BLUE BLOODED

Allan Moffat became a Bathurst legend with back-to-back solo wins in 1970 and 1971 and backed it up by leading home Ford’s iconic one-two formation finish in 1977. This is his story in his own words.

Born in Saskatchewan, Canada, Allan Moffat arrived in Australia as a 17-year-old student and would emerge as one of the first stars of the growing Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) and Bathurst 500-mile endurance event.

On his first visit to Bathurst.

After choosing Australia over America, having raced in both countries, Moffat worked his way from running a privateer Lotus Cortina in the ATCC to a factory Ford seat. He made his Bathurst debut in 1969 in a Ford Falcon XW GTHO that he and co-driver Alan Hamilton took to fourth place.

“The Ford team leaders took me up on the Friday to show me the circuit. They stopped at Skyline and in those days there was no concrete barrier along the left, so it was an interesting view,” he said.

“I made the comment, ‘Nice view… look, you can see the pits from here.’ They were chatting amongst themselves and I told them, ‘Well, we better get going, we don’t have all day to get to the circuit.’ The instant response was, ‘You are on the circuit!’ And I can tell you, that was the only time I looked left at Skyline in my whole career!”

On his time with Ford.

Moffat became Ford’s leading light in the ATCC and at Bathurst, winning three championships (1973, 1976 and 1977) and four wins at the Great Race (1970, 1971, 1973 and 1977), the first two on his own during the race’s 500-mile era.

“The first year I went to Bathurst as a Ford driver was in 1969, when the GTHOs were born and Ford took three cars to Bathurst. I was the lead driver in the third car,” he said.

“That year was my introduction to the race and I quickly realised that I wanted to spend most my career committed to doing well at Bathurst.

“In 1970 the race organisers changed the regulations making it non-mandatory to have a co-driver, which allowed me to drive solo. My first win on the mountain. I was in the car for six hours and 45 minutes, so I can assure you it was a special feeling. And the only thing that could top that experience was to win it again in 1971 with the GTHO Phase III.

“Being one to look forward, I don’t dwell on the history of the cars too much. Though I regret not holding on to them! The purchase price in 1969 was $4500. There was one sold not that long go for $1,350,000.”

On his one-two formation finish at Bathurt. Moffat steamrolled the opposition in 1977, firstly to his third championship then to his fourth and final Bathurst win, a crushing one-two formation finish alongside co-driver Jacky Ickx and with teammate Colin Bond just behind.

“Would you believe me if I told you I only drove about 12 laps towards the end there with the brake pedal on the floor?” he said.

“(It happened) when I went across the top of the hill, across McPhillamy. The moment I went down through the Dipper the pedal went down to the floor. I thought, ‘Shit! I’ve got to turn left at the end of this corner!’ I was ready to throw it into first gear, I can assure you of that!

“I was conscious of the one-two aspect even before I had no brakes, we were so far ahead of everyone else. I was already slowing down and trying to close the gap. At one stage I had a full lap ahead of him (Bond). I wanted him up with me so we could get the one-two finish.

“So he was second in command. He was there and as long as I was in front and keeping going, I wasn’t getting on the phone going, ‘By the way, mate, I haven’t got any brakes so, you know, you better come up and catch me.’ It was really only with about four laps to go that he got up to me.

“We get up to that last little bridge. I’m already in first gear because I didn’t need to bother with the brake pedal; I didn’t have one! And Colin’s come down here like this, and I’m here and he’s there, and we’re trying to go around the bend.

“I remember saying to myself, ‘I’m sending you a telepathic message, back off, we’re going around the corner together!’ and, well, he did back off and we came around the corner like that.

“By the time we got to the last straight we were already like that [places one hand slightly in front of the other] and Colin never went to pass and that’s how we finished. And to this day the photographs show the number one of my car and the number two of his, the best bloody form finish of all time!

“Colin was never anything other than pleasant about it. I was in charge of the team and he was very gracious about it. He’d got more money that year than he’d ever seen in his life!

“The race finished on the Sunday and on the Wednesday I was having lunch with Ford’s head man, Sir Brian Ingliss, and his top brass. We’re all eating and all of sudden there’s a glass being tapped,

‘Gentleman, I just want to bring it to your attention the tremendous race we’ve just had. Allan’s pulled it off; we’ve got something for him.’ Then Brian hands me an envelope.

“As he’s handed me the envelope, as I’ve seen it coming across, I’ve already decided, ‘Whatever you do, don’t open that envelope.’ That’s how fast it happened and I took it and put it in my pocket. Well, I got down into that carpark, ripped it open and – you’ve got to bear in mind that we were working in hundreds of thousands of dollars to achieve what we did with the two cars – how much would you expect to be in it? Would you expect a bit of a pat on the back? It was $1000. I just thought, ‘If this is what we’re up against...’”

On his stint with Mazda.

After Ford pulled its support, Moffat made the move to campaign a rotary-engined Mazda RX-7 in 1981, going on to win his fourth championship in 1983 and registering three podium finishes at Bathurst.

“Within days of learning there was no more Ford support, I received a call from Mazda Australia asking if I was interested in racing an RX-7 with a rotary engine,” he said.

“Other drivers treated the car with contempt but that changed when we started winning. To win the championship in 1983 was extremely personally important, just as a Bathurst win was, and something I strove hard for. The Mazda dealers were extremely happy and told me I saved them thousands in advertising dollars that they would have otherwise had to spend on promoting the RX-7.”

On his rival, co-driver and friend Peter Brock.

In 1986 Moffat joined former rival Brock in the Holden Dealer Team’s new Holden Commodore VK Group A SS. The duo won the Wellington 500 on debut as a pairing, tackling Europe in the FIA Touring Car Championship and the Spa 24 Hours. At Bathurst Moffat crashed heavily at the top of the Mountain, forcing the entry out of the Hardies Heroes Top 10 Shootout, but recovered to take fifth in the race following oil cooler issues.

“He might have been my nemesis to others but to me he was a very valiant and, in many ways, a courteous competitor,” he said.

“He never had the slightest bad thing to say about me and vice versa.In 20 years we had just a couple of minor scraps that were easily wiped off with a quick polish.

“In 1986 he asked me to join his team, but I would only take up the offer if he wasn’t dropping John Harvey in the process of taking me on. He promised me, Al – he was the only one to call me Al – John would run the second car and I would drive with Peter. We went to the Wellington 500 in February 1986 and promptly won the race. I got out of the car at the end of the race and said, ‘Too bad we waited 20 years to get this act together!’”