Holden VC Commodore 1980 Sandown 400 Winner

Peter Brock gained maximum points for General Motors Holden when he took out the second round of the Championship of Makes, known as the Hang Ten 400, that took place at Sandown Raceway on September 14, 1980. Shortened to 109 laps from 129 previously, the Hang Ten 400 saw many new entries amongst the 52 nominations, resulting in a solid grid of 47 cars starting the event and only 22 qualifiying as finishers.
For the second official practice session on Saturday, the weather looked bleak, but the rain held off and Brock produced a scorching lap around the Sandown track, stopping the clock at 1:13.9 which provided him with pole position for Sunday’s race. Brock’s team-mate, Allan Moffat, achieved the number two position on the grid with a great lap time of 1:14.4.
At the beginning of the race, Brock in his Holden Dealer Team Commodore, put a gap on the rest of the field avoiding the early troubles encountered by the pack behind him. By lap twelve Brock had a 7.8 second advantage and continued to increase his lead as each lap passed. As a result, the expected race duel with Moffat in the sister Holden Dealer Team Commodore, did not eventuate. However, in the closing stages of the race, even though Brock had an insurmountable lead, he and Moffat would come together on the track and engange in a back and forth contest that had the 45,000 fans on their feet and yelling for more.
Eventually Brock crossed the line a lap and some 59 seconds ahead of Garry Rogers’ Commodore in second place, to notch up his sixth successive victory in the annual Sandown Park endurance Touring Car race. Allan Moffat rounded off the all Commodore podium, finishing a further lap down in third position.

Item includes certificate and production number plate, mounted to the chassis.