1986 Australian Touring Car Championship

Motor racing competition July 2015 February 2020 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship 1985 1987 The 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Touring Cars. It began on 2 March 1986 at Amaroo Park and ended on 13 July at Oran Park Raceway after ten rounds. The championship was authorised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) as an Australian National Title. It was the 27th Australian Touring Car Championship and the second to be contested by cars conforming with CAMS regulations based on the FIA's international Group A Touring Car regulations. The championship was won by Robbie Francevic driving a Volvo 240. Season summary The championship was won by Auckland (New Zealand) resident Robbie Francevic driving a Volvo Dealer Team Volvo 240T, the first time the championship had been won by a non-Australian resident and the first ATCC won by a turbocharged car. Francevic, who won Rounds 1, 2 and 4, defeated George Fury driving a Nissan Skyline DR30 RS who won Rounds 3, 5, 7, 8 and 10 of the series. Francevic's wins in the opening two rounds at Amaroo Park and Symmons Plains were when the Volvo team was still run by MPM, Mark Petch Motorsport. Following Francevic's Amaroo win, Petch and Bob Atkins, head of the Australian Volvo Dealer Council, announced the formation of the AVDT, Australian Volvo Dealer Team, and hired former HDT team manager John Sheppard to run the team on a day-to-day basis from Sheppard's Calder workshop. Contrary to what has been written in the past, Petch stayed involved as "Team Principal" until 10 July 1986, when he then resigned over a disagreement with how Sheppard was managing the Team. The AVDT purchased the original MPM 240T GpA car, and spares, which included a bare 240 body shell that later became the basis for a new Australian-built car, with new parts and technical assistance sourced from VMS. Francevic's 1985 endurance co-driver and dual Australian Drivers' Champion John Bowe joining the team full-time for his first ATCC campaign, in the team's new second car, a RHD car ex RAS in Belgium, which arrived just in time for the 4th round of the ATCC at Adelaide International Raceway, where Bowe qualified second with Francevic back in 10th, though Robbie would win the race after runaway early leader Brock holed a piston in the Holden V8 engine and then lost his fastest lap due to driving into the pits via the exit and driving the wrong way to his pit box. Bowe grabbed his first Championship Pole position at the 5th round of the Champion at Barbagallo Raceway, only to have to retire again from a substantial lead when the cars engine management system started playing up. Peter Brock won round 6 at Surfers Paradise in his new for 1986 Holden VK Commodore SS Group A (his last ATCC win until 1989 and the last race win by a Holden Commodore until his win in Round 1, Heat 1 of the 1992 ATCC) while defending champion Jim Richards could only manage one win in his JPS Team BMW 635 CSi, winning Round 9 at Winton. Richards had finished the race in second place behind Nissan team driver Gary Scott, but the Nissan was later disqualified for having oversize brakes. Although the paperwork for the Nissan's new brakes had been put through, they had not yet been homologated which led to Scott's DQ. Series regular Allan Grice missed the 1986 ATCC (he had also missed the inaugural Group A 1985 championship) as he was racing a Les Small prepared Holden Commodore in the 1986 FIA Touring Car Championship (ETCC). Peter Brock also missed some early rounds of the ATCC due to his racing an HDT Commodore in Europe in company with Allan Moffat. With the ATCC consisting of 10 rounds, many of the top level teams including the Holden Dealer Team, Dick Johnson Racing, JPS Team BMW and the Peter Jackson Nissan team all made loud noises during the year about the lack of prize money on offer for their efforts as the top drawing motorsport category in the country, especially as Group A racing had proven far more expensive than the old Group C regulations (Peter Brock estimated that his Bathurst winning Group C Commodore of 1984 had cost around AU$36,000 to build while his 1986 Group A Commodore had cost around $200,000, a cost increase of around 550%), with teams and drivers often racing for as little as $1,500 for a round win. Part of the problem for the teams was that due to Australia's size and the vast distance between the major cities where the race tracks were located, the prize money on offer usually did not even cover their transportation costs, let alone the cost of building, maintaining and racing the cars. Pressure was being put on the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) to come up with a series sponsor for future championships or they would risk smaller and smaller grids. CAMS rectified this from 1987 by signing a multi-year sponsorship deal with Shell who would provide some $275,000 in prize money. Entrants and drivers thumb|right|Lawrie Nelson's Ford MustangThe following entrants and drivers competed in the championship. EntrantCar modelNoDriver JPS Team BMW BMW 635CSi 1 NZL Jim Richards BMW 325i 23 AUS Garry Rogers 25 AUS Tony Longhurst Chickadee Racing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 2 AUS Graeme Bailey Graeme Crosby Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 2620 NZL Graeme Crosby Mobil Holden Dealer Team Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 3 AUS John Harvey 05 AUS Peter BrockNZL Neal Lowe Peter McLeod Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 4 AUS Peter McLeod Volvo Dealer Team Volvo 240T 444 AUS John Bowe 10 NZL Robbie Francevic Charlie O'Brien BMW 635CSi 7 AUS Charlie O'Brien 22 AUS Gregg Hansford Terry Finnigan Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 8 AUS Terry Finnigan Kevin Bartlett Mitsubishi Starion 9 AUS Kevin Bartlett Mark Petch Motorsport Volvo 240T 10 NZL Robbie Francevic Toyota Team Australia Toyota Corolla GT AE86 11 AUS Drew Price Toyota Corolla FX-GT AE82 16 AUS John Smith Garry Willmington Performance Jaguar XJS 12 AUS Garry Willmington Simon Emmerling BMW 635CSi 12 AUS Simon Emmerling Bob Holden Motors Toyota Sprinter 13 AUS Bob Holden Peter Jackson Nissan Racing Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 15 AUS Glenn SetonAUS Gary Scott 30 AUS George Fury Palmer Tube Mills Ford Mustang 17 AUS Dick Johnson Ken Mathews Prestige Cars Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 19 AUS Ken Mathews Jim Keogh Automotive BMW 635CSi 20 AUS Jim Keogh Lusty Engineering Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 23 AUS Graham Lusty Jagparts Racing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 24 AUS Gerald Kay Alf Grant Racing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 27 AUS Alf Grant Mike Freeman Toyota Celica RA40 27 AUS Mike Freeman Capri Components Ford Mustang 28 AUS Lawrie Nelson Yellow Pages Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 28 AUS Tony Kavich Ken Davison Ford Mustang 29 AUS Wally Kramer Mike Burgmann Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 33 AUS Mike Burgmann Garry Rogers Motorsport BMW 635CSi 34 AUS Garry Rogers Lester Smerdon Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 35 AUS Geoff RussellAUS Lester Smerdon Murray Carter Nissan Skyline DR30 RS 36 AUS Murray CarterAUS Bill O'Brien Grellis Marketing Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 38 AUS Ray Ellis Motor Sport PacificProgram, Australian Touring Car Championship - Round 9, Saturday and Sunday June 28 and 29 1986 Ford Sierra XR4Ti 40 NZL David Oxton Ford Escort RS1600i 55 NZL Andrew Bagnall Brian Callaghan Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 47 AUS Brian Callaghan John Donnelly Rover Vitesse 50 AUS John Donnelly BJ Motorsport Mitsubishi Starion 53 AUS Brad Jones David Ratcliff Toyota Corolla 58 AUS David Ratcliff John Giddings Nissan Gazelle 60 AUS John Giddings John White Isuzu Gemini ZZ 65 AUS John White Graeme Hooley Holden VK Commodore SS Group A 71 AUS Graeme Hooley John Major Mazda RX-7 74 AUS Tim Howton Network Alfa Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV6 75 AUS Colin Bond Peter Williamson Toyota Toyota Celica Supra 77 AUS Peter Williamson Melbourne Brake & Clutch Mitsubishi Starion 78 AUS Brian Sampson Daryl Hendrick Isuzu Gemini ZZ 86 AUS Daryl Hendrick Brian Bolwell BMW 323i 87 AUS Brian Bolwell Auto Art Ford Mustang 91 AUS Kevin Clark Alf Barbagallo Rover Vitesse 96 NZL Tim Slako Results and standings Race calendar The championship was contested over ten rounds with one race per round.Australian Motor Racing Year 1986/87, pages 312 & 313 Rd.Race titleCircuitCity / stateDateWinnerTeamReport 1 Better Brakes 100 Amaroo Park Sydney, New South Wales 1 - 2 Mar Robbie Francevic Mark Petch Motorsport 2 A.N.L. Cup Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 8 - 9 Mar Robbie Francevic Mark Petch Motorsport 1986 ATCC Symmons Plains Round 2 3 Castrol Challenge Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 12 - 13 Apr George Fury Peter Jackson Nissan Racing 1986 Sandown ATCC R3 4 Motorcraft 100 Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia 26 - 27 Apr Robbie Francevic Volvo Dealer Team 5 Motorcraft 100 Wanneroo Park Perth, Western Australia 5–6 May George Fury Peter Jackson Nissan Racing 1986 ATCC Barbagello Round 5 6 XXXX 100 Surfers Paradise Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 17–18 May Peter Brock Mobil Holden Dealer Team 1986 ATCC Surfers Paradise R 6 7 Coca-Cola Cup Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 31 May - 1 Jun George Fury Peter Jackson Nissan Racing 1986 ATCC Calder Park Round 7 8 Motorcraft 100 Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 14 - 15 Jun George Fury Peter Jackson Nissan Racing 1986 ATCC Lakeside Round 8 9 Lusty-Allison Winton Roundup Winton Motor Raceway Benalla, Victoria 28 - 29 Jun Jim Richards JPS Team BMW 1986 ATCC R9 Winton 10 Castrol Grand Final Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 12 - 13 Jul George Fury Peter Jackson Nissan Racing Drivers championship Points were awarded 25-23-20-17-15-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-4-3-2-1 based on the top 17 outright race positions. The two smaller engine capacity classes received bonus points. Class B, under 3.0 litres received 3 points additional to points scored from race position. Class C, under 2.0 litres received 4 points. Class A consisted of BMW 635 CSi, Ford Mustang GT, Ford Sierra XR4Ti, Holden VK Commodore SS Group A, Jaguar XJS, Rover Vitesse. Class B consisted of Alfa Romeo GTV6, BMW 323i, BMW 325i, Mazda RX-7, Mitsubishi Starion Turbo, Nissan Skyline DR30 RS, Toyota Supra and Volvo 240T. Class C consisted of Isuzu Gemini ZZ, Nissan Gazelle, Toyota Celica and Toyota Corolla. Pos Driver Ama Sym San Ade Wan Sur Cal Lak Win Ora Pts 1 Robbie Francevic 1st 1st 2nd 1st 3rd 2nd Ret 4th 3rd 6th 217 2 George Fury Ret 2nd 1st Ret 1st 4th 1st 1st 2nd 1st 212 3 Jim Richards 2nd 6th Ret 10th 4th 3rd 7th 5th 1st 5th 147 4 Peter Brock 5th Ret DSQ 12th 1st 5th 3rd 6th 2nd 117 5 Tony Longhurst 3rd 7th 8th 7th 7th 6th 12th Ret Ret 8th 115 6 Dick Johnson 4th 5th Ret 6th 5th 10th 8th 7th 8th 7th 110 7 Graeme Crosby Ret 4th 12th 2nd 6th Ret 4th 9th 7th 12th 102 8 John Bowe 4th Ret 9th 3rd DNS 4th 3rd 98 9 Colin Bond Ret 4th 13th 8th 10th 5th Ret 69 10 Glenn Seton 14th Ret 2nd 13th 2nd 67 11 John Harvey Ret 3rd 6th 5th Ret 6th 61 12 Charlie O'Brien 6th Ret 3rd 5th 10th 56 13 Graeme Bailey Ret 7th 9th 6th 4th 50 14 Garry Rogers Ret 8th Ret 9th 11th 8th DNS DNS 39 15 John Smith 9th 15th 15th 14th 35 16 Murray Carter 7th 14th 9th 33 17 David Oxton 11th 13th 11th Ret DNS 28 18 Gary Scott 2nd DSQ 26 19 Peter McLeod 5th 9th 25 19 Bob Holden 11th 16th 19th 17th 25 21 Graeme Hooley 10th 18th 10th 11th 23 22 Alf Grant 8th 12th 13th 21 23 Neal Lowe 3rd 20 24 Gerald Kay 12th 13th Ret 8th 19 24 Graham Lusty 10th 14th Ret 11th 19 26 Brad Jones 8th 13 27 Mike Burgmann 7th 11 27 Drew Price 17th 16th 11 27 David Ratcliff 19th 17th 19th 11 30 Gregg Hansford 8th 10 30 Brian Sampson 10th Ret Ret 10 30 Lawrie Nelson 11th Ret 15th 10 33 Brian Callaghan 9th 9 33 Jim Keogh 9th 9 33 Tim Slako 9th 9 33 Peter Williamson DNS Ret 12th Ret DNS 9 37 Tony Kavich 10th 8 37 Tim Howton 13th 8 37 Brian Bolwell 13th 8 37 Bill O'Brien 13th 8 37 Andrew Bagnall 14th 8 37 Mike Freeman 14th 8 43 Simon Emmerling 11th 7 44 Lester Smerdon 12th 6 44 Ray Ellis 12th 6 44 John Giddings 16th 6 44 John White 20th 18th 6 48 Ken Mathews 13th 18th 5 49 Kevin Clark 14th 4 50 Garry Willmington Ret 15th Ret 3 50 Wally Kramer 15th 3 52 Darryl Hendrick 21st 20th 2 Pos Driver Ama Sym San Ade Wan Sur Cal Lak Win Ora Pts See also 1986 Australian Touring Car season References External links Official V8 Supercar site Contains historical ATCC information. Category:Australian Touring Car Championship seasons Touring Cars