1982 Australian Touring Car Championship
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The 1982 Australian Touring Car Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Group C Touring Cars.[1] It began on 18 February 1982 at Sandown Raceway and ended on 16 May at Oran Park Raceway after eight rounds.[2] 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).
The following teams and drivers competed in the championship:
Race calendar
The championship was contested over an eight-round series.[12] The Sandown round was contested over two parts and all other rounds were contested as single races.[2]
| Rd. | Race / circuit | Location / state | Date | Winner | Team | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Cup[13] Oran 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[13] Wanneroo Park |
Perth, Western Australia | 27–28 Apr | Allan Grice | Re-Car Racing | |
| 7 | Mazda Dealers of South Australia Race[13] 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.[12]
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.[1] Bonus points were awarded on a 4–3–2–1 basis to the first four placegetters, irrespective of class, at each round.[1] Results from seven of the eight rounds could be retained by each driver.[1]