60 years on: How Bathurst was won with one refuelling stop
Midge Bosworth and Barry ‘Bo’ Seton won off just a single stop for fuel
Bosworth, Seton won the 1965 race in a Ford GT500 Cortina
Cortina was was offered up to Glenn Seton ahead of 1995 race
The winner of this year’s Repco Bathurst 1000 will make multiple pit stops for fuel on their way to racing for victory in Australia’s ‘Great Race’.
However, wind the clock back 60 years to the 1965 version of the race and just one of the stark contrasts to today’s event is clear in the numbers of times the winning Cortina visited the pit lane to fuel up.
The answer?
Just once – and for special reason too.
The GT500 Cortina of Midge Bosworth and Barry ‘Bo’ Seton (father of two-time Supercars Champion Glenn and grandfather of 2025 Great Race starter Aaron) made just a single stop for fuel on its way to victory in was then known as the Armstrong 500.
The standard production cars in that era lapped the Mount Panorama circuit over a minute slower per lap than today’s V8-powered Supercars, so fuel burn was nothing like that of the 2025-spec Camaros and Mustangs.
The GT500 version of the Cortina had an advantage over its rivals of the period via a special refuelling system for the souped up, four-cylinder Ford that Ford racing boss of the period, Harry Firth, came up with.
Its fuel tank capacity was doubled by the installation of an auxiliary tank (of about 40 litres) in the forward section of the boot, interconnected with the original tank (of about 36 litres) and fuelled by a new filler on the rear quarter panel.
It gave the Cortina an advantage over its rivals, including the Mini Coopers and the V8-powered, heavy, underbraked Studebaker Larks, allowing it to run for longer on fuel over the course of the race.
The winning #11 Cortina started 11th on the grid, which in those days was ordered by class of cars rather than practice or qualifying times.
The Fairfield Motors-entered Ford hit the lead approaching the halfway mark in the 130-lap, 500-mile race after taking a slow and steady approach in the early stages.
It wasn’t without drama though, a Mini bounced off the wall at Forrest’s Elbow during the race, spearing straight back into the right-hand side door of the Cortina. The door was crumpled, though the Ford pressed on.
In the end Seton crossed the line after just over seven hours of racing to seal victory, one minutes and 43 seconds in front of Bruce McPhee and Barry Mulholland’s GT500 Cortina.
The 1965 race-winning car is going to be front of mind at this year’s Repco Bathurst 1000 60 years on too, as it sits on display just outside Hell Corner at its long-term home, the National Motor Racing Museum.
The very same car was offered up to Glenn Seton 30 years ago in 1995 as race organisers put up the choice of a $30,000 cash bonus or taking home his dad’s winning Cortina should he win that year’s 1000-kilometre classic.
Ultimately his #30 Falcon’s engine cried enough while leading with nine laps to go, meaning he never had the difficult dilemma of whether to actually choose the cash or the car …
