The start of the 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship season was tumultuous to say the least for Peter Brock and his Mobil 1-backed race team, but it ended in the ultimate glory.
Bubbling under the surface of the front running, professional, factory-backed Holden Dealer Team led by Brock through the Group A era had been discontent. Introduced to Dr Eric Dowker after his Le Mans tilt with Larry Perkins left him severely ill, this association led to Brock investigating the use of alternative energies and how these improve ride and engine running in a car.
Perkins was the first to leave the team in 1985 as Holden remained patient towards its star driver until Brock launched his Director model based on the Commodore just a week before the opening round of the 1987 season at Calder Park.
Holden went through with its threat to cease its support before loyal deputy John Harvey and Allan Moffat left soon after leaving Brock’s once powerful team reeling. In fact, Harvey and Moffat played a part in keeping the operation going by purchasing the new Holden VL Commodore Group A destined for Brock to race in the opening rounds of the World Touring Car Championship.
Brock was joined by Nissan refugee Gary Scott for the opening rounds of the ATCC in a pair of VK Commodores, with a new VL debuting at Surfers Paradise International Raceway.
Scott crashed 05 during a test prior to the Lakeside round forcing him to sit on the sidelines for three rounds, before returning at Surfers Paradise before being replaced by David Parsons at Sandown and Jon Crooke at the Oran Park finale.
Mobil continued its loyal support of the team following a survey it conducted revealed Brock’s popularity had actually risen during the period.
Brock and Parsons finished second at the Pepsi 250 at Oran Park to kick off the endurance season before brakes proved a problem at Sandown where commentator turned driver Neil Crompton partnered Crooke to fourth.
Without enough signatures to upgrade his licence to international, Crompton was replaced by leading privateer Peter McLeod for the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst run as a World Touring Car Championship round.
The operation without the major backing of Holden entered two Commodores, albeit one was built up just to fulfil Mobil’s contract and used aging parts.
Luck was on this entry all week as McLeod saved it from major damage during practice when a suspension component broke approaching Griffins Bend leading to the Commodore sliding between two concrete walls.
McLeod double-stinted the start as the lead entry of Brock and Parsons expired, but the ‘bitsa’ Commodore kept on chugging along. Once McLeod had finished, Brock took on the duties and climbed inside the top five, before Parsons completed a mega stint.
There was no catching the Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500s, but amazingly the Mobil 1 Commodore finished behind the two Texaco Eggenberger entries after Brock’s thrilling last stint where he changed to slicks early and slid around the Mountain spectacularly.
Protests followed on the Eggenberger Sierras ranging from fuel to the size of the front guards, with this last irregularity leading to the exclusion of both.
Of course, this proved Brock’s last Mountain success as he moved to BMW for 1988 and Ford the next year. Brock and Holden reunited in 1991, joining the factory team in 1994.
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