1985 Castrol 500

The 1985 Castrol 500 was an endurance race for "Group A" Touring Cars staged at the Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit in Victoria on 15 September 1985. Race distance was 129 laps of the 3.878 km (1.928 mi) circuit, totaling 500.262 km.

The event was Round 3 of both the 1985 Australian Endurance Championship and the 1985 Australian Manufacturers' Championship. There were 36 starters, of which 21 were classified as finishers.^[1]

The race was won by the JPS Team BMW 635 CSi of Australian Touring Car Champion Jim Richards, and his co-driver Tony Longhurst. It was Longhurst's first major win in Australian touring car racing. JPS Team BMW made it a 1-2 finish when their second car, driven by Neville Crichton and on-loan Nissan team driver George Fury finished only a few seconds behind. Finishing in third place was the surprising Toyota Supra of Peter Williamson and 1985 Motorcraft Formula Ford Driver to Europe Series winner Tomas Mezera.

The 1985 Castrol 500 was the first time since 1972 that neither Peter Brock or Allan Moffat had won the Sandown enduro. 1984 Castrol 500 winner Brock, who claimed pole position with a time of 1:52.3 in his Holden Dealer Team VK Commodore, suffered engine failure after 41 laps, while Moffat, who was without a drive in 1985 due to Mazda not racing in Group A, was part of the ABC television commentary team.

The field was divided into three classes according to engine displacement.^[2]

• Class A : 3001 cc to 6000 cc ^[2]
• Class B : 2001 cc to 3000 cc ^[2]
• Class C : Up to 2000 cc ^[2]

Pos	No.[2]	Entrant [2]	Driver	Car [1]	Time
Pole	05	Mobil Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	1:52.3
2	6	Roadways Racing Services	Allan Grice	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	1:52.4
3	17	Palmer Tube Mills	Dick Johnson	Ford Mustang GT	1:52.4
4	1	JPS Team BMW	Jim Richards	BMW 635 CSi	1:52.7
5	55	Mark Petch	Robbie Francevic	Volvo 240T	1:52.9
6	43	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Peter Fitzgerald	Mitsubishi Starion turbo	1:53.3
7	7	Mobil Holden Dealer Team	John Harvey	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	1:53.7
8	42	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Kevin Bartlett	Mitsubishi Starion turbo	1:54.4
9	31	JPS Team BMW	George Fury	BMW 635 CSi	1:54.4
10	3	K. Baigent	Neal Lowe	BMW 635 CSi	1:54.4

Position [1]	Class [2]	No.[2]	Entrant [2]	Drivers [1]	Car [1]	Laps [1]
1	A	1	JPS Team BMW	Jim Richards Tony Longhurst	BMW 635 CSi	129
2	A	31	JPS Team BMW	Neville Crichton George Fury	BMW 635 CSi	129
3	B	44	Peter Williamson Toyota	Peter Williamson Tomas Mezera	Toyota Supra	127
4	B	47	Network Alfa	Colin Bond Gregg Hansford	Alfa Romeo GTV6[2]	126
5	A	36	Lusty Engineering Pty Ltd	Graham Lusty Ken Lusty	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	123
6	A	39	Sleepy Head Bedding Co.	Graeme Bowkett Wayne Wilkinson	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	123
7	A	14	Auckland Coin & Bullion Exchange Co.	Denny Hulme Ray Smith	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	121
8	A	13	Grellis Marketing	Ray Ellis Bernie McLure	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	120
9	C	61	Toyota Team Australia	Ray Cutchie John Faulkner	Toyota Sprinter	115
10	C	57	Bob Holden Motors	Bob Holden Glenn Clark	Toyota Sprinter	115
11	C	58	Bob Holden Motors	David Ratcliffe [2] Don Smith	Toyota Sprinter	114
12	C	88	J. White	John White Les Szreniawski	Isuzu Gemini ZZ	112
13	B	45	Alfa City	Ray Gulson Frank Porter	Alfa Romeo GTV6	111
14	B	53	Hulcraft Auto	John Craft Les Grose	Ford Capri	107
15	B	52	Hulcraft Auto	Pat Hogbin John Hogbin	Ford Capri	102
16	C	64	K. Harrison	Ken Harrison Ian Wells	Ford Escort	100
17	B	42	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Kevin Bartlett Peter McKay	Mitsubishi Starion turbo[2]	100
18	B	50	J. L. Hazelton	Laurie Hazelton Jerry Stauberg	Ford Capri	100
19	A	17	Palmer Tube Mills	Dick Johnson Larry Perkins	Ford Mustang GT[2]	92
20	C	66	Jagparts Racing	Lorraine Orchard Paul Taylor	Triumph Dolomite	84
21	B	54	Melbourne Clutch & Brake Service	Brian Sampson Garry Waldon	Mitsubishi Starion turbo[2]	51
DNF	A	41	B. Jones	Barry Jones Tony Mulvihill	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	92
DNF	A	24	Jagparts Racing	Gerald Kay Martin Power	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	92
DNF	A	12	G. Willmington	Gary Willmington [2] Peter Janson	Jaguar XJS	81
DNF	A	7	Mobil Holden Dealer Team	John Harvey David Parsons	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	78
DNF	A	6	Roadways Racing Services	Allan Grice Warren Cullen	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	68
DNF	C	60	Toyota Team Australia	John Smith Drew Price	Toyota Corolla	66
DNF	B	49	J. Bundy	John Bundy Norm Carr	Mazda RX-7	65
DNF	B	55	Mark Petch	Robbie Francevic John Bowe	Volvo 240T	60
DNF	B	43	Mitsubishi Ralliart	Peter Fitzgerald Brad Jones	Mitsubishi Starion turbo[2]	50
DNF	A	21	Erle McRae Motor Sport	Charlie O'Brien Andrew Miedecke	BMW 635 CSi	50
DNF	A	05	Mobil Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock David Oxton	Holden Commodore (VK)[2]	41
DNF	A	28	Capri Components	Laurie Nelson Bill O'Brien	Ford Mustang	41
DNF	A	20	J. Keogh	Jim Keogh Garry Rogers	BMW 635 CSi	39
DNF	A	3	K. Baigent	Kent Baigent Neal Lowe	BMW 635 CSi	38
DNF	C	56	M. Minear	Mike Minear Paul Elliott	Volvo 360 GLT	22

• Pole Position: #05 Peter Brock - Holden Commodore (VK) - 1:52.3
• Fastest Lap: Dick Johnson / Larry Perkins - Ford Mustang - 1:53.6 (New lap record) ^[1]
• Race Time: 4:12:26.4

• Australian Motor Racing Year, 1985/86
• James Hardie 1000, 1985/86
• Official Programme, Castrol 500, 14 and 15 September 1985
• The Australian Racing History of Ford, 1989
• The Official Racing History of Holden, 1988

• 1985 Castrol 500 - full race
• 1985 Castrol 500, touringcarracing.net, as archived at web.archive.org