1991 Australian Touring Car Championship
1991 Australian Touring Car Championship | |||
Previous: | 1990 | Next: | 1992 |
The 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to Group 3A Touring Cars.[1] The title, which was the 32nd Australian Touring Car Championship,[2] was contested over a nine round series which began on 24 February 1991 at Sandown Raceway and ended on 11 August at Oran Park Raceway,[3] The series was promoted as the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship[4] and was won by Jim Richards driving a Nissan Skyline GT-R.
Teams and drivers
![](../I/m/Jim_Richards.jpg)
The following teams and drivers competed in the 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship.
Team | Car | No | Driver |
---|---|---|---|
Nissan Motor Sport | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | 1 | ![]() |
2 | ![]() | ||
Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 3 | ![]() ![]() |
Bob Forbes Racing | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | 4 | ![]() |
Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV |
21 | ||
Perkins Engineering | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 05 | ![]() |
11 | ![]() | ||
Alf Grant Racing | Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R | 6 | ![]() |
Caltex CXT Racing Team | Ford Sierra RS500 | 8 | ![]() |
Bob Holden Motors | Toyota Sprinter | 13 | ![]() |
Toyota Corolla E80 | 75 | ![]() | |
76 | ![]() | ||
Warren Jonsson | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 14 | ![]() |
Holden Racing Team | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 16 | ![]() ![]() |
Dick Johnson Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | 17 | ![]() |
18 | ![]() | ||
Benson & Hedges Racing | BMW M3 Evolution | 20 | ![]() |
25 | ![]() | ||
Terry Finnigan | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV |
27 | ![]() |
Playscape Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | 28 | ![]() |
Wayne Park | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 29 | ![]() |
Peter Jackson Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | 30 | ![]() |
Toyota Team Australia | Toyota Corolla FX-GT | 31 | ![]() |
PACE Racing | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 32 | ![]() |
Pro-Duct Motorsport | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 33 | ![]() |
Brian Bolwell | Ford Sierra RS500 | 43 | ![]() |
44 | ![]() | ||
Peter Verheyen | Toyota Sprinter | 48 | ![]() ![]() |
M3 Motorsport | BMW M3 | 52 | ![]() |
53 | ![]() | ||
David Sala | Toyota Corolla E80 | 72 | ![]() |
Changes
With Australia in the middle of a economic downturn (the "Recession we had to have" according to Federal Treasurer Paul Keating), entry numbers were significantly down on 1990 at almost every round, with only eleven cars appearing at Wanneroo Raceway. Notable absentees included Allan Moffat Racing and Toyota Team Australia, while Peter Brock closed his Mobil 1 Racing team and took his sponsorship to Perkins Engineering.[5]
Tony Longhurst Racing became a factory BMW team, racing two former Schnitzer Motorsport BMW E30 M3 Evolutions which included upgraded front and rear spoilers as well as an increase in engine size from 2.3 to 2.5L for the 4 cyl engine. The cars were delivered after the 1990 Wellington 500. Team owners Tony Longhurst and Frank Gardner had a previous association with BMW and the M3, Longhurst having raced a M3 for Gardner's factory JPS Team BMW in 1987.[6]
With the economic downturn making it unlikely Holden Special Vehicles would be able to sell the required 500 evolution Holden Commodore VNs to make it eligible for Group A competition, CAMS gave dispensation for the model to race and thus the Holden teams upgraded. The VN had been released back in August 1988, and would be superseded by the VP in October 1991. The Ford Sierra RS500s were also able to use six (instead of five) speed gearboxes.[6]
Season review
The season was dominated by Nissan Motor Sport. The team's two drivers won seven of the nine rounds between them, with six of those victories being part of 1-2 finishes. Mark Skaife scored more championship points than any other driver, but with each driver able to drop their worst round, Skaife lost ten points from his fourth at Round 8 at Lakeside International Raceway, giving the title to his team mate and defending champion, Jim Richards who only scored in the first eight rounds, failing to finish the Grand Finale at Oran Park. This continued the New Zealand domination of the Championship in the Group A era, with New Zealand drivers having won five of the seven Australian Touring Car Championships held under those regulations, the only Australian winner being 1988 and 1989 champion Dick Johnson.
Third place was claimed by Tony Longhurst who won two rounds, at Amaroo Park and Lakeside International Raceway in his Benson & Hedges BMW M3 Evolution. BMW's return with a top line team was underlined by team mate Alan Jones's finishing fourth in the points, after finishing the championship strongly with consecutive second placings in the final two rounds. During the series, the BMW, which were the lightest outright cars (which helped their tyre wear and gave a braking advantage), became the only consistent challengers to the GT-Rs.
1991 also saw the return of Peter Brock to Holden for the first time since 1987. After two seasons running Andy Rouse Ford Sierras which had seen Brock finish 3rd and 2nd in the championship, Brock teamed with former Holden Dealer Team co-driver/manager Larry Perkins in two Perkins Engineering built Commodore VNs, and while initially they were off the pace due to the lack of suitable Bridgestone tyres, this was rectified by half way through the series and Brock in particular became a regular challenger with strong qualifying performances, though the heavy Commodore's proved to be hard on tyres. Brock finished 6th in the championship while Perkins finished in 11th place. Perkins would later claim that part of the contract with Brock and his main sponsor Mobil stated that in championship races, he was not allowed to finish ahead of Brock unless it was unavoidable.
Brock and Perkins were joined in the fight for Holden by Holden Racing Team manager Win Percy who also had a strong season in his VN Commodore. Percy's 4th place at Amaroo Park was the best finish for a Commodore through the series. Percy finished the series in 8th place, one place ahead of five time ATCC champion Dick Johnson who endured a miserable series in his Sierra, his best finish being 4th in the opening round at Sandown Raceway.
Results and Standings
Race Calendar
The 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over a nine round series with one race per round.[3] Each round was of approximately 50 minutes duration.
Rd. | Race Title | Circuit | City / State | Date | Winner | Car | Team | Report |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Sandown Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 22 - 24 Feb | ![]() |
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
2 | ![]() |
Symmons Plains Raceway | Launceston, Tasmania | 8 - 10 Mar | ![]() |
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
3 | ![]() |
Wanneroo Raceway | Perth, Western Australia | 12 - 14 Apr | ![]() |
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
4 | ![]() |
Lakeside International Raceway | Brisbane, Queensland | 26 - 28 Apr | ![]() |
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
5 | ![]() |
Winton Motor Raceway | Benalla, Victoria | 3–5 May | ![]() |
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
6 | ![]() |
Amaroo Park | Sydney, New South Wales | 31 May - 2 Jun | ![]() |
BMW M3 Evolution | Benson & Hedges Racing | |
7 | ![]() |
Mallala Motor Sport Park | Mallala, South Australia | 21 - 23 Jun | ![]() |
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
8 | ![]() |
Lakeside International Raceway | Brisbane, Queensland | 12 - 14 Jul | ![]() |
BMW M3 Evolution | Benson & Hedges Racing | |
9 | ![]() |
Oran Park Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 9 - 11 Aug | ![]() |
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport |
Drivers Championship
Championship points were awarded on a 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the top ten positions at each round.[7] Each driver was required to drop any points earned from the worst round result.[7]
|
|
Positions shown within brackets are those for which drivers were awarded points that were not counted towards championship totals.
See also
1991 Australian Touring Car season
References
- ↑ Conditions for Australian Racing Titles, 1991 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 170
- ↑ Records, Titles and Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-7
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 1991/92 Australian Motor Racing Year, pages 295-296
- ↑ Official Programme, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Round 7, 23 June 1991, Mallala
- ↑ Hassall, David (2009). Brocky: Peter's Own Story A Life in Top Gear. Box Hill: Hassall Publishing. p. 161. ISBN 9780646525624.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Normoyle, Steve (1992). The Great Race 11. Hornsby: Chevron Publishing. ISSN 1031-6124.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Nigel Greenway, The Point of It All, Commodore 25th Anniversary magazine, page 94
- ↑ Shell Australian Touring Car Championship magazine, Special 10th Anniversary Issue, page 93
External links
- Official V8 Supercar site Contains historical ATCC information.
- 1991 Australian Touring Car racing images, including the ATCC
|