PERKINS & INGALL WIN AS BROCK SAYS FAREWELL =========================================== Sunday October 19 1997, MT PANORAMA, BATHURST, N.S.W, AUSTRALIA : Fairy tales seldom come true in real life and even less so in motorsport, but for 52 delightful laps a record crowd of 51,400, cheered on as 9 times Bathurst winner Peter Brock looked set to say farewell to his beloved Mountain on a winning note. However soon after a driver change Brock's co-driver Mark Skaife bought the famous 05 Commodore into the pits with engine problems bringing to a sad end the 30 year career of Australia's most recognised racing driver.
With Brock out, it was left to his former co-driver and now bitter rival Larry Perkins and his co-diver, former Brands Hatch Formula Ford festival winner Russell Ingall to win the "breakaway" PRIMUS 1000 Classic at Mt Panorama, Bathurst.
The pair's Team Castrol Holden Commodore took the lead on lap 90 to finish ahead of the father and son combination of Jim and Steve Richards (Valvoline / Cummins Commodore) and the Mitre 10 Ford Falcon of Mark Larkham and Andrew Miedecke. It was a race of high attrition, with only half of the 42 starters finishing as the challenge of the mountain took its toll. Perkins attributed the victory to superior car preparation; "Nothing missed a beat all week", he said. "I thought I earnt my money. "In my workshop, I don't let them use the word hope, we do the work properly. I have absolute faith in my machine - the bloody thing is bullet proof. The other ones wilted, it proves you can win the race in the workshop". Leading privateer was the Commodore of Malcolm Stenniken and Peter Gazzard, who finished seventh overall. Former karter Darren Hossack who teamed with last years third placegetter Steven Ellery in a Commodore, was awarded Rookie of the year for finishing sixth.
PRIMUS 1000 Results: from the official Primus 1000 web site <www.primus1000.com.au> Check it out for pictures and more info. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________ Pos Car Driver Entrant Vehicle Cap CL Laps Race.Time Fastest...Lap
1 11 L.PERKINS/R.INGALL CASTROL PERKINS RACING COMMODORE
VS 4999 L1 161 06:21:55.5483 6 2:12.3398R
2 34 J.RICHARDS/S.RICHARDS VALVOLINE/CUMMINS TEAM COMMODORE
VS 5000 L1 161 06:22:06.6478 24 2:13.2244
3 10 M.LARKHAM/A.MIEDECKE MITRE 10 RACING FALCON EL
5000 L1 161 06:23:57.2891 133 2:13.7447
4 18 D.JOHNSON/S.JOHNSON/
C.BAIRD SHELL HELIX RACING FALCON EL
5000 L1 158 06:23:25.3146 7 2:13.0088
5 46 J.FAULKNER/W.PERCY FISHER & PAYKEL/BETTA ELEC COMMODORE
VS 5000 L1 154 06:22:05.5996 24 2:13.4080
6 45 D.HOSSACK/S.ELLERY WYNN'S AUSTRALIA COMMODORE
VS 4981 L1 154 06:23:00.9309 6 2:14.7149
7 14 M.STENNIKEN/P.GAZZARD SCOTT'S TRANSPORT COMMODORE
VS 5000 L2 154 06:23:53.4460 46 2:18.8104
8 3 T.ASHBY/S.REED LANSVALE SMASH REPAIRS COMMODORE
VS 5000 S1 153 06:22:04.4224 14 2:16.1507
9 36 N.SCHEMBRI/I.LUFF GEARBOX MOTORSPORT COMMODORE
VS 5000 L2 153 06:22:19.5559 64 2:19.5417
10 27 T.FINNIGAN/T.SHIEL SONY AUTOSOUND COMMODORE
VS 4990 S1 153 06:22:33.3179 21 2:15.1997
11 9 A.JONES/S.PRUETT/
J.BRIGHT ALAN JONES RACING FALCON EL
5000 L1 153 06:23:01.3053 7 2:12.7286
12 16 M.PRICE/K.BREWER CASTROL COUGARS COMMODORE
VS 4999 L2 152 06:24:23.6246 21 2:19.7808
13 44 M.ROSE/K.BURTON FAIRFAX NEWSPAPERS COMMODORE
VS 5000 L2 150 06:23:34.7495 7 2:19.0993
14 49 G.CRICK/P.FITZGERALD/
G.WALDON ERICSSON - ALCAIR COMMODORE
VS 4984 S1 150 06:23:51.4313 20 2:14.5601
15 20 I.PALMER/J.ENGLISH PALMER PROMOTIONS COMMODORE
VS 5000 L2 146 06:22:41.7308 11 2:21.1893
16 21 B.WALDEN/S.WILLIAMS BRIAN WALDEN COMMODORE
VP 5000 L2 144 06:23:19.2690 19 2:23.3848
17 39 C.SMERDON/C.COX CHRIS SMERDON COMMODORE
VS 4990 L2 143 06:22:42.9695 22 2:17.7393
18 26 J.COTTER/P.DOULMAN M3 MOTORSPORT COMMODORE
VP 4980 L2 139 06:22:53.1518 22 2:17.5282
19 74 K.HEFFERNAN/D.OSBOURNE PRICE ATTACK RACING P/L COMMODORE
VS 5000 L2 135 06:22:52.9123 23 2:17.7370
NC 40 M.HART/P.LAWRENCE SMC PNEUMATICS (AUST) P/L COMMODORE
VR 5000 L2 119 06:23:34.0144 48 2:24.6769
NC 37 S.TAYLOR/B.ATTARD/
S.BELL THE XEROX SHOP COMMODORE
VP 4981 L2 110 06:23:55.8784 73 2:23.9702
DNF 62 W.RUSSELL/R.SHAW UNION STEEL COMMODORE
VS 5000 L2 126 05:57:42.5478 29 2:24.6452
DNF 1 G.SETON/D.PARSONS FORD CREDIT RACING FALCON EL
5000 L1 121 04:53:44.4320 7 2:12.7282
DNF 25 T.LONGHURST/C.O'BRIEN CASTROL LONGHURST FORD FALCON EL
5000 L1 110 04:25:55.5317 7 2:12.8238
DNF 58 P.O'BRIEN/B.CALLAGHAN/
R.BARNACLE EVERLAST AUTOMOTIVE COMMODORE
VR 4980 L2 109 04:44:27.2748 10 2:20.2020
DNF 13 R.McLEOD/D.PATE OAMPS INSURANCE GROUP LTD COMMODORE
VR 5000 L2 101 04:51:03.2533 89 2:16.9889
DNF 28 K.WALDOCK/J.SMITH CBS MINING RACE TEAM FALCON EF
5000 L2 92 04:07:59.7683 68 2:16.9262
DNF 7 W.GARDNER/N.CROMPTON WAYNE GARDNER RACING COMMODORE
VS 5000 L1 89 03:28:50.4187 76 2:12.9063
DNF 79 M.CONWAY/G.MONAGHAN CADILLAC PRODUCTIONS FALCON
EBTT 5000 L2 84 03:29:06.4894 5 2:18.5523
DNF 38 M.POOLE/T.SCOTT GAWLER SA COMMODORE
VS 5000 S1 74 02:58:23.4021 16 2:14.8763
DNF 24 P.ROMANO/A.GRICE ROMANO RACING COMMODORE
VS 5000 S1 69 02:47:25.6651 16 2:14.9521
DNF 23 R.HISLOP/T.BRIGGS RAY HISLOP FALCON EF
5000 L2 62 02:31:09.7438 46 2:17.8666
DNF 41 G.WILLMINGTON/B.SEIDERS SIMON'S EARTHWORKS P/L COMMODORE
VR 4980 L2 61 03:26:07.3611 5 2:22.3492
DNF 05 P.BROCK/M.SKAIFE HOLDEN RACING TEAM COMMODORE
VS 4998 L1 52 01:57:29.6951 3 2:12.4926r
DNF 12 B.WILLIAMS/P.GOVER BRUCE WILLIAMS COMMODORE
VS 5000 L2 46 02:26:37.8113 11 2:19.8108
DNF 33 B.PEARSON/A.McCARTHY/
B.STEWART PRO-DUCT MOTORSPORT P/L COMMODORE
VS 5000 L2 43 01:42:13.7893 4 2:16.6107
DNF 15 G.MURPHY/C.LOWNDES HOLDEN RACING TEAM COMMODORE
VS 4998 L1 38 01:25:36.4525 6 2:12.6650
DNF 47 J.TRIMBOLE/T.MEZERA CDB BOTTLE MAGIC COMMODORE
VS 5000 S1 25 56:54.9849 8 2:15.3909
DNF 17 D.JOHNSON/J.BOWE/
S.JOHNSON SHELL HELIX RACING FALCON EL
5000 L1 17 39:52.1543 6 2:12.7784
DNF 54 P.BRADBURY/P.STOKELL/
A.TRATT WAYNE GARDNER RACING COMMODORE
VS 5000 L1 16 36:23.5441 6 2:14.7628
DNS 97 J.BARGWANNA/M.NOSKE HOLDEN RACING TEAM COMMODORE
VS 4998 L1
-Brett Ramsey
