1981 Australian Touring Car Championship

Motor racing competition April 2020 May 2011 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship 1980 1982 The 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of Group C Touring Cars.CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1981, Conditions for Australian Titles, page 94 The championship, which was the 22nd running of the Australian Touring Car Championship,CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1982, page 53 began at Symmons Plains Raceway and ended at Lakeside International Raceway after 8 rounds.Australian Motor Racing Year, 1981/82, Australian Touring Car Championship, pages 112-129 Dick Johnson, using the Ford XD Falcon built with the money he received after TV viewers had pledged AUD$72,000 following his crash with 'The Rock' at Bathurst the previous year (Ford Australia boss of the day Edsel Ford II had personally matched the amount dollar for dollar), won his first ATCC ahead of defending champion Peter Brock in his Holden Dealer Team Commodore. Johnson and Brock were the only drivers to win during the championship which came down to the final round on Dick's home track at Lakeside. Johnson won the race from Brock, the two battling all the way to the Chequered flag in what many believe to be one of the best ATCC races in history. Johnson later praised Brock, claiming that he had every opportunity to punt him off the road at Lakeside, while Brock also praised Johnson who held his nerve and won a clean race. Classes Cars competed in two engine displacement classes: Up to and including 3000cc 3001–6000cc Points system Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis to the first six placegetters in each class at each round. Bonus points were awarded on a 4-3-2-1 basis to the top four placegetters irrespective of class at each round. Only the best seven round results could be retained by each driver.CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1981, Conditions for Australian Titles, pages 92 Round positions at rounds which were run in two parts were determined by allocating points on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first fourteen placegetters in each part. These points were then aggregated to determine the results for that round.CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, 1981, Conditions for Australian titles, pages 91-92 However a different method of determining round positions was used for Round 6 at Adelaide International Raceway where points were allocated on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first fourteen placegetters in each class in each part.Ford, the Australian racing history, page 353 Entrants and drivers thumb|right|Dick Johnson won the championship driving a Ford XD Falcon. thumb|right|Colin Bond placed third driving a Ford Capri Mk II. The car is pictured in 2005. thumb|right|Kevin Bartlett placed 11th driving a Chevrolet Camaro. The car is pictured in 1997 thumb|right|Bob Muir placed 20th driving a Ford XD Falcon. The car is pictured in 2009. The following entrants and drivers competed in the 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship. EntrantCarNoDriver Citizen Watches 1981 Championship Review, Racing Car News, January 1982, pages 34 to 35 Holden VB Commodore 2 Gary Cooke Cadbury-Schweppes Holden VC Commodore 3 Peter Janson Re-Car Racing Holden VC Commodore 3 Alan Browne Re-Car Racing Holden VC Commodore 4 Alan Browne Toms Tyres Holden VC Commodore 4 Wayne Negus Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VC Commodore 05 Peter Brock Rusty French Ford XD Falcon 6 Rusty French Bob Morris Ford XD Falcon 7 Bob Morris Launceston Hotel Holden VC Commodore 7 Larry Perkins Garry Willmington Ford XD Falcon 8 Garry Willmington Nine Network Racing Team Chevrolet Camaro Z28 9 Kevin Bartlett Roadways Racing Holden VC Commodore 10 Steve Harrington Allan Grice Racing Pty. Ltd. BMW 635CSi 11 Allan Grice Warren Cullen Holden VC Commodore 12 Warren Cullen John English Ford XD Falcon 14 John English Neil Cunningham Holden VB Commodore 16 Neil Cunningham Tru-Blu Steel Tubing Ford XD Falcon 17 Dick Johnson Murray Carter Ford XD Falcon 18 Murray Carter Phil Lyon Holden VB Commodore 23 Phil Lyon Army Reserve Racing Team Ford XD Falcon 24 Bob Muir Ray Allford Ford XD Falcon 26 Ray Allford Capri Components Ford Capri Mk III 29 Lawrie Nelson Peter McLeod Mazda RX-7 30 Peter McLeod Masterton Homes Ford Capri Mk II 31 Colin Bond Masterton Homes Ford Capri Mk II 32 Steve Masterton John Smith Ford XD Falcon 33John Smith Northside Mazda Des White, Falcon fires a record Surfers crowd, Racing Car News, June 1981, pages 6 & 7 Mazda RX-7 34 Terry Shiel Phil Alexander Mazda RX-3 35 Phil Alexander Mulgrave Mazda Belgrave Mazda Program, Adelaide International Raceway, May 3rd 1981 Mazda RX-3 41 Frank Porter Michael O'Hehir Mazda RX-3 42 Michael O'Hehir J. Beninca Program, Calder Raceway, March 18, 1981 Beninca Motors Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 46 Joe Beninca L. & J.F. Parshen Australian Touring Car Championship - Final Round, Racing Car News, July 1981, page 23 Mazda RX-3 46 Ross Burbidge Brian Callaghan Ford XD Falcon 47 Brian Callaghan Evan Thomas Mazda RX-3 48 Evan Thomas Chickadee Chicken Toyota Celica 53 Graeme Bailey Craig Bradtke Mitsubishi Lancer 57 Craig Bradtke Country Dealer Team Isuzu Gemini 60 Jim Faneco Garry Everitt Mazda RX-3 61 Garry Everitt Alexandra Surplice Toyota Corolla Levin 62 Alexandra Surplice Hooley Auto Electrics Robert Janney, Brock wins race, Carter - the crowd, Racing Car News, June 1981, pages 26 & 27 Holden VC Commodore 71 Graeme Hooley Guy Chenery Ford Escort 75 Guy Chenery Toyota Dealer Team Toyota Celica 77 Peter Williamson Gary Whittaker Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 A9X 78 Gary Whittaker Phil Walton Toyota Celica 79 Phil Walton Bill O'Brien Ford XD Falcon 80 Bill O'Brien John Bristow Toyota Celica 81 John Bristow G.K. Engineering Ford Escort RS2000 95 Darryl Gretgrix Results and standings Race calendar The 1981 Australian Touring Car Championship was contested over an eight-round series with Rounds 1, 3, 5, 7 & 8 being single race rounds and Rounds 2, 4 & 6 being two race rounds. Rd.Race titleCircuitCity / stateDateWinnerTeamReport 1 Symmons Plains Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 1 Mar Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills 2 Yella Terra Trophy Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 15 Mar Peter Brock Marlboro Holden Dealer Team 3 Marlboro Cup1981 ATCC http://www.progcovers.com/motor/atcc1981.html The Programme Covers Project 14 February 2019 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 22 Mar Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills 4 Bill Patterson Trophy RaceOfficial Programme, Sandown, 12 April 1981 Sandown Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 12 Apr Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills 5 Saab-Scania Trophy Wanneroo Park Perth, Western Australia 26 Apr Peter Brock Marlboro Holden Dealer Team 6 Adelaide Adelaide International Raceway Adelaide, South Australia 3 May Peter Brock Marlboro Holden Dealer Team 7 Surfers Paradise Surfers Paradise Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 17 May Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills 8Lakeside Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 21 Jun Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills Championship standings Colin Bond, driving an under 3 litre Ford Capri took seven class wins in the first seven rounds, but did not race at the final round as he was unlikely to improve his nett score. With Dick Johnson and Peter Brock only twice failing to take the top two positions (Johnson was third at Calder, and Brock did not finish at Sandown), they were classified ahead of Bond due to the bonus points they each received for their outright placings. PosGraham Howard & Stewart Wilson, 1981 - Ford's new folk-hero, The Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1989, page 230 Driver CarSymCalOraSanWanAdeSurLak Pts 1 Dick Johnson Ford XD Falcon 13 (6) 13 13 9 9 13 13 83 2 Peter Brock Holden VC Commodore 9 13 9 Ret 13 13 9 9 75 3 Colin Bond Ford Capri Mk II 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 63 4 Steve Masterton Ford Capri Mk II 6 6 6 6 3 6 33 5 Murray Carter Ford XD Falcon 6 9 1 6 2 1 25 6 Peter Janson Holden VC Commodore 4 2 2 6 4 6 24 7 Alan Browne Holden VC Commodore 4 4 4 4 4 20 8 Peter Williamson Toyota Celica 4 6 4 4 18 9 Graeme Bailey Toyota Celica 4 2 9 15 10 Steve Harrington Holden VC Commodore 2 1 2 2 6 13 11 Kevin Bartlett Chevrolet Camaro Z28 6 6 12 12 Allan Grice BMW 635CSi 9 9 12 Frank Porter Mazda RX-3 3 6 9 14 Lawrie Nelson Ford Capri Mk III 4 3 7 15 Ross Burbidge Mazda RX-3 6 6 15 Evan Thomas Mazda RX-3 2 4 6 17 Peter McLeod Mazda RX-7 4 1 5 18 Gary Cooke Holden VC Commodore 4 4 18 Terry Shiel Mazda RX-7 4 4 20 Michael O'Hehir Mazda RX-3 3 3 20 Graham Mein Ford Escort RS2000 3 3 20 Bob Muir Ford XD Falcon 1 2 3 23 Joe Beninca Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 2 2 23 Alexandra Surplice Toyota Corolla 2 2 23 Neil Cunningham Holden VC Commodore 2 2 26 Jim Faneco Isuzu Gemini 1 1 26 Graeme Hooley Holden VC Commodore 1 1 26 Larry Perkins Holden VC Commodore 1 1 26 Greg Symes Triumph Dolomite Sprint 1 1 26 Gary Whittaker Holden LX Torana SLR 5000 A9X 1 1 Pos Driver CarSymCalOraSanWanAdeSurLak Pts Note: Points which could not be retained under the "best seven rounds" rule are shown in the above table within brackets. References External links Official V8 Supercar site Contains historical ATCC information. 1981 Australian Touring Car racing images at autopics.com.au 1981 Western Australian race results https://web.archive.org/web/20110304134854/http://www.terrywalkersplace.com/Results/1981-all.pdf 4 March 2011 Category:Australian Touring Car Championship seasons Touring Cars