Mark Winterbottom and Dean Canto will pay tribute to Alan Moffat and the famous 1977 Ford 1-2 victory, by unveiling a brand new one-off livery on the Bottle-O Racing Ford purely for this weekend's race.
The team will run the same colours as Moffat and Bond's 1977 Ford XC Falcon on their modern day equivalent FG X Falcon Supercar, with Winterbottom and Canto wearing replica 1977 design race suits, among a host of tribute items.
The 1977 victory is famous for Bond electing to not pass the ailing Falcon of team owner Moffat in the closing laps, when the lead driver Moffat was nursing his car home due to a lack of rear brakes.
Allan Moffat will be in attendance to watch the one-off livery race this weekend, where he will also be inducted as an inaugural member of Supercars' Legends Lane – a permanent tribute to past Bathurst greats.
“Allan Moffat was one of my heroes growing up, and still is, so I feel very honoured to be racing in the livery he made so famous 40 years ago,” said Winterbottom, who won at Bathurst in 2013 – the first for a factory Ford driver since the 1977 race. “It will be great to have Allan and Colin trackside to watch the race this year and a big thanks to The Bottle-O team for making all of this happen. Dean and I would like nothing more than to take the famous livery to another win on the 40th anniversary.”
The tribute, which also includes retro-inspired crew uniforms and apparel, is part of a broad program instigated by Winterbottom's naming-rights partner The Bottle-O to recognise the significance of the 1977 race and the legacy that exists four decades on.
“I have very fond memories of the 1977 race, it has become a big part of my life and still is even 40 years on,” Moffat added. “To see Mark and Dean carry those colours this year at Bathurst will be a great sight. I wish them and all the team the best of luck for the weekend.”
