High drama at every turn — that was the way the 1985 Bathurst 1000 unfolded. It was the first Bathurst classic devoted entirely to the new Group A touring car formula and the arrival of a solid overseas contingent gave demonstrable proof of the regulations great international appeal.

And as it was, an overseas team — Tom Walkinshaw Racing — took the race. The winning car: a Jaguar XJS. The triumphant drivers: Australian John Goss and West German Armin Hahne.

Walkinshaw brought three works-backed V12 Jaguars to the mountain in search of success. Tom himself was paired with Win Percy, Jeff Allam and Sydneysider Ron Dickson shared a second car, and Goss and Hahne lined up in the third machine. It a super-professional half-million dollar exercise and Walkinshaw duly went out and secured pole position in Hardie’s Heroes.

When the field was waved away on Sunday, Walkinshaw powered to the lead from Allam, Allan Grice’s Commodore, Robbie Francevic in the Volvo, Dick Johnson’s Mustang and the Goss/Hahne Jaguar in sixth. Then came eight-time winner Peter Brock in his Mobil Commodore, followed by the newly-crowned touring car champ Jim Richards in the black JPS BMW.

However, after just three laps, Allam pitted for good with engine troubles and suddenly the Jaguar assault didn’t look as rock solid. But within 15 laps, Goss had moved his car up to second, behind the boss. The Volvo was third, while Richards quietly made progress into fourth.

On lap 40, it all turned sour for the JPS BMW camp. At Hell Corner, Richards slid on oil dumped by an unhealthy Commodore. The car plunged into the sandpit, to be joined seconds later by the 635CSi of teammate George Fury. The delay in extricating his car from the bunker was to cost Richards the race. He lost four laps and resumed in 23rd place. Fury also dug his way out, but his car later suffered engine failure and retired after 68 laps.

Into the second half of the race, and the Walkinshaw/Percy XJS continued to hold sway at the head of the pack, followed by Goss/Hahne and Brock/Oxton. Internationals Johnny Cecotto and Robert Ravvalgia had charged to fourth in their Bob Jane T-Mart BMW, ahead of locals Peter McLeod/Graeme Bailey in a Commodore.

The second HDT car of Harvey/Parsoms went out with a blown engine and Allan Grice/Warren Cullen were no longer contenders, finally crashing out with a couple of hours to go. And the Volvo of Francevic/John Bowe had succumbed to a host of problems.

Richards and co-driver Tony Longhurst turned miracles to climb back through to fourth when, with 31 laps to go, a rival car cannoned into the BMW and tore a rear tyre from the rim. The slow trip to the pits and subsequent tyre change cost the desperately unlucky Richards two more laps.

Walkinshaw’s unhurried run at the head of the field suddenly ended when a stone penetrated an oil cooler. The race leader’s handy advantage ticked away as he stopped for repairs and a large quantity of oil.

The lead fell to the 1974 winner, Goss, although his race was not without its dramatic moments. He had glanced off a spinning Barry Jones’ Commodore earlier, and as the race entered its final hour his seat worked loose.

Driving under extreme difficulties, Goss’ lead was being eroded steadily by the hard-charging Brock, whose progress had twice been interrupted by pit stops to remove a broken windscreen and later to dislodge the rear window. Also sprinting to the finish were the BMWs of Cecotto/Ravaglia and Richards/Longhurst, while Walkinshaw had the failing Jaguar back out in an attempt to limp to the line.

Brock’s magnificent drive came to nought just three laps from the chequered flag, when a timing chain broke. This removed some pressure from the weary Goss, although the Cecotto/Ravaglia BMW was not far behind.

Goss kept it all together to notch his second win at the mountain. The only other car on the same lap at the finish was the Cecotto/Ravaglia 635CSi — one minute, 17 seconds away.

Walkinshaw brought his oil-gobbling Jag into third, three laps down and a mere 20 seconds ahead of the fast-finishing Richards.

BMWs dominated the minor placings — Kent Baigent/Neal Lowe were fifth, with Jim Keogh/Garry Rogers next in a similar machine. Johnson’s Mustang, which he shared with Larry Perkins, recovered from a broken oil cooler to take seventh.

First under two-litre car home was the Alfa GTV6 of Colin Bond and Gregg Hansford, which was eighth outright — one spot ahead of nearest rival, the Mitsubishi Starion of Kevin Bartlett/Peter McKay. The Starion had been faster, but a gearbox leak had lengthened its pitstops.

Rounding out the top 10 were Barry Jones/Tony Mulvihill in the first Commodore to the line. It was the worst Bathurst result for Holden in history.