Symmons Plains was opened in 1960 and has been a mainstay of the Australian Touring Car Championship/Supercars since 1969.
When the ATCC made its maiden journey to the Apple Isle, it was the first time it was decided across a series of events after being held as a single event since 1960.
The ATCC contested five rounds starting at Calder then Bathurst, Mallala, Surfers Paradise and finally Symmons Plains.
Competition was fierce during this era between the likes of Bob Jane, Ian ‘Pete’ Geoghegan, Norm Beechey and Allan Moffat all driving big V8s, but there was others to worry about in smaller capacity entries.
Jim McKeown was still in his Lotus Cortina, Peter Manton drove a Mini Cooper to third at Mallala and Ross Ambrose drove another to fifth at Symmons Plains.
But the leader in this realm was Alan Hamilton in a Porsche 911, who’s four seconds and a third left him just three-points behind Geoghegan in the standings heading to Tasmania.
Drivers were forced to drop their worst score at the end of the season and Hamilton had to win due to this to prevent Geoghegan from securing his fifth title.
Geoghegan started the race from pole alongside John Harvey in Jane’s Ford Mustang, with Moffat, Beechey and Hamilton behind.
At the one-minute board, Geoghegan’s Mustang failed to start leading him to begin the race from the pits. While the field headed towards the Symmons Plains hairpin, Geoghegan’s team push started the Mustang, which led to a disqualification and boosted Hamilton’s title hopes.
Hamilton’s pursuit of the championship continued to improve when the engined failed in Moffat’s Mustang leaving him 14s behind Harvey in the lead and not far behind Beechey in second.
Punctures for Harvey on back-to-back laps put him out of contention leaving Beechey’s big Monaro left for Hamilton to overtake.
Transmission problems for Beechey opened the door for Hamilton, with the big Holden unable to use its lower gears.
Hamilton was a length behind at the final corner, but the Monaro sped away to take the win and prevent the Porsche from taking the title.
Despite the disqualification being a certainty, Geoghegan continued in the race as he broke the circuit record and finished on the same lap as the leaders.
A mere point separated Geoghegan and Hamilton at the end of the year, while Beechey delivered third for Holden after back-to-back wins to complete the season.
Symmons Plains only hosted the final round for another year before it moved to Sydney’s Oran Park.