1986 Australian Sports Car Championship

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1986 Australian Sports Car Championship
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The 1986 Australian Sports Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for drivers of Group A Sports Cars. [1] It was the 18th Australian Sports Car Championship. [2]

Contents

The championship was won by former open wheel star and twice Australian Drivers' Champion John Bowe driving the 5.8 litre Chevrolet powered Veskanda C1 built by K&A Engineering in Adelaide. Bowe dominated the five round series winning all seven races, scoring fastest lap in each race (including outright lap records at Surfers Paradise and Calder) and pole position at each round. Terry Hook finished in 2nd place in his Lola T610 Chevrolet with reigning champion Chris Clearihan 3rd in his JWS-Kaditcha Chevrolet.

1984 Australian Sports Car Champion Bap Romano crashed his Cosworth DFL powered Romano WE84 heavily in the opening round at Sydney's tight Amaroo Park circuit. The WE84's throttle stuck wide open on the run up Bitupave Hill just past the pits and Romano was unable to slow the car, eventually destroying the front of the car in the tyre barriers. Romano himself broke both legs in the crash but was fully conscious when pulled out of the car. The crash ended the Romano WE84's racing life which had begun in 1983 as a Kaditcha K583.

Calendar

The championship was contested over a five-round series. [3]

Round [3] Circuit [3] StateDate [3] Format [3] Race winner(s) [3] Round winner [3] Car [3]
1 Oran Park New South Wales 23 MarchTwo heats John Bowe
John Bowe
John Bowe Veskanda C1 Chevrolet
2 Adelaide International Raceway South Australia 6 JulyOne race John Bowe John Bowe Veskanda C1 Chevrolet
3 Surfers Paradise International Raceway [4] Queensland 24 AugustTwo heats John Bowe
John Bowe
John Bowe Veskanda C1 Chevrolet
4 Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit [5] Victoria 14 SeptemberOne race John Bowe John Bowe Veskanda C1 Chevrolet
5 Calder Park Raceway Victoria 19 OctoberOne race John Bowe John Bowe Veskanda C1 Chevrolet

Classes

Cars competed in three classes according to engine capacity: [1] In 1986 CAMS relaxed the previous 5000cc engine limit for the Over 3 litre cars and allowed engines of up to 6000cc.

Points system

Championship points were awarded to the top twenty outright race positions, based on the following three tier structure: [1]

Outright position [1] 1234567891011121314151617181920
Up to 1.6 litres [1] 30272421191715141312111098765432
1.6 to 3 litres [1] 2826232017151413121110987654321
Over 3 litres [1] 2523201715131110987654321---

For rounds contested over multiple heats, the aggregate points achieved by each driver were divided by the number of heats to arrive at the driver's championship points allocations for the round. [1]

Results

Top 10 results only. [6]

Position [7] Driver [7] No.CarEntrantClassRd1
[7]
Rd2
[7]
Rd3
[7]
Rd4
[7]
Rd5
[7]
Total [7]
1 John Bowe 25 Veskanda C1 Chevrolet Bernard van Elsen [8] Over 3 litre2525252525125
2Terry Hook15 Lola T610 Chevrolet Terry Hook [8] Over 3 litre-2321.5232390.5
3Chris Clearihan1JWS-Kaditcha K582 Chevrolet Chris Clearihan [8] Over 3 litre202021.5-2082.5
4Andrew Roberts42Roberts SR3 Ford Andrew Roberts [8] Up to 1.6 litres19-18131363
5Ray Hanger5 Rennmax BN6 Ford Ray Hanger [8] Up to 1.6 litres &
1.6 to 3 litres [9]
2013--1750
6Rowan Harman7 Kaditcha SR781 Mazda Rowan Harman [8] 1.6 to 3 litres6.51513-1448.5
7Geoff Munday9JWS C2 Chevrolet Geoff Munday [8] Over 3 litre-151615-46
8Bob Jolly3 Holden VK Commodore Chevrolet Bob JollyOver 3 litre---201737
9Bernie Van Elsen14 Bolwell Nagari Ford Bernard van Elsen [8] Over 3 litre-17-41031
=10Mike Ceveri18 Holden Torana Chevrolet Lusty Engineering [5] Over 3 litre23
=10Bap Romano8 Romano WE84 Cosworth Bap Romano RacingOver 3 litre23

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Conditions for Australian Titles, 1986 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 88 to 91
  2. Australian Titles, docs.cams.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1986 Championship Results, Australian Motor Racing Year 1986/87, page 315
  4. Official Program, Surfers Paradise International Raceway, Sunday, August 24th 1986
  5. 1 2 Official Programme, Sandown International Motor Racing Circuit, September 14, 1986
  6. "Australian Sports Car Championship 1986 | Motorsport". Driverdb.com. 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1986 Australian Sports Car Championship (points table for top nine drivers), Australian Motor Racing Year 1986/87, page 207
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Entry list, Australian Sports Car Championship, Round 2, Official Programme, Adelaide International Raceway, Sunday, July 6, 1986, page 16
  9. Barry Catford, 1986 Australian Sports Car Championship, Australian Motor Racing Year 1986/87, page 207