A controversial 1987 Australian Touring Car season came to a close on the streets of Adelaide as the support to the Grand Prix.
It marked Peter Brock’s final drive in a Holden for three years as he announced a move to BMW following his very public divorce with Australia’s Own after the Polarizer and release of the Director.
It followed a year of struggle for the former Holden Dealer Team, which did enter as HDT Racing P/L for the entire season, but was a devoid of all manufacturer branding, parts and backing. Needing to sell off its new VL Group A SS to a middleman representing Allan Moffat as he entered it in the opening rounds of the World Touring Car Championship partnered by John Harvey and backed by Rothmans.
Brock wasn’t the only drive to end a long-lasting relationship, early HDT teammate Colin Bond was writing the last chapter in his association with Italian marque Alfa Romeo after a disastrous 1987 season where he was plagued by a slow and unreliable 75.
Nissan was also signalling the end of its first Group A era as it replaced the DR30 in 1988 with the HR31, the championship winning JPS BMW squad didn’t make an appearance as it failed before it was dissolved for a temporary period and of course Larry Perkins raced a VL after his VK was severely damaged early in the Bathurst 1000.
The race proved a thriller as Bon enjoyed his best run yet in the 75’s final run, Perkins’ VL was fast, Andrew Miedecke in the OXO Sierra was also a contender in among the Nissans, factory Mitsubishi Starions in a highly competitive field.
One driver not mentioned is Dick Johnson and for good reason too as he won what turned out to be a battle of attrition driving the Shell Ultra Hi Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 to bring it its second win of the season.
A mid-year disqualification occurred for all of the Shell and OXO entries for turbo irregularities as the two teams struggled for reliability.
However, these were well overcome by 1988 as the Shell Ultra Hi squad dominated the season as well as 1989.