this weekend at Bathurst was the last big high of
Pretty’s career. He was signed by Honda for 1982
but couldn’t recreate the genius sparked by his
relationship with Mal Pitman.
After the race finished the winners headed
off around the circuit in the London Trading
Company’s Ford Falcon ute to soak up the applause
of the crowd. In another moment that sums up the
camaraderie of Bathurst racers, they stopped to
pick up Pretty. The big yellow ute continued and
fans could see the winners at close range, including
the man who did everything possible to get on the
podium but ran out of luck on the last lap.
Mac attack
Easter 1982: Big crowds, big bikes. The gruelling
Arai 500, now in its fourth year, was the
showcase and ultimate test of the latest and
greatest Japanese four-cylinder roadbikes. As
well as an engine having to sur vive three hours
at full throttle, a rider had to hope the tyres
and suspension could cope with the constant
pounding of Bathurst’s unique mountain course.
A few years earlier 900cc had been considered
a lot of motorcycle muscle. But by the early 80s
production bikes were being raced in capacities
up to 1300cc. The Arai 500 had an 1100cc limit for
1982, so there was a fair bit of last-minute activity
to get bikes entered at the right capacity.
Several ‘prototypes’ with one-off frames had
been entered in previous years, but had yet to win.
What won this event was factory reliability, not
experimental technology.
That all changed when Kiwi Rodger Freeth
finally broke through to win on Ken McIntosh’s
Suzuki four-stroke special. Freeth’s Suzuki was
down on power and top speed compared to the
frontrunners. It had finished the New Zealand
season in 1200cc form, and to get it back to 1100cc
the high-compression Yoshimura pistons were
replaced by stock GSX1100 items, while milder
cams were installed for reliability.
As the race neared, pundits had their money on
the Mick Hone Katana 1100cc superbikes of Rob
Phillis and Mick Cole. Despite appearing to handle
82 amcn.com.au
Top and above. New
Zealander Rodger Freeth
won the Arai 500 in 1982
and again in 1985. In the
top shot he leads Paul
Feeney on a Kawasaki
1100, and above, Malcolm
Campbell (#3) on a
Honda VF860Below. Freeth’s Suzuki
four-stroke special built
by Ken McIntosh was the
first ‘prototype’ to win the
already famous Arai 500GLORY DAYS BATHURST