Allan Moffat is a racing legend known for his icy persona at the track and at the Castrol 400 (today’s Sandown 500) in 1982 it was displayed in a public manner.
Coming off a lean period during the late-1970s and into the new decade, Moffat then linked up with Mazda, but this bought new controversies.
First there was a fight with the governing body regarding its eligibility of the RX-7, then the constant Group C bickering surrounding upgrades and Moffat was able to overcome these.
Using 1981 to develop the RX-7 to local conditions, Moffat arrived for a full tilt at the Australian Touring Car Championship the next season as he scored two round victories.
The first at Lakeside for Round 5 was a momentous occasion as it was the maiden victory for Mazda and a Japanese brand in the ATCC.
Repeating the dose at the Surfers Paradise finale, Moffat finished a commendable third in the title.
Entering the post-ATCC Australian Endurance Championship events, Moffat achieved the first title win for Mazda by winning three out of five rounds including the Castrol 400 at Sandown.
Run by the Light Car Club of Australia, the traditional precursor to the big one at Bathurst had one of the strongest fields ever in contention to break Peter Brock’s seven year stranglehold on the event.
Brock was an early retirement as the Moffat battled for the honours against Holden privateer Allan Grice.
During the closing stages, Moffat was penalised 40s twice for speeding in pit lane.
A black flag was displayed to Moffat, but the Mazda driver ignored it to finish the race ahead of Grice.
Moffat pulled up in front of a large, jeering crowd situated in the Sandown grandstand giving the V-sign for victory.
“I can’t begin to imagine,” said a disgruntled Moffat to Channel 7’s Evan Green post-race.
“I saw the black flag, I came in, I reported to my pits as the rule indicates. There was nobody there to tell me anything, it’s not a Sunday afternoon picnic. I went back on the track again.”
After Grice was presented the trophy and laurel, Moffat was given the opportunity to explain his side of the story.
“It’s a long time and a lot of hard work to get onto this lawn at Sandown,” Moffat said.
“Brocky has been here for seven years in a row. There seems to be something going on that if you don’t drive a Commodore you can’t win a race around here.
“Thank you.”
It took many months to sort out, but Moffat was declared the winner of the race marking another first for Mazda.