Brett Fisher Liston BF2 Ford 0:42.33 +1.88 18 78 AUS Brian Sampson Cheetah Mk.8 Ford 0:42.47 +2.02 19 16 AUS Bob Creasy Ralt RT4 Ford 0:42.62 +2.17 20 18 AUT Niki Lauda Ralt RT4/85 Ford 0:42.68 +2.23 21 40 AUS Chas Talbot Ralt RT4 Ford 0:42.74 +2.29 22 15 NZL Tom Brickley Kaditcha FA82A Ford 0:43.15 +2.70 23 26 NZL Neil Cunningham Ralt RT4 Ford 0:43.86 +3.41 24 58 AUS Peter Jones Ralt RT4 Ford 0:44.03 +3.58 25 7 AUS Peter Williamson Toleman TG860 Toyota DNP Race Pos No Driver Car Entrant Official Souvenir Program, Calder Park, 17th-18th November 1984 Laps Time 1 19 BRA Roberto Moreno Ralt RT4 Ford Goold Motorsport 100 1 h 10 min 51.39 s 2 9 FIN Keke Rosberg Ralt RT4/85 Ford Ralt Australia 100 1 h 11 min 20.97 s 3 8 ITA Andrea de Cesaris Ralt RT4/85 Ford Ralt Australia 100 1 h 11 min 27.63 s 4 1 AUS Alfredo Costanzo Tiga FA81/83 Ford Porsche Cars Australia 99 5 41 NZL Dave McMillan Ralt RT4 Ford D. McMillan 99 6 4 AUS John Bowe Ralt RT4/84 Ford Chris Leach Ent. 99 7 6 AUS Richard Davison Ralt RT4 Ford Richard Davison 98 8 51 AUS Bruce Connolly Ralt RT4 Ford B. Connolly 98 9 78 AUS Brian Sampson Cheetah Mk.8 Ford B. Sampson 97 10 16 AUS Bob Creasy Ralt RT4 Ford R. W. Creasy 93 11 13 AUS Brett Fisher Liston BF2 Ford Brett Fisher 93 12 25 AUS Peter Macrow Cheetah Mk.8 Ford Repco Engine Parts 91 13 21 AUS Keith McClelland Ralt RT4 Ford The Menage Racing Team 82 Ret 15 NZL Tom Brickley Kaditcha FA82A Ford Don Hewitt 75 Crash Ret 36 AUS Terry Ryan Ralt RT4 Ford Terry Ryan Auto Services 73 spun / stalled Ret 26 NZL Neil Cunningham Ralt RT4 Ford N. Cunningham 63 wheel bearing Ret 74 AUS Chris Hocking Ralt RT4 Ford C. Hocking 45 half shaft Ret 58 AUS Peter Jones Ralt RT4 Ford Recar Racing Pty. Ltd. 43 gearbox Ret 18 AUT Niki Lauda Ralt RT4/85 Ford Goold Motorsport 41 collision / damage Ret 40 AUS Chas Talbot Ralt RT4 Ford Chas Talbot 27 head gasket Ret 5 FRA François Hesnault Ralt RT4 Ford Chris Leach Ent. 20 collision / steering Ret 17 NZL Paul Radisich Dart 83M Ford P. Radisich 7 engine Ret 30 AUS Lucio Cesario Ralt RT4 Ford Porsche Cars Australia 0 Brakes Ret 22 AUS Peter Hopwood Ralt RT4/85 Ford The Menage Racing Team 0 collision / broken wheel DNS 7 AUS Peter Williamson Toleman TG860 Toyota Peter Williamson Toyota 0 accident Winner's race time: 1 h 10 min 51.39 s Winner's average speed: 136.33 km/h (74.71 mph) Fastest lap: Niki Lauda: 41.27 s, 140.4 km/h (87.3 mph) References Further reading Barry Catford, The end of an era: 1984 Australian Grand Prix, Australian Motor Racing Year 1984/85, pages 84 to 92 Jeff Hutchinson Moreno on top down under, Modern Motor, February 1985, pages 98-100 External links Australian Grand Prix - Calder, 18 Nov 1984, www.oldracingcars.com Australian Grand Prix 1983 Australian Grand Prix 1984 1985 Australian Grand Prix Grand Prix Category:Australian Grand Prix Australian Grand Prix