1983 was when they had 2 runs against the clock each. Brock was on his warm-up lap & gave Johnson a lift back to the pits that Dick still doesn't remember.
A little too much oversteer, the rear wheel touching the concrete wall, that pulling the front end in so that it hit the tyre-bundle breaking the steering and the rest is history.
That damn tyre-bundle is still there ready to ruin anyone's dreams of shaving the concrete for a on the limit run onto Conrod Straight.
I've seen photos of the Falcon with all four wheels off the deck, coming out of The Cutting so there's no doubt Dick had the big Falcon wound up.
Brock had a magical way of making a fast lap seem like a cruise around the track. 1989 in the Sierra is a perfect example of that; 1991 in the flame-spitting Mobil VN on the other hand....
Kevin 'Big Rev' Bartlett had parked the Channel 9 Camaro by 1983 as it just wasn't competitive anymore and was co-driving with Johnson in the big Falcon.
I've got a nomination in the 'Tracks' part of the 'Suggestions' thread for a 1963 vintage Bathurst layout. This would remove the Chase along with all the sandtraps, concrete walls and run offs created in the name of safety.
Interesting to note that the fastest car down Conrod in 1986 was #05 at 275km/h and that the fastest in 1987 was the Texaco Sierra of Klaus Ludwig in the Top 10 shootout at 275km/h before braking for the entry to the Chase.
Had the Chase not been brought about by the tragic events of the year before, the Sierras would've been hitting the hump at over 280, well and truly airborne. It would only have been a matter of time before a disaster happened as a crosswind was enough to move one of the Group C cars a lane width apart. How long before they needed to brake before cresting the hump? Glenn Seton was timed at 302km/h into the Chase in 1996!
