The 1969 Rothmans 12 Hour Classic was an endurance motor race for production cars45 In Road Race, The Courier Mail, Thursday, Jan 2, 1969 page 9 held at the Surfers Paradise International Raceway in Queensland, Australia on 5 January 1969.Sweet Smell of Success, Racing Car News, February 1969, pages 30-33 It was the first of two such races to be held at the circuit.Paradise Lost, Australian Muscle Car, Issue 41, pages 88-98
The race was won by Bill Gates and Jim Bertram driving a Ford XT Falcon GT.
Classes Cars competed in five classes based on the retail price of the vehicle in Australian Dollars.
Results PositionProvisional Results (Issued 7.1.69), Rothmans 12 Hour Race, 5 January 1969, as reproduced in Australian Muscle Car magazine, Issue 105, page 37 Drivers No. Car Entrant Laps Outright Winner Bill Gates, Jim Bertram 16 Ford XT Falcon GT McCluskey Ford 427 Class A : Up to $185012 Hour Guessing game, Modern Motor, March 1969 1 B Tapsall, R Sorensen, R Gibson 62 Datsun 1000 Datsun Racing Team 404 2 W Scott, E Olsen 66 Toyota Corolla W Scott 392 3 W Evans, J Cosworth 61 Datsun 1000 Datsun Racing Team 383 4 T Floyd, P Wherrett, A Vincent 65 Toyota Corolla MTR Services 368 5 64 Toyota Corolla MTR Services 359 6 Noel Riley, Ken Brian 63 Honda Scamp Team Honda 334 Class B : $1851 to $2250 1 John Roxburgh, Doug Whiteford 54 Datsun 1600 Datsun Racing Team 415 2 W Coad, F Sutherland 53 Datsun 1600 Datsun Racing Team 411 3 P Lefrancke, R Skelton, B Reed 57 Toyota Corolla SL Farsley Motors 404 4 A Whitchurch, T Gilltrap 58 Datsun 1600 Coolangatta Tweed Heads Car Club 403 5 55 Hillman Gazelle Eiffel Tower Motors 403 6 49 Datsun 1600 MTR Services 381 7 Edgerton 49 Renault R10 Robert Edgerton 375 DISQ Wooton, Morrow 52 Datsun 1600 McInnes Auto Conversions Class C : $2251 to $3000 1 Garry Hodge, John Leffler 42 Morris Cooper S Denis Geary Motors 426 2 John Smailes, John Millyard 35 Morris Cooper S Martinz Place 421 3 T Basile, F Leggatt 31 Fiat 125 Tony Basile Motors 414 4 J Eiffeltower, D O'Keefe 39 Hillman Hunter GT Eiffeltower Motors 413 5 Gracie 32 Morris Cooper S W.R. Gracie 409 6 Cooke, Brewster, Hindmarsh 41 Morris Cooper S Marque Motors 404 7 Haylen (?) 33 Morris Cooper S Grand Prix Auto Service 374 DNF Joe Camilleri, John Humphries ? Morris Cooper S DNF Ian Kenny, Hans Marquard ? Morris Cooper S DSQ John Goss, John CookeThe Goss on the Bathurst Kingswood, Australian, Muscle Car, 1 May 2015 37 or 38 Holden HK Kingswood The High Performance School DSQ Bill Tuckey, Sib Petralia 37 or 38 Hullman Hunter GT The High Performance School Class D : $3001 to $4500 1 Bill Gates, John Bertram 16 Ford XT Falcon GT McCluskey Ford 427 2 Glyn Scott, Keith Williams 25 Holden HK Monaro GTS327 Glyn Scott Motors 420 3 R Jones, R Forbes, D West 21 Fiat 124S Coupe Nanda Marcaroni Products 413 4 G Trebilcock, N Trebilcock, H Woelders 22 BMW 1600 Gerry Trebilcock 411 5 Lionel Ayers, Max Volkers 18 Ford XT Falcon GT Central Auto Sales 405 6 Seldon, Kearns 23 Volvo 144 British & Continental 355 7 Denis Geary, Bill Brown 19 Holden HK Monaro GTS327 Denis Geary Motors 310 8 Bruce McPhee, Doug Chivas 13 Holden HK Monaro GTS327 Bruce McPhee 245 DNF Paul Zacka,Gates’ 3 lap win in 12-Hr, The Courier Mail, Monday, 6 January 1969, page 9 Graham Perry ? Holden HK Monaro GTS327 Class E : Over $4500 1 Kevin Bartlett, John French 1 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV Alec Mildren Pty. Ltd. 424 2 R Gulson, P Brown 2 Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV Canberra Speed Shop 408 3 Ivan Tighe, B Schuster 5 Citroen DS21 Glyn Scott Motors 349
References
Further reading The Australian racing history of Ford, 1989 Family Sedan Battle, The Courier Mail, Monday, 6 January 1969, page 1 Stewart Wilson, The official racing history of Holden, 1988, pages 61 & 331 Ford Scores at Surfer's 12 Hour, Australian Motor Manual, March 1969, page 27
External links 1969 Rothmans 12 Hour Classic video, www.youtube.com