1998 Australian Touring Car Championship

1998 Australian Touring Car Championship
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The 1998 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to 5.0 Litre Touring Cars,[1] (also known as V8 Supercars).[2] The championship was contested over a 10 round series which began on 1 February 1998 at Sandown International Motor Raceway and ended on 2 August at Oran Park International Raceway. The series was promoted as the "Shell Australian Touring Car Championship".[3] The title, which was the 39th Australian Touring Car Championship, was won by Craig Lowndes.[4]

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the championship.

Team Manufacturer Car model No Drivers
Glenn Seton Racing Ford EL Falcon 1 Australia Glenn Seton
28 Australia Rodney Forbes
111 Australia Neil Crompton
Gibson Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 2 Australia Steven Ellery
7 Australia Darren Hossack
31 Australia Darren Pate
32 Australia Tomas Mezera
Lansvale Racing Team Holden VS Commodore 3 Australia Trevor Ashby
6 Australia Steve Reed
Stone Brothers Racing Ford EL Falcon 4 Australia Jason Bright
Larkham Motor Sport (SBR) 10 Australia Mark Larkham
Perkins Engineering Holden VS Commodore
VT Commodore		 8 Australia Russell Ingall
11 Australia Larry Perkins
VS Commodore 16 Australia Melinda Price
VS Commodore 19 Australia Kerryn Brewer
Longhurst Racing Ford EL Falcon 9 Australia Alan Jones
25 Australia Tony Longhurst
Cadillac Productions Ford EL Falcon 13 Australia Ryan McLeod
79 Australia Mike Conway
Imrie Motor Sport Holden VS Commodore 14 Australia Mike Imrie
Holden Racing Team Holden VS Commodore
VT Commodore		 15 Australia Craig Lowndes
VS Commodore 50 Australia Mark Skaife
VT Commodore 98 New Zealand Greg Murphy
Dick Johnson Racing Ford EL Falcon 17 Australia Dick Johnson
18 Australia John Bowe
Racing For Life (DJR) 95 Australia Steven Johnson
Colourscn Motorsport Ford EL Falcon 22 Australia Danny Osborne
47 Australia Brett Peters
Ray Hislop Ford EF Falcon 23 Australia Ray Hislop
Romano Racing Holden VS Commodore 24 Australia Paul Romano
M3 Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 26 Australia John Cotter
29 Australia Peter Doulman
Terry Finnigan Holden VS Commodore 27 Australia Terry Finnigan
Challenge Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 32 Australia Tomas Mezera
39 Australia Chris Smerdon
Pro-Duct Racing Holden VS Commodore 33 Australia Bob Pearson
Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 34 New Zealand Steven Richards
35 Australia Jason Bargwanna
134 Australia Garth Tander
Schembri Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 36 Australia Neil Schembri
71 Australia Gary Quartly
James Rosenberg Racing Holden VS Commodore 38 Australia Mark Poole
Simon Emerzidis Holden VR Commodore 41 Australia Garry Willmington
VS Commodore 54 Australia Simon Emerzidis
Paul Weel Racing Ford EL Falcon 43 Australia Paul Weel
Mal Rose Racing Holden VS Commodore 44 Australia Mal Rose
Novacastrian Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 45 Australia Wayne Russell
John Faulkner Racing Holden VS Commodore 46 New Zealand John Faulkner
Greg Crick Motorsport Holden VS Commodore 49 Australia Greg Crick
149 Australia Dean Crosswell
Charles Ryman Ford EL Falcon 51 Australia Charles Ryman
Barry Morcom Holden VP Commodore 52 Australia Barry Morcom
Rod Nash Racing Holden VS Commodore 55 Australia Rod Nash
Briggs Motor Sport Ford EL Falcon 70 Australia John Briggs
PACE Racing Holden VS Commodore 74 Australia Kevin Heffernan
Paul Little Racing Ford EL Falcon 75 Australia Anthony Tratt
V8Racing Holden VP Commodore 77 Australia Richard Mork
Clive Wiseman Racing Holden VS Commodore 80 Australia Mick Donaher
Don Pulver Holden VP Commodore 88 Australia Don Pulver
Geoff Kendrick Holden VS Commodore 92 Australia Geoff Kendrick

Race Calendar

The championship was contested over a ten round series with three races per round.[3]

Rd. Race Title Circuit Location / State Date Winner Team Report
1 Australia Sandown Sandown International Motor Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 30 Jan - 1 Feb Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team
2 Australia Launceston Symmons Plains International Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 6 - 8 Feb Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team
3 Australia Lakeside Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 27 - 29 Mar Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering
4 Australia Phillip Island Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 17 - 19 Apr Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team
5 Australia Winton Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 1–3 May John Bowe Dick Johnson Racing
6 Australia Mallala Mallala Motor Sport Park Mallala, South Australia 22–24 May Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering
7 Australia VB 300 Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia 29–31 May Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team
8 Australia Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 19 - 21 Jun Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team
9 Australia Hidden Valley Hidden Valley Raceway Darwin, Northern Territory 17 - 19 Jul Russell Ingall Perkins Engineering
10 Australia Oran Park Oran Park International Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 31 Jul - 2 Aug Craig Lowndes Holden Racing Team

Points system

Championship points were awarded in each race as follows:[5]

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th 20th
40 36 34 32 30 28 26 24 22 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Results

Drivers Championship

Pos Driver Penalty Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Pts
1 Craig Lowndes 0 116 114 92 112 66 108 120 76 68 120 992
2 Russell Ingall 0 80 92 114 108 110 112 104 50 96 76 942
3 Mark Skaife 0 78 108 50 76 94 24 106 66 58 108 768
4 Larry Perkins 0 90 80 100 80 72 62 94 38 68 38 722
5 John Bowe 0 108 44 64 92 116 80 24 52 52 50 682
6 Glenn Seton 0 102 70 12 88 52 92 56 58 86 60 676
7 Jason Bargwanna 0 28 96 34 66 44 51 28 72 96 88 603
8 Tony Longhurst 0 44 28 90 78 90 54 20 10 78 94 586
9 Jason Bright 0 20 88 70 84 72 82 52 68 Ret 48 584
10 Dick Johnson 0 60 70 108 26 76 66 76 6 52 10 550
11 Mark Larkham 0 60 32 30 42 20 44 58 40 80 68 474
12 Paul Romano 0 22 46 42 38 56 24 36 20 62 72 418
13 John Faulkner 0 18 20 24 60 36 78 68 Ret 28 44 376
14 Garth Tander 0 27 24 28 68 50 24 80 301
15 Steve Ellery 0 34 10 36 8 52 18 36 12 18 42 266
16 Alan Jones 0 49 56 28 30 30 16 40 12 261
17 Steven Johnson 0 40 42 86 68 24 260
18 Steven Richards 0 72 52 64 188
19 Terry Finnigan 0 28 15 58 8 8 34 DNS 10 159
20 Darren Hossack 0 16 30 22 16 34 8 30 156
21 Tomas Mezera 0 24 20 10 52 34 140
22 Darren Pate 0 4 6 16 6 18 20 15 18 26 10 139
23 Mark Poole 0 38 10 24 14 38 DNS 124
24 Neil Crompton 0 36 36 44 116
25 Greg Crick 0 6 52 Ret 2 6 34 Ret 100
26 Trevor Ashby 0 32 26 10 1 9 78
27 Chris Smerdon 0 28 8 4 6 12 5 63
Steve Reed 0 29 4 8 Ret 22
29 John Briggs 0 22 2 2 8 24 DNS 58
30 Greg Murphy 0 38 38
31 Paul Weel 0 1 1 9 5 10 Ret 6 0 32
32 Mal Rose 0 16 4 0 3 Ret 1 2 Ret 26
Peter Doulman 0 26 0
34 Anthony Tratt 0 4 7 6 6 Ret 23
35 Ray Hislop 0 6 14 0 20
36 Kerryn Brewer 0 14 0 14
37 Danny Osborne 0 6 6 Ret Ret 0 1 DNS Ret 13
Brett Peters 0 13
39 Rod Nash 0 0 2 1 0 Ret 1 6 2 12
40 Ryan McLeod 0 8 1 1 10
41 Melinda Price 0 8 0 0 8
Kevin Heffernan 0 8 0 Ret Ret
43 Geoff Kendrick 0 Ret 5 5
44 Richard Mork 0 4 DNS DNS 0 4
45 D'arcy Russell 0 0 0 DNS 0 0 0 3 3
46 Dean Crosswell 0 2 Ret 2
Robert Smith 0 0 2 DNS
48 Neil Schembri 0 1 1
Pos Driver Penalty Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 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)

Race three at the Calder round was abandoned due to water lying on the track after a late afternoon storm.[6]

Privateers' Team Cup

The Privateers' Team Cup was won by Lansvale Smash Repairs with the team's Holden VS Commodore driven by Trevor Ashby and Steve Reed.[7]

References

  1. ↑ Specific Conditions, 1998 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-10
  2. ↑ Racing - Table of Contents, 1998 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-1
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Rounds, V8 Supercars, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, '98 Series Review, pages 18 to 79
  4. ↑ Records, Titles and Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-7
  5. ↑ ATCC Points System, Official Programme, Mallala, 24th May 1998, page 98
  6. ↑ V8 Supercars, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, '98 Series Review, page 65
  7. ↑ Jason Parker, Lansvale take control, V8 Supercars, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, '98 Series Review, pages 80-84

External links