1987 Australian Touring Car Championship

1987 Australian Touring Car Championship
Previous: 1986 Next: 1988

The 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship was a motor racing competition which was open to Touring Cars complying with regulations as defined by CAMS and based on FIA Group A rules. The championship, which was the 28th Australian Touring Car Championship, began on 1 March 1987 at Calder Park Raceway and ended on 5 July at Oran Park Raceway after nine rounds. The Calder round saw the world debut of the racing versions of the BMW M3, the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and the Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo.

After years of racing for very little in prize money which brought numerous complaints from the leading competitors (in 1984, Dick Johnson Racing (DJR) had travelled an estimated 20,000 km to races around the country from their Brisbane base, often for as little as A$1,200 in prize money, far less money that was on offer at the time for the lower ranked Group E Series Production "Super Series"), CAMS signed a A$275,000 sponsorship package with Shell which brought the championship an overall sponsor for the first time and saw the series promoted as the Shell Ultra Australian Touring Car Championship.[1]

Shell would also become the major sponsor of DJR which saw the team expand to running two cars for the first time. The team ran a pair of the new Cosworth Sierra's for team boss Dick Johnson and his 1986 James Hardie 1000 co-driver Gregg Hansford. Dick Johnson's win in Round 5 at the Adelaide International Raceway was the world's first race victory for the Sierra RS Cosworth and was also Dick's first ATCC win since Round 4 of the 1984 ATCC at Surfers Paradise.

The 1987 ATCC was the first time since 1975 that Peter Brock failed to win a round of the championship, his best finish being a 3rd at Symmons Plains in Tasmania in Round 2 where his V8 Holden Commodore was simply out-gunned on a noted power circuit by the factory Nissan Skyline turbo of race winner George Fury and the 4 cyl, 2.3L BMW M3 of Jim Richards.

The 1987 championship was also the first time since 1972 that a Holden car failed to win a round of the ATCC, the best result being a 2nd by Larry Perkins in the opening round at Calder.

The 1987 ATCC was also the first time in championship history that rolling starts were used. Rolling starts were used at Calder for Round 1 and at Adelaide for Round 5.

Jim Richards victory in the final round of the series at Oran Park would be the last time a car powered by a naturally aspirated engine would win an ATCC race until Tony Longhurst won Round 6 of the 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship driving a BMW M3 Evolution. Between 1988 and Round 6 in 1991, turbo powered cars would win 30 straight ATCC races, 21 of them by the Sierra Cosworth's evolution replacement which appeared after the 1987 ATCC, the Ford Sierra RS500.

1987 was a year of lasts in Australian touring car racing. It was the last time Peter Brock would drive a Holden until 1991 as he would switch first to BMW in 1988 and then Fords in 1989 and 1990. Consequently it was the last time the Holden Dealer Team name, which started under Harry Firth in 1969, would be used, though the team officially ran as "HDT Racing Pty Ltd" as it was no longer the factory backed team following Holden's well publicised split with Brock in February only one week before the opening round at Calder. It would also be Colin Bond's last year of racing Alfa Romeo's before switching back to Ford to run a Sierra RS500 from 1988 (largely due to Alfa stopping its development program of the Alfa 75 touring car and because Bond felt that he needed an outright car to do justice to his sponsor Caltex). It was also the last time the JPS Team BMW (who won their second title) would be seen with team boss Frank Gardner unexpectedly closing the team down at the end of the year.

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship.

Team Car No Driver
Roadways Racing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A
Holden VL Commodore SS Group A		 2 Australia Allan Grice
8 New Zealand Graeme Crosby
JPS Team BMW BMW M3 3 New Zealand Jim Richards
4 Australia Tony Longhurst
12 West Germany Ludwig Finauer
HDT Racing Pty Ltd Holden VK Commodore SS Group A
Holden VL Commodore SS Group A		 05 Australia Peter Brock
6 Australia Gary Scott
Australia David Parsons
Australia Peter Brock*
New Zealand Jon Crooke
John Andrew Motorsport Ford Sierra XR4Ti 10 New Zealand Neville Crichton
New Zealand Denny Hulme
Enzed Team Perkins Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 11 Australia Larry Perkins
Bob Holden Motors Toyota Sprinter AE86 13 Australia Bob Holden
Australia Garry Willmington
41 Australia Mike Hall
New Zealand John Sax
Netcomm Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 14 Australia Murray Carter
Peter Jackson Nissan Racing Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 15 Australia Glenn Seton
30 Australia George Fury
60 Australia John Bowe
Nissan Gazelle 60 Australia Mark Skaife
Ralliart Australia Mitsubishi Starion 16 Australia Brad Jones
Shell Ultra Hi-Tech Racing Team Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 17 Australia Dick Johnson
18 Australia Gregg Hansford
Terry Finnigan Holden VL Commodore SS Group A 20 Australia Terry Finnigan
Lusty Engineering Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 21 Australia Graham Lusty
Alf Grant Racing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 23 Australia Alf Grant
Team Nissan Racing NZ Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 24 New Zealand Kent Baigent
25 New Zealand Graeme Bowkett
Kalari Transport Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 26 Australia Tony Noske
Australia Gary Rush
Ray Gulson BMW 635 CSi 27 Australia Ray Gulson
Capri Components Ford Mustang GT 28 Australia Lawrie Nelson
Wayne Clift Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 28 Australia Wayne Clift
Simon Emmerling BMW 635 CSi 29 Australia Simon Emmerling
Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla 31 Australia John Smith
32 Australia Drew Price
33 New Zealand John Faulkner
Ian Love Ford Mustang GT 34 Australia Ian Love
Oxo Motorsport Ford Sierra RS Cosworth 34 Australia Don Smith
Australia John Giddings
35 Australia Andrew Miedecke
John Farrell Holden VL Commodore SS Group A 34 Australia John Farrell
Grellis Marketing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 38 Australia Ray Ellis
Lansvale Racing Team Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 39 Australia Trevor Ashby
Steve Williams Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 40 Australia Steve Williams
Jagparts Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 42 Australia Gerald Kay
Sutherland Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Starion 42 Australia Kevin Bartlett
Lester Smerdon Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 45 Australia Lester Smerdon
Mobile Concrete Pumping Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 47 Australia Brian Callaghan
Wayne Park Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 48 Australia Wayne Park
John Donnelly Rover Vitesse 50 Australia John Donnelly
Mike Freeman Toyota Celica RA40 57 Australia Mike Freeman
David Ratcliff Toyota Corolla 58 Australia David Ratcliff
Jon Mitchell Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 69 Australia Jon Mitchell
Graeme Hooley Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 71 Australia Graeme Hooley
Caltex CXT Racing Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo 75 Australia Colin Bond
Liverpool Toyota Toyota Celica Supra 77 Australia Peter Williamson
Peter McLeod Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 84 Australia Peter McLeod
Daryl Hendrick Isuzu Gemini ZZ[2] 86 Australia Daryl Hendrick
Brian Bolwell BMW 323i 87 Australia Brian Bolwell
David Sala Isuzu Gemini PF60 88 Australia David Sala
Alf Barbagallo Rover Vitesse 96 New Zealand Tim Slako

Peter Brock drove both the #05 and #6 HDT VK Commodore during the season

Race Calendar

The 1987 Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over a nine round series with one race per round.

Rd. Race Title Circuit Location / State Date Winner Car Team Report
1 Australia Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 28 Feb - 1 Mar Australia Glenn Seton Nissan Skyline RS DR30 Nissan Motorsport Australia [3][4][5]
2 Australia Launceston Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 7 - 8 Mar Australia George Fury Nissan Skyline RS DR30 Nissan Motorsport Australia [6]
3 Australia Lakeside Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 12 - 13 Mar New Zealand Jim Richards BMW M3 JPS Team BMW [7]
4 Australia Perth Wanneroo Raceway Perth, Western Australia 25 - 26 Apr Australia Glenn Seton Nissan Skyline RS DR30 Nissan Motorsport Australia [8]
5 Australia AIR Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia 4–5 May Australia Dick Johnson Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Shell Ultra Hi-Tech Racing Team [9]
6 Australia Surfers Paradise Surfers Paradise Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 30–31 May New Zealand Jim Richards BMW M3 JPS Team BMW [10][11][12]
7 Australia Sandown Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 6 - 7 Jun Australia Glenn Seton Nissan Skyline RS DR30 Nissan Motorsport Australia
8 Australia Amaroo Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales 20 - 21 Jun New Zealand Jim Richards BMW M3 JPS Team BMW [13]
9 Australia Oran Park Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 4 - 5 Jul New Zealand Jim Richards BMW M3 JPS Team BMW [14]

Classes

Cars competed in two classes based on engine capacity.

The Over 2500cc class was contested by Ford Mustang, Ford Sierra, Holden Commodore, Nissan Skyline, Rover Vitesse and Toyota Supra.

The under 2500cc class consisted of Alfa Romeo 75, BMW 323i, BMW M3, Isuzu Gemini, Nissan Gazelle, Toyota Celica and Toyota Corolla.

Points system

Championship points were awarded at each round on a 20-15-12-10-8-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the top ten positions outright and on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the top six positions in each of the two classes.[2] Only the best eight round results could be retained by each driver.[2]

Championship results

Pos Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Pts
1 Jim Richards 5th 2nd 1st 4th 5th 1st Ret 1st 1st 193
2 Glenn Seton 1st 4th 2nd 1st Ret 3rd 1st 3rd Ret 167
3 George Fury 3rd 1st Ret Ret 2nd 4th 2nd 4th 2nd 143
4 Tony Longhurst 6th 5th 3rd 8th 8th 2nd Ret 2nd 5th 116
5 Larry Perkins 2nd (7th) 4th 3rd 6th 5th 3rd 5th 4th 115 (121)
6 Dick Johnson 9th 9th DSQ 2nd 1st Ret Ret Ret 3rd 72
7 Peter Brock Ret 3rd 5th 7th 4th 9th 9th 7th 7th 65
8 Allan Grice 4th Ret 6th 6th 3rd 4th 9th Ret 62
9 Colin Bond 12th 11th 7th 9th 7th Ret 20th Ret 10th 36
10 Gregg Hansford Ret 6th DSQ 5th Ret Ret Ret 8th Ret 25
11 Kent Baigent 7th 5th Ret 8th 20
12 Murray Carter 8th Ret 7th 13th 6th 17
13 Graeme Bowkett 6th 6th DNS 11th 16
13 Ludwig Finauer 6th 9th 16
15 Andrew Miedecke 7th 8th 12th DSQ DSQ DSQ Ret 10
15 Drew Price Ret 11th 14th 16th 10
17 Mark Skaife 12th 9
18 John Smith Ret 13th 6
18 Darryl Hendrick 15th 15th 20th 6
20 Lester Smerdon 8th 11th 5
20 David Ratcliff 18th 15th 5
22 Gary Scott Ret Ret DNS 8th 11th 4
22 Don Smith 11th 10th 9th 4
24 David 'Skippy' Parsons 8th 3
24 Wayne Clift 9th Ret 3
24 Brian Bolwell 16th 19th 3
24 John Faulkner 17th 3
28 Tony Noske 13th 11th 10th 10th 2
28 David Sala 16th 2
28 John Sax 19th 2
31 Neville Crichton 10th Ret 1
31 Wayne Park 10th 14th 1
31 Graeme Hooley 10th 13th 16th 1
31 Peter Williamson 10th 15th 1
31 Brian Callaghan 10th 16th 1
31 Mike Freeman 17th Ret 1
Pos Driver Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 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

References

  1. ↑ Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 fabulous years, 1989, page 290
  2. 1 2 3 4 Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 fabulous years, 1989, page 298
  3. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 1 - Pt.1
  4. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 1 - Pt.2
  5. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 1 - Pt.3
  6. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 2
  7. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 3
  8. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 4
  9. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 5
  10. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 6 - Pt.1
  11. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 6 - Pt.2
  12. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 6 - Pt.3
  13. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 8
  14. ↑ 1987 ATCC Round 9

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, March 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.