Category | Silhouette racing car |
---|---|
Country | Australia |
Inaugural season | 1976 |
Drivers' champion | Tony Ricciardello |
Official website | National Sports Sedan Series |
Current season |
The National Sports Sedans Series, formerly the Australian Sports Sedan Championship, is a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title for drivers of cars complying with Australian Sports Sedan regulations. This class, essentially a silhouette racing car class, caters for cars of essentially free construction but utilising some of the bodywork of a closed, series production vehicle.
The category emerged following the replacement of Appendix J Touring Cars by the more restricted Group C Improved Production Touring Cars at the end of 1964. [1] Promoters of circuits such as Winton and Oran Park then allowed the redundant Appendix J cars to run with Sports Cars under the name Sports Racing Closed. [1] By 1966 cars were competing with extensive modifications, often including engine swaps. [1] By 1971 restrictions were placed on bodywork modifications ensuring that the original silhouette of the car had to be maintained. [2] The term Sports Sedans had been in common usage for the cars [3] and in 1973 CAMS gave the name official recognition [3] when it introduced Group B Sports Sedans as a new racing classification. [4] The category officially became Group 2D Sports Sedans in 1988, [5] and Group 3D Sports Sedans in 2000. [6]
An Australia-wide championship was run each year from 1976 to 1981. It was discontinued for 1982 with the introduction of an Australian GT Championship, although Sports Sedans were invited to compete in this new series, which many did as it was the only national series their cars were eligible for, but the older Sports Sedans were generally un-competitive against the new GT cars such as the Porsche 935 or the converted Chevrolet Monza's. While the power of the top Sports Sedans, which generally ran 5.0L or 6.0L Chevrolet V8 engines, was not far shy of the GT cars, the Sports Sedans were restricted to running 10" wheels while the GT cars such as the 935's were allowed up to 18" of rubber. This gave the GT cars far greater stability and enabled them to go much faster through turns. The Sports Sedan category itself was retained for state level racing. The Australian Sports Sedan Championship title was revived in 1991 and was contested annually through to 2003. Each championship was decided over a series of races, with the exception of the 1994 title, which was contested over two races at one meeting at Sandown Raceway in Victoria.
A National Series for Sports Sedans replaced the Australian Sports Sedan Championship for 2004 [7] and has been included in the CAMS Nationals Racing Championships (now known as the Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships) since its inception in 2006. [8]
Winners of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship are shown below.
Year | Champion | Vehicle |
---|---|---|
1976 | Allan Moffat | Chevrolet Monza Ford Capri RS3100 |
1977 | Frank Gardner | Chevrolet Corvair |
1978 | Allan Grice | Chevrolet Corvair |
1979 | Allan Grice | Chevrolet Corvair |
1980 | Tony Edmondson | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV-Repco Holden |
1981 | Tony Edmondson | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV-Chevrolet |
Not held | ||
1991 | Greg Crick | Honda Prelude-Chevrolet |
1992 | Kerry Baily | Toyota Celica Supra-Chevrolet |
1993 | Kerry Baily | Toyota Celica Supra-Chevrolet |
1994 | Brian Smith | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV-Chevrolet |
1995 | Cameron McLean | BMW M3 |
1996 | John Briggs | Honda Prelude-Chevrolet |
1997 | Kerry Baily | Toyota Celica Supra-Chevrolet |
1998 | Tony Ricciardello | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV-Chevrolet |
1999 | Tony Ricciardello | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV-Chevrolet |
2000 | Kerry Baily | Nissan 300ZX-Chevrolet |
2001 | Tony Ricciardello | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV-Chevrolet |
2002 | Tony Ricciardello | Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV-Chevrolet |
2003 | Kerry Baily | Nissan 300ZX-Chevrolet |
A Sports Sedan series has been run each year from 2004, this being recognised by CAMS as a National Series rather than as an official Australian Championship. Each series has been open to cars built to American Transam or New Zealand TraNZam rules as well as cars complying with CAMS Group 3D Sports Sedan regulations.
Series winners have been :
Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5 litre engine capacity. The Group 5 Sports Car category was redefined in 1972 to exclude the minimum production requirement and limit engine capacity to 3 litres. From 1976 to 1982 Group 5 was for Special Production Cars, a liberal silhouette formula based on homologated production vehicles.
The 1999 Australian Sports Sedan Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Sports Sedans complying with CAMS Group 2D regulations. The championship, which was the fifteenth Australian Sports Sedan Championship, was won by Tony Ricciardello driving an Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV – Chevrolet.
The 1982 Australian GT Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Group D GT cars and Group B Sports Sedans. It was the fifth Australian GT Championship, the first to be awarded since 1963 and the first to be contested over a series of races rather than a single race. The GT championship replaced the Australian Sports Sedan Championship which had been awarded annually from 1976 to 1981. The 1982 title, which was contested over a nine-round series from 16 May to 10 October, was won by Alan Jones driving a Porsche 935/80 entered by Porsche Cars Australia.
The 1983 Australian GT Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for cars complying with Group D regulations for GT cars, with Group B Sports Sedans competing by invitation. It was the sixth Australian GT Championship. The championship was won by Rusty French, driving a Porsche 935.
The 1985 Australian GT Championship was the eighth Australian GT Championship and the fourth to be decided over a series of races. It was open to GT Cars complying with CAMS Group D regulations with Group B Sports Sedans and superseded Group C touring cars competing by invitation. The title was contested over six rounds from 24 March to 25 August 1985.
The 1984 Australian GT Championship was an CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title and was the seventh Australian GT Championship to be awarded. It was a series open to grand tourer cars complying with CAMS Group D regulations with Group B Sports Sedans competing by invitation. The series was contested over six rounds from 15 April to 9 September 1984.
The Australian GT Championship is a CAMS-sanctioned national title for drivers of GT cars, held annually from 1960 to 1963, from 1982 to 1985 and from 2005. Each championship up to and including the 1963 title was contested over a single race and those after that year over a series of races. The categories which have contested the championship have not always been well defined and often have become a home for cars orphaned by category collapse or a sudden change in regulation.
The 1981 Australian Sports Sedan Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Group B Sports Sedans. It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport and was the sixth Australian Sports Sedan Championship.
Appendix J Touring Cars was an Australian motor racing category for modified, production based sedans. It was the premier form of Touring car racing in Australia from 1960 to 1964.
Group E Series Production Touring Cars was an Australian motor racing category for production based sedans competing with limited modifications. It was current from 1964 to 1972.
Group 3E Series Production Cars is an Australian motor racing formula for production based cars competing with limited modifications. Group 3E cars formerly contested the Australian Manufacturers' Championship and Australian Production Car Championship titles and compete in the annual Bathurst 12 Hour and Bathurst 6 Hour endurance races.
Group A Sports Cars is an Australian motor racing category that CAMS formulated for sports car racing in Australia. Introduced in 1964, it continues today under the name Group 2A Sports Cars.
The 1994 Australian Sports Sedan Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Sports Sedans complying with Group 2D regulations. The title, which was the tenth Australian Sports Sedan Championship, was contested over two eight lap races held at the Sandown circuit in Victoria, Australia on 4 September 1994.
The 1979 Australian Sports Sedan Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for drivers of Group B Sports Sedans. It was the fourth Australian Sports Sedan Championship.
Group D Production Sports Cars was a CAMS motor racing category current in Australia from 1972 to 1981.
The 2012 Kerrick Sports Sedan Series was an Australian motor racing competition for Group 3D Sports Sedans. The series commenced on 14 April at Mallala Motor Sport Park and concluded on 14 October at Wakefield Park after fifteen races. 2012 was the 28th year in which a national championship or national series for Sports Sedans had been contested in Australia.
The 2003 Australian Sports Sedan Championship was a CAMS sanctioned national motor racing title open to Group 3D Sports Sedans. The title, which was the 19th Australian Sports Sedan Championship, was won by Kerry Baily driving a Nissan 300ZX Chevrolet.
The 2004 Tranzam Sports Sedan Series was an Australian motor racing competition open to Sports Sedans and Trans Am type cars. The series was administered by the National Australian Sports Sedan Association and was sanctioned by CAMS as a National Series. Held as the first Tranzam Sports Sedan Series following the discontinuation of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship at the end of 2003, it was won by Darren Hossack driving a Saab 9-3.
The 2014 Kerrick Sports Sedan Series was an Australian motor racing competition open to Sports Sedans and Trans Am style cars. It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as a National Series and was the eleventh National Series for Sports Sedans contested following the discontinuation of the Australian Sports Sedan Championship at the end of 2003. The 2014 series was won by Tony Ricciardello driving an Alfa Romeo GTV.
The Veskanda C1 is a one-off, Australian designed and built, mid-engined closed top racing car built in 1985 to CAMS Group A Sports Car specifications. Powered by a Chevrolet V8 engine, the car is generally regarded as the fastest sports car ever built in Australia and as of 2016 remains one of Australia's fastest race cars.