1981 Australian Touring Car Championship

1981 Australian Touring Car Championship
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The 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group C Touring Cars.[1] The championship, which was the 22nd running of the Australian Touring Car Championship,[2] began at Symmons Plains Raceway and ended at Lakeside International Raceway after 8 rounds.[3]

Dick Johnson, using the Falcon built with the money he received after TV viewers had pledged AUD$72,000 following his crash with 'The Rock' at Bathurst the previous year (Ford Australia boss of the day Edsel Ford II had personally matched the amount dollar for dollar), won his first ATCC ahead of defending champion Peter Brock in his Holden Dealer Team Commodore. Johnson and Brock were the only drivers to win during the championship which came down to the final round on Dick's home track at Lakeside. Johnson won the race from Brock, the two battling all the way to the Chequered flag in what many believe to be one of the best ATCC races in history. Johnson later praised Brock, claiming that he had every opportunity to punt him off the road at Lakeside, while Brock also praised Johnson who held his nerve and won a clean race.

Classes

Cars competed in two engine displacement classes:

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six placegetters in each class at each round. Bonus points were awarded on a 4-3-2-1 basis to the top four placegetters irrespective of class at each round.[1] Only the best seven round results could be retained by each driver.[4]

Round positions at rounds which were run in two parts were determined by allocating points on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first fourteen placegetters in each part. These points were then aggregated to determine the results for that round.[5] However a different method of determining round positions was used for Round 6 at Adelaide International Raceway where points were allocated on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first fourteen placegetters in each class in each part.[6]

Teams and drivers

Dick Johnson's Ford Falcon

The following drivers and teams competed in the 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship.

Team Car No Driver
Gary Cooke Holden VB Commodore[7] 2 Australia Gary Cooke
Cadbury-Schweppes Racing Holden VC Commodore 3 New Zealand Peter Janson
Re-Car Racing[8] Holden VC Commodore 4 Australia Alan Browne
Marlboro Holden Dealer Team[8] Holden VC Commodore 05 Australia Peter Brock
Launceston Hotel Holden VC Commodore 7 Australia Larry Perkins
Nine Network Racing Team Chevrolet Camaro Z28 9 Australia Kevin Bartlett
Roadways Racing Holden VC Commodore 10 Australia Steve Harrington
JPS Team BMW BMW 635CSi 11 Australia Allan Grice
Neil Cunningham Holden VB Commodore 16 New Zealand Neil Cunningham
Dick Johnson Racing Ford XD Falcon 17 Australia Dick Johnson
Murray Carter Ford XD Falcon 18 Australia Murray Carter
Army Reserve Racing Ford XD Falcon 24 Australia Bob Muir
Capri Components Ford Capri Mk.III 29 Australia Lawrie Nelson
P McLeod Mazda RX-7 30 Australia Peter McLeod
Mazda RX-7 34 Australia Terry Shiel
Masterton Homes Racing Ford Capri Mk.II 31 Australia Colin Bond
32 Australia Steve Masterton
Belgrave Mazda Mazda RX-3 41 Australia Frank Porter
Mazda RX-3 42 Australia Michael O'Hehir
Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 46 Australia Joe Beninca
Chickadee Chicken Toyota Celica 53 Australia Graeme Bailey
Ford Escort Mk.II RS2000 58 Australia Graham Mein
Isuzu Gemini 60 Australia Jim Faneco
Toyota Corolla Levin 62 Australia Alexandra Surplice
Holden VC Commodore 71 Australia Graeme Hooley
Toyota Dealer Team[8] Toyota Celica 77 Australia Peter Williamson
Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 A9X 78 Australia Gary Whittaker
Mazda RX-3 Australia Ross Burbidge
Triumph Dolomite Sprint Australia Greg Symes
Mazda RX-3 Australia Evan Thomas

Results and Standings

Race Calendar

Bob Muir's Ford Falcon

The 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over an 8 round series with Rounds 1, 3, 5, 7 & 8 being single race rounds and Rounds 2, 4 & 6 being two race rounds.[3]

Rd. Race Title Circuit City / State Date Winner Team Report
1 Australia Launceston Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 1 Mar Dick Johnson Dick Johnson Racing
2 Australia Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 15 Mar Peter Brock Holden Dealer Team
3 Australia Oran Park Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 22 Mar Dick Johnson Dick Johnson Racing
4 Australia Sandown Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 12 Apr Dick Johnson Dick Johnson Racing
5 Australia Perth Wanneroo Park Perth, Western Australia 26 Apr Peter Brock Holden Dealer Team
6 Australia Adelaide Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia 3 May Peter Brock Holden Dealer Team
7 Australia Surfers Paradise Surfers Paradise Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 17 May Dick Johnson Dick Johnson Racing
8 Australia Lakeside Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 21 Jun Dick Johnson Dick Johnson Racing

Drivers Championship

Colin Bond's Ford Capri

Colin Bond, driving an under 3 litre Ford Capri took seven class wins in the first seven rounds, but did not race at the final round as he was unlikely to improve his nett score. With Dick Johnson and Peter Brock only twice failing to take the top two positions (Johnson was third at Calder, and Brock did not finish at Sandown), they were classified ahead of Bond due to the bonus points they each received for their outright placings.

Pos[9] Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Pts
1 Dick Johnson 13 6 13 13 9 9 13 13 83 (89)
2 Peter Brock 9 13 9 Ret 13 13 9 9 75
3 Colin Bond 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 63
4 Steve Masterton 6 6 6 6 3 6 33
5 Murray Carter 6 9 1 6 2 1 25
6 Peter Janson 4 2 2 6 4 6 24
7 Alan Browne 4 4 4 4 4 20
8 Peter Williamson 4 6 4 4 18
9 Graeme Bailey 4 2 9 15
10 Steve Harrington 2 1 2 2 6 13
11 Kevin Bartlett 6 6 12
12 Allan Grice 9 9
12 Frank Porter 3 6 9
14 Lawrie Nelson 4 3 7
15 Ross Burbidge 6 6
15 Evan Thomas 2 4 6
17 Peter McLeod 4 1 5
18 Gary Cooke 4 4
18 Terry Shiel 4 4
20 Michael O'Hehir 3 3
20 Graham Mein 3 3
20 Bob Muir 1 2 3
23 Joe Beninca 2 2
23 Alexandra Surplice 2 2
23 Neil Cunningham 2 2
26 Jim Faneco 1 1
26 Graeme Hooley 1 1
26 Larry Perkins 1 1
26 Greg Symes 1 1
26 Gary Whittaker 1 1
Pos Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 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 1.2 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1981, Conditions for Australian Titles, page 94
  2. ↑ CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1982, page 53
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Australian Motor Racing Year, 1981/82, Australian Touring Car Championship, pages 112-129
  4. ↑ CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1981, Conditions for Australian Titles, pages 92
  5. ↑ CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1981, Conditions for Australian titles, pages 91-92
  6. ↑ Ford, the Australian racing history, page 353
  7. ↑ Holden, the official racing history, page 353
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Official Programme, Adelaide International Raceway, 3 May 1981, page 10
  9. ↑ Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, 1981 - Ford's new folk-hero, The Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1989, page 230

External links