The 1973 Bathurst
classic was run for the first time over a distance
of 1000 kilometres (630 miles) rather than 500
miles, due to Australia's conversion to the metric
system. It was also the first to be run under
the new production touring regulations, and there
was some doubt as to how many cars would finish,
because of the dual threat of more highly stressed
components and the extra distance. For 1973,
the classes were based entirely on engine capacity: -
Class A, 0-1300cc; Class B, 1301-2000cc; Class
C, 2001-3000cc; Class D, over 3000cc.
This put
the XU-1 Torana’s and the Falcons in the
same class, together with the four E49 Chargers
which were running. In all, five Falcons and
17 Torana’s faced the starter. To turn
back the clock a few years to 1969, co-drivers
were required for all the cars because of the
extra length of the race. Crewing the Falcons
were Allan Moffat and fan Geoghegan in the number
one works car, and Fred Gibson and Barry Seton
together again in the number two car. In the
privately entered Falcons, John Goss was with
Kevin Bartlett, John French with Bob Skelton,
and Murray Carter with Laurie Nelson.
For the
Hoiden Dealer team, Peter Brock was sharing with
Doug Chivas, and Colin Bond had Leo Geoghegan
as his co-driver. Other strong challengers were
Bob Jane and John Harvey, plus Don Holland and
Max Stewart, all in XU-1 Torana’s.
Race day was warm and sunny, in direct contrast
to 1972's pelting rain, and as the flag fell
John Goss, who had won pole position, leapt to
an immediate lead with Moffat, French and Carter
filling the next three places.
Freddie Gibson's
was the first Falcon to retire with a cooked
engine after less than an hour of racing, his
fifth "DNF" (Did Not Finish) in a row. Meanwhile,
Goss had increased his lead to 10 seconds over
Moffat, with French next, about to be overtaken
by Peter Brock and his XU-1. A very rapid pace
was being set by the leaders, and after only
90 minutes Goss, Moffat, Brock and Bond were
the only drivers on the same lap. At this stage
things were looking rosy for the Fords, especially
since a number of Torana’s
were having troubles with conrods letting to
and valves bending.
The problem was that most
of the privately-entered Torana’s were
using 3.08 to 1 final drives, which meant they
had to use a lot of revs to stay with the Dealer
Team cars which were using a taller 2.78 to 1
final drive. The Dealers Team Torana’s
were pulling 6500 rpm on Conrod Straight for
a top speed of 150 mph. To match this, the lower-geared
Torana’s would need to have revved to around
7000, a speed of revolution at which point things
start to break.
As the race progressed, the Goss/Bartlett
car maintained its advantage, but two things
happened which changed the face of the race: first, the Torana’s of Bob Jane and George
Garth (in a GTR) came into contact, causing the
Garth car to roll right into the path of John
Goss. The resultant damage not only wrecked a
tire but also damaged a radiator hose. Goss pitted,
changed the tire and went out again. Secondly,
Doug Chivas, who had taken over from Peter Brock
in the XU-1, ran out of petrol, and had to push
the car unaided up to the pits.
The time lost
possibly cost the Holden Dealer Team car the
race. Soon afterwards, the Goss/Bartlett Falcon
retired. The damaged radiator hose caused severe
overheating, ultimately resulting in a well-fried
piston. Understandably, Goss was a little savage
about the whole thing, especially when remembering
that the offending GTR Torana should not have
been on the track at all, as it had been towed
to the pits earlier in the race and was therefore
ineligible to restart.
All this drama put Allan
Moffat into a comfortable lead, a lead which
held to the finish, giving him his third Hardie-Ferodo
victory and "Pete" Geoghegan
his first. Toranas filled the following four
positions, headed by Brock and Bond, with the
Kaleda/Granger Charger sixth, and the only other
Falcon to finish, the car of Carter and Nelson,
in seventh spot. The Falcon of John French and
Bob Skelton, which was well up with the leaders
in the early stages, blew its motor to pieces
in Pit Straight at about two-thirds distance.
It was a very pleasing result for Ford, with
the combination of Moffat, Geoghegan and Howard
Marsden demonstrating a fine tactical plan and
an equally fine execution of that plan.
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