1991 Australian Touring Car Championship
The 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship was a
Jim Richards driving a Nissan Skyline GT-R
.
Teams and drivers
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
. The example above is pictured in 2015.The following teams and drivers competed in the 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship.
| Team | Car | No | Driver | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nissan Motor Sport | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
|
1 |  Jim Richards
|
All |
| 2 |  Mark Skaife
|
All | ||
| Lansvale Racing Team | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV
|
3 | Trevor Ashby
|
5-6, 9 |
| Steve Reed
|
1, 4 | |||
| Bob Forbes Racing | Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | 4 | Mark Gibbs
|
9 |
Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV |
21 | 1-2, 6, 8 | ||
| Mobil 1 Racing | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 05 | Peter Brock
|
All |
| 11 | Larry Perkins
|
All | ||
| Alf Grant Racing | Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R | 6 | Tim Grant
|
4 |
| Caltex CXT Racing Team | Ford Sierra RS500
|
8 | Colin Bond
|
All |
Bob Holden Motors
|
Toyota Sprinter | 13 | Bob Holden
|
1, 4-6, 8 |
| Toyota Corolla E80 | 75 | Frank Binding
|
6 | |
| 76 | Mike Conway
|
6, 9 | ||
| Warren Jonsson | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 14 | Warren Jonsson
|
4, 8 |
Holden Racing Team
|
Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 16 |  Win Percy
|
1-7, 9 |
| Allan Grice
|
8 | |||
| Shell Ultra-Hi Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | 17 | Dick Johnson
|
All |
| 18 | John Bowe
|
All | ||
| Benson & Hedges Racing | BMW M3 Evolution
|
20 | Alan Jones
|
All |
| 25 | Tony Longhurst
|
All | ||
| Terry Finnigan | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV |
27 | Terry Finnigan
|
1, 4-6, 8-9 |
| Playscape Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | 28 | Kevin Waldock
|
1-2, 4, 6 |
| Wayne Park | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 29 | Wayne Park
|
1 |
| Peter Jackson Racing | Ford Sierra RS500 | 30 | Glenn Seton
|
All |
| Toyota Team Australia | Toyota Corolla FX-GT | 31 | John Faulkner
| |
| PACE Racing | Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV | 32 | Kevin Heffernan
|
4, 8 |
| Pro-Duct Motorsport | Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV | 33 | Bob Pearson
|
1, 5-6 |
| Brian Bolwell | Ford Sierra RS500 | 43 | Brian Bolwell
|
4 |
| 44 | Mike Twigden
|
4 | ||
| Peter Verheyen | Toyota Sprinter | 48 | John Vernon
|
9 |
| Peter Verheyen
|
5-8 | |||
| M3 Motorsport | BMW M3
|
52 | John Cotter
|
6, 9 |
| 53 | Peter Doulman
|
6, 9 | ||
| David Sala | Toyota Corolla E80 | 72 | David Sala
|
1 |
Changes
With Australia in the middle of an
Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV's.[5]
4 cyl engine. The 200 cc larger engine in the M3 also saw power for the small car rise from around 300 hp (224 kW; 304 PS) to approximately 340 hp (254 kW; 345 PS). The cars were delivered to the team's Gold Coast base after the Wellington 500 in December 1990, though under the Group A rules as used by CAMS the cars did not have the ABS that they ran in the German DTM series. Team owners Longhurst and Frank Gardner had a previous association with BMW and the M3, Longhurst having raced a M3 for Gardner's factory backed JPS Team BMW in 1987, while the JPS team had used a variety of BMW's between 1981 and 1987.[6]
With the economic downturn making it unlikely
Holden Racing Team
VN Commodores were producing approximately 520 hp (388 kW; 527 PS).
The
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
's were basically as they had finished 1990. The 4WD, twin-turbo cars nicknamed "Godzilla" were producing approximately 640 hp (477 kW; 649 PS), though CAMS made the cars carry an extra 15 kg to bring them to a total of 1360 kg, the heaviest car on the grid.
Although the Ford Sierra's had lost numbers with the Brock and Longhurst teams now driving Holden and BMW's respectively, the
4 cyl turbo Ford's were still one of the fastest cars on the grid. The leading Sierra's were producing approximately 540 hp (403 kW; 547 PS), and for 1991 CAMS reduced their minimum weight from 1990's 1185 kg to the cars original (1987) homologated weight of just 1100 kg. Like the Commodore's, the Sierra's would also benefit from a mid-season homologation of a 6-speed gearbox.[7]
Season review
The season was dominated by
Jim Richards who only scored in the first eight rounds after 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 (Richards in 1985, 1987, 1990 and 1991 with Robbie Francevic winning in 1986), the only Australian winner being 1988 and 1989 champion Dick Johnson
.
Third place was claimed by
BMW M3 Evolution. BMW's return with a top line team was underlined by teammate, 1980 Formula One World Drivers' Champion Alan Jones
, 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
Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV's, and while initially they were off the pace due to the lack of suitable Bridgestone tyres, this was rectified by halfway through the series and Brock in particular became a regular challenger with strong qualifying performances, though the heavy Commodore's still to be hard on tyres in the ATCC's sprint race format. Brock finished 6th in the championship while Perkins finished in 11th place. In a 2014 interview with Australian Muscle Car magazine, Perkins would 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
Wanneroo. 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
|
Sandown International Motor Raceway[8]
|
Victoria
|
22 - 24 Feb | Jim Richards
|
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
|
Nissan Motor Sport | |
| 2 | Symmons Plains
|
Symmons Plains Raceway | Launceston, Tasmania | 8 - 10 Mar | Jim Richards
|
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
| 3 | Wanneroo
|
Wanneroo Raceway | Perth, Western Australia | 12 - 14 Apr | Mark Skaife
|
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
| 4 | Lakeside
|
Lakeside International Raceway | Brisbane, Queensland
|
26 - 28 Apr | Jim Richards
|
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
| 5 | Winton
|
Winton Motor Raceway | Benalla , Victoria
|
3–5 May | Jim Richards
|
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
| 6 | Amaroo
|
Amaroo Park | Sydney, New South Wales | 31 May - 2 Jun | Tony Longhurst
|
BMW M3 Evolution
|
Benson & Hedges Racing | |
| 7 | Mallala
|
Mallala Motor Sport Park | Mallala, South Australia | 21 - 23 Jun | Mark Skaife
|
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport | |
| 8 | Lakeside
|
Lakeside International Raceway | Brisbane, Queensland | 12 - 14 Jul | Tony Longhurst
|
BMW M3 Evolution | Benson & Hedges Racing | |
| 9 | Oran Park
|
Oran Park Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 9 - 11 Aug | Mark Skaife
|
Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R | Nissan Motor Sport |
Championship standings
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.[9] Each driver was required to drop any points earned from the worst round result.[9]
|
|
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
- ^ a b 1991/92 Australian Motor Racing Year, pages 295-296
- ^ Official Programme, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Round 7, 23 June 1991, Mallala
- ISBN 9780646525624.
- ^ ISSN 1031-6124.
- ^ 1991 ATCC Channel 7 Intro - Car Specs
- ^ Official Programme, Sandown International Motor Raceway, Sunday, February 24 (1991)
- ^ a b 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 images, autopics.com.au