1981 Hang Ten 400
# 1981 Hang Ten 400

The 1981 Hang Ten 400 was an endurance race for Group C Touring Cars. The event, which was Round 3 of the 1981 Australian Endurance Championship, was staged on 13 September over 119 laps of the 3.1 km Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit in Victoria, Australia. It was the 16th race in the history of what is now known as the Sandown 500.

Peter Brock drove a Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VC Commodore to a record sixth consecutive Sandown endurance win and his seventh victory in the race. 1981 Australian Touring Car Champion Dick Johnson finished second after starting from pole position in the Plamer Tube Mills Ford XD Falcon. Third was the Roadways Gown Hindhaugh Holden VC Commodore of Steven Harrington and Garth Wigston.

Colin Bond and Steve Masterton were the winners of Class B in a Ford Capri V6, while Sydney's Peter Williamson won Class C with a Toyota Celica. Class D was won by Craig Bradtke and Rod Stevens driving a Mitsubishi Lancer.

## Classes

The field was divided into four engine capacity classes:

* Class A : 3001 to 6000 cc
* Class B : 2001 to 3000 cc
* Class C : 1601 to 2000 cc
* Class D : Up to 1600 cc

## Results

| Pos. | Drivers | No. | Car | Entrant | Class | Laps |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Peter Brock | 05 | Holden VC Commodore | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | A | 119 |
| 2 | Dick Johnson | 17 | Ford XD Falcon | Palmer Tube Mills | A | 118 |
| 3 | Steven Harrington Garth Wigston | 27 | Holden VC Commodore | Roadways Gown Hindhaugh | A | 117 |
| 4 | John Harvey Vern Schuppan | 25 | Holden VC Commodore | Marlboro Holden Dealer Team | A | 117 |
| 5 | Murray Carter | 18 | Ford XD Falcon | Murray Carter | A | 116 |
| 6 | Allan Moffat | 43 | Mazda RX-7 | Peter Stuyvesant International Racing | A | 115 |
| 7 | Allan Grice | 44 | BMW 635 CSi | Allan Grice Racing Pty. Ltd. | A | 114 |
| 8 | Neil Cunningham | 19 | Holden VC Commodore | Neil Cunningham | A | 114 |
| 9 | Colin Bond Steve Masterton | 32 | Ford Capri V6 | Masterton Homes Pty. Ltd. | B | 112 |
| 10 | Joe Moore Christine Gibson | 20 | Ford XD Falcon | King George Tavern | A | 111 |
| 11 | Peter McLeod Peter Dane | 40 | Mazda RX-7 | Peter McLeod | A | 110 |
| 12 | Gerry Burges | 54 | Mazda RX-7 | Gerry Burges | B | 108 |
| 13 | Garry Whittaker | 78 | Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 A9X | Garry Whittaker | A | 107 |
| 14 | Ray Allford John Mann | 14 | Ford XD Falcon | Ray Allford | A | 106 |
| 15 | John Bundy Norm Carr | 69 | Mazda RX-3 | John Bundy | B | 106 |
| 16 | Peter Williamson | 77 | Toyota Celica | Toyota Dealer Team | C | 103 |
| 17 | Craig Bradtke Rod Stevens | 68 | Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 | Dandenong Mitsubishi | D | 102 |
| 18 | Bob Holden | 52 | Ford Escort Mk. II | Bob Holden Motors Manly Vale | C | 102 |
| 19 | Shane Cowhan Brain Wheeler | 73 | Mazda RX-3 | Shane Cowhan | B | 102 |
| 20 | Peter Boston | 72 | Isuzu Gemini | Peter Boton | D | 101 |
| 21 | John White | 59 | Holden Gemini | John White | D | 98 |
| 22 | Phil Brock Gary Scott | 65 | Holden Gemini | H.D.T. Special Vehicles Pty Ltd | C | 97 |
| 23 | Phillip Revell Ron Barnacle | 84 | Ford Escort 1.6 Ghia | Bob Holden Motors Manly Vale | D | 94 |
| 24 | Joseph Beninca Peter Beninca | 46 | Alfa Romeo Alfetta | Beninca Motors | C | 88 |
| 25 | Chris Heyer | 53 | Volkswagen Golf GTi | Lennox Motors | D | 87 |
| 26 | Martin Power Lorraine Orchard | 49 | Triumph Dolomite | Martin Power | D | 69 |
| DNF | Terry Daly Peter Hopwood | 36 | Ford Capri IIS | Trend Windows Pty. Ltd. | B | 83 |
| DNF | Ken Price Steve Jonas | 48 | Isuzu PF50 | Douglas B Rutter | D | 69 |
| DNF | Alan Browne Tony Edmondson | 4 | Holden VC Commodore | Re-Car Racing | A | 65 |
| DNF | Ron Wanless Ralph Radburn | 16 | Holden VC Commodore | Re-Car Racing | A | 63 |
| DNF | John Faulkner Gary Dumbrell | 63 | Ford Escort | Cherry City Ford | C | 52 |
| DNF | J.Duggan | 42 | Mazda RX-7 | J.Duggan | A | 51 |
| DNF | Charlie O'Brien | 2 | Holden VC Commodore | Citizens Watches Australia | A | 49 |
| DNF | Bill O'Brien Garry Cooke | 30 | Ford XD Falcon | Bill O'Brien | A | 41 |
| DNF | Jim Keogh Andrew Newton | 22 | Ford XD Falcon | John Sands 3MP Racing | A | 40 |
| DNF | Garry Rogers Clive Benson-Browne | 11 | Holden VC Commodore | The Launceston Hotel Pty. Ltd. | A | 39 |
| DNF | Peter Janson Larry Perkins | 3 | Holden VC Commodore | Cadbury Schweppes Racing | A | 38 |
| DNF | Graeme Bailey Steven Land | 51 | Toyota Celica | Chickadee Chicken | C | 37 |
| DNF | Scotty Taylor Kevin Kennedy | 26 | Holden VC Commodore | Scotty Taylor Holden | A | 28 |
| DNF | Ian Burrell Rob Shute | 66 | Mitsubishi Colt Mirage | Scottune | D | 28 |
| DNF | Warren Cullen | 1 | Holden VC Commodore | Warren Cullen | A | 20 |
| DNF | John Goss Barry Seton | 10 | Jaguar XJ-S | Goss Garage | A | 10 |
| DNF | James Faneco | 60 | Isuzu PF50 Gemini Coupe | Country Dealer Team | D | 8 |
| DNF | Colin Spencer | 60 | Isuzu Gemini | Colin Spencer | D | 4 |
| DNF | Lawrie Nelson Peter Jones | 39 | Ford Capri IIIS | Capri Components | B | 2 |
| DNF | Rusty French Leo Leonard | 6 | Ford XD Falcon | Rusty French | A | 0 |
| DNS | Allan Gough | 61 | Isuzu Gemini Coupe | Country Dealer Team | D | - |

## Statistics

* Entries in Official Programme - 55
* Pole Position - Dick Johnson (Ford XD Falcon) - 1m 11.9s
* Starters - 46
* Finishers - 26
* Non-finishers - 20
* Race time of winning car - 2h 30m 39.6s
* Fastest Lap - Unknown
