Who Won? The events of October 4, 1987 and the days which preceded and followed it may well be remembered as the most interesting in the history of the James Hardie 1000. The final solution was delayed for some months, and when the result was finally announced, the crews had long gone home.

The provisional results showed the Soper/Dieudonne Eggenberger Ford Sierra the winner having completed 161 laps or 1006.1 kilometres. Two laps behind them came the two Klauses Ludwig and Niedzwiedz then Peter Brock on 158 laps.

Brock, having abandoned his 05 Commodore with engine failure after just 34 laps, had swapped to his number two car driven by Peter McLeod and Jon Crooke, the latter missing the drive as a result.

The Peter Jackson Nissan Skylines were next on 157 laps. The first BMW M3 to receive the chequered flag was the local JPS entry for Jim Richards/Tony Longhurst, a further lap behind. On 154 laps came Gary Scott/Akihito Nakaya in the Ralliart Mitsubishi Starion, Robbie Francevic/Ludwig Finauer in the JPS M3, and then the CiBiEmme-entered M3 of Johnny Cecotto and Gianfranco Brancatelli. Completing the top 10 was the Commodore of Graham Moore and Belgian Michel Delcourt.

The Eggenberger cars were subsequently excluded for incorrect bodywork. This gave Peter Brock an unexpected win, and one which he regards as lucky considering the circumstances. However, he was there at the finish to take advantage of the Sierras' exclusion and had, as always, driven superbly.

Other locals didn't fare so well. Dick Johnson was found guilty of using illegal fuel after Hardie's Heroes qualifying and was relegated from seventh to 10th grid position, while teammates Charlie O'Brien and Neville Crichton had their Sierra moved from fifth to ninth for the same offence. This was particularly embarrassing as Johnson's major sponsor was Shell! Neither of Johnson's cars recorded even a handful of laps in the race Crichton was out after two laps following a coming together with Perkins, and Johnson after three laps when his diff failed.

Andy Rouse, sharing his Sierra with Thierry Tassin, created a lot of interest with the inclusion of local Allan Moffat, who was having his first drive in a Ford since 1980. During practice, the speed of the Sierras was revealed and many others discovered the hardness of the concrete walls. Bent cars littered the track.

The first was Bill O'Brien's Commodore, going into the wall at the top of the mountain on Wednesday. Then Mercedes Stermitz put her Schnitzer M3 into the wall at Forrest's Elbow and was without it until Friday while repairs were being made. The team had decided to scrap the car, but the TAFE crew told them they could fix it.

Three biggies crashed during the Friday morning timed session Ravaglia, badly damaging his M3 just past Skyline and cracking a rib in the process, the Fangio/Brabham BMW had its suspension collapse and also hit the wall, while Win Percy hit the wall at McPhillamy Park in Grice's Commodore a few minutes later. All three cars were repaired by the wonderful TAFE crew. Grice's car appeared the next morning for Hardie's Heroes!

A major item of discussion was the standing start. Bathurst was the only round of the world championship which did not feature a rolling start and there was talk of changing at the behest of some of the Europeans. This did not change.

The Eggenberger one-two was temporarily broken just before half distance when Dieudonne pitted to repair some damage caused when hit with a slower car (allowing Percy into second before a scheduled stop). Then Ludwig had to crawl to the pits when his Sierra ran low on fuel, the result of a computer over-reading the tank's contents. Niedzwiedz rejoined in third place, which became second on lap 96 when Win Percy brought the Grice Commodore in with a broken axle.

By lap 100 the Eggenberger cars were back running one-two and a lap clear of everyone else. At 2.40pm (lap 110) light rain began to fall on the top of the mountain. It only lasted a few moments and no-one changed from slick tyres before it stopped, but more was to come shortly!

The storm that struck the Mountain at 3.40pm, while the leaders were on lap 128, brought gale force winds, rain, hail, you name it! At the top of the hill there was mayhem, with cars going off everywhere. The work's Toyotas, Kent Baigent's Nissan, Gidding's Sierra, the Fangio BMW and third-placed Cecotto. Cecotto and Fangio somehow nursed their cars back to the pits and went on to finish the race.

The squall only lasted five minutes, but the wreckage at the top of the Mountain was sufficient to bring out the yellow flags and the pace car. That settled the finishing order: Soper, Ludwig, Brock, Seton, Fury, Richards, Scott, Francevic, Cecotto until the first two cars were disqualified a month later.