1996 Champion, Craig Lowndes' Holden VR Commodore

The 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned motor racing title for drivers of 5.0 Litre Touring Cars[1] complying with Australian Group 3A regulations.[2] The championship, which was the 37th Australian Touring Car Championship,[3] was promoted as the Shell Australian Touring Car Championship.[4] It was contested over ten rounds between January 1996 and June 1996.[5] 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.

Pre season

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
Arrivals / returnees
Departures

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1996 Australian Touring Car Championship:

Team Vehicle No Drivers
Dick Johnson Racing Ford EF Falcon 1 Australia John Bowe
17 Australia Dick Johnson
Gibson Motorsport Holden VR Commodore 2 Australia Mark Skaife
Lansvale Racing Team Holden VP Commodore 3 Australia Trevor Ashby
Australia Steve Reed
Wayne Gardner Racing Holden VR Commodore 4 Australia Wayne Gardner
7 Australia Neil Crompton
Holden Racing Team Holden VR Commodore 05 Australia Peter Brock
15 Australia Craig Lowndes
Perkins Engineering Holden VR Commodore 8 Australia Russell Ingall
11 Australia Larry Perkins
Larkham Motor Sport Ford EF Falcon 10 Australia Mark Larkham
Malcolm Stenniken Holden VR Commodore 14 Australia Malcolm Stenniken
Tim Slako Holden VR Commodore 24 Australia Tim Slako
Longhurst Racing Ford EF Falcon 25 Australia Tony Longhurst
52 Australia Steven Ellery
M3 Motorsport Holden VP Commodore 26 Australia John Cotter
29 Australia Peter Doulman
Terry Finnigan Holden VP Commodore 27 Australia Terry Finnigan
Playscape Racing Ford EF Falcon 28 Australia Kevin Waldock
Glenn Seton Racing Ford EF Falcon 30 Australia Glenn Seton
Phil Johnson Holden VR Commodore 31 Australia Grant Johnson
Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden VR Commodore 32 New Zealand Steven Richards
Pro-Duct Racing Holden VR Commodore 33 Australia Bob Pearson
Claude Gorgi Ford EB Falcon 34 Australia Claude Giorgi
Scotty Taylor Racing Holden VP Commodore 37 Australia Bill Attard
Australia Alan Taylor
James Rosenberg Racing Holden VR Commodore 38 Australia Mark Poole
Challenge Motorsport Holden VR Commodore 39 Australia Chris Smerdon
Garry Willmington Performance Ford EB Falcon 41 Australia Garry Willmington
Mal Rose Racing Holden VR Commodore 44 Australia Mal Rose
John Faulkner Racing Holden VR Commodore 46 New Zealand John Faulkner
Daily Planet Racing Ford EB Falcon 47 Australia John Trimbole
Australia David Attard
Alcair Racing Holden VR Commodore 49 Australia Greg Crick
Peter McLeod Holden VR Commodore 50 Australia Peter McLeod
David Parsons Holden VR Commodore 55 Australia David "Truckie" Parsons
Novocastrian Motorsport Holden VP Commodore 62 Australia Wayne Russell
Pace Racing Holden VP Commodore 74 Australia Kevin Heffernan
John Sidney Racing Ford EF Falcon 75 Australia Max Dumesny
Cadillac Productions Holden VP Commodore 79 Australia Mike Conway
Shaun Walker Holden VR Commodore 99 Australia Shaun Walker
Alan Jones Racing Ford EF Falcon 201 Australia Paul Romano
301 Australia Alan Jones

Race calendar

The championship was contested over a ten-round series with three races per round.[6]

Rd. Circuit Location / state Date Winner Car Team Report
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.[6]

Results

Pos Driver Car Penalty Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Pts[7]
1 Craig Lowndes Holden VR Commodore 0 56 46 13 60 20 26 60 60 50 32 423
2 John Bowe Ford EF Falcon 0 32 40 60 36 14 42 34 24 32 30 344
3 Glenn Seton Ford EF Falcon 0 28 44 20 32 37 30 27 42 4 44 308
4 Peter Brock Holden VR Commodore 0 10 26 34 48 12 10 32 30 22 60 286
5 Larry Perkins Holden VR Commodore 0 7 12 32 16 40 30 14 5 22 14 192
6 Russell Ingall Holden VR Commodore 0 20 26 8 8 22 52 14 8 18 7 183
7 Wayne Gardner Holden VR Commodore 0 36 14 14 2 18 20 4 22 28 24 182
8 Alan Jones Ford EF Falcon 0 14 1 10 14 25 0 36 28 32 20 180
9 Mark Skaife Holden VR Commodore 0 8 40 16 16 Ret 16 10 26 15 30 177
10 Dick Johnson Ford EF Falcon 0 22 10 40 7 28 13 28 Ret 18 7 173
11 Tony Longhurst Ford EF Falcon 0 12 Ret 10 11 12 26 8 20 Ret 1 100
12 Steven Richards Holden VR Commodore 0 0 12 0 2 16 8 9 5 24 8 84
13 Neil Crompton Holden VR Commodore 0 22 6 21 24 Ret 73
14 Paul Romano Ford EF Falcon 0 10 1 Ret Ret 13 2 3 2 Ret Ret 31
15 Steve Ellery Ford EF Falcon 0 0 1 0 1 12 1 0 5 6 2 28
16 Max Dumesny Ford EF Falcon 0 8 Ret 5 DNS 13
17 John Faulkner Holden VR Commodore 0 2 3 Ret Ret 5
18 Greg Crick Holden VR Commodore 0 1 0 1 1 Ret 0 Ret 0 Ret Ret 3
19 Kevin Waldock Ford EF Falcon 0 Ret 2 2
20 Terry Finnigan Holden VP Commodore 0 1 0 0 1
20 Mark Poole Holden VP Commodore 0 0 0 1 1
Pos Driver Car Penalty Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Pts
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

See also

References

  1. ^ Specific Conditions, 1996 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-10
  2. ^ Specifications, 1996 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-72
  3. ^ Records, Titles & Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-7
  4. ^ Official Programme, Round 9, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Mallala, 2 June 1996
  5. ^ Tracking the Shell Series, Official Programme, Round 9, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Mallala, 2 June 1996, pages 91-96
  6. ^ a b Pointing the Way, Official Programme, Round 9, Shell Australian Touring Car Championship, Mallala, 2 June 1996, page 88
  7. ^ 1996 Championship Results, Motor Racing Australia No 25, January / February 1997, page 84

External links

Australian touring car racing
Categories