1981 Australian Sports Car Championship

The 1981 Australian Sports Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Group D Production Sports Cars.[1] It was the thirteenth Australian Sports Car Championship[2] and the last to be restricted to cars complying with Group D regulations. The championship was won by John Latham, driving a Porsche Turbo.[3]

Schedule

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The championship was contested over a four-round series with Rounds 1, 2 and 3 each staged over two heats and Round 4 run as a single race.[3]

Round[3] Circuit[3] Location / state Date[3] Heat 1 winner[3] Heat 2 winner[3] Round winner
1 Sandown Park Melbourne, Vic. 22 February John Latham John Walker John Latham
2 Baskerville Raceway Hobart, Tas. 5 April John Walker John Latham John Latham
3 Winton Motor Raceway Winton, Vic. 23 August Murray Bryden John Latham John Latham
4 Calder Park Raceway Melbourne, Vic. 8 October John Latham N/A John Latham

Class structure

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Cars competed in two engine capacity classes:[1]

  • Class A[3] - Over 2000cc[1]
  • Class B[3] - Up to and including 2000cc[1]

Points system

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Championship points were awarded on a 9-6-4-3-2-1 basis for the first six placings in each class at each round.[1] Bonus points were awarded on a 4-3-2-1 basis for the top four placings irrespective of class at each round.[1]

Where rounds were run in multiple parts, drivers were allocated points on a 20-16-13-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for the first fourteen positions in each part.[1] These points were then aggregated to determine the placings for that round.[1]

Championship standings

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Position[3] Driver[3] Car[3] Entrant[4] Class[3] San[3] Bas[3] Win[3] Cal[3] Total[3]
1 John Latham Porsche Turbo John Latham A 13 13 13 13 52
2 Murray Bryden Lotus Super 7 Murray Bryden B 9 10 4 - 23
3 Peter Fitzgerald Porsche Carrera Lindsay Quinn Real Estate A 1 6 4 9 20
4 John Walker Porsche Turbo Magnum Wheels A 9 9 DNS DNS 18
5 Lex Lasry Triumph GT6 Lex Lasry B 3 3 7 3 16
6 Norman Carr Austin-Healey Sprite
Lotus Elan
Norman Carr B 2 - 2 11 15
7 Gordon Dobie Datsun 260Z Gordon Dobie A DNS DNS 8 5 13
8 Bernie Bisseling Lotus Elan Norman Carr B DNS DNS 12 DNS 12
9 Don Hume Lotus 47 Don Hume B 6 4 1 DNS 11
10 Dick Smith Lotus Super 7 Dick Smith B 4 6 - - 10
11 [5] Rusty French [6] De Tomaso Pantera Rusty French A 4 [7] 5 [8] - - 9 [5]
12 [5] Chris Swingler [6] Triumph TR7 Chris Swingler B ? ? ? ? 8 [5]
13 [5] Rex Colliver [6] Lotus Elan R. Colliver [9] B ? ? ? ? 6 [5]
14 [5] Ross Mathieson [6] Porsche Carrera Ross Mathieson [10] A ? ? ? ? 4 [5]
15 [5] Alan Edwards [6] Bolwell Nagari Alan Edwards [10] A 2 [7] - - - 2 [5]
= [5] Geoff Munyard [6] Triumph TR4 G. Westwell [11] A ? ? ? ? 2 [5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Conditions for Australian Titles, 1981 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, pages 91 to 93
  2. ^ Records, Titles and Awards, 2006 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-6
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Australian Sports Car Championship, Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1981/82, pages 140 to 149
  4. ^ Aust. Sports Car C'ship, Racing Car News, January 1982, page 37
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lack-Lustre Last to Latham, Racing Car News, December 1981, Page 21
  6. ^ a b c d e f Family names from Lack-Lustre Last to Latham, Racing Car News, December 1981, Page 21 and given names from Australian Sports Car Championship, Australian Motor Racing Yearbook 1981/82, pages 140 to 149
  7. ^ a b Graham Slater, Latham and Costanzo First Up, Racing Car News, March 1981, pages 66 to 69
  8. ^ Sandown round report in Racing Car News shows French's progressive score as 4 points, Baskerville report in Racing Car News, May 1981 shows French's progressive score as 9 points
  9. ^ Program. Calder Raceway, November 7th-8th
  10. ^ a b Official Program, Sandown, February 22, 1981
  11. ^ Program, Baskerville, 5 April 1981
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