Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel single-seater racing, touring car racing and stock car racing. Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over relatively large distances, and there is usually a larger emphasis placed on the reliability and efficiency of the car as opposed to outright speed of the driver. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of a sports car racing series.
The Australian Touring Car Championship (ATCC) is a touring car racing award held in Australia since 1960. The series itself is no longer contested, but the title lives on, with the winner of the Repco Supercars Championship awarded the trophy and title of Australian Touring Car Champion.
Colin John Bond is a retired Australian racing driver. Bond reached the highest levels in Australian motorsport in 1969 when he was recruited by Harry Firth to the newly formed Holden Dealer Team. He quickly found success, winning the 1969 Hardie-Ferodo 500 mile race at Bathurst, New South Wales in a Holden Monaro.
The Phillip Island 500 was an annual motor racing event, last held for Supercars at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Phillip Island, Victoria. The race had three distinct eras; from 1971 to 1977 as an endurance production and later Australian Touring Car Championship race, from 2008 to 2011 as an endurance race as part of V8 Supercars and from 2017 to 2018 as a Supercars Championship event consisting of two 250 km races.
In relation to Australian motorsport, Group C refers to either of two sets of regulations devised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) for use in Australian Touring Car Racing from 1965 to 1984. These are not to be confused with the FIA's Group C sports car regulations, used from 1982 to 1992 for the World Endurance Championship / World Sports-Prototype Championship / World Sportscar Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Australian Endurance Championship is an Australian motor racing title which has been awarded by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport in numerous years and for numerous categories since 1981.
The 1999 Shell Championship Series was a motor racing series for V8 Supercars which began on 28 March 1999 at Eastern Creek Raceway and ended on 14 November at the Mount Panorama Circuit after 13 rounds. The Australian Touring Car Championship was renamed for 1999 in what was essentially a marketing decision, however the winner of the newly named series was also awarded the 1999 Australian Touring Car Championship title by CAMS. 1999 was the first season since 1977 in which the longer distance, endurance race events were included in the championship. For the first time in the championship's history, tyres supplied by Bridgestone specified for all cars.
The 1986 Australian Endurance Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title open to Touring Cars as specified in the National Competition Rules of CAMS. The title, which was the sixth Australian Endurance Championship, was contested concurrently with the 1986 Australian Manufacturers' Championship, which was the sixteenth in a sequence of manufacturers championships awarded by CAMS, and the seventh to be contested under the Australian Manufacturers' Championship name.
Group 6 was the official designation applied by the FIA to two motor racing classifications, the Prototype-Sports Car category from 1966 to 1971 and the Two-Seater Racing Cars class from 1976 to 1982.
The Adelaide International Raceway is a permanent circuit owned by Australian Motorsport Club Limited under the auspices of the Bob Jane Corporation. The circuit is located 26 km (16 mi) north of Adelaide in South Australia on Port Wakefield Road at Virginia, and is adjacent to Adelaide's premier car racing Dirt track racing venue, Speedway City. AIR is owned by the Bob Jane Corporation and run by the Australian Motorsport Club Ltd.
Surfers Paradise International Raceway was a motor racing complex at Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The 3.219 kilometres (2.000 mi) long circuit was designed and built by Keith Williams, a motor racing enthusiast who also designed and built the Adelaide International Raceway (AIR) in South Australia in 1972. It was located opposite the Surfers Paradise Ski Gardens at Carrara.
The European Sportscar Championship was a name used by several sports car racing championships based in Europe. Initially created in 1970 by the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA) as the European 2-Litre Sports Car Championship for Makes, the series increased in popularity and eventually became part of the World Sports Car Championship in 1976 even after a troubled 1975 season. Only two years later, as interest in sports-prototypes faded, the championship was downgraded from World Championship status and a European championship returned once more, only to be cancelled after its sole 1978 season.
The 1977 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing championship open to Group C Touring Cars. It was the 18th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. The championship began at Symmons Plains Raceway on 7 March and ended at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on 20 November after eleven rounds. 1977 was the second and final time that the series incorporated the longer distance races which made up the Australian Championship of Makes. These races included the Sandown 400 and the Phillip Island 500K, although notably not the Bathurst 1000.
John Fitzpatrick is a former English racing driver, winning many titles throughout his career. He works within motorsport as a consultant doing corporate events and driver management. He published a book "Fitz-My Life at the Wheel" in 2016.
The 1976 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for Group C Touring Cars. It was the 17th running of the Australian Touring Car Championship. The championship began at Symmons Plains Raceway on 29 February and ended at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit on 28 November in the longest season in the history of the series. 1976 saw a substantial change to the ATCC calendar which was expanded to eleven rounds, incorporating the end-of-season long distance Australian Championship of Makes races for the first time. These races included Sandown's Hang Ten 400 and the Phillip Island 500K, although notably not the Bathurst 1000.
Allan Moffat Racing was an Australian motor racing team owned by multiple-championship winning Canadian-Australian racing driver Allan Moffat. The team was highly successful, winning races on three continents including three Australian Touring Car Championships in 1976, 1977 and 1983, four Bathurst 500/1000s including a memorable 1-2 victory in 1977, and the 1987 Monza 500, which was the inaugural race of the World Touring Car Championship.
The 2011 Australian Manufacturers' Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing championship for car manufacturers. It was the 26th manufacturers title to be awarded by CAMS and the 17th to be contested under the Australian Manufacturers' Championship name. The championship, which was open to modified production touring cars, also incorporated three drivers titles, the 2011 Australian Production Car Championship, the 2011 Australian Production Car Endurance Championship and the 2011 Australian Endurance Championship.
The Sandown SuperSprint is a Supercars motor racing event held at Sandown Raceway in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The event was a semi-regular part of the Supercars Championship—and its previous incarnations, the Australian Touring Car Championship, Shell Championship Series and V8 Supercars Championship between 1965 and 2011, and returned to the championship in 2021.
The 2015 Australian Manufacturers' Championship was an Australian motor racing series for modified production touring cars. It comprised three CAMS sanctioned national championship titles: