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 oil pressure throughout thanks to a crack in the engine block that was only discovered when the team stripped down the car and engine after Dick had raced it in the Group A support race at the 1986 Australian Grand Prix meeting in Adelaide. The Mustang also had a cracked windscreen from which had been there since before Hardies Heroes, and like 1985 before he left the circuit for the night Johnson instructed the team to change the windscreen. Upon returning to the circuit on race morning an angry Johnson found the cracked windscreen still on the car with no time to change it before the race, though thankfully the crack did not spread during the race.