The 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of 5.0 Litre Touring CarsSpecific Conditions, 1996 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-10 complying with Australian Group 3A regulations.Specifications, 1996 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-72 The championship, which was the 37th Australian Touring Car Championship,Records, Titles & Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-7 was promoted as the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship.Official Programme, Round 9, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Mallala, 2 June 1996 It was contested over ten rounds between January 1996 and June 1996.Tracking the Shell Series, Official Programme, Round 9, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Mallala, 2 June 1996, pages 91-96 The championship was contested earlier in the year than usual as much of telecaster Channel 7's broadcast equipment was required for its 1996 Summer Olympics coverage. 1996 was the last year in which Channel 7 would broadcast the championship until 2007, with Network Ten taking over the broadcast rights from the 1997 season onwards.

The championship was won by Craig Lowndes driving a Holden VR Commodore entered by the Holden Racing Team.

Television coverage

Channel 7's coverage was again a same day delayed broadcast which saw Garry Wilkinson return to the coverage as host and eventually as a commentator alongside Mark Oastler after Andy Raymond was moved from the broadcast booth (where he started the season) to the pits and Brad Jones joined the team as their full-time expert.

Mike Raymond retired from broadcasting full-time after the 1995 Bathurst 1000.

Preseason At the end of 1995, tobacco sponsorship was prohibited by the federal government. A tight sponsorship market resulted in both Gibson Motorsport and Glenn Seton Racing scaling back to one car. Philip Morris sought to circumnavigate this by sponsoring Alan Jones Racing under a generic name.

Teams and drivers Movements Alan Jones moved from Glenn Seton Racing, forming Alan Jones Racing in partnership with Jim and Ross Stone Paul Romano joined Alan Jones Racing from Romano Racing Greg Crick replaced David Attard at Alcair Racing

Arrivals / returnees Garry Rogers Motorsport joined the series with Steven Richards driving an ex Gibson Motorsport VR Commodore John Faulkner Racing joined the series with John Faulkner driving an ex Holden Racing Team VR Commodore John Sidney Racing joined the series with Max Dumsney driving an ex Glenn Seton Racing EF Falcon Longhurst Racing expanded to two cars with a customer EF Falcon for Steve Ellery Craig Lowndes replaced Tomas Mezera at the Holden Racing Team M3 Motorsport returned to the series for the first time since 1993 with John Cotter and Peter Doulman sharing the driving of an ex Perkins Engineering VP Commodore Perkins Engineering expanded to two cars with Russell Ingall joining the series

Departures With Gibson Motorsport scaling back to one car, Jim Richards left the series 1995 Privateer's Cup winner David Attard did not defend his crown

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship: TeamVehicleNoDrivers Dick Johnson Racing Ford EF Falcon 1 John Bowe 17 Dick Johnson Gibson Motorsport Holden VR Commodore 2 Mark Skaife Lansvale Racing Team Holden VP Commodore 3 Trevor Ashby Steve Reed Wayne Gardner Racing Holden VR Commodore 4 Wayne Gardner 7 Neil Crompton Holden Racing Team Holden VR Commodore 05 Peter Brock 15 Craig Lowndes Perkins Engineering Holden VR Commodore 8 Russell Ingall 11 Larry Perkins Larkham Motor Sport Ford EF Falcon 10 Mark Larkham Malcolm Stenniken Holden VR Commodore 14 Malcolm Stenniken Tim Slako Holden VR Commodore 24 Tim Slako Longhurst Racing Ford EF Falcon 25 Tony Longhurst 52 Steven Ellery M3 Motorsport Holden VP Commodore 26 John Cotter 29 Peter Doulman Terry Finnigan Holden VP Commodore 27 Terry Finnigan Playscape Racing Ford EF Falcon 28 Kevin Waldock Glenn Seton Racing Ford EF Falcon 30 Glenn Seton Phil Johnson Holden VR Commodore 31 Grant Johnson Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VR Commodore 32 Steven Richards Pro-Duct Racing Holden VR Commodore 33 Bob Pearson Claude Gorgi Ford EB Falcon 34 Claude Giorgi Scotty Taylor Racing Holden VP Commodore 37 Bill Attard Alan Taylor James Rosenberg Racing Holden VR Commodore 38 Mark Poole Challenge Motorsport Holden VR Commodore 39 Chris Smerdon Garry Willmington Performance Ford EB Falcon 41 Garry Willmington Mal Rose Racing Holden VR Commodore 44 Mal Rose John Faulkner Racing Holden VR Commodore 46 John Faulkner Daily Planet Racing Ford EB Falcon 47 John Trimbole David Attard Alcair Racing Holden VR Commodore 49 Greg Crick Peter McLeod Holden VR Commodore 50 Peter McLeod David Parsons Holden VR Commodore 55 David "Truckie" Parsons Novocastrian Motorsport Holden VP Commodore 62 Wayne Russell Pace Racing Holden VP Commodore 74 Kevin Heffernan John Sidney Racing Ford EF Falcon 75 Max Dumesny Cadillac Productions Holden VP Commodore 79 Mike Conway Shaun Walker Holden VR Commodore 99 Shaun Walker Alan Jones Racing Ford EF Falcon 201 Paul Romano 301 Alan Jones

Race calendar The championship was contested over a ten-round series with three races per round.Pointing the Way, Official Programme, Round 9, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Mallala, 2 June 1996, page 88

Rd.CircuitLocation / stateDateWinnerCarTeamReport 1 Eastern Creek Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 25 - 27 Jan Craig Lowndes Holden VR Commodore Holden Racing Team 2 Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 2 - 4 Feb Craig Lowndes Holden VR Commodore Holden Racing Team 3 Mount Panorama Circuit Bathurst, New South Wales 23 - 25 Feb John Bowe Ford EF Falcon Dick Johnson Racing 4 Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 15 - 17 Mar Craig Lowndes Holden VR Commodore Holden Racing Team 5 Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit Phillip Island, Victoria 12 - 14 Apr Larry Perkins Holden VR Commodore Perkins Engineering 6 Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 26 - 28 Apr Russell Ingall Holden VR Commodore Perkins Engineering 7 Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 3–5 May Craig Lowndes Holden VR Commodore Holden Racing Team 8 Barbagallo Raceway Perth, Western Australia 24–26 May Craig Lowndes Holden VR Commodore Holden Racing Team 9 Mallala Motor Sport Park Mallala, South Australia 31 May - 2 Jun Craig Lowndes Holden VR Commodore Holden Racing Team 10 Oran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 14 - 16 Jun Peter Brock Holden VR Commodore Holden Racing Team

Points system Championship points were awarded on a 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 basis to the top ten finishers in each race.

Results Pos Driver Car Penalty Eas. San. Mou. Sym. Phi. Cal. Lak. Bar. Mal. Ora. Pts1996 Championship Results, Motor Racing Australia No 25, January / February 1997, page 84 1 Craig LowndesHolden VR Commodore 0 56 46 13 60 20 26 60 60 50 32 423 2 John BoweFord EF Falcon 0 32 40 60 36 14 42 34 24 32 30 344 3 Glenn SetonFord EF Falcon 0 28 44 20 32 37 30 27 42 4 44 308 4 Peter BrockHolden VR Commodore 0 10 26 34 48 12 10 32 30 22 60 286 5 Larry PerkinsHolden VR Commodore 0 7 12 32 16 40 30 14 5 22 14 192 6 Russell IngallHolden VR Commodore 0 20 26 8 8 22 52 14 8 18 7 183 7 Wayne GardnerHolden VR Commodore 0 36 14 14 2 18 20 4 22 28 24 182 8 Alan JonesFord EF Falcon 0 14 1 10 14 25 0 36 28 32 20 180 9 Mark SkaifeHolden VR Commodore 0 8 40 16 16 Ret 16 10 26 15 30 177 10 Dick JohnsonFord EF Falcon 0 22 10 40 7 28 13 28 Ret 18 7 173 11 Tony LonghurstFord EF Falcon 0 12 Ret 10 11 12 26 8 20 Ret 1 100 12 Steven RichardsHolden VR Commodore 0 0 12 0 2 16 8 9 5 24 8 84 13Neil CromptonHolden VR Commodore 0 22 6 21 24 Ret 73 14 Paul RomanoFord EF Falcon 0 10 1 Ret Ret 13 2 3 2 Ret Ret 31 15 Steve ElleryFord EF Falcon 0 0 1 0 1 12 1 0 5 6 2 28 16 Max DumesnyFord EF Falcon 0 8 Ret 5 DNS 13 17 John FaulknerHolden VR Commodore 0 2 3 Ret Ret 5 18 Greg CrickHolden VR Commodore 0 1 0 1 1 Ret 0 Ret 0 Ret Ret 3 19 Kevin WaldockFord EF Falcon 0 Ret 2 2 20 Terry FinniganHolden VP Commodore 0 1 0 0 1 20 Mark PooleHolden VP Commodore 0 0 0 1 1 Pos Driver Car Penalty Eas. San. Mou. Sym. Phi. Cal. Lak. Bar. Mal. Ora. Pts

Auto Action Privateers Cup Position Driver Joshua Dowling, Richo Wraps It Up, Australian Auto Action, June 20-26, 1996, page 43 Car Points 1 Steven Richards Holden Commodore VR 538 2 Steven Ellery Ford Falcon EF 431 3 Greg Crick Holden Commodore VR 364 4 Max Dumsney Ford Falcon EF 137 5 David Parsons Holden Commodore VR 137 6 Trevor Ashby Holden Commodore VP 136 7 John Faulkner Holden Commodore VR 132 8 Terry Finnigan Holden Commodore VP 122 9 John Trimbole Ford Falcon EB 106 10 Mark Poole Holden Commodore VR 94 11 Chris Smerdon Holden Commodore VR 88 12 Bob Pearson Holden Commodore VR 64 13 Kevin Heffernan Holden Commodore VP 59 14 Steve Reed Holden Commodore VP 58 15 Wayne Russell Holden Commodore VP 57 16 Peter McLeod Holden Commodore VR 47 17 Mal Rose Holden Commodore VR 44 18 Mike Conway Holden Commodore VP 36 19 Tim Slako Holden Commodore VR 32 20 Grant Johnson Holden Commodore VR 30 21 Scotty Taylor Holden Commodore VP 28 22 Kevin Waldock Ford Falcon EF 28 23 David Attard Ford Falcon EB 25 24 Peter Doulman Holden Commodore VP 21 25 Shaun Walker Holden Commodore VR 20 26 John Cotter Holden Commodore VP 18 27 Bill Attard Holden Commodore VP 12 28 Claude Giorgi Ford Falcon EB 6 29 Garry Willmington Ford Falcon EB 6 30 Malcolm Stenniken Holden Commodore VR 4

See also 1996 Australian Touring Car season 1996 Tickford 500 1996 AMP Bathurst 1000

References

External links 1996 Australian Touring Car racing images at www.autopics.com.au