C4459 FORD XY FALCON - BATHURST 1972 - MURRAY CARTER

Out of the 60 starters for the 1972 Bathurst, Murray Carter in his Phase Three GT-HO Falcon qualified in 22nd position with a time of 2:49.2s. Falcons had captured the first 4 qualiying positions, with Allan Moffat scoring pole position with a time of 2:35.8s, followed by John Goss, John French and Fred Gibson. In a first, the Bathurst race started in pouring rain, conditions not suited for the large Falcons. Peter Brock in a Torana started from 5th on the grid and had moved up to 2nd place, just behind Moffat by the end of lap 3. The rain lasted until lap 23, where the Falcons were now able to record some good lap times on the drying track.
Carter was having a good race moving his way through the grid, but late in the race he struck problems when he bounced his Falcon off the fence at Murray’s Corner, the damaged guard cutting the right front tyre at Forrest’s Elbow later in the lap. Carter continued on three wheels making it back to the pits. A new tyre was fitted and Carter was able to continue racing, but he incurred a one-minute penalty after requiring a push-start from the pits. Murray Carter finished the race with a very second-hand looking car in overall 10th position, 8 laps down on the winner Peter Brock.