1991 Australian Touring Car season

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1991 Australian Touring Car season
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The 1991 Australian Touring Car season was the 32nd year of touring car racing in Australia since the first runnings of the Australian Touring Car Championship and the fore-runner of the present day Bathurst 1000, the Armstrong 500.

Contents

There were 12 touring car race meetings held during 1991; a nine-round series, the 1991 Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC); a support programme event at the 1991 Australian Grand Prix and two long distance races, nicknamed 'enduros' which made up the 1991 Australian Endurance Championship.

Season review

1991 was the low point for Group A touring car racing in Australia as grid numbers plunged in a harsh economic climate. Just eleven cars entered the Wanneroo round of the ATCC and just fifteen started the once prestigious Sandown 500.

On track the Touring Car Championship was dominated by the Gibson Motorsport prepared Nissan Skyline GT-Rs of Jim Richards and Mark Skaife. Tony Longhursts new 2.5 litre evolution spec BMW M3 was the only car to interrupt the clean sweep. A final round DNF for Richards was not enough to take the title away, despite Skaife scoring more points over the course of the season. With only the best eight results counting Richards won the championship by five points. Gibson Motor Sport did not appear at the Sandown 500, but Nissan still won through the Bob Forbes Racing car (built by Gibson) driven by Mark Gibbs and Formula Holden ace Rohan Onslow. Richards and Skaife then swept all before them at the 1991 Tooheys 1000, establishing a race record that stood until 2010. Third placing at Bathurst gave the Australian Endurance Championship to Gibbs and Onslow.

1991 also saw Peter Brock return to driving a Holden VN Commodore after a single season driving a BMW M3 (1988) and a Ford Sierra RS500 in 1989 and 1990. Brock's Mobil 1 Racing joined forces with Perkins Engineering run by his former Bathurst 1000 co-winner Larry Perkins to run a pair of the new Group A VN Commodore's.

Results and standings

Race calendar

The 1991 Australian touring car season consisted of 12 events.

DateSeriesCircuitCity / stateWinnerTeamCarReport
24 Feb ATCC Round 1 Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria Jim Richards Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R
10 Mar ATCC Round 2 Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania Jim RichardsNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
14 Apr ATCC Round 3 Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia Mark Skaife Nissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
28 Apr ATCC Round 4 Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland Jim RichardsNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
5 May ATCC Round 5 Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, VictoriaJim RichardsNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
2 Jun ATCC Round 6 Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales Tony Longhurst Benson & Hedges Racing BMW M3 Evolution
23 Jun ATCC Round 7 Mallala Motor Sport Park Mallala, South Australia Mark SkaifeNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
14 Jul ATCC Round 8Lakeside International RacewayBrisbane, QueenslandTony LonghurstBenson & Hedges RacingBMW M3 Evolution
11 Aug ATCC Round 9 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South WalesMark SkaifeNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R
8 Sep Don't Drink Drive Sandown 500 Sandown International RacewayMelbourne], Victoria Mark Gibbs
Rohan Onslow
Bob Forbes Racing Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R report
6 Oct Tooheys 1000 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South WalesJim Richards
Mark Skaife
Nissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R report
3 Nov Hush Puppies Olympic Group A Challenge Adelaide Street Circuit Adelaide, South AustraliaJim RichardsNissan Motorsport AustraliaNissan Skyline R32 GT-R

Australian Touring Car Championship

Don't Drink Drive Sandown 500

Tooheys 1000

Hush Puppies Olympic Group A Challenge

This meeting was a support event of the 1991 Australian Grand Prix.

DriverNo.TeamCarRace 1Race 2
Flag of New Zealand.svg Jim Richards 1 Nissan Motorsport Australia Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R 11
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Glenn Seton 30 Peter Jackson Racing Ford Sierra RS500 32
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Larry Perkins 11 Mobil 1 Racing Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 63
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Bowe 18 Shell Ultra-Hi Racing Ford Sierra RS50094
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Brock 05Mobil 1 RacingHolden VN Commodore SS Group A SV75
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dick Johnson 17Shell Ultra-Hi RacingFord Sierra RS50086
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Colin Bond 8 Caltex CXT Racing Ford Sierra RS500107
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones 20 Benson & Hedges Racing BMW M3 Evolution 58
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graham Moore 42 Perkins Engineering Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV9
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Gazzard 13 Captain Peter Janson Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 10
Flag of Indonesia.svg Chandra Alim Indonesian Racing TeamHolden VL Commodore SS Group A SV11
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Jones 21Ampol Max 3 RacingHolden VL Commodore SS Group A SV12
Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Cotter 52 M3 Motorsport BMW M3 DNF
Flag of Indonesia.svg Hutomo Mandala Putra Indonesian Racing TeamHolden VN Commodore SS Group A SVDNF
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Win Percy 16 Holden Racing Team Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV2DNF
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Longhurst 25Benson & Hedges RacingBMW M3 Evolution4DNF

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References

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