When the Australian Manufacturers’ Championship hit the track at Winton, no one was expecting fisticuffs.
The new 2.0-litre formula had made a slow start in Australia due in part to the local fans preference for V8s as well as a lack of manufacturer interest outside of BMW.
Fields ‘raced’ close, but it was just for the show and the factory BMWs sprinted away in the end.
After being booted out of the Australian Touring Car Championship due to its exclusivity of Ford and Holden in the outright category, BMW was an early supporter of the 2.0-litre formula through the Frank Gardner led factory team.
Driver Tony Longhurst co-owned the team alongside Terry Morris, whose son Paul was his teammate.
Morris and Longhurst swapped wins at the start of the season, but it was the former leading the way heading to Round 3 at Winton.
Longhurst won the opening race following a Morris mistake, but to was the second starting 10-minutes later, which provided a controversial finish.
Morris beat Longhurst into the opening corner of the Winton’s former layout (Turn 1 equals Turn 3 these days) and maintained the lead until the penultimate lap.
A lunge by Longhurst at the Esses coming onto the main straight unsettled Morris and allowed the Benson & Hedges BMW on the outside.
Side-by-side on the straight, the two BMWs locked wheels and sent both BMWs into the wall.
Before his BMW had stopped, Longhurst opened the door, charged towards his teammate and struck Morris through the window, brushing an official out of the way.
Longhurst thought Morris had intentionally driven him off the road, but his reaction hit every news bulletin in Australia and some worldwide.
The red flag was pulled and Morris was declared the winner as Longhurst lost both his win the race before and second due to being disqualified.
Not only was Longhurst disqualified, but a $10,000 fine was issued and a suspended six-month ban.
Ironically, both drivers were competing in the Australian Touring Car Championship also in a pair of V8 Holden Commodores in addition to the BMW program.
In the end, a mechanical failure at Lakeside cost Morris the title, which fell the way of Longhurst.
The next season, Audi and Volvo came to play.