The 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500 was an endurance motor race open to Group E Series Production Touring Cars.1972 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 89 The race was held on 1 October 1972 at the Mount Panorama Circuit just outside Bathurst in New South Wales, Australia. Cars competed in four classes defined by Capacity Price Units, where the engine capacity, expressed in litres (to three decimal places), was multiplied by the purchase price in Australian dollars to arrive at a CP value for each vehicle.1972 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 190 It was the 13th running of the Bathurst 500 race and the last to be held over the original distance of 500 miles. It was also the last to allow drivers to compete for the full distance without a relief driver. The race was the third round of the 1972 Australian Manufacturers' Championship.

1972 marked the first year in which rain had significantly affected the race. It was won by Peter Brock driving a Holden Dealer Team prepared Holden Torana, the first of Brock's record nine victories. Brock finished a lap ahead of Queensland racer John French driving a Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III, this despite Brock being penalised one minute at his last pit stop for starting his car while the HDT crew were still re-fueling (under the ARDC's race regulations of the day, car engines had to be switched off during pit stops and could only be restarted once the re-fueling had been completed). A further lap behind was the Chrysler Valiant Charger of Doug Chivas. It was the only time the big three manufacturers of Australia in the 1960s and 1970s all had representatives in the first three outright positions in the race.

Pole sitter and winner of the previous two Bathurst 500's, Allan Moffat, had a trying race. After contesting the lead with Brock in the early laps, Moffat spun his factory entered Ford Falcon at Sulman Park on top of The Mountain in the wet conditions. Although he would fight his way back, he would twice be penalised one minute for restarting his car during pit stops before the re-fueling had been completed. Later in the race the Falcon would also encounter brake problems and Moffat dropped back to finish the race in 9th place, 8 laps down on Brock.

1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 winner Colin Bond's race ended early when he rolled his Holden Dealer Team Holden Torana on lap 3 while in fourth place. 1967 winner Fred Gibson also rolled his Works GTHO Falcon at McPhillamy Park in the early wet conditions after being forced offline when lapping a slower car. The Falcon spun into the bank and rolled onto its roof on lap 22.1972 Bathurst 500 highlights

Class structure

Class A The class for cars under 3000 CP units was contested by Chrysler Valiant Galant, Datsun 1200, Fiat 850 and Mazda 1300.

Class B The 3001 to 9000 CP units class saw a mix of Datsun 1600, Fiat 124 Sport, Ford Escort, 2.8 litre Holden Torana and Mazda RX-2.

Class C The 9001 to 18000 CP units class featured Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV, E38 version of the Chrysler Valiant Charger and 3.3 litre Holden Torana GTR XU-1.

Class D For cars over 18001 CP units, the class consisted only of E49 version of the Chrysler Valiant Charger and Ford Falcon GT-HO.

Top 10 Qualifiers Pos No EntrantEntry List, 1972 Official Programme, Mt. Panorama, Bathurst, Sunday, 1 October, pages 46-47 Driver Car Qual Pole 1 Ford Motor Company of Australia Allan Moffat Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III 2:35.8 2 12 McLeod Ford Pty. Ltd. John Goss Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III 2:36.7 3 5 Bryan Byrt Ford Pty. Ltd. John French Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III 2:37.5 4 8 Ford Motor Company of Australia Fred Gibson Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III 2:38.2 5 28 Holden Dealer Team Peter Brock Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 2:38.2 6 2 Geoghegan Sporty Cars Leo Geoghegan Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 2:39.1 7 24 Holden Dealer Team Colin Bond Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 2:39.5 8 29 N. G. Booth Pty. Ltd. Graham Moore Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 2:40.1 9 15 D. Beck Doug Chivas Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 2:41.1 10 13 Gold Power Automotive Australia Pty. Ltd. Des West Ford XY Falcon GTHO Phase III 2:41.7

Results Results sourced in part from:

Pos Class No Entrant Drivers Car Laps QualPos 1 C 28 Holden Dealer Team Peter Brock Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 130 5 2 D 5 Bryan Byrt Ford Pty. Ltd. John French Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III 129 3 3 D 15 D. Beck Doug Chivas Damon Beck Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 128 9 4 D 2 Geoghegan Sporty Cars Leo Geoghegan Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 127 6 5 C 19 Max Wright Motors Pty. Ltd. Don Holland Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 125 11 6 C 27 R. Forbes Bob Forbes Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 124 12 7 D 10 C. P. Gulson Paul Gulson Ray Gulson Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III 123 16 8 C 20 Roamer Watches of Australia Pty. Ltd. Ray Kaleda Paul Pressler Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E38 122 26 9 D 1 Ford Motor Company of Australia Allan Moffat Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III 122 1 10 D 3 M. Carter Murray Carter Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III 120 22 11 D 4 Eastside Chrysler Tony Farrell Tom Naughton Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 118 21 12 B 44 Rowell Thiele Ford Pty. Ltd. Digby Cooke Geoff Leeds Ford Escort GT 1600 Mk.I 117 31 13 B 37 Mazda Dealer Team Wayne Rogerson Mazda RX-2 117 27 14 B 41 Mazda Dealer Team Bernie Haehnle Mazda RX-2 116 39 15 B 36 Finnie Ford Pty. Ltd. Barry Seton Herb Taylor Ford Escort GT 1600 Mk.I 116 34 16 B 38 Slideaway Car Roofs Pty. Ltd. Pat Hogan Lakis Manticas Ford Escort GT 1600 Mk.I 116 28 17 C 25 A. F. & M. Beninca Pty. Ltd. Ray Harrison Mal Robertson Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV 115 33 18 B 52 Bruce Lynton Car Sales Bob Holden Ford Escort GT 1600 Mk.I 115 38 19 B 43 Rolls Motors Pty. Ltd. Ron Kearns Fiat 124 Sport 115 37 20 C 32 Leach Motors George Giesberts Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 113 24 21 B 49 Mazda Dealer Team George Garth Mazda RX-2 112 30 22 B 51 Chas Tierney Pty. Ltd. Mal Brewster Ray Strong Holden LC Torana GTR 112 40 23 B 39 R. Wedd Bob Cracknell Bob Wedd Holden LC Torana GTR 111 36 24 A 73 Datsun Racing Team Bill Evans Datsun 1200 107 50 25 A 72 Mazda Dealer Team Gary Cooke Mazda 1300 106 48 26 A 63 Datsun Racing Team Jon Leighton Datsun 1200 106 53 27 A 62 Mazda Dealer Team Lynn Brown Mazda 1300 106 49 28 A 64 Bainbridge Motors Mel Mollison M Hayson Mazda 1300 105 47 29 B 53 B. Bassingthwaighte / R. Hanger Ray Hanger Barry Bassingthwaite Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 105 43 30 A 75 W.H. Motors Pty. Ltd. Bruce Stewart Datsun 1200 105 57 31 A 70 John Palmer Motors John Leffler Mazda 1300 104 55 32 A 61 W.H. Motors Pty. Ltd. Don Smith Datsun 1200 103 56 33 B 45 Davidson Motors Doug Grimson Morrie Miller Datsun 1600 103 54 34 A 71 L. C. Giddings & Son Ray Lintott Datsun 1200 102 60 35 A 69 Formula 1 Europa-Garage Gary Leggatt Fiat 850 Coupe 101 52 DNF B 48 Olbis Industries Eric Olsen Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 104 32 DNF C 21 G. Lister Gerry Lister David Seldon Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 103 15 DNF B 42 A. R. Keith Alan Keith Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 42 DNF A 66 Collins Motors Roger Bonhomme Chrysler Valiant Galant 94 59 DNF B 47 Pacific Film Laboratories Pty. Ltd. Christine Gibson Jan Holland Holden LJ Torana 2850 88 44 DNF D 14 Essendon Chrysler Lawrie Nelson Tony Roberts Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 13 DNF A 68 Datsun Racing Team Doug Whiteford Datsun 1200 76 51 DNF D 13 Gold Power Automotive Australia Pty. Ltd. Des West Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III 74 10 DNF C 29 N. G. Booth Pty. Ltd. Graham Moore Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 72 8 DNF C 30 D. & P. Traders Pty Ltd Pat Peck Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 71 25 DNF B 46 M. Grayson Max Grayson Bill Gates Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 68 41 DNF C 31 Ron Hodgson Motors Bruce McPhee Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 66 19 DNF B 54 Bryan Byrt Ford Pty. Ltd. Lyndon Arnel Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 64 35 DNF A 65 Datsun Racing Team Qld. Barry Tapsall Datsun 1200 46 58 DNF D 11 Formula 1 Europa-Garage Tony Allen Len Searle Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 36 20 DNF D 12 McLeod Ford Pty. Ltd. John Goss Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III 24 2 DNF B 40 Brian Wood Ford Jim Murcott Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 23 29 DNF D 8 Ford Motor Company of Australia Fred Gibson Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III 22 4 DNF C 33 W. S. Negus Wayne Negus Neville Grigsby Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 21 14 DNF C 22 P. Ramsay Bill Brown Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 20 18 DNF D 9 Lakemba Chrysler Graham Ryan Chrysler VH Valiant Charger R/T E49 14 17 DNF B 50 H. L. Vines Herb Vines Chris Batger Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 8 45 DNF C 24 Holden Dealer Team Colin Bond Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1 2 7 DSQ A 67 Bainbridge Motors Geoff Perry Mazda 1300 107 46 DNS A 74 Victorian Police Motor Sports Club Fred Sutherland Mazda 1300 DNS C 35 Cessnock Motor Works Pty. Ltd. Allan Grice Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1

Statistics Pole Position - #1 Allan Moffat - 2:35.8 Fastest Lap - #1 Allan Moffat - 2:36.5 (lap record) Average Speed - 133 km/h Race time of winning car - 6:01:53 (including one minute penalty)How They Finished Last Year, 1973 Official Programme - Mount Panorama, Bathurst - Sunday, 30th September, page 53 One minute penalties were applied to #28 Peter Brock (starting car while refueling), #3 Murray Carter and #53 Bassingthwaite/Hanger (push starts) Two one minute penalties were applied to both #1 Allan Moffat (starting car while refueling) and #2 Leo Geoghegan (push starts)

References

External links CAMS Manual reference to Australian titles Race results at www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au 1972 Hardie-Ferodo 500 images at www.autopics.com.au 1972 Official Programme (including Entry List) at www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au 1973 Official Programme (including 1972 Results) at www.uniquecarsandparts.com.au