1987 Yokohama/Bob Jane T-Marts 300

the Australian touring car endurance race the World Touring Car Championship race 1987 Bob Jane T-Marts 500 thumb|right|Layout using both the road course and the oval The 1987 Yokohama/Bob Jane T-Marts 300 was an endurance race for Group A touring cars held at the Calder Park Raceway in Melbourne, Australia on the rarely used combined circuit which incorporated both the recently redeveloped road course and the newly completed NASCAR-style “Thunderdome” oval (and was in fact the first time the Thunderdome was used for any type of motor racing). The combined oval/road course was 4.216 km (2.620 mi) long and the race was run over 70 laps. The race took place on 9 August 1987. The race, which attracted 20 starters and was the first ever run on the combined road course / oval circuit, was won by the Peter Jackson Nissan Racing turbo Skyline DR30 RS of John Bowe and Terry Shiel. For Bowe, the 1984 and 1985 CAMS Gold Star winner and the 1986 Australian Sports Car Champion, it was his first touring car victory after coming close numerous times in the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship in the Volvo Dealer Teams Volvo 240T. Bowe started the race in the Nissan and later joined the Channel 7 commentary team for the concluding stages, unashamedly cheering "You beauty" when Shiel took the lead on the last lap.1987 Yokohama/Bob Jane T-Marts 300 highlights The Skyline used for the event was actually the team's spare car that had rarely seen any racing and in fact had spent the majority of its time as a static display car in various shopping centres throughout the country. Second was Larry Perkins and Canberra's Bill O'Brien in O'Brien's brand new Perkins Engineering built Holden VL Commodore SS Group A. After a tangle while lapping the New Zealand BMW M3 of Graham Lorimer which damaged the Commodore's steering, Perkins drove all but the last 2 laps of the race. The car was passed by Shiel soon after O'Brien exited the pits on the last lap through the Thunderdome and had to settle for second place. Finishing in third were Australian sprintcar stars Tony Noske and Garry Rush in Noske's ex-Perkins Holden VK Commodore SS Group A.1987 Yokohama/Bob Jane T-Marts 300 at History of Touring Car Racing The race was missing some of the big names in Australian touring car racing, namely Peter Brock's Melbourne based Holden Dealer Team who now being privateers and not backed by Holden were saving money by not attending both Brock and Moffat had attended the Spa 24 hours the previous weekend both the Holden Dealer Team and Allan Moffat Racing's Commodores were travelling back from Europe to Australia by boat, and Dick Johnson's Brisbane based Shell team who were busy converting their 1987 ATCC Ford Sierra RS Cosworth's into the newly homologated Ford Sierra RS500 in readiness for the Castrol 500 at Sandown just over a month later as well as the all-important James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst which in 1987 was a round of the World Touring Car Championship. The race was attended however by the Peter Jackson Nissan team who fronted with one car for their endurance co-drivers Bowe and Shiel, Roadways Racing with their VL Commodore for Allan Grice and wise-cracking Kiwi Graeme Crosby, while the JPS Team BMW also raced and looked likely winners until a late race mishap between Tony Longhurst and Perkins when Longhurst locked his brakes coming off the Thunderdome and hit the back of the Commodore. While Perkins was able to continue with only minor body damage, Longhurst was forced to park the black and gold BMW M3 with a broken ball joint.Naismith Barry Bathurst 1987/88 1987 Garry Sparke & Associates Glen Waverley, Victoria 0 908 081 359 56–59 The Preliminaries First The race was broadcast by Channel 7 with commentary from Mike Raymond, Neil Crompton, John Harvey and Brad Jones. Classes Cars competed in three classes based on engine capacity.Australian Auto Action, 23 October 1987, pages 12-13 Class A: Over 3001cc Class B: 2001-3000cc Class C: Up to 2000cc Results Pos Class No Entrant Drivers Car Laps Qual QualTime 1 A 30 AUS Peter Jackson Nissan Racing AUS John Bowe AUS Terry Shiel Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 70 4 1:47.59 2 A 11 AUS Everlast Battery Service AUS Perkins Engineering AUS Larry Perkins AUS Bill O'Brien Holden VL Commodore SS Group A 70 3 1:46.84 3 A 26 AUS Kalari Transport Services AUS Tony Noske AUS Garry Rush Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 69 8 1:50.29 4 B 43 NZL Graham Lorimer NZL Graham Lorimer NZL John Sax BMW M3 66 11 1:55.29 5 A 14 AUS Netcomm AUS Murray Carter AUS Denis Horley Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 66 9 1:50.40 6 A 42 AUS Jagparts AUS Gerald Kay Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 64 12 1:56.21 7 A 69 AUS Sunliner Campervans AUS Paul Trevathan NZL Tony Hunter Mitsubishi Starion Turbo 63 16 2:03.10 8 A 20 AUS Salisbury North Service Station AUS John Virgo AUS Brian Lee BMW 635 CSi 60 17 2:06.19 9 C 88 AUS David Sala AUS David SalaAUS Grant Bailey Isuzu Gemini ZZ 60 19 2:07.27 10 C 86 AUS Gemspares AUS Daryl Hendrick AUS John White Isuzu Gemini ZZ 57 18 2:07.24 DNF B 3 AUS JPS Team BMW NZL Jim Richards AUS Tony Longhurst BMW M3 51 2 1:46.29 DNF A 21 AUS Lusty Engineering AUS Graham Lusty AUS John Lusty Holden VL Commodore SS Group A 43 13 1:56.45 DNF A 25 NZL Team Nissan Racing NZ NZL Graeme Bowkett NZL Kent Baigent Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 39 5 1:48.72 DNF A 24 NZL Team Nissan Racing NZ NZL Kent Baigent AUS Kevin Bartlett Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 28 6 1:48.78 DNF A 2 AUS Roadways Racing AUS Allan Grice NZL Graeme Crosby Holden VL Commodore SS Group A 22 1 1:45.74 DNF A 48 AUS Tony Kavich Racing AUS Tony Kavich AUS Ken Davison Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 21 10 1:54.98 DNF A 66 AUS The Xerox Shop AUS John Mitchell AUS John Internis Mitsubishi Starion Turbo 21 15 1:58.35 DNF A 47 AUS Brian Callaghan Racing P/L AUS Brian Callaghan AUS Barry Graham Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 19 7 1:49.65 DNF C 90 AUS Toyota Team Australia NZL John Faulkner AUS Drew Price Toyota Corolla GT 10 14 1:56.92 Statistics Pole Position - #2 Allan Grice - 1:45.74 Fastest Lap - #24 Kent Baigent - 1:46.17 Race Time - 2:09.47.41 See also 1987 Australian Touring Car season References Further reading Australian Motor Racing Yearbook, 1987/88 Category:1987 in Australian motorsport