1996 Australian Touring Car Championship

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.

1996 Champion, Craig Lowndes' Holden VR Commodore

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

Television coverage

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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

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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

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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   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

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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

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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

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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

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References

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  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
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