the car was forced to start with the repaired cooler which subsequently failed. From then Johnson and Perkins drove as hard as they could with the engine temperature "off the clock" and were rewarded with a seventh-place finish, though Perkins' first lap of the race was a slow one as the left front wheel had not been secured properly with the wheel nut spinning off in the braking area at the top of Mountain Straight. Perkins then managed to get the car back to the pits without the wheel falling off the car. Rumours had floated around the Bathurst pits that DJR had toyed with the idea of actually running both Mustangs in the race with the second car to be driven by Belgian jeweller Michel Delcourt and none other than former Ford hero Allan Moffat who was without a drive for the year thanks to Mazda pulling out and was actually commentating on the race for Channel 7. Moffat indeed drove the Mustang during practice, but this had only been part of his duties as an expert commentator to evaluate the leading (Australian) contenders. Delcourt was entered in the race in Graham Moore's Mitsubishi Starion Turbo, but the car was withdrawn following practice. Larry Perkins reportedly stopped DJR from fully entering the second car, rightfully (according to Johnson) reasoning that the team was not set up to race both cars. With the arrival of the first truly competitive Group A Holden Commodore, the new VK SS Group A, and the new turbocharged Nissan Skyline DR30 RS, plus the continued development of the Volvo 240T, the Mustang quickly fell behind its rivals in 1986 and Johnson could only finish sixth in the ATCC with a best finish of 4th in the opening round at Amaroo Park. For Sandown and Bathurst the team signed former Grand Prix motorcycle star and Moffat team driver Gregg Hansford to be Johnson's co-driver. After failing to finish at Sandown, extra development work saw the Mustang competitive at Bathurst where Johnson qualified the car in sixth place, though the car was still out paced by the Nissans and Commodores. Before Hardies Heroes Johnson actually tripped while exiting the traditional breakfast and broke a bone in his foot, though he still drove in the runoff. Johnson and Hansford drove a steady race to finish in fourth place outright despite the 302 cui Ford V8 engine running low