July 31 2019, Updated November 15 2020
Note: Laps of cars going off or out of a race may be incorrect as Wikipedia entry and video may not be in sync though Wikipedia has the same information as Natsoft.
October 3 1999 saw the AUSCAR’s race at Bathurst in a 300km race on a wet and miserable day.
The AUSCAR’s were Class A with the class Bathurst Tourers being Class B with the Future Tourers having doors and the AUSCAR’s having entry and exit through the driver side window.
The Bathurst Tourers were later known as Future Tourers and that category lived on into the early 21st century with the category joining forces with the Super Tourers towards the end.
AUSCAR veteran Peter Fitzgerald clocked up a 2:28.0188 to be on Pole Position for the race.
Fourteen AUSCAR’s participated in the race that was ruined by wet weather as visibility was greatly diminished on the top of the mountain.
The Wanless brothers bowed out of the race on Lap 3 after stopping going up the mountain with electrical issues followed by Nigel Benson/Rod Wilson in the #04 who hit the wall near the start/finish line.
Shane Houlahan/Greg East in #96 had a spin in The Dipper but recovered as the car did not hit the wall.
Wayne Smith and Mark Telfer in the #38 spun in The Dipper and gave the wall a light whack, Wayne Smith then had to go the wrong way to get back in the right direction and made a turn just in front of leader James Brock.
Christian D’Agostin had to go behind the wall with a mechanical issue, he got back in the race but his race was over after 27 laps.
Leanne Ross in the #11 spun off at The Chase but she was able to get going again and went into the pits for service.
The #22 of Leigh Yarnall and Tony Edwards beached it at The Chase ending their day on Lap 14 and their car was joined moments later by the #28 of Matthew White and Rodney Jane with the car requiring assistance to get the rear tyres out of the sand.
Leanne Ross was back in the sand at The Chase bringing out the caution but her car was quickly retrieved from the sand and she was back on her way in the race.
Jason Wyllie lost control of his #10 Commodore down the dipper and hit the tyre wall hard but aside from the back bumper being loose, the car was alright.
Shane Houlahan spun exiting Forest Elbow and had to go backwards almost putting the #96 in the wall when turning to get back in the right direction.
James Brock had a penalty for a push start after his battery ran out of juice with Ray Sidebottom taking the lead until he made a stop for a driver change and refuelling.
Terry Wyhoon and Brewer in the #8 dropped out on lap 28 after losing it on Skyline and around this time the rain increased on the circuit with lightning reported around Mount Panorama.
The race ran for 38 laps and the Future Tourers dominated the race with four out of the Top 5 finishers.
The race was declared while the field was under caution after 38 laps with James Brock in the #7 Holden VS Commodore Future Tourer the winner, James was one of four drivers who ran the race by themselves as the rest of the field chose to have co-drivers.
Graham Crawford and Ken James were the best AUSCAR finishers with a 4th place finish in the #4.
Pole sitter Peter Fitzgerald finished in sixth place with AUSCAR champion Darren McDonald, Fitzgerald recorded the fastest lap of the race with a 2:55.1241.
Ironically the race winning car was one of Peter Fitzgerald’s when he was racing in AUSCAR in the early 1990’s and the car still exists today though not the exact same car as it caught fire at Oran Park.
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