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 circuit for a total of .1985 Nissan Sport 500 at History of Touring Car Racing
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
See also James Hardie 1000, 1985/86 The Australian Racing History of Ford, 1989 The Official Racing History of Holden, 1988