1971 Australian Touring Car Championship

1971 Australian Touring Car Championship
Previous: 1970 Next: 1972

The 1971 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group C Improved Production Touring Cars and Group E Series Production Touring Cars.[1] The title, which was the twelfth running of the Australian Touring Car Championship,[2] began on 1 March 1971 at Symmons Plains Raceway and ended on 8 August at Oran Park Raceway.[3]

Bob Jane won his third Australian Touring Car Championship driving his 7.0 litre Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1. Second was Allan Moffat in his Ford Boss 302 Mustang, while third was Ian Geoghegan in his ageing Ford Mustang. Defending champion Norm Beechey finished fifth in the series, suffering from reliability problems with his Holden HT Monaro GTS350. Beechey only finished two rounds of the series, though one was a win in Round 2 at Calder

Drivers

The 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 in which Bob Jane won the 1971 championship.

The following drivers competed in the 1971 ATCC. The listing is not exhaustive.

Driver Car No Entrant [4]
Australia Norm Beechey Holden HT Monaro GTS350 1 Shell Racing [4]
Australia Jim McKeown Porsche 911S 3 Shell Racing [4]
Australia Ian Geoghegan Ford Mustang 4 & 11 Geoghegans Sporty Cars [4]
Australia Bob Jane Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 6 & 7 Bob Jane Racing Team [4]
Australia Brian Foley Alfa Romeo GTAm 8 Chesterfield Filter Racing [4]
Canada Allan Moffat Ford Boss 302 Mustang 9 Coca-Cola Team AMR [4]
Australia Bill Fanning Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 11
Australia Dick Johnson Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 17
Australia Colin Bond Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1 44
Australia Robin Bessant Morris Cooper S

& Ford Mustang

 90
Australia Graham Bishop Morris Cooper S 30 Shell Racing [4]
Australia Noel Devine Holden LC Torana GTR XU-1
Australia John French Ford XY Falcon GT-HO Phase III
Australia Bob Kent Morris Cooper S
Australia Andrew McComb Morris Cooper S
Australia Trevor Meehan Morris Cooper S 18 M Brewster [4]
Australia Graham Ritter Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I 5 BS Stillwell & Co [5][6]
Australia John Rushford Ford Escort Twin Cam Mk.I

Race calendar

The 1971 ATCC was contested over a seven heat series with one race per heat.[7] An event was scheduled to be held at Warwick Farm Raceway in July, but was cancelled as the circuits track licence had been suspended.[8]

Heat Heat Title Circuit Location Date Winner Team Report
1 Australia Symmons Plains Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 1 Mar Allan Moffat Team Coca-Cola AMR
2 Australia Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 21 Mar Norm Beechey Shell Racing
3 Australia Sandown Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 14 Apr Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing Team
4 Australia Surfers Paradise Surfers Paradise Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 14 May Allan Moffat Team Coca-Cola AMR
5 Australia South Australian Touring Car Championship [4] Mallala Mallala, South Australia 14 Jun Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing Team
6 Australia Lakeside Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 25 Jul Allan Moffat Team Coca-Cola AMR
7 Australia Oran Park Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 8 Aug Bob Jane Bob Jane Racing Team

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9–6–4–3–2–1 basis to the first six place-getters in each heat.[1]

Results

Pos.[9] Driver [9] H 1 H 2 H 3 H 4 H 5 H 6 H 7 Pts [9]
1 Bob Jane 2nd Ret 1st 2nd 1st 3rd 1st 43
2 Allan Moffat 1st Ret DSQ 1st 3rd 1st 2nd 37
3 Ian Geoghegan 3rd 2nd 2nd 3rd 2nd 2nd 3rd 36
4 Jim McKeown 4th 3rd 3rd 5th 4th 6th 4th 20
5 Norm Beechey Ret 1st Ret Ret Ret 4th Ret 12
6 Graham Ritter 5th Ret 4th 5
6 John French 4th 5th 5
8 John Rushford 4th 3
9 Brian Foley 6th 5th 7th 3
10 Trevor Meehan 5th 2
10 Colin Bond 5th 2
10 Bill Fanning 5th 2
13 Bob Kent 6th 1
13 Andrew McComb 6th 1
13 Noel Devine 6th 1
13 Graeme Bishop 6th 1
13 Dick Johnson 7th 8th 6th 1
Pos Driver H 1 H 2 H 3 H 4 H 5 H 6 H 7 Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not participate
Excluded (EX)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Conditions for Australian Titles, 1971 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 79–83
  2. ↑ 1980 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 58
  3. ↑ Stewart Wilson & Max Stahl, The Australian racing history of Ford, 1989, page 286
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Programme for Mallala Races, Queens's Birthday, 14 June 1971, page 39
  5. ↑ No HOs – so Beechey tippy toes, Modern Motor, June 1971, page 95
  6. ↑ Program for Mallala Easter Road Races, Easter Monday, 12 April 1971 , page 19
  7. ↑ Shepherd, Jim (1980). A History of Australian Motor Sport. pp. 106–107.
  8. ↑ Howard, Graham; Wilson, Stewart (1986). "1971: The ponycar battle". Australian Touring Car Championship, 25 fabulous years. Gordon, NSW: R&T Publishing. p. 121. ISBN 0-9590378-2-9.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, The Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1990

External links