Allan Moffat has confirmed that the Bathurst one-two of 1977 was his greatest racing achievement.
Moffat sat down with Speedcafe.com’s Mark Fogarty for the latest Up Front With Foges in the lead up to the 40th anniversary of the famous result for the Moffat Ford Dealers team.
Moffat crossed the finish line in first position in a form finish despite a brake failure for the last dozen laps.
He had been caught by team-mate Colin Bond in the #2 XC Falcon Hardtop, but Bond backed off on the final run down Conrod Straight to let his boss and Jacky Ickx take victory.
“Absolutely,” replied Moffat when asked if the result was the greatest achievement of his racing career.
“I never talked about it for many months afterwards but when Colin and I came around on the last lap, no one realised that I had no brakes for the last 12 laps.
“I broke down going into Forrest’s Elbow and I just put my foot on the brake pedal. Funnily enough it went to the floor and I thought, ‘Hmmm.’
“Colin was about halfway around so I just did my best and said, ‘Fine, I know when I get at the middle of (Conrod) Straight, I just take my foot off everything, and by the time I get to the bottom of the corner, I can accelerate and it didn’t matter.’
“I was quite surprised how long I lasted for 12 laps with no brakes.”
Moffat explained that the nature of the finish was largely down to the chance brake failure, but that Bond had an understanding of the importance of forming a side-by-side pass of the chequered flag.
“Well I wasn’t planning to have no brakes, let’s put it that way,” quipped Moffat.
“I think it was fairly understandable between the two because Colin really was a long way back for a long time and it was then when I lost my brakes, I had to back off.
“On the very last lap, he went like that (edged ahead) and I sent him that little telepathic message, ‘Don’t forget who’s running the show,’ or something like that.
“We went around together like that and that was what made the photograph so effective.”
CLICK HERE for Part 1 of the multi-part Up Front With Foges with Allan Moffat.
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