David Oxton (born 22 December 1945) is a former New Zealand racing driver.[1] Oxton spent the majority of his career racing open wheel cars in New Zealand and Australia but did drive touring cars late in his career.

David Oxton
NationalityNew Zealander
Born (1945-12-22) 22 December 1945 (age 78)
Retired1987
Australian Touring Car Championship
Years active1986
TeamsDavid Oxton
Starts3
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish17th in 1986
Previous series
1968-75
1970
1970-72

1970-74, 1977-78, 1981-82
1973
1973
1977, 1980-84

1977-84
1986
Tasman Series
Formula A Continental
NZ Formula Ford Championship
New Zealand Gold Star
British Formula Atlantic Championship
Formula 5000 Great Britain
Formula Atlantic Canada
NZ International Formula Pacific Series
Australian Drivers' Championship
Australian Touring Car Championship
Championship titles
1970-71
1971-72
1971-72

1972-73
1973-74
1980-81
1981-82
NZ Formula Ford Championship
New Zealand Gold Star
NZ Formula Ford Championship
New Zealand Gold Star
New Zealand Gold Star
NZ Formula Pacific Series
NZ Formula Pacific Series
New Zealand Gold Star

Career

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Oxton's career started in the late 1960s, driving a Daimler SP250 in New Zealand motorsport events and in 1968 he made the move to open-wheel racing.[2] Oxton won two consecutive New Zealand Formula Ford Championships from 1970 to 1972 and in 1971 he debuted in both the New Zealand Gold Star Championship and the Tasman Series. During the 1970s Oxton would go on to win three New Zealand Gold Stars but did not achieve the same success in the Tasman Series, with a best finish of eighth in 1972 and 1974.

In 1973 Oxton travelled to the United Kingdom to compete in Formula Atlantic and Formula 5000 but he did not achieve great success on his overseas venture. He also competed in the BRDC International Trophy, a non-championship Formula One race, at Silverstone the same year, but failed to finish. Oxton competed in Formula Atlantic in Canada in 1977, a year in which he also began competing in the New Zealand International Formula Pacific Series. He finished tenth in the series in 1977 but would go on to win the title in the 1980–81 season and finish runner-up in 1983. Oxton won his fourth New Zealand Gold Star in the 1981–82 season.

The 1980s saw Oxton begin racing touring cars, starting with the Benson & Hedges Saloon Car Series in 1982, finishing 2nd at Pukekohe with star Australian driver Peter Brock in a HDT Special Vehicles Holden VC Commodore.[3]

Oxton then partnered Brock in the Holden Dealer Team in Australia's first year of Group A touring car racing in 1985 at the Castrol 500 at Sandown Raceway in Melbourne, their VK Commodore suffering engine failure after just 41 laps. Brock retained Oxton for the 1985 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, but the pair again failed to finish. They ran strong all day, with then 8-time Bathurst 500/1000 winner Brock doing the bulk of the driving and Oxton only completing a 40 lap "lunch time" stint. Brock was second and only 30 seconds behind the leading TWR/JRA Jaguar XJ-S V12 of John Goss with three laps remaining. That was until the Holden V8 engine suffered a broken timing chain, the cars weak link in 1985. The timing chain broke on Conrod Straight, forcing Brock into the pits and into retirement.

Oxton went on to race in the 1986 Australian Touring Car Championship, finishing 17th in the series after competing in three of the ten rounds in an ex-Andy Rouse Ford Sierra XR4Ti. Oxton had earlier in the year shared the Sierra with Rouse at the Wellington 500. Rouse had put the car on pole position but Oxton didn't get to drive after the car suffered suspension failure in the early laps and was left opposite the pits for the remainder of the race.

With the Wellington 500 becoming a part of the 1987 World Touring Car Championship, Oxton re-joined the HDT, by now without factory support from Holden. He partnered Australian television commentator Neil Crompton in the team's second VL Commodore SS Group A, the car in which Brock, David Parsons and Peter McLeod had won Bathurst in a few weeks earlier.

Career results

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[4]

Season Series Position Car Team
1970 SCCA Continental Championship 24th Lotus 70 Ford
1970-71 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship 1st Elfin 600 Superford
1971 Tasman Series 10th Lotus 70
March 701
STP Corporation
1972 Tasman Series 8th Begg FM4 Begg Engineering
1971-72 New Zealand Gold Star Championship 1st Begg FM4 David Oxton Racing
1971-72 New Zealand Formula Ford Championship 1st Elfin Superford Winfield Racing Team
1972-73 New Zealand Gold Star Championship 1st Begg FM5
1973 Tasman Series 10th Begg FM5 Begg Engineering
1973 British Formula Atlantic Championship 16th Lyncar 003
1973 Rothmans European Formula 5000 Championship 15th Begg FM5 Begg Engineering
1973-74 New Zealand Gold Star Championship 1st Begg FM5 David Oxton Racing
1974 Tasman Series 8th Begg FM5 David Oxton Racing
1975 Tasman Series 12th Lola T330 David Oxton Racing
1977 New Zealand International Formula Pacific Series 10th Chevron B29 Oxton Motors
1977 Formula Atlantic Canada 11th Tui BH2 Team Tui
1980-81 New Zealand International Formula Pacific Series 1st Ralt RT4
1981-82 New Zealand Gold Star Championship 1st Ralt RT4/80
1983 New Zealand International Formula Pacific Series 2nd Ralt RT4/81 Oxton Motors
1984 New Zealand International Formula Pacific Series 4th Ralt RT4/82 Oxton Motors
1986 Australian Touring Car Championship 17th Ford Sierra XR4Ti David Oxton

Complete Bathurst 1000 results

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Year Team Co-drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
pos.
1985   Mobil Holden Dealer Team   Peter Brock Holden VK Commodore C 160 DNF DNF

Complete World Touring Car Championship results

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(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
1987   HDT Racing P/L Holden VL Commodore SS Group A MNZ JAR DIJ NUR SPA BNO SIL BAT CAL WEL
Ret
FJI N/C 0†

† Not eligible for series points

References

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  1. ^ "David Oxton". Driver Database. 3 September 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  2. ^ "David Oxton". My Formula 5000. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  3. ^ "New Zealand Motoring News clipping, 3 December 1982". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
  4. ^ "The racing career of David Oxton — in detail". Driver Database. 3 September 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.