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Remember, it was an antiquated technology engine that brought the Holden Monaro home first in the 24hr race at Bathurst,....twice, while competing against all the exotica that the competition could muster. Even the Ferrari had to pit twice,.... for an engine change.
no, it was a completely different set of rules with far more freedoms than any other car in the series that brought the Monaro home first...
every other Nations Cup car has to use the production engine for that model. They have to apply to Procar if their maintenance includes plans to fit oversize pistons. Monaro got to use a much larger capacity, motorsport only block, from the a different country. Meanwhile the production exotics all have inlet restrictors fitted by Procar too...
other Nations cup cars are not even allowed to remove the plastic mouldings in the whell araches. Monaro was allowed to fabricate completely new inner wheel arches to accomodate much larger tyres.
other cars brought into the country for Nations Cup had to remove roll cage members which went outside the cabin at not inconsiderable expense. Monaro has 8 roll cage members in the engine bay.
every other Nations Cup car has to run a ride height such that if both tyres on one side of the car are flat, the underbody inclyding exhaust does not bottom-out. Only the Monaro was allowed to modify the floorpan to recess the entire exhaust system to allow it to be low enough.
every other NC car has to use production hub assemblies and suspension with freedoms to springs and shocks. Only Monaro was allowed to run complete V8 Supercar suspension and brakes.
Other NC cars are only allowed to move suspension pivot points up to 25mm, but the Monaro gets to change it's entire rear end layout from the production IRS to V8 Supercar spec Ford 9" live axle with full spool.
The Ferrari 360 Modena was a late starter in the 24hr race, brought in at the 11th (23rd?) hour to make up numbers. It was not properly prepped for an enduro race. Besides, it is a production Ferrari 3.5l engine with inlet restrictors fitted. The end result is that the VW Golf consistently outdragged the Ferrari 360 Modena on the front straight at Sandown. unfknblvbl!
sorry, but people going around saying how good Monaros are, or in this case how good its old technology was, basedo n the NC/Bathurst 24hr performance is a bit of a sore-point for me. btw, that is the abridged version of the story - there are even more major freedoms that were only available to one car in that feild.
bottom line - Holden marketing greased Procar's pockets and pulled off the marketing coup of the century.
Monaro, the game's up
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