The 1974 Hardie Ferodo will go down in history as the year of the Big Wet. Also it will be known as the year of the Great Race with Kevin Bartlett and Bob Forbes battling it out in appalling conditions, staging a neck-and-neck race to the line in the fading light.

The John Goss/Kevin Bartlett Falcon finally won the day from the Wayne Negus/Bob Forbes Torana ending a factory stranglehold on the marathon and rocketing Goss to the top of the sedan car ladder.

However, the dramas had begun months before the race, with the official withdrawal of Ford Australia from motor racing. Then came the dramas of the new Torana — the V8 SLR with rumours of differential, gearbox and engine problems in the ‘other’ camp, Allan Moffat held sway. He had had his Falcon flown to America to be prepared in secret and climaxed a high publicity campaign by announcing he had engaged Dieter Glemser as his co-driver.

Bathurst proved a disaster area. After a week of rain Mount Panorama was saturated with the pits a bog.

Practice saw Moffat in trouble, the car being taken into town after only a few laps for a new motor, leaving him 15th on the grid. The HDT cars took over with Peter Brock/Brian Sampson taking pole ahead of Colin Bond/Bob Skelton. Goss managed third.

The race started on a dry track with rain threatening, and Bond won the start from Goss who was soon passed by Brock and Bob Jane in another Torana, as Moffat made his charge through the field.

After five laps Brock had gone to the lead with Bond second and Moffat third. First major retirement came on lap eight when Jane called it a day at the top of the mountain.

Already the writing was on the wall for Moffat who had started to slow. After 10 laps he was into the pits with ignition troubles, the start of a frustrating day that was to see the car in and out of the pits until it finally expired on Pit Straight.

Allan Grice and Bruce McPhee were the next two Toranas to go, but the HDT cars were setting a ripping pace and looked invincible. By 20 laps they were more than a minute ahead of Goss and pulling away, having lapped many of their rivals.

Then, with early 100 laps gone, the dramas really began. Bond’s car was seen to be trailing smoke. He pressed on, but finally came in after receiving the black flag. He was soon out again, but returned to the pits for a lengthy stop after only two more laps.

Then Brock was out with a blown piston and the Negus Torana was in the lead ahead of Goss as the rains came down. Goss and Bartlett were battling against minor problems and had already been into the pits twice with flat tyres, but they were right in the chase.

Then, in heavy rain, and with 20 laps to go, Goss was forced into the pits. The extended time of the race due to the wet conditions meant that he had used up his driving time and had to give the car over to Bartlett.

Bartlett set off into the spray and after a magnificent drive, hit the front eight laps from the finish when Forbes was forced into the pits for fuel. While the big crowd cheered there were more dramas in the closing stages as Rod McRae’s Torana hit a patch of water on Conrod Straight, became airborne and smashed into a tree in one of the most spectacular crashes seen at the circuit. Amazingly, McRae walked away with little more than a shaking.