Best Bathurst

[Henry]

No more than Richards...

The HDT of the 70's had it all going for them: the backing of Holden and everything it entailed, the Phillip Morris money, and the sort of camaraderie which overcomes any obstacle placed in their way. Brock, "the Spear" (a Holden executive), "Plastic" Pemberton and others all worked and played together, and morale within the team was apparently something else...

... and something no other team could match much of the time.

 

[Bigcol]

HS i can only remember Brock winning bathurst once when the track was wet all day.
1972 any one care to add on that

 

[Henry]

While his late charge at Bathurst in 1987 was spectacular, I always felt he was less of a wet-weather specialist than a guy who handled slippery surfaces very well. DJ, Perkins, and Kevin Bartlett also shone in wet conditions at various stages in various races, but none of them were thought of as being "rainmasters"

 

[Beejay]

quote:Originally posted by bigcol

HS i can only remember Brock winning bathurst once when the track was wet all day.
1972 any one care to add on that

72, 75, 78, 79, 80, 82, 83, 84, 87

Only 72 and 87 were significantly wet during his wins. And Brock's wins were very little to do with rain. 72 Brock won because the GTHOs had new Globe wheels. The GTHO was miles faster except in the rain which stopped around lap 25. But the Globes had dropped brake temps down from 840 deg to 450 deg. Trouble was the Ferodo DP11 pads worked best at the high temps for which they were designed. This, combined with the cool conditions is thought to have stopped the pads from getting hot enough and they were buggered. Both John French and Allan Moffat were much faster than Brock after it dried out, but some minor mistakes and brake problems kept them out of it.

In 87 Brock put in some nice laps in the brief wet-spell, using the V8 torque to manage some nice slides. But future DJR driver Glenn Seton was firghteningly SPECTACULAR in the peaky Nissan Skyline, twiching his way across the Mountain. But the Eggenberger Sierras were the class act that year and won by miles. Even though they were eventually disqualified in a political struggle, it was the Nissans who should have won but for (unlucky/poor) mismanagement of the pitlane exit gates.

 

[Bigcol]

Set up is what wins you wet races and obviously a bit of talent doesn't go astray.

I can remember reading somewhere that HDT did a bathurst length test at one of the circuits in the rain.I also think Perkins has done this as well.Which when you consider that most teams do not worry about it until it actually starts to rain. It would be a huge advantage to be able just show up with the wet set up and go from there in inclement weather