1982 James Hardie 1000

The second Holden Dealer Team Commodore of John Harvey and Gary Scott finished third, equalling the best previous performance of the HDT, their first in 1969.

The favourite to win the money was the Bathurst pole winner of the past two years, Kevin Bartlett in his 500 bhp (373 kW; 507 PS) V8 Chevrolet Camaro Z28.

However, when his co-driver Colin Bond crashed the car due to a tyre blowout, the subsequent repairs put the Camaro's preparation a day behind and its chance was gone.

Coincidentally it was Browne's co-driver Allan Grice who pocketed the cash in Friday's qualifying session with a time of 2:17.8 to set the first ever 100 mph lap of the 6.172 km Mount Panorama circuit.

Also surprising the V8 runners was four time race winner Allan Moffat who qualified his rotary powered Mazda RX-7 in Hardies Heroes for the second year running.

Unfortunately during Saturday afternoon's final practice session, Fitzpatrick suffered a broken wheel going into Forrest's Elbow and crashed the car heavily into the bank.