1992 Australian Touring Car Championship

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Mark Skaife leads teammate Jim Richards at the Oran Park round, on his way to securing the 1992 Australian Touring Car Championship. Oran Park 1992.jpg
Mark Skaife leads teammate Jim Richards at the Oran Park round, on his way to securing the 1992 Australian Touring Car Championship.

The 1992 Australian Touring Car Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Group 3A Touring Cars, [1] commonly known as Group A cars. It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as an Australian National Title. [2] The championship began on 23 February at Amaroo Park Raceway and ended on 21 June at Oran Park Raceway after nine rounds. It was the 33rd running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. [3]

Mark Skaife, driving a Nissan Skyline GT-R for Gibson Motorsport, won his first Australian Touring Car Championship. His teammate and defending series champion Jim Richards finished second, with BMW M3 driver Tony Longhurst in third place.

Although Mark Skaife was the overall winner of the opening round at Amaroo Park, Peter Brock's win in Heat 1 of the round in his Mobil 1 Racing Holden VN Commodore SS Group A was the first race win by a Holden in the ATCC since Brock had won Round 6 of the 1986 ATCC at Surfers Paradise.

In an effort to reduce costs and to even out the cars, CAMS imposed a number of changes for 1992. Notably, the Holden Commodores and Ford Sierra RS500's were restricted to a 7,500 rev limit and the BMW M3's had an extra 50 kg added to their minimum weight limit.

However the biggest change came to the Nissan GT-R's. Before the start of the season the cars were given an extra 40 kg, bringing them up to a total of 1400 kg. CAMS also directed that the cars were to run Formula One style pop-off valves on the twin turbos to restrict their power, bringing them down from 1991's 640 bhp (477 kW; 649 PS) to around 450 bhp (336 kW; 456 PS). Gibson Motorsport continually protested against the imposed penalties on the car (after winning the ATCC the cars were given an extra 100 kg to bring them 1500), and even took CAMS to court (unsuccessfully) in a bid to be able to run the GT-R as they were in 1991 claiming that they were no longer competitive. However most saw this as a false claim since the team won both the ATCC and the Tooheys 1000.

Teams and drivers

Jim Richards Nissan GT-R Gtrskaife.jpg
Jim Richards Nissan GT-R
Stephen Bell Mitsubishi Starion Stariontaylor.jpg
Stephen Bell Mitsubishi Starion

The following teams and drivers competed in the championship:

TeamManufacturerCar modelNoDriver
Winfield Team Nissan Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R 1 Flag of New Zealand.svg Jim Richards
2 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Skaife
Lansvale Racing Team Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Trevor Ashby
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Steve Reed
GIO Racing NissanSkyline R32 GT-R4 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Gibbs
HoldenVN Commodore SS Group A SV21 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Gibbs
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Rohan Onslow
Mobil 1 Racing HoldenVN Commodore SS Group A SV05 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Peter Brock
7 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Neil Crompton
Alf GrantNissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R 6 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tim Grant
Caltex CXT Racing Ford Sierra RS500 8 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Colin Bond
Perkins Engineering Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 11 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Larry Perkins
Ampol Max 3 RacingHoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV12 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Jones
Warren JonssonHoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV14 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Warren Jonsson
Shell Ultra-Hi Racing FordSierra RS50017 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dick Johnson
18 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Bowe
Benson & Hedges Racing BMW M3 Evolution II 20 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alan Jones
23 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Paul Morris
25 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Longhurst
Wayne DouglassHoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV22 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John English
Terry FinniganHoldenVN Commodore SS Group A SV27 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Terry Finnigan
Playscape Racing FordSierra RS50028 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kevin Waldock
Peter Jackson Racing FordSierra RS50030 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Glenn Seton
35 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Wayne Park
Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Parsons
Phil JohnsonHoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV31 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Phil Johnson
Pro-Duct RacingHoldenVN Commodore SS Group A SV33 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Pearson
Ron MasingMitsubishiStarion36 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ron Masing
Brian CallaghanHoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV37 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brian Callaghan Jr.
Challenge MotorsportHoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV39 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris Smerdon
John LeesonHoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV40 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Leeson
Daily Planet Racing HoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV41 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Andrew Harris
Garry Willmington Performance Toyota Supra Turbo 41 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Garry Willmington
Stuart McCollHoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV44 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stuart McColl
Ian LoveHoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV45 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ian Love
Bryan SalaFordSierra RS50050 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bryan Sala
Mike SteeleFordSierra RS50055 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mike Steele
Holden Racing Team HoldenVN Commodore SS Group A SV61 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tomas Mezera
Reda AwadullahHoldenVL Commodore SS Group A SV68 Flag of Egypt.svg Reda Awadullah
Adrian BrookeToyota Corolla SX 72 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brad Stratton
Frank BindingToyotaCorolla SX74 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Frank Binding
Barbagallo MotorsportHoldenVN Commodore SS Group A SV77 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Alf Barbagallo
John HolmesToyotaCorolla SX78 Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Holmes
Scotty Taylor Racing Mitsubishi Starion 86 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stephen Bell
Malcolm ReaToyota Sprinter 88 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Malcolm Rea

Championship calendar

The championship was contested over a nine rounds series in six different states with two heats per round. [4]

Rd.CircuitLocation / stateDateWinnerCarTeamReport
1 Amaroo Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 21 - 23 Feb Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Skaife Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R Winfield Team Nissan
2 Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 6 - 8 Mar Flag of Australia (converted).svg John Bowe Ford Sierra RS500 Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
3 Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 13 - 15 Mar Flag of Australia (converted).svg Glenn Seton Ford Sierra RS500 Peter Jackson Racing
4 Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria3 - 5 Apr Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark SkaifeNissan Skyline R32 GT-RWinfield Team Nissan
5 Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 1–3 May Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Longhurst BMW M3 Evolution Benson & Hedges Racing
6 Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney, New South Wales22–24 May Flag of Australia (converted).svg John BoweFord Sierra RS500Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
7 Mallala Motor Sport Park Mallala, South Australia 29–31 May Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark SkaifeNissan Skyline R32 GT-RWinfield Team Nissan
8 Wanneroo Raceway Perth, Western Australia 5 - 7 Jun Flag of Australia (converted).svg John BoweFord Sierra RS500Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
9 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales19 - 21 Jun Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark SkaifeNissan Skyline R32 GT-RWinfield Team Nissan

Points system

Points were awarded on a 30-27-24-21-19-17-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2 basis to the top twenty drivers at each round. Round positions were determined by applying the same points structure to each of the two heats and ranking the drivers by the total. In the event of two or more drivers having the same total, the round placing was determined by the finishing order in the second heat. [5]

Championship standings

PosDriverCarAma.San.Sym.Win.Lak.Eas.Mal.Wan.Ora.Points
1 Mark Skaife Nissan R32 Skyline GT-R 1st2nd2nd1st5th2nd1st8th1st234
2 Jim Richards Nissan R32 Skyline GT-R 2nd3rd4th2nd2nd4th9th2nd2nd214
3 Tony Longhurst BMW E30 M3 14th10th5th4th1st3rd2nd3rd5th184
4 John Bowe Ford Sierra RS500 7th1stRet7th4th1st4th1st9th175
5 Glenn Seton Ford Sierra RS500 4th7th1st3rd8th5th6th5th8th173
6Mark Gibbs Nissan R32 Skyline GT-R &
Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV
5th4th6th9th16th7th3rd11th4th147
7 Alan Jones BMW E30 M3 11th18th8th6th3rd6th7th6th3rd143
8 Dick Johnson Ford Sierra RS500 8th5th3rd11th12th13th8th4th10th134
9 Paul Morris BMW E30 M3 9th12th11th8th6th9th10th9th6th120
10 Larry Perkins Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 8th5th7th11th5th7th7th108
11 Peter Brock Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 3rd6th10th13th9th8th11th100
12 Colin Bond Ford Sierra RS500 10th16th9th16th11th15th12th10th13th86
13Wayne Park Ford Sierra RS500 12th14th12th10th14th10th11th14th79
14 Trevor Ashby Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 6th12th12th37
15Steve Reed Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 11th13th12th30
16 Tomas Mezera Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 13th10th14th29
16Bob Jones Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 15th17th22nd16thRet16th17th29
18 Neil Crompton Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV Ret9th7thDNS28
18Terry Finnigan Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 13th17th15th15thRet28
20Stuart McColl Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 18th14th15th19
21Tim Grant Nissan R31 Skyline GTS-R 18th14th18th16
22John English Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 19th17th16th14
23Chris Smerdon Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 19th13th12
24 Alf Barbagallo Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 12th10
25Stephen Bell Mitsubishi Starion 13th9
25Ian Love Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 13th9
27 David Parsons Ford Sierra RS500 14th8
28Bob Pearson Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 15thDNS7
28Phil Johnson Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 15th7
28Bryan Sala Ford Sierra RS500 19th18th7
31Brian Callaghan Jr. Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 16th6
32Frank Binding Toyota Corolla 17th24th5
32Kevin Waldock Ford Sierra RS500 17th5
34John Holmes Toyota Corolla 19thDNSDNS3
34Rohan Onslow Holden VN Commodore SS Group A SV 19th3
36Warren Jonsson Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV 20th2
PosDriverCarAma.San.Sym.Win.Lak.Eas.Mal.Wan.Ora.Pts
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenPoints classification
BlueNon-points classification
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired, not classified (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
BlankDid not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

See also

1992 Australian Touring Car season

References

  1. CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1992, page 162
  2. CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1992, page 118
  3. Past Title Winners, CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1993, page 45
  4. Australian Motor Racing Year, 1992/93
  5. Official Programme, Mallala, 31 May 1992, pages 10

Further reading