1985 Pukekohe 500

Layout of the Pukekohe Park Raceway (1967-1989)

The 1985 Pukekohe 500 (known as the Nissan Sport 500 for sponsorship reasons) was an endurance race for Group A touring cars held at the Pukekohe Park Raceway in New Zealand on 3 February 1985. The race was the second and final round of the 1985 Nissan Sports Series. The race, held over 143 laps of the 2,841 m (1.77 mi) circuit for a total of 406 km (252 mi).^[1]

The race, held a week after the Wellington 500, was won by New Zealand drivers Neville Crichton and Wayne Wilkinson driving a BMW 635 CSi from the Tom Walkinshaw Racing Rover Vitesse of Tom Walkinshaw and Win Percy with Kiwis Neal Lowe and Kent Baigent finishing third in their BMW 635.

After finishing third in Wellington, the win saw Crichton and Wilkinson as co-winners of the Nissan Sports Series.

The Nissan Sport Series was run to the FIA's international Group A rules and provided a number of Australian teams, including the famed Holden Dealer Team, to get some racing laps in their new cars before the 1985 Australian Touring Car Championship after changing from the locally developed Group C rules at the end of 1984.

Results

Position	Class	No.	Entrant	Drivers	Car	Laps	Grid
1	Div.3	4	John Andrew Motorsport	Neville Crichton Wayne Wilkinson	BMW 635 CSi	143	2
2	Div.3	2	Tom Walkinshaw Racing	Tom Walkinshaw Win Percy	Rover Vitesse	143	1
3	Div.3	3	H. Kent Baigent	Kent Baigent Neal Lowe	BMW 635 CSi	141	5
4	Div.3	11	Mark Petch Motorsport	Michel Delcourt Robbie Francevic	Volvo 240T	141	6
5	Div.1	71		Paul Adams Allan Woolf	Toyota Corolla GT AE86	127	11
6	Div.2	37	Dealer Team Nissan	Kevin Ryan Ian Tulloch	Nissan Bluebird Turbo	124	19
7	Div.2	67	Ray Gulson	Ray Gulson Grant O'Donnell	Alfa Romeo GTV6	124	8
8	Div.1	72	Bob Holden Motors	Bob Holden Glenn Clark	Toyota Sprinter	123	10
9	Div.2	32		Glenn McIntyre Dennis Roderick	Isuzu Gemini ZZ	122	18
10	Div.2	32	MacDonald Halligan Motors	Derek MacDonald Ross MacDonald	Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo	122	16
11	Div.1	74	Sip ‘n Save Wines	Colin McGregor Bryce Platt	VW Golf GTI	117	15
??	Div.2	34	Chris Heyer's Kingswood Import Centre	Chris Heyer Graham McGregor	Audi 80 2.2	??	14
??	Div.1	73	K. Bolton	Steve Willy David Janes	Toyota Corolla GT AE86	??	13
??	Div.3	10	Pegasus Enterprises Ltd.	Robert Delbin Chris Delbin	Holden VK Commodore	??	12
??	Div.3	9		Lew McKinnon John Power	Holden VK Commodore	??	9
DNF	Div.3	6	Johnstone BMW Auckland	John Morton Frank Sytner	BMW 635 CSi	??	3
DNF	Div.3	05	Holden Dealer Team	Peter Brock Larry Perkins	Holden VK Commodore	??	7
DNF	Div.3	17	Bruce Anderson	Bruce Anderson Dick Johnson	Ford XE Falcon	??	4
DNF	Div.2	31	L. Tattle	Bob Barry Rob Whitehouse	Fiat Ritmo 130TC	??	17
DNS	Div.2	8	Gemco Motor Sport	Gary Pederson Dave McMillan	Fiat Ritmo 130TC

* The event attracted 20 entries and 19 starters.

Notes

• Pole Position: #2 Tom Walkinshaw, Rover Vitesse - 1:29.80
• Fastest Lap: N/A
• Race Time: N/A

References

1. 1985 Nissan Sport 500 at History of Touring Car Racing

See also

• James Hardie 1000, 1985/86
• The Australian Racing History of Ford, 1989
• The Official Racing History of Holden, 1988