Dodgy Fuel or Dodgy Wheel Arches?

With the latest chapter in the history of the Bathurst 1000 due to be written this coming weekend, I thought I would take a moment to look back at probably the most controversial incident in the history of the race – the post-race disqualification of the Eggenberger Texaco Ford Sierras that finished first and second in 1987.

There has always been some confusion amongst many as to the exact reason they were rubbed out of the results – was it dodgy fuel, or dodgy wheel arches?

Here is a short snippet of Neil Crompton revealing to the television audience of the suspicion of illegal fuel running in the black Sierras:

I was at the 1987 race – (getting very wet) – and my memory of the cars were that they did sound different to every other Sierra on the circuit that day. That doesn’t mean they were doing something under the desk, but something was certainly different about them.

As it turned out, a CSIRO lab in Melbourne cleared the fuel samples on the Monday or Tuesday after the race. While the fuel was found to be “different” to that which should have only come from the official fuel supply at the circuit, it was deemed to still be within the regulations.

There were rumours of “tanks inside tanks” adding something to the fuel while the car was running, but stuff like that was never substantiated.

The real reason the cars were rubbed out – (and it took nine months of protests, and counter protests) – was for illegally modified wheel arches, which allowed for larger wheels and tyres to be fitted to the cars.

Take a look at these two pictures from the 1987 Great Race Yearbook – (click for larger version) – of one of the Texaco cars alongside an Australian-built DJR Shell Sierra in the scrutineering bay on the Tuesday before the race. They SHOULD be the same as each other.

In particular, note that on the black Texaco Eggenberger car, the top of the wheel arch meets the crease in the quarter panel, yet on the red Shell car, there is clearly a gap between the top of the wheel arch, and the crease in the panel.

Clearly different.

Also note that the wheels – (and see that both cars are fitted with the BBS rims that were common at the time) – on the Texaco car are clearly of different dimensions, and that the tyre is more “signficant” than on the DJR car.

That’s what tripped them up, and lost driver Klaus Ludwig and Klaus Niedwiedz the World Touring Car Championship – the points they lost from the disqualification were enough to hand the title to BMW’s Roberto Ravaglia.

Had they kept the points, Ludwig and Niedzwiedz would have finished equal on points, and ahead of Ravaglia.

Shall we say, lets hope for a less controversial finish this weekend!