Facts, please, facts, Lee ....
'I am going by the media reports ....' - which sounds like hearsay to me.
Apart from the disputed query regarding rear wheel arch modifications, and clearances, what precisely, were the Eggenberger cars accused of ? In my contention, smears (as opposed to facts) in these threads, are really not justified.
the Bathurst scrutineers were paying close attention to fuel during the race, and it seemed that the issue that they had late in the race with the Eggenberger cars, were that the fuel spilling out into the overflow catch bottle was markedly dissimilar to the fuel being churned into the cars. This was reported live via the pit reporter who sensationalised it at the time, but I don't believe that the fuel was ultimately mentioned when the disqualification took place.
As far as facts went:
- the Eggenberger guard and bumper clearances were dramatically different to any of the other Sierra entrants at Bathurst 1987.
- the absolute truth of who was correct was difficult to ascertain during what was likely to have been the busiest Race Week at Bathurst in history, especially as road-going RS500's and M3's weren't exactly overflowing out of the Mt Panorama carpark. And with much of the technical information not on hand, it was also difficult to get the whole picture off a fax of a photocopy of a gestetner copy of a blueprint. Most of us here would shudder to think of the resolution of the information streaming onto thermal paper in the Race Control centre.
- there was ill-feeling resulting from local competitors failing to distinguish Tim Schenken's role of Clerk of Course at this FIA-governed race meeting, as seperate from his usual CAMS role.
- there was ill-feeling resulting from local car builders being so remote from the European hub of Group A; the Australian scrutineers had applied their most literal interpretations of the regulations, whereas in Europe, there was more liberty taken (which the link supplied up the page, ref Klaus Niedzwiedz touched upon), and so the locals not only had their jaws dropping at the sheer amount of manpower and money that the Euro teams were throwing at the venture (and not surprisingly, given that this was the WTCC after all), but were getting their doors sucked off on-track as well.
The aftermath was one of nothing but ill-feeling. The Australian punters felt robbed, many of the Australian teams were embarrassed at their poor showing on home turf. The ongoing litigation sullied the race result for months, the ultimate result cost Ford a prestigious title, and earned Frank Gardner - formerly one of their shining stars in days gone by - their eternal enmity. It sowed the seeds for Dick Johnson's questionably-successful raid on the Silverstone TT the following year, and arguably did nothing for the European perception of Australia at all.
Regardless of how you might feel about hearsay and "unjustified smears", it's well-documented that Bathurst scrutineering was a bunfight from one end to the other, and that Eggenberger were excluded from the Bathurst results for irregularities surrounding specific dimensions on their RS500's.
Given that we are in the midst of a rather robust debate regarding one race meeting from 25 years in the past, one can imagine the depth of feeling that surrounded these events at the time.
Edited by Hank the Deuce, 15 June 2012 - 01:19.