Allan Moffat
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-->Allan George Moffat, OBE, (born November 10, 1939 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada) is an Australian racing driver known for his success in the Australian Touring Car Championship and his four wins in the Bathurst 1000.Born in Canada, Moffat first came to Australia as a college student with his parents in the early 1960s and lived permanently in the country since the latter part of that decade, when he embarked on his record-setting racing career. He had already raced in the United States before his move to Australia, his first race behind the wheel of a Triumph TR3.
1965 to 1971
-->Moffat first entered the Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) in 1965, driving a Ford Mustang. By 1969 he had become a regular competitor and his bright red Coca-Cola-sponsored Trans-Am Mustang was unmistakable at circuits around Australia. He would go on to win 101 ATCC races in this car between 1969 and 1972.Although Moffat and many other drivers raced Mustangs for ATCC competition - the five ATCC titles from 1965 to 1969 were all won by Mustangs - this car was ineligable for the Bathurst 500 (later changed to Bathurst 1000) which was restricted to Series Production cars, and Moffat made his debut in that race in a Ford Falcon GTHO. He and co-driver Alan Hamilton finished 4th.
The following two years would see Moffat come into his own as one of Australia's most dominant race drivers, and the Falcon GTHO as an almost unbeatable car. For 1970, Ford had made significant improvements to the Falcon GTHO over the previous year's model and Moffat, racing without a co-driver, took the car to two crushing victories in the 1970 and 1971 Bathurst races.
1972
Moffat looked headed for an historic third straight Bathurst victory in 1972 when Ford unveiled plans for a "Phase IV" Falcon GTHO, even faster and more brutal than the Phase III which Moffat had taken to victory in 1971. The Australian press caught wind of these plans, however, and headlines across the country screamed, "160mph Supercars On Our Roads!" Facing pressure from the media and government not to produce this car, as entering it at Bathurst would also require at least 500 units to be sold at dealerships in Australia, Ford scrapped production of the Phase IV and forced Moffat and other Ford drivers to resort to year-old Phase III cars for Bathurst that year. Peter Brock won the race that year for arch-rival manufacturer Holden, and he and Moffat would establish a rivalry of their own in the years to come.1973 to 1980
In 1973, the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) changed the rules for ATCC and Bathurst cars to allow racing modifications (prior to 1973, cars had to be showroom-standard and could not be modified). Ford, smarting from the Phase IV controversy the year before, withdrew their factory teams from competition and forced Moffat and others to form their own privateer teams. Moffat proved he could succeed without Ford's assistance as he won both the ATCC title - his first ever - and Bathurst (with co-driver Ian Geoghegan) that year.Moffat struggled through the 1974 and 1975 seasons. He failed to finish the Bathurst races that year and was only moderately competitive in ATCC races, occasionally stepping out of his Ford Falcons to drive Holden Toranas. Although he failed to finish Bathurst again in 1976, Moffat returned to drive his Falcon GT full-time in the ATCC that year and won his second title.
Moffat was back to his dominant best in 1977. He won his second consecutive ATCC title that year, the third of his career, but this performance was well and truly overshadowed by the crushing 1-2 victory of Moffat and team-mate Colin Bond at Bathurst. By the mid-point of the race, Moffat and Bond led by over six laps from the rest of the field. Late in the race, Moffat's car encountered transmission and brake problems and had to slow, allowing Bond to catch up for the cars to complete the final lap of the race side-by-side and cross the finish line in tandem, with Bond allowing Moffat to stay barely in front. This moment is remembered as one of the most famous in Australian motor sport history, and still regarded by many as Ford's finest hour.
Moffat was unable to repeat this success over the following three years. He retired from the 1978, 1979 and 1980 Bathurst races and did not win the ATCC title in those years as Holden began to gain a manufacturer's edge with their Torana A9X, which was lighter and more nimble than the heavy Falcons.
1981 and beyond
Much to the dismay of his mostly Ford-biased fans, Moffat left the "Blue Oval" brand in 1981 to drive a Peter Stuyvesant-sponsored Mazda RX-7 as both the ATCC and Bathurst began to exhibit a shift towards lighter touring cars with less raw power. Moffat drove the RX-7 to four consecutive top-six finishes at Bathurst between 1981 and 1984, and won his fourth and final ATCC title in 1983.After sitting out the 1985 season Moffat returned to Bathurst for three more years in 1986, 1987 and 1988, the first in a Holden Commodore with rival Peter Brock and the final two times in Ford Sierras with Cosworth engines. These cars dominated the ATCC circuits for most of the late 1980s and won Bathurst twice in 1988 and 1989.
Moffat retired from competitive motor racing in 1989. He has since worked as a TV commentator and a spokesman for BMW and appears at various Ford club events across Australia.
Trivia
- Moffat received an Order of the British Empire in 1978 for exceptional services to motor sport.
- Although he has lived permanently in Australia for over 35 years, his thick Canadian accent has remained intact and continues to be his trademark.
- On February 2, 2004, Moffat received Australian citizenship in a ceremony at the Australian Grand Prix Corporation offices in Melbourne. He had been eligible for citizenship since the early 1970s but, in his own words, "one way or another I never followed it through."
See also
External links
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