1982 Australian Touring Car Championship

1982 Australian Touring Car Championship
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The 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to Group C Touring Cars.[1] It began on 18 February 1982 at Sandown Raceway and ended on 16 May at Oran Park Raceway after eight rounds.[2] The title, which was the 23rd Australian Touring Car Championship, was won by defending champion Dick Johnson, driving a Ford XD Falcon.

Peter Brock had actually scored more points than Johnson throughout the championship in his Holden Dealer Team Commodores (both the VC and VH SS models). However, the use of not yet homologated engine heads on the cars saw him disqualified from all but two rounds of the championship. The matter between CAMS and the HDT ended in court with Brock agreeing to the loss of points and the championship in order to avoid a three month suspension for himself and the team which would have actually excluded them from entering the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst.

Allan Moffat's win in Round 5 at Lakeside was the first ever ATCC win by a Mazda with their RX-7 model and the first ever ATCC race win by a Japanese car.

Under 3000cc class competitor Bob Holden finished second in the championship. Though he would finish no higher than 8th outright in any race, consistent class wins and placings and the bonus points that came with them saw him finish second on 36 points, 21 behind Johnson and 5 points in front of both Moffat and the Channel 9 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 of Kevin Bartlett.

Teams and drivers

Dick Johnson's Ford XD Falcon

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship.

Team Car Class No Driver
Masterton Homes Pty Ltd Ford Capri Mk.II 3000cc 2 Australia Steve Masterton
Cadbury Schweppes Pty Ltd Holden VC Commodore [3] 6000cc 3 New Zealand Peter Janson
Holden VC Commodore [3] 6000cc 3 Australia Wayne Negus
Re-Car Racing Holden VC Commodore [3]
Holden VH Commodore [3]		 6000cc 4 Australia Alan Browne
Australia Allan Grice
6000cc 6
16		 Australia Ron Wanless
Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VH Commodore [3]
Holden VC Commodore [3]		 6000cc 05 Australia Peter Brock
Rusty French Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 6 Australia Rusty French
G Willmington Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 8 Australia Garry Willmington
Nine Network Racing Team Chevrolet Camaro Z28 6000cc 9 Australia Kevin Bartlett
J Duggan Mazda RX-7 3000cc [4] 10 Australia John Duggan
Launceston Hotel Holden VC Commodore [3] 6000cc 7
11		 United Kingdom Clive Benson-Brown
Australia Garry Rogers
Garry Rowe Isuzu Gemini ZZ/R [5] 3000cc 11 Australia Garry Rowe
Cullen Automotive Industries Holden VC Commodore [3] 6000cc 12
22		 Australia Warren Cullen
Bob Holden Motors Manly Vale Ford Escort Mk.II 3000cc 13
52		 Australia Bob Holden
3000cc 14 Australia Brian Nightingale
John Donnelly Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 14 Australia John Donnelly
John English Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 15 Australia John English
Dick Johnson Racing [4] Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 17 Australia Dick Johnson
Murray Carter Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 18 Australia Murray Carter
JPS Team BMW BMW 635CSi 6000cc 21 New Zealand Jim Richards
Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 24 Australia Robert Muir
Roadways Holden VC Commodore [3] 6000cc 27 Australia Steve Harrington
Bayside Spares Holden VH Commodore [3] 6000cc 28 Australia Barry Lawrence
T Kavich Mazda RX-7 6000cc [4] 30 Australia Tony Kavich
Alexander Rotary Engines Mazda RX-7 6000cc [4] 35 Australia Phil Alexander
Penrith Mazda Centre Mazda RX-7 6000cc [4] 37 Australia Terry Shiel
Capri Components Ford Capri Mk.III S 3000cc 39
58		 Australia Lawrie Nelson
Strongbow Racing Team Mazda RX-7 3000cc [4]
6000cc [6]		 40 Australia Peter McLeod
Barry Jones Mazda RX-7 6000cc [6] 41 Australia Barry Jones
Peter Stuyvesant International Mazda RX-7 6000cc [4] 43 Canada Allan Moffat
Beninca Motors Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 3000cc 46 Australia Joe Beninca
David Parsons Holden VC Commodore [3]
Holden VH Commodore [3]		 6000cc 50 Australia David Parsons
Les Grose Ford Capri Mk.III 3000cc 54 Australia Les Grose
Toyota Celica 3000cc 55 Australia Maurie Spalding
Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Bluebird Turbo [7] 3000cc 55 Australia George Fury
3000cc 56 Australia Fred Gibson
Toyota Celica 3000cc 57 Australia Wally Scott
Chickadee Chicken Toyota Celica 3000cc 61 Australia Graeme Bailey
Daily Planet Toyota Celica 3000cc 69
88		 Australia Craig Bradtke
G Hooley Holden VC Commodore [3] 6000cc 71 Australia Graeme Hooley
Ross Burbidge Mazda RX-3 3000cc 77 Australia Ross Burbidge
Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 [8] 6000cc 78 Australia Gary Whittaker
Lester Smerdon Isuzu Gemini [9] 3000cc 83 Australia Lester Smerdon
Fred Geissler Holden VC Commodore [3] 6000cc 88 Australia Fred Geissler
Mazda RX-3 3000cc Australia Evan Thomas

Race Calendar

The 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over an eight round series.[10] The Sandown round was contested over two parts and all other rounds were contested as single races.[2]

Rd. Circuit Location / State Date Winner Team Report
1 Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 17 – 18 Feb Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills
2 Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 27 – 28 Feb Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills
3 Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 6 – 7 Mar Peter Brock Marlboro Holden Dealer Team
4 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 20 – 21 Mar Kevin Bartlett Nine Network Racing Team
5 Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 3 – 4 Apr Allan Moffat Peter Stuyvesant International
6 Wanneroo Park Perth, Western Australia 27 – 28 Apr Allan Grice Re-Car Racing
7 Adelaide International Raceway Virginia, South Australia 1–2 May Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills
8 Surfers Paradise International Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 15–16 May Allan Moffat Peter Stuyvesant International

Note: Brock was excluded from Calder and lost all points from Oran Park to Surfers Paradise, however kept the Oran Park win.[10]

Classes

Cars competed in two engine capacity classes:

Note:Mazda RX-7s fitted with bridge port engines competed in the Up to and including 3000cc class and those fitted with peripheral port engines were re-classified into the 3001 to 6000cc class.

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.[1] Bonus points were awarded on a 4–3–2–1 basis to the first four placegetters, irrespective of class, at each round.[1] Results from seven of the eight rounds could be retained by each driver.[1]

Championship results

Pos.[11] Driver [11] San Cal Sym Ora Lak Wan Ade Sur Pts.[11]
1 Dick Johnson 1st 1st 2nd Ret 2nd Ret 1st Ret 57
2 Bob Holden 10th 8th 12th 8th 10th 12th 10th 36
3 Allan Moffat 6th Ret 7th 1st Ret 1st 31
Kevin Bartlett 4th Ret 3rd 1st Ret 3rd 31
5 Peter Brock 2nd DSQ 1st DSQ DSQ DSQ DSQ DSQ 22
Allan Grice 1st 2nd 22
7 Lawrie Nelson 5th 8th Ret Ret 8th 19
8 Ron Wanless 5th 3rd 2nd 11th Ret 17
9 Steve Harrington 14th 3rd Ret 3rd 5th 16
10 Steve Masterton 3rd 6th Ret 15
Craig Bradtke Ret 9th 10th 15
12 George Fury 10th 2nd Ret 14
David Parsons 5th 4th Ret 4th 4th 14
Murray Carter 11th 7th 4th 5th 4th 6th 14
15 Peter McLeod 12th Ret 7th Ret 5th Ret 12
16 Lester Smerdon 9th 11th 10
17 Alan Browne 14th 2nd 9
Terry Shiel 15th 2nd 9
Colin Bond 6th 9
Ross Burbidge 7th 9
21 Brian Nightingale 11th 9th 13th 7
22 Barry Jones 3rd 6
Jim Richards 3rd 6
Warren Cullen 9th DSQ 4th Ret Ret 6
Clive Benson-Brown 5th 6th 6th 7th 6th 6
John Duggan 10th 6
27 Peter Janson 4th Ret 5
28 Fred Gibson 7th 4
Graeme Bailey 11th 4
Maurice Spalding 11th 4
31 Joe Beninca 8th 3
Barry Rowe 9th 3
33 Barry Lawrence Ret 5th 2
34 Les Grose 14th 1
Gary Whittaker 6th 9th 1
Pos. Driver San Cal Sym Ora Lak Wan Ade Sur 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)

Note: Round results indicate outright round placings, not class placings.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Conditions for Australian Titles, 1982 CAMS manual of Motor Sport, pages 87–91
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Australian Motor Racing Year 1982/83, pages 130–147
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 Stewart Wilson, Holden, The Official Racing History, 1988, pages 355–356
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Official Programme, Sandown, 11–14 February 1982, page 8
  5. ↑ Australian Motor Racing Year 1982/83, page 135
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, The Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1990, page 239
  7. ↑ The cars were referred to as Nissans in 1981
  8. ↑ Australian Motor Racing Year 1982/83, page 141
  9. ↑ Australian Motor Racing Year 1982/83, page 131
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 2005 V8 Supercars TV Guide, page 78
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, The Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1990

External links