The 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Group C Touring Cars.Conditions for Australian Titles, 1982 CAMS manual of Motor Sport, pages 87–91 It began on 18 February 1982 at Sandown Raceway and ended on 16 May at Oran Park Raceway after eight rounds.Australian Motor Racing Year 1982/83, pages 130–147 The title, which was the 23rd Australian Touring Car Championship, was won by defending champion Dick Johnson, driving a Ford XD Falcon.
Peter Brock had actually scored more points than Johnson throughout the championship driving Marlboro Holden Dealer Team entered Holden Commodore VC and VH SS models. However, the use of not yet homologated engine heads on the cars saw him disqualified from all but two rounds of the championship. The matter between CAMS and the HDT ended in court with Brock agreeing to the loss of points and the championship to avoid a three-month suspension for himself and the team which would have actually excluded them from competing in the James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst.
Allan Moffat's win in Round 5 at Lakeside with a Mazda RX-7 was the first ever ATCC race win by a Mazda and the first ever ATCC race win by a Japanese car. It was also the first ATCC race to be won by a car not powered by a V8 engine since Peter Brock's victory in Round 4 of the 1974 championship at Amaroo Park driving a 6 cylinder, Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1.
Under 3000cc class competitor Bob Holden finished second in the championship driving a Ford Escort Mk.II. Though he would finish no higher than 8th outright in any race, points scored for class placings saw him finish second on 36 points, 21 behind Johnson and 5 points in front of both Moffat and Kevin Bartlett (Chevrolet Camaro Z28).
Teams and drivers
The following teams and drivers competed in the championship: TeamCar ClassNoDriver Masterton Homes Pty Ltd Ford Capri Mk.II 3000cc 2 Steve Masterton 3000cc 31 Colin Bond Cadbury Schweppes Pty Ltd Holden VC CommodoreStewart Wilson, Holden, The Official Racing History, 1988, pages 355–356 6000cc 3 Peter Janson Wayne Negus Holden VC Commodore 6000cc 3 Wayne Negus Re-Car Racing Holden VC CommodoreHolden VH Commodore 6000cc 4 Alan Browne Allan Grice 6000cc 616 Ron Wanless Marlboro Holden Dealer Team Holden VH Commodore 6000cc 05 Peter Brock John Sands RacingOfficial Programme, Sandown, 11–14 February 1982 Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 6 Rusty French Launceston Hotel Holden VC Commodore 6000cc 711 Clive Benson-Brown Garry Rogers Garry Willmington Performance Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 8 Garry Willmington Nine Network Racing Team Chevrolet Camaro Z28 6000cc 9 Kevin Bartlett John Duggan Mazda RX-7 3000ccOfficial Programme, Sandown, 11–14 February 1982, page 8 10 John Duggan Gary Rowe Isuzu Gemini ZZ/RAustralian Motor Racing Year 1982/83, page 135 3000cc 11 Gary Rowe Cullen Automotive Industries Holden VC Commodore 6000cc 12 22 Warren Cullen Bob Holden Motors Manly Vale Ford Escort Mk.II 3000cc 13 Bob Holden 3000cc 14 Brian Nightingale John Donnelly Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 14 John Donnelly John English Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 15 John English Palmer Tube Mills Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 17 Dick Johnson Murray Carter Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 18 Murray Carter JPS Team BMW BMW 635 CSi 6000cc 21 Jim Richards Robert Muir Ford XD Falcon 6000cc 24 Robert Muir Roadways Racing Holden VC Commodore 6000cc 27 Steve Harrington Bayside Spares Holden VH Commodore 6000cc 28 Barry Lawrence Tony Kavich Mazda RX-7 6000cc 30 Tony Kavich Alexander Rotary Engines Mazda RX-7 6000cc 35 Phil Alexander Penrith Mazda Centre Mazda RX-7 6000cc 37 Terry Shiel Strongbow Racing Team Mazda RX-7 3000cc6000ccGraham Howard & Stewart Wilson, The Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1990, page 239 40 Peter McLeod Barry Jones Mazda RX-7 6000cc 41 Barry Jones Peter Stuyvesant International Mazda RX-7 6000cc 43 Allan Moffat Beninca Motors Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 3000cc 46 Joe Beninca David Parsons Holden VC Commodore 6000cc 50 David Parsons Les Grose Ford Capri Mk.III 3000cc 54 Les Grose Maurice Spalding Toyota Celica 3000cc 55 Maurice Spalding Nissan Motor Australia1982 Australian Touring Car Championship Round 7 (Entry list), Programme, Adelaide International Raceway, Sunday, 2 May 1982 Nissan Bluebird Turbo 3000cc 55 George Fury 3000cc 56 Fred Gibson Wally Scott Toyota Celica 3000cc 57 Wally Scott Capri Components Ford Capri Mk.III S 3000cc 58 Lawrie Nelson Chickadee Chicken Toyota Celica 3000cc 61 Graeme Bailey Graeme Hooley Holden VC Commodore 6000cc 71 Graeme Hooley Ross Burbidge Mazda RX-3 3000cc 77 Ross Burbidge Gary WhittakerDes White, Moffat Makes Amends, Racing Car News, June 1982, page 18 Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34Australian Motor Racing Year 1982/83, page 141 6000cc 78 Gary Whittaker Lester Smerdon Isuzu GeminiAustralian Motor Racing Year 1982/83, page 131 3000cc 83 Lester Smerdon Fred Geissler Holden VC Commodore 6000cc 88 Fred Geissler Daily Planet Toyota Celica 3000cc 88 Craig Bradtke
Race calendar The championship was contested over an eight-round series.2005 V8 Supercars TV Guide, page 78 The Sandown round was contested over two parts and all other rounds were contested as single races. Rd.Race / circuitLocation / stateDateWinnerTeamReport 1 Sandown Sandown International Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 17–18 Feb Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills 2 Calder Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Victoria 27–28 Feb Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills 3 Symmons Plains Symmons Plains Raceway Launceston, Tasmania 6–7 Mar Peter Brock Marlboro Holden Dealer Team 4 ARCO CupOran Park Raceway Sydney, New South Wales 20–21 Mar Kevin Bartlett Nine Network Racing Team 5 Lakeside Lakeside International Raceway Brisbane, Queensland 3–4 Apr Allan Moffat Peter Stuyvesant International 6 Walpamur Cup Wanneroo Park Perth, Western Australia 27–28 Apr Allan Grice Re-Car Racing 7 Mazda Dealers of South Australia Race Adelaide International Raceway Virginia, South Australia 1–2 May Dick Johnson Palmer Tube Mills 8 Surfers Paradise Surfers Paradise International Raceway Surfers Paradise, Queensland 15–16 May Allan Moffat Peter Stuyvesant International
Note: Brock was excluded from Calder and lost all points from Oran Park to Surfers Paradise, however, kept the Symmons Plains win.
Classes Cars competed in two engine capacity classes: Up to and including 3000cc 3001 to 6000cc
Note: Mazda RX-7s fitted with bridge port engines competed in the Up to and including 3000cc class and those fitted with peripheral port engines were re-classified into the 3001 to 6000cc class.
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 first four placegetters, irrespective of class, at each round. Results from seven of the eight rounds could be retained by each driver.
Championship results Pos.Graham Howard & Stewart Wilson, The Australian Touring Car Championship, 30 Fabulous Years, 1990 DriverCar San Cal Sym Ora Lak Wan Ade Sur Pts. 1 Dick Johnson Ford XD Falcon 1st 1st 2nd Ret 2nd Ret 1st Ret 57 2 Bob Holden Ford Escort Mk.II 10th 8th 12th 8th 10th 12th 10th 36 3 Allan Moffat Mazda RX-7 6th Ret 7th 1st Ret 1st 31 Kevin Bartlett Chevrolet Camaro Z28 4th Ret 3rd 1st Ret 3rd 31 5 Peter Brock Holden VH Commodore SS Holden VC Commodore 2nd DSQ 1st DSQ DSQ DSQ DSQ DSQ 22 Allan Grice Holden VH Commodore SS 1st 2nd 22 7 Lawrie Nelson Ford Capri Mk.III S 5th 8th Ret Ret 8th 19 8 Ron Wanless Holden VC Commodore 5th 3rd 2nd 11th Ret 17 9 Steve Harrington Holden VC Commodore 14th 3rd Ret 3rd 5th 16 10 Steve Masterton Ford Capri Mk.II 3rd 6th Ret 15 Craig Bradtke Toyota Celica Ret 9th 10th 15 12 George Fury Datsun Bluebird Turbo 10th 2nd Ret 14 David Parsons Holden VC Commodore Holden VH Commodore SS 5th 4th Ret 4th 4th 14 Murray Carter Ford XD Falcon 11th 7th 4th 5th 4th 6th 14 15 Peter McLeod Mazda RX-7 12th Ret 7th Ret 5th Ret 12 16 Lester Smerdon Isuzu Gemini 9th 11th 10 17 Alan Browne Holden VH Commodore SS 14th 2nd 9 Terry Shiel Mazda RX-7 15th 2nd 9 Colin Bond Ford Capri Mk.II 6th 9 Ross Burbidge Mazda RX-3 7th 9 21 Brian Nightingale Ford Escort Mk.II 11th 9th 13th 7 22 Barry Jones Mazda RX-7 3rd 6 Jim Richards BMW 635 CSi 3rd 6 Warren Cullen Holden VC Commodore 9th DSQ 4th Ret Ret 6 Clive Benson-Brown Holden VC Commodore 5th 6th 6th 7th 6th 6 John Duggan Mazda RX-7 10th 6 27 Peter Janson Holden VC Commodore 4th Ret 5 28 Fred Gibson Datsun Bluebird Turbo 7th 4 Graeme Bailey Toyota Celica 11th 4 Maurice Spalding Toyota Celica 11th 4 31 Joe Beninca Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV 8th 3 Gary Rowe Isuzu Gemini ZZ/R 9th 3 33 Barry Lawrence Holden VH Commodore SS Ret 5th 2 34 Les Grose Ford Capri Mk.III 14th 1 Gary Whittaker Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34 6th 9th 1 Pos. DriverCar San Cal Sym Ora Lak Wan Ade Sur Pts.
Note: Round results indicate outright round placings, not class placings.
References
External links Official V8 Supercar site Contains historical ATCC information. 1982 Australian Touring Car racing images at www.autopics.com.au 1982 Western Australian race results ex www.terrywalkersplace.com