1996 Australian Touring Car Championship

1996 Australian Touring Car Championship
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1996 Champion, Craig Lowndes' Holden VR Commodore

The 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of 5.0 Litre Touring Cars ^[1] complying with Australian Group 3A regulations.^[2] The championship, which was the 37th Australian Touring Car Championship,^[3] was promoted as the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship.^[4] It was contested over ten rounds between January 1996 and June 1996.^[5] The season was contested earlier in the year than usual as much of telecaster Channel 7's broadcast equipment was required for its 1996 Summer Olympics coverage. The series was won by Craig Lowndes driving a Holden Racing Team Holden VR Commodore.

Pre season

At the end of 1995, tobacco sponsorship was prohibited by the Federal Government. A tight sponsorship market resulted in both Gibson Motorsport and Glenn Seton Racing scaling back to one car. Philip Morris sought to circumnavigate this by sponsoring Alan Jones Racing under a generic name.

Teams and drivers

Movements

Alan Jones moved from Glenn Seton Racing, forming Alan Jones Racing in partnership with Jim and Ross Stone
Paul Romano joined Alan Jones Racing from Romano Racing
Greg Crick replaced David Attard at Alcair Racing

Arrivals / returnees

Garry Rogers Motorsport joined the series with Steven Richards driving an ex Gibson Motorsport VR Commodore
John Faulkner Racing joined the series with John Faulkner driving an ex Holden Racing Team VR Commodore
John Sidney Racing joined the series with Max Dumsney driving an ex Glenn Seton Racing EF Falcon
Longhurst Racing expanded to two cars with a customer EF Falcon for Steve Ellery
Craig Lowndes replaced Tomas Mezera at the Holden Racing Team
M3 Motorsport returned to the series for the first time since 1993 with John Cotter and Peter Doulman sharing the driving of an ex Perkins Engineering VP Commodore
Perkins Engineering expanded to two cars with Russell Ingall joining the series

Departures

With Gibson Motorsport scaling back to one car, Jim Richards left the series
1995 Privateer’s Champion David Attard did not defend his crown

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship:

Team	Vehicle	No	Drivers
Dick Johnson Racing	Ford EF Falcon	1	John Bowe
Dick Johnson Racing	Ford EF Falcon	17	Dick Johnson
Gibson Motorsport	Holden VR Commodore	2	Mark Skaife
Lansvale Racing Team	Holden VP Commodore	3	Trevor Ashby Steve Reed
Wayne Gardner Racing	Holden VR Commodore	4	Wayne Gardner
Wayne Gardner Racing	Holden VR Commodore	7	Neil Crompton
Holden Racing Team	Holden VR Commodore	05	Peter Brock
Holden Racing Team	Holden VR Commodore	15	Craig Lowndes
Perkins Engineering	Holden VR Commodore	8	Russell Ingall
Perkins Engineering	Holden VR Commodore	11	Larry Perkins
Larkham Motor Sport	Ford EF Falcon	10	Mark Larkham
Malcolm Stenniken	Holden VR Commodore	14	Malcolm Stenniken
Tim Slako	Holden VR Commodore	24	Tim Slako
Longhurst Racing	Ford EF Falcon	25	Tony Longhurst
Longhurst Racing	Ford EF Falcon	52	Steven Ellery
M3 Motorsport	Holden VP Commodore	26	John Cotter
M3 Motorsport	Holden VP Commodore	29	Peter Doulman
Terry Finnigan	Holden VP Commodore	27	Terry Finnigan
Playscape Racing	Ford EF Falcon	28	Kevin Waldock
Glenn Seton Racing	Ford EF Falcon	30	Glenn Seton
Phil Johnson	Holden VR Commodore	31	Grant Johnson
Garry Rogers Motorsport	Holden VR Commodore	32	Steven Richards
Pro-Duct Racing	Holden VR Commodore	33	Bob Pearson
Claude Gorgi	Ford EB Falcon	34	Claude Giorgi
Scotty Taylor Racing	Holden VP Commodore	37	Bill Attard Alan Taylor
James Rosenberg Racing	Holden VR Commodore	38	Mark Poole
Challenge Motorsport	Holden VR Commodore	39	Chris Smerdon
Garry Willmington Performance	Ford EB Falcon	41	Garry Willmington
Mal Rose Racing	Holden VR Commodore	44	Mal Rose
John Faulkner Racing	Holden VR Commodore	46	John Faulkner
Daily Planet Racing	Ford EB Falcon	47	John Trimbole David Attard
Alcair Racing	Holden VR Commodore	49	Greg Crick
Peter McLeod	Holden VR Commodore	50	Peter McLeod
David Parsons	Holden VR Commodore	55	David "Truckie" Parsons
Novocastrian Motorsport	Holden VP Commodore	62	Wayne Russell
Pace Racing	Holden VP Commodore	74	Kevin Heffernan
John Sidney Racing	Ford EF Falcon	75	Max Dumesny
Cadillac Productions	Holden VP Commodore	79	Mike Conway
Shaun Walker	Holden VR Commodore	99	Shaun Walker
Alan Jones Racing	Ford EF Falcon	201	Paul Romano
Alan Jones Racing	Ford EF Falcon	301	Alan Jones

Race Calendar

The championship was contested over a ten round series with three races per round.^[6]

Rd.	Circuit	Location / State	Date	Winner	Team
1	Eastern Creek Raceway	Sydney, New South Wales	25 - 27 Jan	Craig Lowndes	Holden Racing Team
2	Sandown International Raceway	Melbourne, Victoria	2 - 4 Feb	Craig Lowndes	Holden Racing Team
3	Mount Panorama Circuit	Bathurst, New South Wales	23 - 25 Feb	John Bowe	Dick Johnson Racing
4	Symmons Plains Raceway	Launceston, Tasmania	15 - 17 Mar	Craig Lowndes	Holden Racing Team
5	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	Phillip Island, Victoria	12 - 14 Apr	Larry Perkins	Perkins Engineering
6	Calder Park Raceway	Melbourne, Victoria	26 - 28 Apr	Russell Ingall	Perkins Engineering
7	Lakeside International Raceway	Brisbane, Queensland	3–5 May	Craig Lowndes	Holden Racing Team
8	Barbagallo Raceway	Perth, Western Australia	24–26 May	Craig Lowndes	Holden Racing Team
9	Mallala Motor Sport Park	Mallala, South Australia	31 May - 2 Jun	Craig Lowndes	Holden Racing Team
10	Oran Park Raceway	Sydney, New South Wales	14 - 16 Jun	Peter Brock	Holden Racing Team

Points system

Championship points were awarded on a 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 basis to the top ten finishers in each race.^[6]

Results

Pos	Driver	Penalty	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Rd 10	Pts ^[7]
1	Craig Lowndes	0	56	46	13	60	20	26	60	60	50	32	423
2	John Bowe	0	32	40	60	36	14	42	34	24	32	30	344
3	Glenn Seton	0	28	44	20	32	37	30	27	42	4	44	308
4	Peter Brock	0	10	26	34	48	12	10	32	32	22	60	286
5	Larry Perkins	0	7	12	32	16	40	30	14	5	22	14	192
6	Russell Ingall	0	20	26	8	8	22	52	14	8	18	7	183
7	Wayne Gardner	0	36	14	14	2	18	20	4	22	28	24	182
8	Alan Jones	0	14	1	10	14	25	0	36	28	32	20	180
9	Mark Skaife	0	8	40	16	16	Ret	16	10	26	15	30	177
10	Dick Johnson	0	22	10	40	7	28	13	28	Ret	18	7	173
11	Tony Longhurst	0	12	Ret	10	11	12	26	8	20	Ret	1	100
12	Steven Richards	0	0	12	0	2	16	8	9	5	24	8	84
13	Neil Crompton	0	22	6	21	24						Ret	73
14	Paul Romano	0	10	1	Ret	Ret	13	2	3	2	Ret	Ret	31
15	Steve Ellery	0	0	1	0	1	12	1	0	5	6	2	28
16	Max Dumesny	0					8	Ret			5	DNS	13
17	John Faulkner	0					2	3	Ret			Ret	5
18	Greg Crick	0	1	0	1	1	Ret	0	Ret	0	Ret	Ret	3
19	Kevin Waldock	0								Ret	2		2
20	Terry Finnigan	0	1		0							0	1
20	Mark Poole	0		0				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
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not participate (DNP)
Blank	Excluded (EX)

References

↑ Specific Conditions, 1996 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-10
↑ Specifications, 1996 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-72
↑ Records, Titles & Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-7
↑ Official Programme, Round 9, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Mallala, 2 June 1996
↑ Tracking the Shell Series, Official Programme, Round 9, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Mallala, 2 June 1996, pages 91-96
1 2 Pointing the Way, Official Programme, Round 9, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Mallala, 2 June 1996, page 88
↑ 1996 Championship Results, Motor Racing Australia No 25, January / February 1997, page 84

External links

1996 Australian Touring Car racing images at www.autopics.com.au

Australian Touring Car Racing

Australian Touring Car Championship	1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Shell Championship Series	1999 2000 2001

V8Supercar Championship Series	2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

International V8 Supercars Championship	2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Dunlop V8 Supercar Series Australian Super Touring Championship V8 Touring Car National Series Bathurst 1000 Sandown 500 List of Australian Touring Car and V8 Supercar champions List of Australian Touring Car Championship races

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