1986 Australian Touring Car Championship

1986 Australian Touring Car Championship
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The 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship was the 27th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. It began on 2 March 1986 at Amaroo Park and ended on 13 July at Oran Park Raceway after ten rounds. This was the second ATCC to be run to the FIA's international Group A Touring Car Regulations.

Season Summary

The championship was won by Auckland (New Zealand) resident Robbie Francevic driving a Volvo Dealer Team Volvo 240T, the first time the championship had been won by a non-Australian resident and the first ATCC won by a turbocharged car. Francevic, who won Rounds 1, 2 and 4, defeated George Fury driving a Nissan Skyline DR30 RS who won Rounds 3, 5, 7, 8 and 10 of the series. Francevic's wins in the opening two rounds at Amaroo Park and Symmons Plains where when the Volvo team was still run by Mark Petch Motorsport before Petch sold the team to former HDT team manager John Sheppard who formed the Volvo Dealer Team with Francevic's 1985 endurance co-driver and dual Australian Drivers' Champion John Bowe joining the team full-time for his first ATCC campaign. Peter Brock won round 6 at Surfers Paradise in his new for 1986 Holden VK Commodore SS Group A (his last ATCC win until 1989 and the last race win by a Holden Commodore until his win in Round 1, Heat 1 of the 1992 ATCC) while defending champion Jim Richards could only manage one win in his JPS Team BMW 635 CSi, winning Round 9 at Winton. Richards had finished the race in second place behind Nissan team driver Gary Scott, but the Nissan was later disqualified for having oversize brake. Although the paperwork for the Nissan's new brakes had been put through, they had not yet been homologated which led to Scott's DQ.

Series regular Allan Grice missed the 1986 ATCC (he had also missed the 1985 championship) as he was racing his Les Small prepared Group A Commodore in the 1986 FIA Touring Car Championship (ETCC). Peter Brock missed some early rounds due to also racing his Commodore in Europe.

With the ATCC consisting of 10 rounds, many of the top level teams including the Holden Dealer Team, Dick Johnson Racing, JPS Team BMW and the Peter Jackson Nissan team all made loud noises during the year about the lack of prize money on offer for their efforts as the top drawing motorsport category in the country, especially as Group A racing had proven far more expensive than the old Group C regulations (Peter Brock estimated that his Bathurst winning Group C Commodore of 1984 had cost around AU$36,000 to build while his 1986 Group A Commodore had cost around $200,000, a cost increase of around 550%), with teams and drivers often racing for as little as $1,500 for a round win. Part of the problem for the teams was that due to Australia's size and the vast distance between the major cities where the race tracks were located, the prize money on offer usually did not even cover their transportation costs, let alone the cost of building, maintaining and racing the cars. Pressure was being put on the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) to come up with a series sponsor for future championships or they would risk smaller and smaller grids. CAMS rectified this from 1987 by signing a multi-year sponsorship deal with Shell who would provide some $275,000 in prize money.

Teams and drivers

Lawrie Nelson's Ford Mustang

The following drivers and teams competed in the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship. The series consisted of ten rounds of with one race per round.

Team Manufacturer Car model No Driver
JPS Team BMW BMW 635 CSi 1 New Zealand Jim Richards
325i 23 Australia Garry Rogers
25 Australia Tony Longhurst
Chickadee Racing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 2 Australia Graeme Bailey
Graeme Crosby Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 2
6
20		 New Zealand Graeme Crosby
Mobil Holden Dealer Team Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 3 Australia John Harvey
05 Australia Peter Brock
New Zealand Neal Lowe
Peter McLeod Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 4 Australia Peter McLeod
Mark Petch Motorsport
Volvo Dealer Team		 Volvo 240T 4
44		 Australia John Bowe
10 New Zealand Robbie Francevic
Charlie O'Brien BMW 635 CSi 7 Australia Charlie O'Brien
22 Australia Gregg Hansford
Kevin Bartlett Mitsubishi Starion 9 Australia Kevin Bartlett
Garry Willmington Performance Jaguar XJS 12 Australia Garry Willmington
Bob Holden Motors Toyota Sprinter 13 Australia Bob Holden
Peter Jackson Nissan Racing Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 15 Australia Glenn Seton
Australia Gary Scott
30 Australia George Fury
Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla 16 Australia John Smith
Australia Drew Price
Auto Art Ford Mustang GT 16 Australia Kevin Clark
Palmer Tube Mills Ford Mustang GT 17 Australia Dick Johnson
Terry Finnigan Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 18 Australia Terry Finnigan
Ken Mathews Prestige Cars Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 19 Australia Ken Mathews
Jim Keogh Automotive BMW 635CSi 20 Australia Jim Keogh
Lusty Engineering Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 23 Australia Graham Lusty
Jagparts Racing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 24 Australia Gerald Kay
Simon Emmerling BMW 635 CSi 26 Australia Simon Emmerling
Alf Grant Racing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 27 Australia Alf Grant
Capri Components Ford Mustang GT 28 Australia Lawrie Nelson
Tony Kavich Racing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 28 Australia Tony Kavich
Ken Davison Ford Mustang GT 29 Australia Wally Kramer
Mike Burgmann Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 33 Australia Mike Burgmann
Garry Rogers Motorsport BMW 635 CSi 34 Australia Garry Rogers
Lester Smerdon Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 35 Australia Geoff Russell
Australia Lester Smerdon
Murray Carter Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 36 Australia Murray Carter
Australia Bill O'Brien
Grellis Marketing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 38 Australia Ray Ellis
David Oxton Ford Sierra XR4Ti 40 New Zealand David Oxton
BJ Motorsport Mitsubishi Starion 43 Australia Brad Jones
Brian Callaghan Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 47 Australia Brian Callaghan
John Donnelly Rover Vitesse 50 Australia John Donnelly
Melbourne Brake & Clutch Mitsubishi Starion 54 Australia Brian Sampson
Andrew Bagnall Ford Escort RS1600i 55 New Zealand Andrew Bagnall
Peter Fitzgerald Mitsubishi Starion 57 Australia Peter Fitzgerald
Mike Freeman Toyota Celica RA40 57 Australia Mike Freeman
David Ratcliff Toyota Corolla 58 Australia David Ratcliff
John Giddings Nissan Gazelle 60 Australia John Giddings
John White Holden Gemini ZZ 65 Australia John White
Graeme Hooley Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 71 Australia Graeme Hooley
Tim Howton Mazda RX-7 74 Australia Tim Howton
Network Alfa Alfa Romeo GTV6 75 Australia Colin Bond
Peter Williamson Toyota Toyota Celica Supra 77 Australia Peter Williamson
Daryl Hendrick Holden Gemini ZZ 86 Australia Daryl Hendrick
Brian Bolwell BMW 323i 87 Australia Brian Bolwell
Alf Barbagallo Rover Vitesse 96 New Zealand Tim Slako

Results and Standings

Race Calendar

The 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship consisted of ten rounds.

Rd. Race Title Circuit City / State Date Winner Team Report
1 Australia Better Brakes 100 Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales 1 - 2 Mar Robbie Francevic Mark Petch Motorsport
2 Australia A.N.L. Cup Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 8 - 9 Mar Robbie Francevic Mark Petch Motorsport [1]
3 Australia Castrol Challenge Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 12 - 13 Apr George Fury Peter Jackson Nissan Racing [2]
4 Australia Motorcraft 100 Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia 26 - 27 Apr Robbie Francevic Volvo Dealer Team
5 Australia Motorcraft 100 Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia 5–6 May George Fury Peter Jackson Nissan Racing [3]
6 Australia XXXX 100 Surfers Paradise Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 17–18 May Peter Brock Mobil Holden Dealer Team [4]
7 Australia Coca-Cola Cup Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 31 May - 1 Jun George Fury Peter Jackson Nissan Racing [5]
8 Australia Motorcraft 100 Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 14 - 15 Jun George Fury Peter Jackson Nissan Racing [6]
9 Australia Lusty-Allison Winton Roundup Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 28 - 29 Jun Jim Richards JPS Team BMW [7]
10 Australia Castrol Grand Final Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 12 - 13 Jul George Fury Peter Jackson Nissan Racing

Drivers Championship

Points were awarded 25-23-20-17-15-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-4-3-2-1 based on the top 17 outright race positions. The two smaller engine capacity classes received bonus points. Class B, under 3.0 litres received 3 points additional to points scored from race position. Class C, under 2.0 litres received 4 points.

Class A consisted of BMW 635 CSi, Ford Mustang GT, Ford Sierra XR4Ti, Holden VK Commodore SS Group A, Jaguar XJS, Rover Vitesse.

Class B consisted of Alfa Romeo GTV6, BMW 323i, BMW 325i, Mazda RX-7, Mitsubishi Starion Turbo, Nissan Skyline DR30 RS, Toyota Supra and Volvo 240T.

Class C consisted of Holden Gemini, Nissan Gazelle, Toyota Celica and Toyota Corolla.

Pos Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Pts
1 Robbie Francevic 1st 1st 2nd 1st 3rd 2nd Ret 4th 3rd 6th 217
2 George Fury Ret 2nd 1st Ret 1st 4th 1st 1st 2nd 1st 212
3 Jim Richards 2nd 6th Ret 10th 4th 3rd 7th 5th 1st 5th 147
4 Peter Brock 5th Ret DSQ 12th 1st 5th 3rd 6th 2nd 117
5 Tony Longhurst 3rd 7th 8th 7th 7th 6th 12th Ret Ret 8th 115
6 Dick Johnson 4th 5th Ret 6th 5th 10th 8th 7th 8th 7th 110
7 Graeme Crosby Ret 4th 12th 2nd 6th Ret 4th 9th 7th 12th 102
8 John Bowe 4th Ret 9th 3rd DNS 4th 3rd 98
9 Colin Bond Ret 4th 13th 8th 10th 5th Ret 69
10 Glenn Seton 14th Ret 2nd 13th 2nd 67
11 John Harvey Ret 3rd 6th 5th Ret 6th 61
12 Charlie O'Brien 6th Ret 3rd 5th 10th 56
13 Graeme Bailey Ret 7th 9th 6th 4th 50
14 Garry Rogers Ret 8th Ret 9th 11th 8th DNS DNS 39
15 John Smith 9th 15th 15th 14th 35
16 Murray Carter 7th 14th 9th 33
17 David Oxton 11th 13th 11th Ret DNS 28
18 Gary Scott 2nd DSQ 26
19 Peter McLeod 5th 9th 25
19 Bob Holden 11th 16th 19th 17th 25
21 Graeme Hooley 10th 18th 10th 11th 23
22 Alf Grant 8th 12th 13th 21
23 Neal Lowe 3rd 20
24 Gerald Kay 12th 13th Ret 8th 19
24 Graham Lusty 10th 14th Ret 11th 19
26 Brad Jones 8th 13
27 Mike Burgmann 7th 11
27 Drew Price 17th 16th 11
27 David Ratcliff 19th 17th 19th 11
30 Gregg Hansford 8th 10
30 Brian Sampson 10th Ret Ret 10
30 Lawrie Nelson 11th Ret 15th 10
33 Brian Callaghan 9th 9
33 Jim Keogh 9th 9
33 Tim Slako 9th 9
33 Peter Williamson DNS Ret 12th Ret DNS 9
37 Tony Kavich 10th 8
37 Tim Howton 13th 8
37 Brian Bolwell 13th 8
37 Bill O'Brien 13th 8
37 Andrew Bagnall 14th 8
37 Mike Freeman 14th 8
43 Simon Emmerling 11th 7
44 Lester Smerdon 12th 6
44 Ray Ellis 12th 6
44 John Giddings 16th 6
44 John White 20th 18th 6
48 Ken Mathews 13th 18th 5
49 Kevin Clark 14th 4
50 Garry Willmington Ret 15th Ret 3
50 Wally Kramer 15th 3
52 Darryl Hendrick 21st 20th 2
Pos Driver 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 Retired (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 (DNP)
Excluded (EX)

See also

1986 Australian Touring Car season

References

  1. ↑ 1986 ATCC Symmons Plains Round 2
  2. ↑ 1986 Sandown ATCC R3
  3. ↑ 1986 ATCC Barbagello Round 5
  4. ↑ 1986 ATCC Surfers Paradise R 6
  5. ↑ 1986 ATCC Calder Park Round 7
  6. ↑ 1986 ATCC Lakeside Round 8
  7. ↑ 1986 ATCC R9 Winton
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